CN117528643A

CN117528643A - Communication method, system, user plane function network element and user equipment

Info

Publication number: CN117528643A
Application number: CN202210898232.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘佳一凡; 刘海; 陈卓怡; 刘柳; 龙彪
Original assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Current assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2022-07-28
Filing date: 2022-07-28
Publication date: 2024-02-06
Also published as: WO2024022492A1

Abstract

The disclosure provides a communication method, a system, a user plane function network element and user equipment, and relates to the technical field of communication, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the user plane function UPF network element receives reflection service quality QOS indication information, wherein the reflection QOS indication information comprises an identifier of a service data flow SDF; and the UPF network element only sets a reflection QOS indication RQI field in a part of downlink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the reflection QOS indication information, wherein the part of downlink data packets are discontinuous.

Description

Communication method, system, user plane function network element and user equipment

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communications method, a system, a user plane function network element, and a user equipment.

Background

The 3GGP standard uses quality of service (Quality of Service, QOS) to describe a set of service requirements that the network side needs to meet to ensure the service level of the data transfer.

The reflection QOS mechanism refers to a QOS rule of a corresponding uplink packet generated by a User Equipment (UE) supporting a reflection QOS function according to a received downlink packet, and controls the corresponding uplink packet according to the QOS rule.

In the related art, a user plane function (User Plane Function, UPF) network element performs setting (e.g., sets a RQI field) on a reflection QOS indication (Reflective QOS Indication, RQI) field in each downlink data packet corresponding to a service data flow (Service Data Flow, SDF) to instruct a UE to generate QOS rules of a corresponding uplink data packet according to a received downlink data packet.

Disclosure of Invention

The inventors have noted that the value set for the RQI field is not valid data in the packet, and in the related art, the UPF network element wastes more communication resources to perform the RQI field setting, which results in a lower transmission rate of the valid data (i.e., the occupation of the valid data in the transmission process is lower).

In order to solve the above-described problems, the embodiments of the present disclosure propose the following solutions.

According to an aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication method including: the user plane function UPF network element receives first reflection service quality QOS indication information, wherein the first reflection QOS indication information comprises an identifier of a service data flow SDF; and the UPF network element only sets a reflection QOS indication RQI field in a part of downlink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the first reflection QOS indication information, wherein the part of downlink data packets are discontinuous.

In some embodiments, m downstream data packets corresponding to an interval between two adjacent downstream data packets in the partial downstream data packets are the same, and at least two m is equal in value, where m is greater than or equal to 1.

In some embodiments, the values of any two m are the same.

In some embodiments, the partial downstream data packet includes an xth (m+1) +1st downstream data packet corresponding to the SDF, where x is greater than or equal to 0, and x is an integer.

In some embodiments, the greater the number of downstream packets corresponding to the SDF in a unit time, the greater the value of m.

In some embodiments, m downlink data packets corresponding to an interval between two adjacent downlink data packets in the partial downlink data packet are greater than or equal to 1, and the setting is used for indicating the UE to generate an uplink data packet corresponding to a previous downlink data packet in the two downlink data packets and QOS rules of an uplink data packet corresponding to the m downlink data packets.

In some embodiments, at least the value of m corresponding to the 1 st downlink data packet and the 2 nd downlink data packet in the part of downlink data packets is carried in the 1 st downlink data packet in the part of downlink data packets.

In some embodiments, the number of the partial downlink data packets is M, and the 1 st downlink data packet in the partial downlink data packets further carries a value M corresponding to the i-th downlink data packet and the i+1th downlink data packet in the partial downlink data packets, where i is greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to M-1, and M is greater than or equal to 3.

In some embodiments, a value of m corresponding to the two downstream data packets is carried in a previous downstream data packet of the two downstream data packets.

In some embodiments, m downlink data packets corresponding to an interval between two adjacent downlink data packets in the partial downlink data packets are greater than or equal to 1, and the first reflection QOS indication information includes QOS execution rules QER and a value of m.

In some embodiments, the value of m is located in the QER.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: the UPF network element receives second reflection QOS indication information, wherein the second reflection QOS indication information comprises an identifier of the SDF; and the UPF network element stops executing the setting according to the second reflection QOS indication information.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: and the UPF network element sends the partial downlink data packet to User Equipment (UE) through an access network so that the UE generates QOS rules of at least partial uplink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the partial downlink data packet.

In some embodiments, the first reflected QOS indication information is sent by a session management function, SMF, network element to the UPF network element.

