WO2019076292A1

WO2019076292A1 - Management method and device, gateway control plane network element, communication system, and storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2019076292A1
Application number: PCT/CN2018/110402
Authority: WO
Inventors: 周晟
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2017-10-16
Filing date: 2018-10-16
Publication date: 2019-04-25
Also published as: CN109672549A

Abstract

Provided in an embodiment of the present invention are a management method and device, a gateway control plane network element, a communication system, and a storage medium. The method comprises: after receiving, from a user, a service packet requesting a service, a gateway control plane network element acquiring a service capability required by the service packet; and allocate, for the service packet, and according to service capabilities of gateway user plane network elements, a gateway user plane network element.

Description

Management method and device, gateway control plane network element, communication system and storage medium

The present application claims the priority of the Chinese Patent Application, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Technical field

The present application relates to the field of communications, for example, to a management method and apparatus, a gateway control plane network element, a communication system, and a storage medium.

Background technique

The communication network includes a packet network that provides access services for users and a shared data network that provides service services for users, and the packet network and the shared data network are connected through a gateway.

As the demand for user services grows, the processing of user data streams is concentrated in the gateway of the shared data network, resulting in complicated functions of the gateway device and poor scalability. At the same time, the control plane of the gateway is highly coupled with the user plane, which is not conducive to the smooth evolution of the core network. This is because the frequency of the user plane expansion is higher than that of the control plane. The tight coupling causes the user plane of the control plane to expand synchronously, and the device update period is short. increase.

In order to avoid the situation that the control plane of the gateway is highly coupled with the user plane, the related technology splits the gateway control plane network element and the gateway user plane network element, and the gateway control plane network element is responsible for the control plane function of the gateway, including load sharing and gateway users. The function of the face network element, the allocation of the IP address and the tunnel identity, the policy and the charging control function, the gateway user plane network element is responsible for the related functions of the gateway user plane, including data flow identification and deep packet detection, and buffering of the downlink paging data. And other functions.

After the gateway control plane network element and the gateway user plane network element, the capability of each gateway user plane network element as an independent functional entity may be different. For example, some gateway user plane network elements support deep packet information. Detecting, but some are not supported; however, when the gateway user plane network element selects the gateway user plane network element, it only selects according to the load of the gateway user plane network element, and a selection error occurs, for example, deep packet detection is required. The processed user service packets are assigned gateway user plane network elements that do not support deep packet inspection.

Summary of the invention

The following is an overview of the topics detailed in this document. This summary is not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

The management method and device, the gateway control plane network element, the communication system, and the storage medium provided by the embodiment of the present application can avoid the allocation caused by the gateway control plane unit in the related art to allocate the gateway user plane unit to the service packet according to the dynamic balancing rule. The wrong situation.

The embodiment of the present application provides a service packet management method, including: a gateway control plane network element receives a service packet requested by a user, and obtains a service capability requirement of the service packet; and according to a service capability of the gateway user plane network element, Allocating a gateway user plane network element to the service packet; triggering a gateway user plane network element allocated to the service packet to process the service packet.

In an embodiment, the service capability of the gateway user plane network element includes a version of the supported network communication protocol and whether the deep packet detection capability is supported.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a service packet management device, which is configured on a gateway control plane network element, and includes: a receiving module, configured to receive a service packet of a service requested by a user; and a processing module, configured to acquire the service packet The service capability requirement is to allocate a gateway user plane network element to the service packet according to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element; the management module is configured to trigger the gateway user plane network element allocated for the service packet, and process the Business message.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a gateway control plane network element, where the gateway control plane network element includes a processor, a memory, and a communication bus; the communication bus is configured to implement connection communication between the processor and the memory; The device is configured to execute at least one program stored in the memory to implement the service message management method provided by the present application.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, including: a packet network and a shared data network, where the packet network and the shared data network are connected through a gateway, where the gateway includes a gateway control plane network element and a gateway user plane network element. The gateway control plane network element is a gateway control plane network element provided by the application.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium storing at least one program, at least one program executable by at least one processor, to implement the foregoing service message management method.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a processor, where the processor is configured to run a program, where the program is executed to execute the foregoing service packet management method.

