CN118055517A

CN118055517A - User plane path construction method, device and network node

Info

Publication number: CN118055517A
Application number: CN202211399615.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 宋雅琴
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-11-09
Filing date: 2022-11-09
Publication date: 2024-05-17
Also published as: WO2024099064A1

Abstract

The application discloses a user plane path construction method, a device and a network node, wherein the method comprises the following steps: establishing a cross-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of a first node and a second cross-domain user plane function of a second node; and establishing an intra-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the user plane function of the first node, and realizing the construction of the cross-domain user plane path.

Description

User plane path construction method, device and network node

Technical Field

The application belongs to the technical field of communication, and particularly relates to a user plane path construction method, a user plane path construction device and a network node.

Background

Current fifth generation mobile communication technology (5th Generation,5G) mobile communication network system native design is centralized control, with the development of networks, the trend of 6G networks is to centralize and centralize network architecture combined with distribution, and sixth generation mobile communication technology (6th generation,6G) will extend more network functions to network edges to construct distributed isomorphic units with different functional levels, and each distributed unit (i.e. distributed network node described below) has complete control and data forwarding functions.

In a distributed network architecture, the user plane path often occurs across distributed network nodes. For example, when there is no user plane anchor point satisfying user requirements in a distributed node currently accessed by a terminal, a user plane path for establishing a session may cross the distributed node; the target user plane path after terminal movement may span different distributed nodes.

How to construct a user plane path across distributed network nodes is a challenge.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a user plane path construction method, a device and a distributed network node, which solve the problem of how to construct a user plane path crossing the distributed network node.

In a first aspect, a method for constructing a user plane path is provided, which is applied to a first node, and includes:

establishing a cross-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of a first node and a second cross-domain user plane function of a second node;

And establishing an intra-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the user plane function of the first node.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

Selecting the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through a session management function of the first node;

Or alternatively

The first cross-domain user plane function is selected by the session management function of the first node, and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node is selected by the session management function of the second node.

Optionally, the establishing a cross-domain user plane path between the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node includes:

Acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function;

and establishing a cross-domain user plane path between the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node according to the related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, in the case that the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function are selected by the session management function of the first node, the acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function includes:

acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function;

Or alternatively

And acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

Sending a first request message for creating a session to a session management function of the second node through the session management function of the first node, wherein the first request message carries information of the second cross-domain user plane function and related information of the first cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, in case the first cross-domain user plane function is selected by a session management function of the first node, the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node is selected by a session management function of the second node,

The obtaining the related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function includes:

Acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node;

Or alternatively

And acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function, interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node, and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

And sending a second request message for creating a session to the session management function of the second node through the session management function of the first node, wherein the second request message carries related information of the first cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, the first cross-domain user plane function is selected according to at least one of a location of the second node, an identification of the second node, a load of the user plane function, a cross-domain capability of the user plane function, locally configured cross-domain information, anchor point capability, DNAI information;

And/or the number of the groups of groups,

The second cross-domain user plane function is at least one of a position of the first node, an identification of the first node, a load of the user plane function, a cross-domain capability of the user plane function, locally configured cross-domain information, anchor point capability, DNAI information, and the second cross-domain user plane function is selected.

Optionally, the locally configured cross-domain information and/or the cross-domain capability of the user plane function is determined based on at least one of a deployment location of the user plane function, a service range of the user plane function, a forwarding capability of the user plane function, and an operator policy.

In a second aspect, a method for constructing a user plane path is provided, which is applied to a second node, and includes:

Establishing a cross-domain user plane path between a second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and a first cross-domain user plane function of the first node;

and establishing an intra-domain user plane path between a second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and the user plane function of the second node.

Optionally, establishing a cross-domain user plane path between the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node includes:

Optionally, acquiring the related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function includes:

Acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the first cross-domain user plane function;

Or alternatively

And acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the session management function of the first node and interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the first cross-domain user plane function.

Receiving, by the session management function of the second node, related information of the first cross-domain function user plane sent by the session management function of the first node;

selecting a second cross-domain user plane function by a session management function of the second node;

And acquiring related information of the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the second node and the second cross-domain user plane function.

and acquiring related information of the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the second node and the second cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the first cross-domain user plane function.

In a third aspect, a user plane path building apparatus is provided, applied to a first node, including:

A first establishing module, configured to establish a cross-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of a first node and a second cross-domain user plane function of a second node;

And the second establishing module is used for establishing an intra-domain user plane path between the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the user plane function of the first node.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

A selection module, configured to select, by using a session management function of the first node, the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function; or selecting the first cross-domain user plane function by the session management function of the first node, the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node being selected by the session management function of the second node.