In some embodiments, the first reflected QOS indication information is generated by the SMF network element or generated by a policy control function PCF network element and sent to the SMF network element.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication method including: the method comprises the steps that UE receives discontinuous partial downlink data packets corresponding to SDF from a UPF network element, RQI fields in the partial downlink data packets are set, and RQI fields in other downlink data packets corresponding to the SDF except the partial downlink data packets are not set; and the UE generates QOS rules of at least part of uplink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the part of downlink data packets.

In some embodiments, m downlink data packets corresponding to an interval between two adjacent downlink data packets in the partial downlink data packet are greater than or equal to 1, and the QOS rule for generating at least part of uplink data packets corresponding to the SDF by the UE according to the partial downlink data packet includes: and the UE generates an uplink data packet corresponding to the previous downlink data packet in the two downlink data packets and QOS rules of the uplink data packets corresponding to the m downlink data packets according to the partial downlink data packets.

In some embodiments, the values of any two m are the same.

According to yet another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a user plane function network element, including: a receiving module configured to receive first reflected QOS indication information, the first reflected QOS indication information comprising an identification of a service data flow SDF; and a setting module configured to perform setting on only a reflection QOS indication RQI field in a part of the downlink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the first reflection QOS indication information, where the part of the downlink data packets are discontinuous.

According to still another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a user plane function network element, including: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to perform the method of any of the embodiments described above based on instructions stored in the memory.

According to still another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment, including: a receiving module, configured to receive discontinuous partial downlink data packets corresponding to SDFs from a UPF network element, where an RQI field in the partial downlink data packet is set, and an RQI field in other downlink data packets corresponding to the SDFs except for the partial downlink data packet is not set; and the generating module is configured to generate QOS rules of at least part of uplink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the part of downlink data packets.

According to still another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment, including: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to perform the method of any of the embodiments described above based on instructions stored in the memory.

According to still another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication system including: the user plane function UPF network element of any one of the above embodiments; and an SMF network element configured to send the first reflected QOS indication information to the UPF network element, the first reflected QOS indication information comprising an identification of an SDF.

In some embodiments, the system further comprises: and the PCF network element is configured to generate the first reflection QOS indication information and send the first reflection QOS indication information to the SMF network element.

In some embodiments, the system further comprises: the UE in any one of the foregoing embodiments.

According to a further aspect of the disclosed embodiments, a computer readable storage medium is provided, comprising computer program instructions, wherein the computer program instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the method according to any of the embodiments described above.

According to a further aspect of the disclosed embodiments, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the method according to any of the above embodiments.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, the UPF network element only performs setting on the RQI field in the part of the downlink data packet corresponding to the SDF according to the reflected QOS indication information, and does not perform setting on the RQI field in the other downlink data packets corresponding to the SDF except for the part of the downlink data packet. Thus, the UPF network element does not need to set the RQI field in each downlink data packet corresponding to the SDF, so that the waste of communication resources is reduced, the transmission rate of effective data (that is, the duty ratio of the effective data in the transmission process) is improved, and the working pressure of the UPF network element is reduced.

In addition, on one hand, the time consumed by the UPF network element for executing the RQI field is reduced, so that the data transmission efficiency is improved; on the other hand, the back-off timer is not required to be set on both the network side and the UE, so that the operation of applying the reflection QOS mechanism is simplified, and the implementation is easy.

The technical scheme of the present disclosure is described in further detail below through the accompanying drawings and examples.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings that are required in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to further embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to further embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to further embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a UPF network element according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a UE according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The following description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be made clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in this disclosure without inventive faculty, are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure.

The relative arrangement of the components and steps, numerical expressions and numerical values set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure unless it is specifically stated otherwise.

Meanwhile, it should be understood that the sizes of the respective parts shown in the drawings are not drawn in actual scale for convenience of description.

Techniques, methods, and apparatus known to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail, but should be considered part of the specification where appropriate.

In all examples shown and discussed herein, any specific values should be construed as merely illustrative, and not a limitation. Thus, other examples of the exemplary embodiments may have different values.

It should be noted that: like reference numerals and letters denote like items in the following figures, and thus once an item is defined in one figure, no further discussion thereof is necessary in subsequent figures.

Fig. 1 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

A communication method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps 102 to 104 shown in fig. 1.

In step 102, the upf network element receives reflected QOS indication information.

Here, the reflective QOS indication information includes an identification of the SDF.

In some embodiments, the reflected QOS indication information may be sent by a session management function (Session Management Function, SMF) network element to the UPF network element.

In step 104, the upf network element only sets the RQI field in the partial downlink packet corresponding to the SDF according to the reflected QOS indication information.