Other aspects will be apparent upon reading and understanding the drawings and detailed description.

DRAWINGS

1 is a flowchart of a service packet management method according to Embodiment 1 of the present application;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of a service packet management apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present application;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of a gateway control plane network element according to Embodiment 1 of the present application;

4 is a schematic diagram of networking of a communication system according to Embodiment 2 of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another networking of the communication system according to Embodiment 2 of the present application;

6 is a flowchart of a management method provided by Embodiment 2 of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a first flowchart of acquiring service capability according to Embodiment 2 of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a second flowchart of acquiring service capability according to Embodiment 2 of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a first flowchart of a user plane network element for allocating a gateway according to Embodiment 2 of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a second flowchart of allocating a gateway user plane network element according to Embodiment 2 of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a third flowchart of a user plane network element for allocating gateways according to Embodiment 2 of the present application.

Detailed ways

The embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is understood that the embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the application and are not intended to limit the application.

The service capability of the present application refers to the device capability of the gateway user plane network element, including whether to support deep packet inspection, supported communication protocol versions (IPv4 and IPv6), and the like.

Embodiment 1

In order to avoid the allocation error caused by the gateway control plane unit in the related art to allocate the gateway user plane unit to the service packet according to the dynamic balancing rule, the service packet management method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes the steps S101 to the step. S104.

In step S101, the gateway control plane network element receives the service packet of the service requested by the user.

In a practical application, the gateway control plane network element receives the service packet through the device in the packet network, and the service packet is generated when the terminal requests the task, and carries the service parameter, for example, what data needs to be acquired; Capability requirements parameters, such as whether deep packet processing is required, what version of communication protocol is required, and so on.

In step S102, the service capability requirement of the service packet is obtained.

In step S103, a gateway user plane network element is allocated to the service packet according to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element.

In step S104, the gateway user plane network element allocated for the service packet is triggered to process the service packet.

In an embodiment of the present application, the step S103 includes: when the service capability requirement of the service packet needs to support the first service capability, searching for the capability of the first service according to the service capability of the network element of the gateway user plane. The gateway user plane network element is selected as the gateway user plane network element allocated by the service packet from the gateway user plane network element supporting the first service capability according to the selection rule.

In an embodiment of the present application, the step S103 includes: when the service capability requirement of the service packet is that the second service capability is not required, the second service is not supported according to the service capability of the network element of the gateway user plane. The gateway user plane network element of the capability is selected according to the selection rule, and the target gateway user plane network element is selected as the gateway user plane network element allocated by the service packet from the gateway user plane network element that does not support the second service capability.

In an embodiment of the present application, step S103 includes: acquiring a load of a gateway user plane network element when the service capability requirement of the service packet is that the third service capability is not required to be supported; and selecting all gateway users according to the selection rule. In the mesh element, the target gateway user plane network element is selected as the gateway user plane network element allocated by the service packet.

In an embodiment of the present application, the selection rule is a load balancing rule.

In an embodiment of the present application, the service packet management method shown in FIG. 1 further includes: acquiring a service capability of the gateway user plane network element by using a preset manner.

In an embodiment of the present application, the preset manner includes one of the following manners.

In the first mode, after the gateway control plane network element initiates a connection with the gateway user plane network element, the gateway user plane acquires and records the service capability of the gateway user plane network element.

In the second mode, the gateway user plane network element sends the service capability of the gateway user plane network element after the connection is initiated to the gateway control plane network element, and the gateway control plane network element receives and records the service capability of the gateway user plane network element.

As shown in FIG. 2, the service packet management apparatus 2, which is provided in the gateway control plane network element, includes a receiving module 21, a processing module 22, a management module 23, and an obtaining module 24.