Optionally, the first establishing module includes:

A first obtaining unit, configured to obtain related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function;

a first establishing unit, configured to establish a cross-domain user plane path between the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node according to the related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, in the case that the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function are selected by a session management function of the first node, the first obtaining unit is further configured to: acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function; or acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, in a case where the first cross-domain user plane function is selected by the session management function of the first node, and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node is selected by the session management function of the second node, the first obtaining unit is further configured to: acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node; or acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function, interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node, and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

In a fourth aspect, a user plane path building apparatus is provided, which is applied to a second node, and includes:

A third establishing module, configured to establish a cross-domain user plane path between a second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and a first cross-domain user plane function of the first node;

and a fourth establishing module, configured to establish an intra-domain user plane path between a second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and the user plane function of the second node.

Optionally, the third establishing module includes:

A second obtaining unit, configured to obtain related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function;

A second establishing unit, configured to establish a cross-domain user plane path between the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node according to the related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, the second obtaining unit is further configured to:

Or acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the session management function of the first node and interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the first cross-domain user plane function;

Receiving, by the session management function of the second node, related information of the first cross-domain function user plane sent by the session management function of the first node; selecting a second cross-domain user plane function by a session management function of the second node; acquiring related information of the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the second node and the second cross-domain user plane function;

Or alternatively

Selecting a second cross-domain user plane function by a session management function of the second node; and acquiring related information of the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the second node and the second cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the first cross-domain user plane function.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a network node comprising: memory, transceiver, processor; wherein the memory is used for storing a computer program; the processor is configured to implement the steps of the user plane path building method according to the first aspect or the second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a processor readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the user plane path building method according to the first or second aspect.

In the embodiment of the application, the first node comprises one or more cross-domain user plane functions, when a cross-distributed node user plane path is required to be constructed between the first node and the second node, an inter-domain user plane path is established through the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node, and an intra-domain user plane node is established through the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the user plane function of the first node, so that the construction of the cross-domain user plane path is completed.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a distributed autonomous 6G system architecture;

fig. 2 is one of flowcharts of a user plane path constructing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a second flowchart of a method for constructing a user plane path according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a single cross-domain user plane function provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a functional schematic of multiple cross-domain user planes provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a cross-domain user plane function of each distributed network node provided in an embodiment of the present application and a node directly connected to the distributed network node;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a user plane path establishment procedure according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 8 is a second schematic diagram of a user plane path establishment procedure according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a third schematic diagram of a user plane path establishment procedure according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 10 is a third schematic diagram of a user plane path establishment procedure according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of three distributed network nodes provided in an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 12 is one of schematic diagrams of a user plane path constructing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a second schematic diagram of a user plane path constructing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a network node according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application will be clearly described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which are derived by a person skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the application, fall within the scope of protection of the application.

The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the application are capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein, and that the "first" and "second" distinguishing between objects generally are not limited in number to the extent that the first object may, for example, be one or more. Furthermore, in the description and claims, "and/or" means at least one of the connected objects, and the character "/" generally means a relationship in which the associated object is an "or" before and after.

In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solution of the present application, a system architecture of a distributed autonomous sixth generation mobile communication system (the sixth generation mobile, 6G) is described below.

An important trend in the development of 6G networks is the centralized and distributed network architecture. The network architecture native design of the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5th Generation,5G) and the previous generations is controlled centrally, and with the development of the network, the design of the 6G network needs to consider the distributed architecture, as shown in fig. 1, with the dual driving forces of service development and technology development, and the control of the 6G network is gradually evolved towards the distributed architecture.

The 6G network is oriented to various scenes of sky, ground and sea and network performance requirements, and a centralized network architecture cannot uniformly meet all scenes. To address this challenge, 6G network architecture needs to go beyond centralized control, evolve gradually towards a distributed architecture, extend more network functions to the network edge, build distributed homogeneous micro Cloud units (SCUs) with different levels of functionality, each distributed Unit (or referred to as a distributed network node) is self-contained, with all functions of complete control and data forwarding. The multiple micro cloud units form an autonomous micro network according to service requirements in a cross-domain manner, and network services are provided in a targeted manner according to requirements of specific service scenes, user scales, geographic environments and the like.

The current method for constructing the user plane path of the single node cannot be well applied to the distributed network scene. The main disadvantages are:

(1) The user plane paths of the distributed network may relate to user plane functions located in different distributed nodes, and session management functions between different nodes may not control or discover all user plane functions and related information in other nodes, which may cause challenges in constructing the user plane paths between the distributed network nodes.

(2) If the selection of the intra-domain user plane function is independently completed in each node and the information interaction is completed through the control plane message, an optimal user plane path may not be constructed, and the problem of high cost for constructing the user plane path may be caused.

The embodiment of the application provides a user plane path construction method, a device and a network node, the method and the device are based on the same application conception, and because the principle of solving the problems by the method and the device is similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be mutually referred, and the repeated parts are not repeated.

The nodes herein may also be referred to as distributed network nodes, e.g. a first node may also be referred to as a first distributed network node and a second node may also be referred to as a peer node or a second distributed network node.