In some embodiments, the UPF network element may perform setting on the RQI field in only a portion of the downstream packets corresponding to the SDF (but not all of the downstream packets corresponding to the SDF) according to the identification of the SDF in the reflected QOS indication information. The setting may be, for example, setting the RQI field (e.g., setting the RQI field to 1), while the value of the RQI field in other downstream packets for which the SDF corresponds to that other downstream packet for which no setting is performed defaults to 0.

In some embodiments, part of the downstream packets may be continuous or discontinuous.

In some embodiments, the setting performed by the UPF network element is used to instruct the UE to generate QOS rules for at least part of the upstream data packets corresponding to the SDF.

In the above embodiment, the UPF network element only performs setting on the RQI field in the part of the downstream data packet corresponding to the SDF according to the reflected QOS indication information, and does not perform setting on the RQI field in the other downstream data packets corresponding to the SDF except for the part of the downstream data packet. Thus, the UPF network element does not need to set the RQI field in each downlink data packet corresponding to the SDF, so that the waste of communication resources is reduced, the transmission rate of effective data (that is, the duty ratio of the effective data in the transmission process) is improved, and the working pressure of the UPF network element is reduced.

In some embodiments, the reflected QOS indication information may be generated by the SMF network element and sent to the UPF network element. In other embodiments, the reflected QOS indication information may be generated by a policy control function (Policy Control Function, PCF) network element and sent to the SMF network element, which then sends to the UPF network element.

Therefore, the change of the interaction flow between the existing network architecture and the network element is small, and the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure is easy to realize.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, if not specifically described, the "downstream packet corresponding to the SDF" and the "upstream packet corresponding to the SDF" refer to the downstream packet and the upstream packet corresponding to the same service, and the "partial downstream packet" refers to the downstream packet for which the RQI field is set.

In some embodiments, a portion of the downstream data packets may include n downstream data packets, n+.1.

In some cases, a portion of the downstream packets may include discontinuous n downstream packets, n+.2. For example, a portion of the downstream packets may be discontinuous M downstream packets, M.gtoreq.3.

In other cases, a portion of the downstream data packets may include n downstream data packets in succession. For example, a portion of the downstream packets may be n downstream packets in succession, n.gtoreq.2.

The following describes, with reference to some embodiments, a case where a part of the downstream data packet includes discontinuous n downstream data packets.

In some embodiments, m downstream data packets corresponding to an interval between two adjacent downstream data packets in the partial downstream data packets may be greater than or equal to 1. In some embodiments, the reflective QOS indication information received by the UPF network element may carry a value of m. For example, m downstream data packets corresponding to the 1 st downstream data packet and the 2 nd downstream data packet interval in the partial downstream data packets; m downstream data packets corresponding to the intervals of the 2 nd downstream data packet and the 3 rd downstream data packet in the partial downstream data packets; and so on.

In some embodiments, the values of at least two m are the same, i.e. there are at least two downstream packets in two sets of downstream packets that are spaced apart by the same number of downstream packets, wherein each set of downstream packets comprises two adjacent downstream packets. For example, the 1 st group of downstream packets includes the 1 st downstream packet and the 2 nd downstream packet in the partial downstream packets; the 2 nd group of downlink data packets comprise a 2 nd downlink data packet and a 3 rd downlink data packet in the partial downlink data packets; and so on.

In some embodiments, the values of any two m are the same, i.e., any two adjacent downstream packets are each separated by the same number of downstream packets.

In some embodiments, the greater the number of downstream packets corresponding to SDF per unit time, the greater the value of m. For example, since the number of downstream packets corresponding to a voice traffic data stream per unit time is generally greater than the number of downstream packets corresponding to a web browsing traffic data stream, the value of m in the case where the SDF is a voice traffic data stream is greater than the value of m in the case where the SDF is a web browsing traffic data stream. For example, in the case where the SDF is a voice traffic data stream, the value of m may be 50, and in the case where the SDF is a web browsing traffic data stream, the value of m may be 10.

Thus, the value of m can be set according to the service type corresponding to the SDF, so as to further improve the data transmission efficiency.

In some embodiments, the setting performed by the UPF network element on the RQI field in the partial downlink data packet may be used to instruct the UE to generate QOS rules for an uplink data packet corresponding to a previous downlink data packet in two adjacent downlink data packets and an uplink data packet corresponding to m downlink data packets corresponding to the two adjacent downlink data packets.

In some embodiments, the 1 st downstream packet in the partial downstream packets may be the 1 st downstream packet corresponding to the SDF. In this case, the partial downstream packet may include the xth (m+1) +1st downstream packet corresponding to the SDF, where x is greater than or equal to 0, and x is an integer.