The receiving module 21 is configured to receive a service packet of a service requested by the user.

The processing module 22 is configured to obtain the service capability requirement of the service packet, and allocate a gateway user plane network element to the service packet according to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element.

The management module 23 is configured to trigger a gateway user plane network element allocated for the service packet, and process the service packet.

In an embodiment of the present application, the processing module 22 is configured to: when the service capability requirement of the service packet needs to support the first service capability, search and support the first service according to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element. The gateway user plane network element of the capability is selected according to the selection rule, and the target gateway user plane network element is selected as the gateway user plane network element allocated by the service packet from the gateway user plane network element supporting the first service capability.

In an embodiment of the present application, the processing module 22 is configured to: when the service capability requirement of the service packet does not need to support the second service capability, according to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element, the search does not support the foregoing The gateway user plane network element of the second service capability; according to the selection rule, the target user plane network element is selected from the gateway user plane network element that does not support the second service capability, and is used as the gateway user plane network element of the service packet allocation. .

In an embodiment of the present application, the processing module 22 is configured to: when the service capability requirement of the service packet is that the third service capability is not required to be supported, obtain the load of the gateway user plane network element; according to the selection rule, all the In the gateway user plane network element, the target gateway user plane network element is selected as the gateway user plane network element allocated by the service packet.

In an embodiment of the present application, as shown in FIG. 2, the service packet management apparatus further includes: an obtaining module 24, configured to acquire a service capability of the gateway user plane network element by using a preset manner.

In an embodiment, the preset manner includes one of the following manners.

For a more complete description of the present application, as shown in FIG. 3, the gateway control plane network element provided by the embodiment of the present application includes: a processor 31, a memory 32, and a communication bus 33, wherein the communication bus 33 is configured to implement the processor 31 and Connection communication between the memories 32; the processor 31 is arranged to execute at least one program stored in the memory 32 to implement the service message management method in all embodiments of the present application.

In other embodiments, the present application further provides a communication system, including: a packet network and a shared data network, where the packet network is connected to the shared data network through a gateway, where the gateway includes a gateway control plane network element and The gateway user plane network element, wherein the gateway control plane network element is a gateway control plane network element as shown in FIG.

The management method and device, the gateway control plane network element, and the communication system provided by the embodiment obtain the service capability requirement of the service packet after receiving the service packet requested by the user, and then according to the gateway user plane. The service capability of the network element is to allocate a gateway user plane network element to the service packet. In this method, the gateway control plane network element needs to allocate the service user plane network element to the service packet according to the service capability requirement of the service packet. The service capability of the gateway user plane network element is allocated, so that the gateway user plane network element allocated for the service packet can implement the service corresponding to the service packet, and the gateway control plane unit in the related technology is prevented from being the service packet according to the dynamic balancing rule. The allocation error caused by the assignment of the gateway user plane unit improves the user experience.

Embodiment 2

Now, combined with the application examples, this application is explained.

4 is a schematic structural diagram of an Evolved Packet System (EPS) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), where EPS is a type of packet network. As shown in FIG. 4, the EPS includes an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a Mobility Management Entity (MME), and a Serving Gateway (S). -GW), Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), and other supporting nodes composition. The MME is used for control plane related operations such as mobility management, non-access stratum signaling processing, and user mobility management context management; the S-GW forwards data between the E-UTRAN and the P-GW, and is used for The paging waits for data to be buffered; the P-GW is a border gateway between the EPS and the Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN), which is used for PDN access and forwarding data between the EPS and the PDN. The PCRF is responsible for the formulation of policy decisions and charging rules, interacts with the operator's IP service entity, provides gates based on service data flow, quality of service control and charging rules to the gateway, and implements the policies and calculations of the PCRF on the bearer side. Fee rules.