Referring to fig. 2, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for constructing a path of a user plane of a distributed network, which is applied to a first node, and specifically includes the steps of: step 201 and step 202.

Step 201: establishing a cross-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of a first node and a second cross-domain user plane function of a second node;

In this embodiment, the first node may have one or more cross-domain user plane functions, and the second node may have one or more cross-domain user plane functions.

The cross-domain user plane function is a special user plane function that can be controlled or discovered by other distributed network nodes, for example, the service range of the cross-domain user plane function is larger or the forwarding performance is higher.

Step 202: and establishing an intra-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the user plane function of the first node.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the sequence of the step 201 and the step 202 is not limited, that is, the step 201 may be performed first and then the step 202 may be performed, or the step 202 may be performed first and then the step 201 may be performed, or the step 201 and the step 202 may be performed simultaneously.

It will be appreciated that the present embodiment may be applied to two scenarios:

scene 1: the first node (without distinguishing the node situation connected with the first node) has one or more cross-domain user plane functions, and when other nodes need to construct a cross-domain user plane path with the first node, the first node selects one cross-domain user plane function as a part of the user plane path constructed by other nodes according to at least one of opposite end node information (such as position), load information of the user plane function, policy information and the like.

Scene 2: one or more cross-domain user plane functions corresponding to other nodes are respectively arranged between the first node and the centralized node and/or the neighbor nodes directly connected with the first node. When a user plane path is required to be constructed between the node and the node, selecting a cross-domain user plane function corresponding to the opposite node as a part of the user plane path according to at least one of opposite node identification, load information of the user plane function, strategy information and the like.

It will be appreciated that the distinction between scenario 1 and scenario 2 is that scenario 1 is to set the cross-domain user plane function for the node to which it is connected without distinction, and scenario 2 is to set the cross-domain user plane function for the node to which it is connected.

In one embodiment of the present application, the manner of selecting the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function includes:

Mode 1: the session management function of the first node selects a first cross-domain user plane function and a second cross-domain user plane function, i.e. the method further comprises: selecting the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through a session management function of the first node;

Mode 2: the session management function of the first node selects a first cross-domain user plane function, and the session management function of the second node selects a second cross-domain user plane function, i.e. the method further comprises: the first cross-domain user plane function is selected by the session management function of the first node, and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node is selected by the session management function of the second node.

In one embodiment of the present application, the establishing a cross-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of a first node and a second cross-domain user plane function of a second node includes:

Optionally, the related information of the first cross-domain user plane function includes at least one of a name of the first cross-domain user plane function, an address of the first cross-domain user plane function, and tunnel information of the first cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, the related information of the second cross-domain user plane function includes at least one of a name of the second cross-domain user plane function, an address of the second cross-domain user plane function, tunnel information of the second cross-domain user plane function, a packet matching and forwarding rule, a QoS rule, and the like.

In one embodiment of the present application, in a case where the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function are selected by the session management function of the first node, the acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function includes one of the following:

(1) Acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function;

(2) And acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

In one embodiment of the application, the method further comprises:

In one embodiment of the application, in case the first cross-domain user plane function is selected by a session management function of the first node, the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node is selected by a session management function of the second node,

The acquiring the related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function includes one of the following steps:

(1) Acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node;

(2) And acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function, interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node, and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

In one embodiment of the application, the method further comprises:

In one embodiment of the present application, the first cross-domain user plane function is selected according to at least one of a location of the second node, an identification of the second node, a load of a user plane function, a cross-domain capability of a user plane function, locally configured cross-domain information, an anchor capability, and Data Network access identifier (Data Network ACCESS IDENTIFIER, DNAI) information;

In one embodiment of the present application, the second cross-domain user plane function is at least one of a location of the first node, an identifier of the first node, a load of the user plane function, a cross-domain capability of the user plane function, locally configured cross-domain information, an anchor point capability, DNAI information, and the second cross-domain user plane function is selected.

In one embodiment of the present application, the locally configured cross-domain information and/or the cross-domain capability of the user plane function is determined based on at least one of a deployment location of the user plane function, a service scope of the user plane function, a forwarding capability of the user plane function, and an operator policy.

In the embodiment of the application, the first node comprises one or more cross-domain user plane functions, when a cross-domain user plane path of the distributed node is required to be constructed with the second node, the inter-domain user plane path is established through the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node, and the intra-domain user plane node is established through the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the user plane function of the first node, so that the construction of the cross-domain user plane path is completed, and the construction time delay of the cross-domain user plane path is reduced.

Referring to fig. 3, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for constructing a path of a user plane of a distributed network, which is applied to a second node, and specifically includes the steps of: step 301 and step 302.

