WO2020011152A1

WO2020011152A1 - Pfcp connection processing method and apparatus, network element, system, and storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2020011152A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/095222
Authority: WO
Inventors: 李志军; 周晟
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2018-07-09
Filing date: 2019-07-09
Publication date: 2020-01-16
Also published as: CN109167670A; CN109167670B

Abstract

Provided are a PFCP connection processing method and apparatus, a network element, a system, and a storage medium. The PFCP connection processing method comprises: a first network element obtains PFCP configuration information, sent by a second network element, of the second network element; the first network element determines an establishment mode of a PFCP connection with the second network element on the basis of the PFCP configuration information of the second network element; and the first network element controls the establishment of the PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to the establishment mode of the PFCP connection.

Description

PFCP connection processing method, device, network element, system and storage medium

This application claims priority from a Chinese patent application filed with the Chinese Patent Office on July 9, 2018, with application number 201810745399.4, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical field

The embodiments of the present invention relate to, but are not limited to, the field of communications, and in particular, to but not limited to a PFCP (Packet Forwarding Control Protocol) connection processing method, device, network element, communication system, and storage medium.

Background technique

As the 4th generation mobile communication system (4G) has been widely deployed and deeply applied, some new architectural requirements have also been proposed and implemented, such as CUPS (Control and User Plane Separation, Control Plane and User Plane). Separate) framework. Under the 4G architecture, SGW (Serving Gateway, Service Gateway), PGW (PDN Gateway, Packet Data Network Gateway), and TDF (Traffic Detection Function) have both control plane functions for managing connections and sessions, as well as simple processing User plane functions for Internet Protocol Address (IP) data transmission, so the functions of SGW, PGW, and TDF can be split into CPF (Control Plane Function) and UPF (User Plane Function, user) Surface function). Among them, the function of SGW is split into SGW-C responsible for control plane processing, SGW-U responsible for user plane processing, and the function of PGW is split into PGW-C responsible for control plane processing and PGW-U responsible for user plane processing. TDF functions are split into TDF-C for control plane processing and TDF-U for user plane processing. In the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G) architecture, the control plane and user plane Separation is natively supported. For example, SMF (Session Management Function) in the 5G architecture belongs to the above CPF, and 5G UPF (5G User Plane Function) in the 5G architecture belongs to the UPF.

To simplify the description, the following uses CPF to collectively refer to control plane units such as SGW-C, PGW-C, TDF-C, and SMF, and UPF to collectively refer to user plane units such as SGW-U, PGW-U, TDF-U, and 5G UPF; In some application scenarios, the CPF entity may only have the capability of one control plane unit in the above example, or it may have the capability of two or more control plane units in the above example (that is, there may be multiple control plane unit combinations). One, such as SGW-C and PGW-C in one), correspondingly, the UPF entity also has the ability to have only one user plane unit or the ability to have two or more user plane units. In response to this situation, in order to provide a stable transmission channel for the terminal's session messages, the relevant approach is to configure the corresponding PFCP connection establishment method on the CPF entity and the UPF entity according to the characteristics of the CPF entity and the UPF entity through the network manager as the CPF The control basis when establishing a PFCP connection with UPF; however, this manual configuration of the PFCP connection establishment method has the problems of large workload, high cost and error-prone.

Summary of the invention

The embodiments of the present application provide a method, a device, a network element, a system, and a storage medium for processing a PFCP connection, and solve the problems existing in manually configuring a PFCP connection establishment method.

An embodiment of the present application provides a packet forwarding control protocol PFCP connection processing method, including:

The first network element obtains the PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element;

Determining, by the first network element, a method for establishing a PFCP connection with the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

The first network element and the second network element perform control of establishing a PFCP connection according to the establishment method of the PFCP connection.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a PFCP connection processing device, which is applied to a first network element and includes:

An information acquisition module, configured to acquire PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element;

A processing module, configured to determine a method for establishing a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

A connection establishment module is configured to control the establishment of a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to the establishment method of the PFCP connection.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a PFCP connection processing device, including:

An information receiving module, configured to receive PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element;

A determining module, configured to determine a method for establishing a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

A connection processing module is configured to control the establishment of a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to the establishment mode of the PFCP connection.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a network element including a processor, a memory, and a communication bus, where the communication bus is used to implement connection and communication between the processor and the memory, and the memory is used to store one or Multiple computer programs;

The processor is configured to execute one or more computer programs stored in the memory to implement the steps of the PFCP connection processing method described above.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system including a first network element and a second network element;

The second network element is configured to send its own PFCP configuration information to the first network element, and is configured to establish a PFCP connection with the first network element according to a PFCP connection establishment method determined by the first network element. ;

The first network element is configured to determine a method for establishing a PFCP connection with the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element, and is configured to communicate with the first network element according to the determined method for establishing a PFCP connection. The two network elements establish a PFCP connection.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where the computer-readable storage medium stores one or more computer programs, and the one or more computer programs can be executed by one or more processors to Implement the steps of the PFCP connection processing method as described above.

The PFCP connection processing method, device, network element, system, and storage medium provided in the embodiments of the present application obtain the PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element through the first network element, so as to be based on the PFCP of the second network element. The configuration information determines the establishment method of the PFCP connection with the second network element. In some application scenarios, the first network element and the second network element can control the establishment of the PFCP connection according to the establishment method of the PFCP connection. Manually configure the PFCP connection establishment method on the first network element and the second network element, reducing the investment of human resources, while reducing the cost, it can also improve the accuracy of PFCP connection establishment control, and ensure the stability and reliability of communication Sex.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of an example 4G network system in Embodiment 1 of the present application;

FIG. 2-1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture in which a user plane and a control plane are separated in a 4G network system exemplified in Embodiment 1 of the present application; FIG.