In the network shown in FIG. 4, the control plane function of the gateway is highly coupled with the user plane function, which is not conducive to the smooth evolution of the core network. Therefore, a networking model in which the control plane function is separated from the user plane function is provided, as shown in FIG. .

The architecture shown in FIG. 5 splits the gateway (S-GW/P-GW) in FIG. 4 into a control plane function (Controller Plane Function, CPF, which is recorded as a gateway control plane network element) and a user plane function (User Plane). Function, UPF, which is a gateway user plane network element. Two types of functional network elements. The CPF is responsible for the control plane functions of the S/P-GW, including load sharing, UPF selection, IP address and tunnel identification assignment, policy, and accounting. Control and other functions. The UPF includes a Serving Gateway User Plane Function (SUPF) and a Packet Data Network Gateway User Plane Function (PUPF), which respectively correspond to the user planes of the S-GW and the P-GW. Function, responsible for the relevant functions of the user plane of the S/P-GW, including data stream identification and deep packet inspection, QoS processing and bearer binding, and buffering of downlink paging data.

In the network shown in Figure 5, because each gateway user plane network element acts as an independent functional entity, the capabilities may be different. For example, some gateway user plane network elements support deep packet inspection (Deep). Packet Inspection (DPI), while others do not support it; however, when the gateway user plane network element selects the gateway user plane network element, it only selects according to the load of the gateway user plane network element, and a selection error occurs, for example, The user service packets processed by the deep packet detection are assigned gateway user plane network elements that do not support deep packet inspection.

In this embodiment, the CPF allocates PUPF for the service packets of the user, so the UPFs involved below are all PUPFs.

As shown in FIG. 6, the method provided in this embodiment includes step S601 and step S602.

In step S601, the CPF acquires and stores the service capability of the PPUPF.

In this embodiment, the description of whether the service capability supports the DPI and the IP protocol version is taken as an example.

The PUPF initiates the connection to the CPF. The PUPF sends the DPI capability of the PUPF to the CPF. The CPF records the DPI capability of the PUPF. The CPF initiates the connection establishment to the PUPF. The PUPF informs the CPF of the DPI capability of the PUPF. CPF records the DPI capabilities of PUPF.

In step S602, the CPF allocates a PUPF to the service message of the access user according to the PUPF service capability.

When the CPF accesses the user, if the user needs a certain capability, the PUPF selects a PUPF from all PUPFs that support the capability to forward the packet. When the CPF accesses the user, if the user does not need a certain capability, the PUPF can be selected from the PUPF that supports the capability to forward the packet, or the PUPF can be selected from the PUPF that does not support the capability. Text forwarding.

For step S601 in FIG. 6, it includes two implementations, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, step S601 may include step S701 and step S702.

In step S701, the PUPF registers with the CPF, and the registration request carries the service capability of the PUPF.

After the PUPF is deployed and powered on, the PUPF is registered with the CPF. The registration request carries the normal PUPF identifier and carries the PUPF service capability.

In step S702, the CPF saves the service capability of the PUPF.

The CPF completes the registration of the PUPF according to the registration request, and extracts the service capability of the PUPF carried in the registration request, and stores it.

As shown in FIG. 8, step S601 may further include steps S801 to S804.

In step S801, the PUPF registers with the CPF.

After the CPF is deployed and powered on, it registers with the PUPF, and its registration request carries the regular CPF identifier.

In step S802, the CPF queries the service capability of the PUPF.

After registering with the PUPF, the CPF actively queries the service capabilities of the PUPF.

In step S803, the PUPF reports the service capability.

When receiving a query request, PUPF invokes its service capability and reports its service capability through the query response.

In step S804, the CPF saves the service capability of the PUPF.

After receiving the query response, the CPF extracts the service capability of the PUPF carried in the query response and stores it.