Step 301: establishing a cross-domain user plane path between a second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and a first cross-domain user plane function of the first node;

step 302: and establishing an intra-domain user plane path between a second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and the user plane function of the second node.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the sequence of the step 301 and the step 302 is not limited, that is, the step 301 may be performed first and then the step 302 may be performed, or the step 302 may be performed first and then the step 301 may be performed, or the step 301 and the step 302 may be performed simultaneously.

In one embodiment of the present application, establishing a cross-domain user plane path between a second cross-domain user plane function of a second node and a first cross-domain user plane function of a first node includes:

In one embodiment of the present application, acquiring the related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function includes one of the following:

(1) Acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the first cross-domain user plane function;

(2) And acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the session management function of the first node and interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the first cross-domain user plane function.

In one embodiment of the present application, obtaining the related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function includes:

In the embodiment of the application, the second node comprises one or more cross-domain user plane functions, when a cross-domain user plane path of the distributed node is required to be constructed with the first node, the inter-domain user plane path is established through the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node, and the intra-domain user plane node is established through the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and the user plane function of the second node, so that the construction of the cross-domain user plane path is completed, and the construction time delay of the cross-domain user plane path is reduced.

For a better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, examples 1 to 3 are described below.

Example 1:

Example 1.1: there is one cross-domain user plane function per distributed network node, as shown in fig. 4.

The distributed network node 1 includes a session management function, a user plane function and a cross-domain user plane function, and the distributed network node 2 includes a session management function, a user plane function and a cross-domain user plane function, it is to be understood that the number of the user plane functions and the cross-domain user plane functions of the distributed network node 1 and the distributed network node 2 in the figure may be one or more, that is, the number of the user plane functions and the cross-domain user plane functions of the distributed network node 1 and the distributed network node 2 is not limited.

When the construction of the user plane path between the distributed network node 1 and the distributed network node 2 is involved, the cross-domain user plane functions in the distributed network node 1 and the distributed network node 2 are respectively selected, and the path is established between the two cross-domain user plane functions.

The method for establishing the path between the two cross-domain user plane functions may be to allocate and exchange user plane tunnel information, or may also be in an IP routing manner, which is not limited herein.

Further, the method for allocating and exchanging the user plane tunnel information may be directly exchanged through the user plane message or may also be exchanged through the control plane message. For the method of control plane message exchange, according to the authority problem of the control plane network function and the user plane function, one session management function on one distributed network node may be involved, and two session management functions on two distributed network nodes may be involved.

The cross-domain user plane function may be used as information of local configuration of the session management function, or may also be used as a capability of the user plane function, for example, an uplink splitter (UL CL), a protocol data unit session anchor point (PDU Session Anchor, PSA), inter-domain (Interdomain) routing, simple forwarding (simple forwarder), and the like. When the cross-domain user plane function exists as a capability, screening can be completed through the capability when the session management function selects the user plane function; or the user plane function (User Plane Function, UPF) serves, the cross-domain capability may be used as one of the request parameters when the UPF is discovered by the network storage function (Network Repository Function, NRF).

The configuration of the cross-domain user plane functions may be based on deployment location (e.g., nearest-neighbor nodes), or on specific capabilities (e.g., higher forwarding performance), or according to operator policies.

Then, in the distributed network node 1 and the distributed network node 2, user plane path construction in the domain is completed according to the user plane path construction method in the single node. Thus, cross-domain user plane path construction is completed.

Example 1.2: there are multiple cross-domain user plane functions per distributed network node, as shown in fig. 5.

This embodiment differs from embodiment 1.1 in that there are multiple cross-domain user plane functions within one distributed network node, one of which needs to be selected.

The selection of the cross-domain user plane function may be based on at least one of: the method comprises the steps of selecting a cross-domain user plane function with smaller load and closer distance to a second node, wherein the cross-domain user plane function comprises load of the user plane function, deployment position of the first node, deployment position of the second node, cross-domain capability of the user plane function, locally configured cross-domain information, anchor point capability, data network access identification (DN ACCESS IDENTIFIER, DNAI) information and the like. For example, upon discovery through NRF, the cross-domain capability and/or the second node identification may be used as request parameters therein.

Example 1.3: each distributed network node has a cross-domain user plane function with the node directly connected with the distributed network node.

This embodiment differs from embodiment 1.1 in that the selection of the cross-domain user plane function corresponds to the second node.

As shown in fig. 6, the distributed network node 2 has a cross-domain user plane function corresponding to the distributed network node 1 and the distributed network node 3, respectively.

The cross-domain user plane function can be used as information of local configuration of the session management function, and when the session management function needs to execute user plane function selection to construct a cross-domain user plane path, the cross-domain user plane function for the second node is matched in the local configuration information through node identification information of the second node.

The cross-domain user plane function can also be used as a cross-domain capability of the user plane function, and the cross-domain user plane function is selected through the cross-domain capability, the node identification and the like.

It should be noted that, embodiment 1.3 is directed to setting a cross-domain user plane function corresponding to a directly connected distributed network node, and refers to granularity of setting the cross-domain user plane function, but does not exclude a scenario that one cross-domain user plane function is set for 2 connected distributed network nodes.