Let m=9, that is, the part of the downstream packets include the 1 st downstream packet, the 11 th downstream packet, the 21 st downstream packet, the 31 st downstream packet, and other downstream packets corresponding to the SDF.

The setting performed by the UPF network element on the RQI field in the part of downlink data packets may be used to instruct the UE to generate a QOS rule for the uplink data packet corresponding to the 1 st downlink data packet and the uplink data packet corresponding to the 9 downlink data packets spaced between the 1 st downlink data packet and the 11 th downlink data packet, and generate a QOS rule for the uplink data packet corresponding to the 11 th downlink data packet and the uplink data packet corresponding to the 9 downlink data packets spaced between the 11 th downlink data packet and the 21 st downlink data packet, which will not be repeated herein.

In other embodiments, the 1 st downstream packet in the partial downstream packets may be any one of the downstream packets except the 1 st downstream packet corresponding to the SDF. In this case, part of the downstream data packets may include the x (m+1) +y downstream data packets corresponding to the SDF, where y is greater than or equal to 2, and y is an integer.

Assuming that m=9 and y=3, the part of downstream packets may include a 3 rd downstream packet, a 13 th downstream packet, a 23 rd downstream packet, a 33 rd downstream packet, and other downstream packets corresponding to the SDF, that is, the 1 st downstream packet in the part of downstream packets is the 3 rd downstream packet corresponding to the SDF.

The setting performed by the UPF network element on the RQI field in the part of downlink data packets may be used to instruct the UE to generate a QOS rule for the uplink data packet corresponding to the 3 rd downlink data packet and the uplink data packet corresponding to the 9 th downlink data packet spaced between the 3 rd downlink data packet and the 13 th downlink data packet, and generate a QOS rule for the uplink data packet corresponding to the 13 th downlink data packet and the 9 th downlink data packet spaced between the 13 th downlink data packet and the 23 rd downlink data packet, and so on, which will not be described herein again.

In some embodiments, the UPF network element may further receive second reflected QOS indication information, and stop performing setting on the RQI field in the partial downstream packet corresponding to the SDF according to the second reflected QOS indication information. Here, the second reflective QOS indication information may include an identification of the SDF.

It should be understood that, for convenience of distinction, the reflective QOS indication information received by the UPF network element and configured to only the RQI field in the partial downstream packet corresponding to the SDF is referred to as "first reflective QOS indication information", and the reflective QOS indication information received by the UPF network element and configured to stop the RQI field in the partial downstream packet is referred to as "second reflective QOS indication information".

For example, the UPF network element may perform setting on RQI fields in only downlink data packets such as the 3 rd downlink data packet, the 13 th downlink data packet, the 23 rd downlink data packet, and the 33 rd downlink data packet corresponding to the SDF according to the received first reflection QOS indication information. If the UPF element receives the second reflective QOS indication information before performing the setting on the RQI field in the 43 rd downstream packet, the UPF element will stop performing the setting on the RQI field in the 43 rd downstream packet and the subsequent downstream packets. After this stop, the UPF network element may also restart performing the setting of the RQI field according to the first reflected QOS indication information received again later.

Thus, the network side can be allowed to stop using the reflection QoS mechanism at any time, and the QoS related strategy can be adjusted and executed in time.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first reflective QOS indication information and the second reflective QOS indication information may be sent by the SMF network element to the UPF network element.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first reflective QOS indication information and the second reflective QOS indication information may be generated by the SMF network element and sent to the UPF network element. In other embodiments, at least one of the first reflective QOS indication information and the second reflective QOS indication information may be generated by the PCF network element and sent to the SMF network element, and then sent by the SMF network element to the UPF network element.

In some embodiments, the first reflective QOS indication information may include QOS enforcement rules (QoS Enforcement Rule, QER) and values of m.

In some embodiments, the value of m may be located in QER, i.e., QER carries the value of m. Thus, the UPF network element can obtain the value of m by receiving QER.

In some embodiments, the UPF network element may insert the value of m into the partial downlink data packet, so that the partial downlink data packet carries the value of m, and the UE may obtain the value of m by receiving the partial downlink data packet.

In some embodiments, the 1 st downlink packet in the partial downlink packets may at least carry the value of m corresponding to the 1 st downlink packet and the 2 nd downlink packet in the partial downlink packets.