It is assumed that the service capability of the PUPF stored in the CPF is as follows in Table 1 after performing step S601:

PUPF标识PUPF logo	DPI能力DPI capability	IP协议版本IP protocol version
PUPF1PUPF1	支持stand by	IPv4IPv4
PUPF2PUPF2	支持stand by	IPv6IPv6
PUPF3PUPF3	不支持not support	IPv4IPv4
PUPF4PUPF4	不支持not support	IPv6IPv6
————	————	————

Table 1

On the basis of Table 1, when receiving the service packet of the user, the CPF can allocate a suitable PUPF to the service packet according to the service capability requirement of the service packet, as shown in FIG. 9 to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 9, step S602 includes steps S901 to S904.

In step S901, the UE sends a service message 1.

When the UE needs to perform the service 1, the service packet 1 is sent to the CPF. The service capability requirement of the service packet 1 is "support DPI capability and support IPv4."

In step S902, the CPF finds a PUPF that satisfies the service capability requirement.

The service capability requirement of service packet 1 is "support DPI capability and support IPv4". Since IPv6 is compatible with IPv4, CPF satisfies the conditions of PUPF1 and PUPF2 according to the results of Table 1.

In step S903, the CPF selects the PUPF according to the load balancing rule.

The CPF acquisition step S902 searches for the PUPF that satisfies the condition in the result, that is, the load of the PUPF1 and the PUPF2, and then selects the PUPF according to the load balancing rule. If the PUPF2 load is low, the PUPF2 is selected as the PUPF for processing the service packet 1.

In step S904, the CPF establishes a connection with the corresponding PUPF.

After the connection is established between the CPF and the PUPF2, the access process is completed. After the access is complete, the PUPF receives the service packet 1 and performs DPI processing and forwarding processing.

As shown in FIG. 10, step S602 includes steps S1001 through S1004.

In step S1001, the UE transmits a service message 2.

When the UE needs to perform the service 2, the service packet 2 is sent to the CPF. The service capability requirement of the service packet 2 is “do not support DPI capability and support IPv6”.

In step S1002, the CPF finds a PUPF that satisfies the service capability requirement.

The service capability requirement of service packet 2 is "does not support DPI capability and supports IPv6". Therefore, the CPF finds that the result according to Table 1 is that PUPF4 meets the conditions.

In step S1003, the CPF selects the PUPF according to the load balancing rule.

The CPF acquisition step S1002 searches for the PUPF that satisfies the condition in the result, and then selects the PUPF according to the load balancing rule. If the PUPF4 load is low, the PUPF4 is selected as the PUPF for processing the service packet 2.

In step S1004, the CPF establishes a connection with the corresponding PUPF.

After the connection is established between the CPF and the PUPF4, the access process is completed. After the access is complete, the PUPF does not perform DPI processing and directly forwards the packet after receiving the service packet 2.

As shown in FIG. 11, step S602 includes steps S1101 through S1104.

In step S1101, the UE transmits a service message 3.

When the UE needs to perform service 3, it sends a service packet 3 to the CPF. The service capability requirement of the service packet 3 is "support IPv6."

In step S1102, the CPF finds a PUPF that satisfies the service capability requirement.

The service capability requirement of service packet 3 is "support IPv6". Therefore, the CPF finds that the conditions according to Table 1 are that PUPF2 and PUPF4 satisfy the condition.

In step S1103, the CPF selects the PUPF according to the load balancing rule.

The CPF acquisition step S1102 searches for the PUPF that satisfies the condition in the result, and then selects the PUPF according to the load balancing rule. If the PUPF4 load is low, the PUPF4 is selected as the PUPF for processing the service packet 3.

In step S1104, the CPF establishes a connection with the corresponding PUPF.

After the connection is established between the CPF and the PUPF4, the access process is completed. After the access is complete, the PUPF does not perform DPI processing and directly forwards the packet after receiving the service packet 3.

The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium storing at least one program, at least one program being executed to implement all of the service message management methods provided by the present application.