Example 1.4: each distributed network node has a plurality of cross-domain user plane functions for nodes directly connected with the distributed network node.

This embodiment differs from embodiment 1.3 in that there are multiple cross-domain user plane functions associated with the second node within one distributed network node, one of which needs to be selected.

The cross-domain user plane function having a smaller user plane function load and closer to the cross-domain user plane function of the second node may be preferentially selected based on at least one of the user plane function load, the deployment location of the second node, and the like.

Example 2: user plane path establishment flow

Example 2.1: based on the control plane message exchanging user plane information, the cross-domain user plane function can be controlled

Referring to fig. 7, the specific steps are as follows:

Step 1a: the session management function of the node 1 performs the selection of the cross-domain user plane function 1 and the selection of the cross-domain user plane function 2 of the second node;

wherein the selection of the intra-node cross-domain user plane function may be referred to the description in embodiment 1.

The selection of the second node cross-domain user plane function is similar, if the cross-domain user plane function of the node 2 is configured in the session management function 1 or found through NRF, the selection of the cross-domain user plane function of the node 2 is completed based on the information of the node, the load of the user plane function, and the like.

Step 1b: if the cross-domain user plane function in the node selected in the step 1a cannot serve as the AN side user plane function, continuing to execute the user plane function selection;

Step 2: sequentially constructing a cross-domain user plane path and a intra-domain user plane path in the node 1;

step 2a: the session management function 1 and the cross-domain user plane function 1 interact with each other to establish a request and a response;

step 2b: the session management function 1 and the cross-domain user plane function 2 interact with each other to establish a request and a response;

step 2c: the session management function 1 and the cross-domain user plane function 1 interact session modification requests and responses;

Step 2d: establishing an intra-domain user plane path;

step 3: the session management function 1 interacts with the session management function 2 to request to create a session, and carries the relevant information of the selected cross-domain user plane function 2;

Optionally, the related information of the cross-domain user plane function 2 includes at least one of a name of the cross-domain user plane function 2, an address of the cross-domain user plane function 2, a packet matching and forwarding rule, a QoS rule, and the like;

step 4: if the selected cross-domain user plane function 2 cannot serve as an anchor point for accessing the DN, continuing to execute user plane function selection;

Step 5: if the step 4 selects the user plane function, the user plane path establishment in the node 2 domain is completed;

Step 6: a session response is created.

Example 2.2: based on the control plane messages exchanging user plane information, cross-domain user plane functions can be discovered.

The main difference between this embodiment and embodiment 2.1 is that the cross-domain user plane function 2 related information interaction is performed by the session management function 2.

Referring to fig. 8, the specific steps are as follows:

step 1a: the session management function 1 of the node 1 performs the selection of the cross-domain user plane function 1;

step 1b: the session management function 1 of the node 1 performs the selection of the user plane function;

step 2: constructing an intra-domain user plane path in the node 1;

step 2b: establishing an intra-domain user plane path;

in this embodiment, no interaction between the cross-domain user plane functions 1 and 2 is involved;

Step 3: the session management function 1 interacts with the session management function 2, requests to create a session, and carries the related information of the selected cross-domain user plane function 1, wherein the related information of the cross-domain user plane function 1 comprises at least one of the name of the cross-domain user plane function 1, the address of the cross-domain user plane function 1, the tunnel information of the cross-domain user plane function 1 and the like;

step 4a: the session management function 2 selects the cross-domain user plane function 2 based on the information in the step 3 and the local information;

step 4b: if the selected cross-domain user plane function 2 cannot serve as an anchor point for accessing the DN, continuing to execute user plane function selection;

step 5a: the session management function 2 interacts with the cross-domain user plane function 2 to complete message matching and forwarding rule issuing and QoS rule issuing;

step 5b: establishing an intra-domain user plane path;

Step 6: the session management function 1 sends a create session response to the session management function 2, the session response comprising tunnel information of the cross-domain user plane function 2.

Step 7: the session management function 1 sends the received user plane information related to the cross-domain user plane function 2 to the cross-domain user plane function 1.

Example 2.3: user plane information is exchanged based on the user plane messages, and cross-domain is controllable.

The main difference between this embodiment and embodiment 2.1 is that user plane information is exchanged based on user plane messages.

Referring to fig. 9, the specific steps are as follows:

Step 1a: the session management function 1 of the node 1 performs selection of the cross-domain user plane function 1 and selection of the cross-domain user plane function 2 of the second node;

Wherein the selection of the cross-domain user plane function 1 in the node 1 is as described in embodiment 1;

The selection of the cross-domain user plane function 2 of the second node is also similar, if the cross-domain user plane function of the node 2 is configured in the session management function 1 or discovered through NRF, the selection of the cross-domain user plane function of the second node is completed based on the information, the load, and the like of the present node.