In some embodiments, the number of partial downstream packets is M, M.gtoreq.3. The 1 st downlink data packet in the partial downlink data packet can also carry the value of M corresponding to the i-th downlink data packet and the i+1-th downlink data packet in the partial downlink data packet, wherein i is more than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to M-1. For example, in addition to the value of m corresponding to the 1 st downlink data packet and the 2 nd downlink data packet, the 1 st downlink data packet in the partial downlink data packet may also carry the value of m corresponding to the 2 nd downlink data packet and the 3 rd downlink data packet. The values of these two m may be the same or different.

In some embodiments, a value of m corresponding to two downlink data packets may be carried in a previous downlink data packet in two adjacent downlink data packets in the partial downlink data packet.

For example, after receiving the previous downstream data packet in two adjacent downstream data packets in the partial downstream data packets, the UE may start a counter according to the value of m carried in the previous downstream data packet, and generate an upstream data packet corresponding to the previous downstream data packet and QOS rules of upstream data packets corresponding to m downstream data packets corresponding to the two downstream data packets. After the QOS rule of the upstream packet corresponding to the last downstream packet of the m downstream packets is generated, the counter is reset to zero. At this time, if the UE receives the next downstream packet of the two downstream packets and the RQI field in the next downstream packet is set, the UE may start the counter according to the value of m carried in the next downstream packet, and similarly perform the foregoing steps. It should be understood that the value of m carried in the previous downstream packet and the next downstream packet in the two downstream packets may be the same or different.

The case where a part of the downstream data packet includes n downstream data packets in succession will be described with reference to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the n consecutive downstream packets may be the 1 st to n th downstream packets corresponding to the SDF. In this case, the setting performed by the UPF network element on the RQI field in the partial downstream packet corresponding to the SDF may be used to instruct the UE to generate QOS rules for all the upstream packets corresponding to the SDF.

In other embodiments, the n consecutive downstream data packets may be any n consecutive downstream data packets except the 1 st downstream data packet corresponding to the SDF. In this case, the setting performed by the UPF network element on the RQI field in the partial downlink packet corresponding to the SDF may be used to instruct the UE to generate QOS rules only for the partial uplink packet corresponding to the SDF (e.g., the uplink packet corresponding to the 1 st downlink packet and the uplink packets corresponding to all downlink packets after the 1 st downlink packet in any n consecutive downlink packets).

For example, the 10 consecutive downstream packets may be the 3 rd to 12 th downstream packets corresponding to the SDF. The setting performed by the UPF network element on the RQI field in the 3 rd downlink packet to the 12 th downlink packet may be used to instruct the UE to generate QOS rules only for the uplink packet corresponding to the 3 rd downlink packet and for the uplink packets corresponding to all downlink packets after the 3 rd downlink packet, without generating QOS rules for part of the uplink packets corresponding to the 1 st downlink packet and the 2 nd downlink packet.

In some embodiments, the larger the number of downstream packets corresponding to SDF per unit time, the smaller the value of n. For example, since the number of downstream packets corresponding to a voice traffic data stream per unit time is generally greater than the number of downstream packets corresponding to a web browsing traffic data stream, the value of n in the case where the SDF is a voice traffic data stream is smaller than the value of n in the case where the SDF is a web browsing traffic data stream. For example, the value of n may be 5 in the case where the SDF is a voice traffic data stream, and 10 in the case where the SDF is a web browsing traffic data stream.

Thus, the value of n can be set according to the service type corresponding to the SDF, so as to further improve the data transmission efficiency.

In some embodiments, the reflected QOS indication information received by the UPF network element may include values of QER and n.

In some embodiments, the value of n may be located in QER, i.e., QER carries the value of n. Thus, the UPF network element can obtain the value of n by receiving the QER.

In some embodiments, the UPF Network element may send a portion of the downlink data packet to the UE via AN Access Network (AN), so that the UE generates QOS rules of at least a portion of the uplink data packet corresponding to the SDF according to the portion of the downlink data packet.

The steps that the UE may perform are described next in connection with some embodiments.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of a communication method according to further embodiments of the present disclosure.

Communication methods according to other embodiments of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps 202 through 204 shown in fig. 2.

In step 202, the ue receives a portion of the downlink data packet corresponding to the SDF from the UPF network element.

Here, the RQI field in the partial downstream packet is set, and the RQI field in the downstream packet other than the partial downstream packet corresponding to the SDF is not set. For example, the RQI field in a portion of the downstream packet is set (e.g., the RQI field is set to 1), and the RQI field in the other downstream packet corresponding to the SDF defaults to 0.

In some embodiments, part of the downlink data packets received by the UE may be continuous or discontinuous.

In step 204, the ue generates QOS rules for at least a portion of the upstream data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the portion of the downstream data packets.