According to the management method and device, the gateway control plane network element, the communication system, and the storage medium provided by the embodiment of the present application, after receiving the service packet requested by the user, the gateway control plane network element acquires the service capability requirement of the service packet, and then According to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element, the gateway user plane network element is allocated for the service packet; in the method, the gateway control plane network element needs to be based on the service packet when the gateway user plane network element is allocated for the service packet. The service capability requirement and the service capability of the gateway user plane network element are allocated, so that the gateway user plane network element allocated for the service packet can implement the service corresponding to the service packet, and avoids the gateway control plane unit according to the dynamic balance rule in the related technology. The allocation error caused by the gateway user plane unit is allocated for the service packet, which improves the user experience.

Each of the modules or steps of the above-described embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a general-purpose computing device, which may be centralized on a single computing device or distributed over a network of multiple computing devices. For example, they may be implemented by program code executable by a computing device such that they may be stored in a computer storage medium such as a Read Only Memory/Random Access Memory (ROM/RAM), a disk. The optical disc is executed by a computing device, and in some cases, the steps shown or described may be performed in an order different from that herein, or they may be separately fabricated into a plurality of integrated circuit modules, or they may be Multiple modules or steps are made into a single integrated circuit module. Therefore, the application is not limited to any particular combination of hardware and software.

Claims

A service packet management method includes:

The gateway control plane network element receives the service packet of the service requested by the user;

Obtaining a service capability requirement of the service packet;

Allocating a gateway user plane network element to the service packet according to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element;

The gateway user plane network element that is allocated to the service packet is triggered to process the service packet.
The method of claim 1, wherein the allocating the gateway user plane network element to the service packet according to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element comprises:

When the service capability requirement of the service packet needs to support the first service capability, the gateway user plane network element supporting the first service capability is searched according to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element;

And selecting, according to the selection rule, the target user plane network element from the gateway user plane network element that supports the first service capability, as the gateway user plane network element allocated by the service packet.
The method of claim 1, wherein the allocating the gateway user plane network element to the service packet according to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element comprises:

When the service capability requirement of the service packet is that the second service capability is not required, the gateway user plane network element that does not support the second service capability is searched according to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element;

According to the selection rule, the target user plane network element is selected from the gateway user plane network element that does not support the second service capability, and is used as the gateway user plane network element allocated by the service packet.
The method of claim 1, wherein the service capability of the gateway user plane network element comprises a version of the supported network communication protocol and whether deep packet detection capability is supported.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: acquiring, by a preset manner, a service capability of the gateway user plane network element.
The method of claim 5, wherein the preset manner comprises one of the following:

In the first mode, after the gateway control plane network element initiates a connection with the gateway user plane network element, the gateway user plane acquires and records the service capability of the gateway user plane network element;

In the second mode, the gateway user plane network element sends the service capability of the gateway user plane network element after the connection is initiated to the gateway control plane network element, and the gateway control plane network element receives and records the service capability of the gateway user plane network element.
A service packet management device is configured on the gateway control plane network element, and includes:

a receiving module, configured to receive a service packet of a service requested by the user;

The processing module is configured to obtain the service capability requirement of the service packet, and allocate a gateway user plane network element to the service packet according to the service capability of the gateway user plane network element;

The management module is configured to trigger a gateway user plane network element allocated for the service packet, and process the service packet.
A gateway control plane network element, where the gateway control plane network element includes a processor, a memory, and a communication bus;

The communication bus is configured to implement connection communication between the processor and the memory;

The processor is configured to execute at least one program stored in the memory to implement the service message management method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
A communication system includes: a packet network and a shared data network, wherein the packet network is connected to the shared data network through a gateway, and the gateway includes a gateway control plane network element and a gateway user plane network element, wherein the gateway control The face network element is the gateway control plane network element according to claim 8.
A computer readable storage medium storing at least one program executable by at least one processor to implement the service report of any one of claims 1 to 6. Text management method.
A processor, the processor being arranged to run a program, wherein the program is executed to perform the method of any of the preceding claims 1 to 6.