Step 2: and constructing a user plane path by a method for exchanging user plane path information based on the user plane message in turn.

Step 2a: the session management function 1 sends a session establishment request to the user plane function 1, the cross-domain user plane function 1 and the cross-domain user plane function 2;

step 2b: exchanging user plane path information between the cross-domain user plane function 1 and the cross-domain user plane function 2 through user plane information;

step 2c: the cross-domain user plane function 1, the user plane function 1 and the cross-domain user plane function 2 send a session establishment response to the session management function 1;

Step 3: the session management function 1 interacts with the session management function 2 to request to create a session, and carries related information of the cross-domain user plane function 1 and the cross-domain user plane function 2;

optionally, the cross-domain user plane function 1 related information includes at least one of a name of the cross-domain user plane function 1, an address of the cross-domain user plane function 1, tunnel information of the cross-domain user plane function 1, and the like.

Optionally, the cross-domain user plane function 2 related information includes at least one of a name of the cross-domain user plane function 2, an address of the cross-domain user plane function 2, a packet matching and forwarding rule, a QoS rule, and the like.

Step 6: a session response is created.

Example 2.4: user plane information is exchanged based on the user plane messages, and is discoverable across domains.

The main difference between this embodiment and embodiment 2.2 is that user plane information is exchanged based on user plane messages.

Referring to fig. 10, the specific steps are as follows:

step 2: constructing an intra-domain user plane path in the node 1;

step 2a: the session management function 1 sends a session establishment request to the user plane function 1 and the cross-domain user plane function 1;

step 2b: exchanging user plane path information between the user plane function 1 and the cross-domain user plane function 1 through user plane information;

step 2c: the cross-domain user plane function 1 and the user plane function 1 send a session establishment response to the session management function 1;

Step 3: the session management function 1 interacts with the session management function 2 to request to create a session and carry related information of the cross-domain user plane function 1, wherein the related information of the cross-domain user plane function 1 comprises at least one of a name of the cross-domain user plane function 1, an address of the cross-domain user plane function 1, tunnel information of the cross-domain user plane function 1 and the like;

Step 4a: the session management function 2 selects the cross-domain user plane function 2;

step 5a: the session management function 2 sends a session establishment request to the cross-domain user plane function 2;

Step 5b: exchanging user plane path information between the cross-domain user plane function 1 and the cross-domain user plane function 2 through user plane information;

Step 5c: the cross-domain user plane function 2 sends a session establishment response to the session management function 2;

Step 5d: establishing an intra-domain user plane path;

Step 6: a session response is created.

Example 3: non-adjacent node

Referring to fig. 11, when distributed node 1 and distributed node 2 are not directly adjacent, a cross-domain user plane path may be constructed by a centralized node, or by a common neighbor distributed node.

And selecting a cross-domain user plane function and constructing an inter-domain user plane path among the distributed node 1, the centralized node/neighbor node and the distributed node 2 respectively, and then constructing an intra-domain user plane path in each node, thereby completing the construction of the whole cross-domain user plane path.

Referring to fig. 12, an embodiment of the present application provides a user plane path constructing apparatus, applied to a first node, an apparatus 1200 includes:

a first establishing module 1201, configured to establish a cross-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of a first node and a second cross-domain user plane function of a second node;

A second establishing module 1202 is configured to establish an intra-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and a user plane function of the first node.

In one embodiment of the application, the apparatus further comprises:

In one embodiment of the present application, the first setup module 1201 includes:

In one embodiment of the present application, in case the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function are selected by a session management function of the first node, the first obtaining unit is further configured to: acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function; or acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

In one embodiment of the application, the apparatus further comprises:

a first sending module, configured to send, by using a session management function of the first node, a first request message for creating a session to a session management function of the second node, where the first request message carries information of the second cross-domain user plane function and related information of the first cross-domain user plane function.

In one embodiment of the present application, in the case that the first cross-domain user plane function is selected by the session management function of the first node, and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node is selected by the session management function of the second node, the first obtaining unit is further configured to: acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node; or acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function, interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node, and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

In one embodiment of the application, the apparatus further comprises:

And the second sending module is used for sending a second request message for creating the session to the session management function of the second node through the session management function of the first node, wherein the second request message carries related information of the first cross-domain user plane function.

In one embodiment of the present application, the first cross-domain user plane function is selected according to at least one of a location of the second node, an identification of the second node, a load of the user plane function, a cross-domain capability of the user plane function, locally configured cross-domain information, anchor point capability, DNAI information;

And/or the number of the groups of groups,

In the embodiment of the present application, the device can implement each process implemented in the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 2 of the present application and achieve the same beneficial effects, and in order to avoid repetition, the description is omitted here.