In some embodiments, when the partial downlink data packet includes discontinuous n downlink data packets, the UE may generate, according to the partial downlink data packet, an uplink data packet corresponding to a previous downlink data packet in two adjacent downlink data packets in the partial data packet and QOS rules of uplink data packets corresponding to m downlink data packets corresponding to the two downlink data packets.

In this case, m downstream packets corresponding to an interval between two adjacent downstream packets in the partial downstream packets may be greater than or equal to 1.

In other embodiments, in the case where the partial downlink data packet includes n continuous downlink data packets, as some implementation manners, if the n continuous downlink data packets are the 1 st to n th downlink data packets corresponding to the SDF, the UE may generate QOS rules of all uplink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the partial downlink data packet; as another implementation manner, if the n consecutive downstream packets are any n downstream packets except the 1 st downstream packet corresponding to the SDF, the UE may generate QOS rules for a part of the upstream packets corresponding to the SDF (e.g., part of the upstream packets corresponding to all of the downstream packets after any n downstream packets) according to the part of the downstream packets.

As some implementations of step 204, the UE may generate, according to the partial downlink data packet, an uplink data packet corresponding to a previous downlink data packet in the two downlink data packets and QOS rules of uplink data packets corresponding to the m downlink data packets.

Additional details of the method shown in fig. 2 can be found in the foregoing related embodiments of the method shown in fig. 1, and will not be described herein.

The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure is further described below with reference to fig. 3 and 4.

Fig. 3 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to further embodiments of the present disclosure.

Communication methods according to other embodiments of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps 302 through 318 shown in fig. 3.

In step 302, the pcf network element determines whether the SDF needs to employ a reflective QOS mechanism.

In some embodiments, the PCF network element may determine, according to the service requirement corresponding to the SDF, whether the SDF needs to use QOS reflection mechanism.

In the event that a determination is made that the SDF needs to use the reflective QOS mechanism, execution continues with step 304.

In step 304, the pcf network element generates reflected QOS indication information (in some embodiments, the reflected QOS indication information is the first reflected QOS indication information).

Here, the reflective QOS indication information may carry an identification of the SDF.

In step 306, the pcf network element sends the reflected QOS indication information to the SMF network element.

In step 308, the smf network element sends the reflected QOS indication information to the UPF network element.

Here, the reflective QOS indication information is used to instruct the UPF network element to perform setting on the RQI field in only the part of the downstream packet corresponding to the SDF.

For example, in the case where a part of the downstream data packet includes n downstream data packets in succession, the reflected QOS indication information may include QER and the value of n.

For example, in the case where a part of the downstream packets includes discontinuous n downstream packets and m downstream packets corresponding to the interval between two adjacent downstream packets, the reflection QOS indication information (in this case, the reflection QOS indication information is the first reflection QOS indication information) may include values of QER and m.

In step 310, the upf network element only performs setting on the RQI field in the partial downlink packet corresponding to the SDF according to the reflected QOS indication information.

The upf network element sends a portion of the downstream data packet to the AN in step 312.

For example, the AN may be a radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN).

The an sends a portion of the downlink data packet to the UE in step 314.

In some embodiments, the UPF network element sends all downlink data packets corresponding to the SDF to the AN, and forwards the downlink data packets from the AN to the UE. Only the RQI field in a part of the downstream packets corresponding to the SDF is set, and the RQI fields in the downstream packets except for the part of the downstream packets are not set.

In step 316, the ue generates QOS rules for at least a portion of the upstream data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the portion of the downstream data packets.

In step 318, the ue performs control on at least a portion of the uplink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the QOS rule generated.

The method shown in fig. 3 may be specifically described with reference to the foregoing related embodiments of the methods shown in fig. 1 and 2, and will not be described herein.

Fig. 4 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to further embodiments of the present disclosure.

Communication methods according to other embodiments of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps 402 through 416 shown in fig. 4.

In step 402, the smf network element determines whether the SDF needs to employ a reflective QOS mechanism.

In some embodiments, the SMF network element may determine whether the SDF needs to use QOS reflection mechanisms according to the service requirements corresponding to the SDF.

In the event that the SDF is determined to require the use of a reflective QOS mechanism, execution continues at step 404.

At step 404, the smf network element generates reflective QOS indication information (in some embodiments, the reflective QOS indication information is first reflective QOS indication information).

In step 406, the smf network element sends the reflected QOS indication information to the UPF network element.

In step 408, the upf network element only sets the RQI field in the partial downstream packet corresponding to the SDF according to the reflected QOS indication information.

In step 410, the upf network element sends a portion of the downstream packet to the AN.

The an sends a portion of the downlink data packet to the UE in step 412.

In step 414, the ue generates QOS rules for at least a portion of the upstream data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the portion of the downstream data packets.

In step 416, the ue performs control on at least a portion of the uplink data packet corresponding to the SDF according to the QOS rule generated.

The specific descriptions of steps 406 to 416 may be referred to the descriptions of steps 308 to 318, and are not repeated here.

In this specification, each embodiment is described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment is mainly described in a different manner from other embodiments, so that the same or similar parts between the embodiments are mutually referred to. For the UPF network element and the UE embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant points refer to part of the description of the method embodiment, since they basically correspond to the method embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a UPF network element according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 5, the UPF network element 500 includes a receiving module 501 and a setting module 502.

The receiving module 501 may be configured to receive reflected QOS indication information (in some embodiments, the reflected QOS indication information is first reflected QOS indication information).

Here, the reflected QOS indication information includes an identification of the service data flow SDF.

The setting module 502 may be configured to perform setting on only the reflection QOS indication RQI field in the partial downstream packet corresponding to the SDF according to the reflection QOS indication information.

In some embodiments, the setting module 502 may be configured to perform setting on only the reflection QOS indication RQI field in the portion of the downstream packet corresponding to the SDF according to the reflection QOS indication information, where the portion of the downstream packet is not continuous.

In some embodiments, the UPF network element 500 may also include other modules that perform other operations described above.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a UE according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 6, the UE 600 includes a receiving module 601 and a generating module 602.

The receiving module 601 may be configured to receive a portion of a downstream packet corresponding to an SDF from a UPF network element. Here, the RQI field in the partial downstream packet is set, and the RQI field in the downstream packet other than the partial downstream packet corresponding to the SDF is not set.

In some embodiments, the receiving module 601 may be configured to receive discontinuous portions of downstream data packets corresponding to SDFs from UPF network elements.

The generating module 602 may be configured to generate QOS rules for at least a portion of the upstream data packets corresponding to the SDF from the portion of the downstream data packets.

In some embodiments, the UE 600 may also include other modules to perform other operations described above.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 7, an electronic device 700 includes a memory 701 and a processor 702 coupled to the memory 701, the processor 702 being configured to perform the method of any of the foregoing embodiments based on instructions stored in the memory 701.

The memory 701 may include, for example, system memory, fixed nonvolatile storage media, and the like. The system memory may store, for example, an operating system, application programs, boot Loader (Boot Loader), and other programs.

The electronic device 700 may also include an input-output interface 703, a network interface 704, a storage interface 705, and the like. These interfaces 703, 704, 705 and between the memory 701 and the processor 702 may be connected by a bus 706, for example. The input/output interface 703 provides a connection interface for input/output devices such as a display, mouse, keyboard, touch screen, etc. The network interface 704 provides a connection interface for various networking devices. The storage interface 705 provides a connection interface for external storage devices such as SD cards, U discs, and the like.

In some embodiments, the electronic device 700 may be a UPF network element or a UE.

As shown in fig. 8, a communication system 800 includes a UPF network element 801 (e.g., UPF network element 801 is UPF network element 500/700) and an SMF network element 802 of any of the embodiments described above.

The SMF network element 802 may be configured to send reflective QOS indication information (in some embodiments, the reflective QOS indication information is first reflective QOS indication information) to the UPF network element 801, where the reflective QOS indication information includes an identification of the SDF.

In some embodiments, communication system 800 may also include PCF network element 803.PCF network element 803 may be configured to generate and send reflected QOS indication information to SMF network element 802.

In some embodiments, the communication system 800 may further comprise AN configured to receive a portion of the data packet from the UPF network element 801 and transmit the portion of the data packet to the UE.

In some embodiments, the communication system 800 may also include a UE 804 (e.g., UE 600/700) of any of the embodiments described above.

The disclosed embodiments also provide a computer readable storage medium comprising computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the method of any of the above embodiments.

The disclosed embodiments also provide a computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any of the above embodiments.