Referring to fig. 13, an embodiment of the present application provides a user plane path constructing apparatus, applied to a second node, where an apparatus 1300 includes:

A third establishing module 1301, configured to establish a cross-domain user plane path between a second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and a first cross-domain user plane function of the first node;

a fourth establishing module 1302 is configured to establish an intra-domain user plane path between a second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and the user plane function of the second node.

In one embodiment of the present application, the third setup module 1301 includes:

In one embodiment of the present application, the second acquisition unit is further configured to:

Or alternatively

In the embodiment of the present application, the device can implement each process implemented in the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 3 of the present application and achieve the same beneficial effects, and in order to avoid repetition, the description is omitted here.

It should be noted that, the above device provided in this embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented in the method embodiment applied to the communication device, and can achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those in the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the modules is schematic, which is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be implemented in actual implementation. In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing module, or each module may exist alone physically, or two or more modules may be integrated into one module. The integrated modules may be implemented in hardware or in software functional units.

The integrated modules, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied in essence or a part contributing to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

As shown in fig. 14, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a distributed network node device, including: memory 1420, transceiver 1400, processor 1410; wherein the memory 1420 is used for storing a computer program; a processor 1410 configured to establish a cross-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of a first node and a second cross-domain user plane function of a second node; establishing an intra-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and a user plane function of the first node; or establishing a cross-domain user plane path between a second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and a first cross-domain user plane function of the first node; and establishing an intra-domain user plane path between a second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and the user plane function of the second node.

Optionally, the processor 1410 is further configured to select the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through a session management function of the first node; or selecting the first cross-domain user plane function by the session management function of the first node, the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node being selected by the session management function of the second node.

Optionally, the processor 1410 is further configured to obtain related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function; and establishing a cross-domain user plane path between the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node according to the related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, the processor 1410 is further configured to obtain related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function; or acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, the transceiver 1400 is configured to send, by using the session management function of the first node, a first request message for creating a session to the session management function of the second node, where the first request message carries information of the second cross-domain user plane function and related information of the first cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, the processor 1410 is further configured to obtain related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node; or acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function, interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node, and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, transceiver 1400 is further configured to send, by the session management function of the first node, a second request message for creating a session to the session management function of the second node, where the second request message carries information related to the first cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, the processor 1410 is further configured to obtain related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the first cross-domain user plane function; or acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the session management function of the first node and interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the first cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, the processor 1410 is further configured to receive, by using the session management function of the second node, related information of the first cross-domain function user plane sent by the session management function of the first node; selecting a second cross-domain user plane function by a session management function of the second node; and acquiring related information of the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the second node and the second cross-domain user plane function.

Optionally, the processor 1410 is further configured to select a second cross-domain user plane function through a session management function of the second node; and acquiring related information of the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the second node and the second cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the second cross-domain user plane function and the first cross-domain user plane function.

Where in FIG. 14, a bus architecture may comprise any number of interconnected buses and bridges, and in particular one or more processors represented by the processor 1410 and various circuits of the memory represented by the memory 1420, are linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. Transceiver 1400 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a transceiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 1410 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1420 may store data used by the processor 1410 in performing operations.

The processor 1410 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an Application SPECIFIC INTEGRATED Circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable gate array (Field-Programmable GATE ARRAY, FPGA), or a complex Programmable logic device (Complex Programmable Logic Device, CPLD), and may also employ a multi-core architecture.

It should be noted that, the above communication device provided by the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment applied to the communication device, and can achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the method embodiment in the embodiment are omitted herein.

In addition, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a processor readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the program when executed by a processor implements the steps of the communication processing method described above, and the same technical effects can be achieved, and for avoiding repetition, a detailed description is omitted herein. The readable storage medium may be any available medium or data storage device that can be accessed by a processor, including, but not limited to, magnetic storage (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disks (MOs), etc.), optical storage (e.g., CD, DVD, BD, HVD, etc.), and semiconductor storage (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, nonvolatile storage (NAND FLASH), solid State Disk (SSD)), etc.

It should be noted that the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application may be applicable to various systems, especially a 5G system. For example, applicable systems may be global system for mobile communications (global system of mobile communication, GSM), code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) universal packet Radio service (GENERAL PACKET Radio service, GPRS), long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE), LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD), LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), long term evolution-advanced (long term evolution advanced, LTE-a), universal mobile system (universal mobile telecommunication system, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMAX), 5G New air interface (New Radio, NR) systems, and the like. Terminal devices and network devices are included in these various systems. Core network parts may also be included in the system, such as Evolved packet system (Evolved PACKET SYSTEM, EPS), 5G system (5 GS), etc.

The terminal device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with a wireless connection function, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, etc. The names of the terminal devices may also be different in different systems, for example in a 5G system, the terminal devices may be referred to as User Equipment (UE). The wireless terminal device may communicate with one or more Core Networks (CNs) via a radio access Network (Radio Access Network, RAN), which may be mobile terminal devices such as mobile phones (or "cellular" phones) and computers with mobile terminal devices, e.g., portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and/or data with the radio access Network. Such as Personal communication services (Personal Communication Service, PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (Session Initiated Protocol, SIP) phones, wireless local loop (Wireless Local Loop, WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (Personal DIGITAL ASSISTANT, PDA) and the like. The wireless terminal device may also be referred to as a system, subscriber unit (subscriber unit), subscriber station (subscriber station), mobile station (mobile station), remote station (remote station), access point (access point), remote terminal device (remote terminal), access terminal device (ACCESS TERMINAL), user terminal device (user terminal), user agent (user agent), user equipment (user device), and embodiments of the present application are not limited.

The network side device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a base station, where the base station may include a plurality of cells for providing services for a terminal. A base station may also be called an access point or may be a device in an access network that communicates over the air-interface, through one or more sectors, with wireless terminal devices, or other names, depending on the particular application. The network device may be configured to exchange received air frames with internet protocol (Internet Protocol, IP) packets as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, which may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network device may also coordinate attribute management for the air interface. For example, the network side device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a network device (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (Global System for Mobile communications, GSM) or code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA), a network device (NodeB) in a wideband code division multiple access (Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA), an evolved network device (evolutional Node B, eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a 5G network architecture (next generation system), a home evolved base station (Home evolved Node B, heNB), a relay node (relay node), a home base station (femto), a pico base station (pico), etc., which are not limited in the embodiment of the present application. In some network structures, the network-side devices may include a centralized unit (centralized unit, CU) node and a Distributed Unit (DU) node, which may also be geographically separated.

Multiple-input Multiple-output (Multi Input Multi Output, MIMO) transmission can be performed between the network side device and the terminal by using one or more antennas, and the MIMO transmission can be Single User MIMO (SU-MIMO) or Multiple User MIMO (MU-MIMO). The MIMO transmission may be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO, or massive-MIMO, or may be diversity transmission, precoding transmission, beamforming transmission, or the like, depending on the form and number of the root antenna combinations.

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

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flowchart and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flowcharts and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable 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 processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-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 processor-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 processor-executable 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.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present application without departing from the spirit or scope of the application. Thus, it is intended that the present application also include such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A user plane path construction method applied to a first node, comprising:

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

Or alternatively

3. The method of claim 2, wherein establishing a cross-domain user plane path between a first cross-domain user plane function of a first node and a second cross-domain user plane function of a second node comprises:

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein in case the first and second cross-domain user plane functions are selected by a session management function of the first node, the obtaining related information of the first and second cross-domain user plane functions comprises:

Or alternatively

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

6. The method of claim 3, wherein, in the event that the first cross-domain user plane function is selected by a session management function of the first node, the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node is selected by a session management function of the second node,

Or alternatively

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises:

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of determining the position of the substrate comprises,

The first cross-domain user plane function is selected according to at least one of the position of the second node, the identification of the second node, the load of the user plane function, the cross-domain capability of the user plane function, the locally configured cross-domain information, the anchor point capability and DNAI information;

And/or the number of the groups of groups,

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the locally configured cross-domain information and/or cross-domain capabilities of the user plane function are determined based on at least one of a deployment location of the user plane function, a service scope of the user plane function, forwarding capabilities of the user plane function, and operator policy.

10. A user plane path construction method applied to a second node, comprising:

11. The method of claim 10, wherein establishing a cross-domain user plane path between the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node and the first cross-domain user plane function of the first node comprises:

12. The method of claim 11, wherein obtaining information related to the first and second cross-domain user plane functions comprises:

Or alternatively

13. The method of claim 11, wherein obtaining information related to the first and second cross-domain user plane functions comprises:

14. The method of claim 11, wherein obtaining information related to the first and second cross-domain user plane functions comprises:

15. A user plane path constructing apparatus applied to a first node, comprising:

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first establishing means comprises:

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein in the case where the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function are selected by a session management function of the first node, the first obtaining unit is further configured to: acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function; or acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first obtaining unit is further configured to, in a case where the first cross-domain user plane function is selected by a session management function of the first node and the second cross-domain user plane function of the second node is selected by the session management function of the second node: acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function and interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node; or acquiring related information of the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function through interaction between the session management function of the first node and the first cross-domain user plane function, interaction between the session management function of the first node and the session management function of the second node, and interaction between the first cross-domain user plane function and the second cross-domain user plane function.

20. A user plane path constructing apparatus applied to a second node, comprising:

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the third establishing means comprises:

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the second acquisition unit is further configured to:

Or alternatively

23. A network node, comprising: memory, transceiver, processor; wherein the memory is used for storing a computer program; the processor is configured to implement the steps of a user plane path construction method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or to implement the steps of a user plane path construction method according to any one of claims 10 to 14.

24. A processor readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, which when executed by a processor performs the steps of the user plane path construction method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or the steps of the user plane path construction method according to any one of claims 10 to 14.