Thus, various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail. In order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the present disclosure, some details known in the art are not described. How to implement the solutions disclosed herein will be fully apparent to those skilled in the art from the above description.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present disclosure may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable non-transitory storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present disclosure is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. It will be understood that functions specified in one or more of the flowcharts and/or one or more of the blocks in the block diagrams may be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Although some specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail by way of example, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above examples are for illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing embodiments may be modified and equivalents substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the user plane function UPF network element receives first reflection service quality QOS indication information, wherein the first reflection QOS indication information comprises an identifier of a service data flow SDF;

and the UPF network element only sets a reflection QOS indication RQI field in a part of downlink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the first reflection QOS indication information, wherein the part of downlink data packets are discontinuous.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein m downstream packets are corresponding to an interval between two adjacent downstream packets in the partial downstream packets, at least two m being equal in value, and m being greater than or equal to 1.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the values of any two m are the same.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the partial downstream packets include the xth (m+1) +1st downstream packet corresponding to the SDF, x being equal to or greater than 0, and x being an integer.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the greater the number of downstream packets corresponding to the SDF per unit time, the greater the value of m.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein m is equal to or greater than 1, where the setting is used to instruct the UE to generate QOS rules for an uplink packet corresponding to a previous downlink packet of the two downlink packets and an uplink packet corresponding to the m downlink packets.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein at least a 1 st downstream packet of the partial downstream packets carries a value of m corresponding to the 1 st downstream packet and the 2 nd downstream packet of the partial downstream packets.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the number of the partial downlink data packets is M, and the 1 st downlink data packet in the partial downlink data packets further carries a value M corresponding to the i-th downlink data packet and the i+1th downlink data packet in the partial downlink data packets, where 2.ltoreq.i.ltoreq.m-1, and m.ltoreq.3.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein a previous downstream packet of the two downstream packets carries a value of m corresponding to the two downstream packets.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein m downstream packets corresponding to an interval between two adjacent downstream packets in the partial downstream packets are m ≡1, and the first reflection QOS indication information includes QOS execution rules QER and a value of m.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the value of m is located in the QER.

12. The method of any of claims 1-11, further comprising:

The UPF network element receives second reflection QOS indication information, wherein the second reflection QOS indication information comprises an identifier of the SDF;

and the UPF network element stops executing the setting according to the second reflection QOS indication information.

13. The method of any of claims 1-11, further comprising:

and the UPF network element sends the partial downlink data packet to User Equipment (UE) through an access network so that the UE generates QOS rules of at least partial uplink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the partial downlink data packet.

14. The method according to any of claims 1-11, wherein the first reflected QOS indication information is sent by a session management function, SMF, network element to the UPF network element.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first reflected QOS indication information is generated by the SMF network element or generated by a policy control function PCF network element and sent to the SMF network element.

16. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that UE receives discontinuous partial downlink data packets corresponding to SDF from a UPF network element, RQI fields in the partial downlink data packets are set, and RQI fields in other downlink data packets corresponding to the SDF except the partial downlink data packets are not set;

And the UE generates QOS rules of at least part of uplink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the part of downlink data packets.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein m downlink data packets corresponding to an interval between two adjacent downlink data packets in the partial downlink data packet, m being greater than or equal to 1, the UE generating QOS rules of at least part of uplink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the partial downlink data packet includes:

and the UE generates an uplink data packet corresponding to the previous downlink data packet in the two downlink data packets and QOS rules of the uplink data packets corresponding to the m downlink data packets according to the partial downlink data packets.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein m downstream data packets corresponding to an interval between two adjacent downstream data packets in the partial downstream data packets have at least two m equal values, and m is equal to or greater than 1.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the values of any two m are the same.

20. A user plane functional network element comprising:

a receiving module configured to receive first reflected QOS indication information, the first reflected QOS indication information comprising an identification of a service data flow SDF;

And the setting module is configured to execute setting on the reflection QOS indication RQI field in the part of the downlink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the first reflection QOS indication information, wherein the part of the downlink data packets are discontinuous.

21. A user plane functional network element comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory and configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-15 based on instructions stored in the memory.

22. A user equipment, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive discontinuous partial downlink data packets corresponding to SDFs from a UPF network element, where an RQI field in the partial downlink data packet is set, and an RQI field in other downlink data packets corresponding to the SDFs except for the partial downlink data packet is not set;

and the generating module is configured to generate QOS rules of at least part of uplink data packets corresponding to the SDF according to the part of downlink data packets.

23. A user equipment, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory and configured to perform the method of any of claims 16-19 based on instructions stored in the memory.

24. A communication system, comprising:

the user plane function, UPF, network element of claim 20 or 21; and

and the SMF network element is configured to send the first reflection QOS indication information to the UPF network element, wherein the first reflection QOS indication information comprises an identification of the SDF.

25. The system of claim 24, further comprising:

and the PCF network element is configured to generate the first reflection QOS indication information and send the first reflection QOS indication information to the SMF network element.

26. The system of claim 24 or 25, further comprising:

the user equipment, UE, of claim 22 or 23.

27. A computer readable storage medium comprising computer program instructions, wherein the computer program instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the method of any of claims 1-19.

28. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any of claims 1-19.