FIG. 2-2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture in which a user plane and a control plane are separated in a 5G network system exemplified in Embodiment 1 of the present application; FIG.

3 is a schematic flowchart of establishing a PDN connection as an example in Embodiment 1 of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of establishing a PFCP connection as an example in Embodiment 1 of the present application; FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of PFCP connection establishment in the SGW and PGW integration scenario illustrated in the first embodiment of the present application;

6 is a schematic flowchart of a PFCP connection processing method according to the first embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of obtaining PFCP configuration information according to the first embodiment of the present application; FIG.

FIG. 8 is another schematic flowchart of obtaining PFCP configuration information in Embodiment 1 of this application; FIG.

9 is a schematic flowchart of determining a method for establishing a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection according to a PFCP interface type according to the first embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart of determining a method for establishing a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection according to a PFCP interface type and a preferred PFCP connection establishment method in Embodiment 1 of the present application; FIG.

FIG. 11 is a schematic flowchart of determining a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection establishment method according to a PFCP interface type and a preferred PFCP connection establishment method according to a configuration information acquisition process in Embodiment 1 of this application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a PFCP connection processing device in Embodiment 2 of the present application; FIG.

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a PFCP connection processing device in Embodiment 3 of the present application; FIG.

14 is a schematic structural diagram of a determination module in FIG. 13;

15 is a schematic structural diagram of an information receiving module in FIG. 13;

16 is a schematic diagram of a communication system in Embodiment 4 of the present application;

FIG. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a network element in Embodiment 4 of the present application.

detailed description

The following describes the present application through specific embodiments in combination with the accompanying drawings. The specific embodiments described here are only used to explain the application, and are not used to limit the application.

Embodiment one:

In order to facilitate understanding, in this embodiment, an exemplary network architecture is described by way of example. However, it should be understood that the method provided in this embodiment is not limited to the network architecture shown in the following example. An example network application environment of the method provided by the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, an exemplary 4G system architecture diagram includes a 4G wireless subsystem part and a 4G core network subsystem part. Among them, the 4G wireless subsystem part is also called EUTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network). Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network), mainly including eNodeB11 (Evolved NodeB, Evolved NodeB), 4G core network subsystem part, also known as EPC (Evolved Packet Core, Evolved Packet Core Network), mainly including HSS12 (Home Subscriber Server (Home User Data Server), MME13 (Mobility Management Management Entity), SGW14, PGW15, PCRF16 (Policy and Charging Enforcement Function), of which:

HSS12 is the permanent storage place of the user's contract data, which is located in the home network of the user's contract;

MME13 is the place where user contract data is stored in the current network. It is responsible for terminal-to-network NAS (Non-Access Stratum, non-access) layer signaling management, tracking and paging management functions and bearer management in user idle mode;

SGW14 is the gateway from the core network to the wireless system, responsible for the user plane bearer from the terminal to the core network, data cache in the terminal idle mode, the function of initiating service requests on the network side, legal eavesdropping, and packet data routing and forwarding functions;

PGW15 is an EPS (Evolved Packet System) and a gateway to the external network of the system. It is responsible for the terminal's IP address allocation, charging function, packet filtering, and policy application functions;

PCRF16 is responsible for providing policy control and charging rules to PCEF (Policy and Charging, Enforcement, Function).

TDF17 is used for special processing such as detection and filtering of IP data packets.

In order to improve the performance of the network system, this embodiment may adopt a network architecture in which the user plane and the control plane are separated. For example, see FIG. 2-1. In one example, the SGW in FIG. 1 may be split into SGW- C21 and SGW-U22, PGW is split into PGW-C23 and PGW-U24, TDF is split into TDF-C25 and TDF-U26; of course, in 5G systems, there is also a network element architecture that separates the control plane from the user plane For example, see Figure 2-2 for an example. The type of PFCP interface between SMF27 and 5G UPF28 in a 5G architecture is N4. In application, the control plane units such as SGW-C21, PGW-C23, TDF-C25, and SMF27 can be used as a single CPF entity, and can be flexibly combined to form a CPF entity according to requirements. That is, it can be used as a CPF entity. Correspondingly, user plane units such as SGW-U22, PGW-U24, TDF-U26, and 5G UPF28 can also be used as a single UPF entity, and can be flexibly combined to form a UPF entity for use. For example, SGW-U22 and PGW-U24 are combined (that is, unified) into a UPF entity for use. Even when 4G and 5G are integrated, SGW-C21, PGW-C23, TDF-C25, and SMF27 can be fully integrated into an integrated CPF entity, while SGW-U22, PGW-U24, TDF-U26, and 5G UPF28 can be fully integrated. For an integrated UPF entity.

In the network architecture shown in FIG. 1, a schematic diagram of a process for a terminal (User Equipment) requesting to establish a PDN (Public Data Network) connection is shown in FIG. 3, including:

S301. The UE initiates a PDN connection establishment request to the MME.

S302. The MME selects an appropriate SGW and PGW for the UE.

S303. The MME initiates a session establishment request to the SGW.

S304. The SGW sends a session establishment request to the PGW.

S305. After receiving the session establishment request, the PGW allocates an IP address to the UE, creates the requested bearer, and returns a session establishment response to the SGW.

S306. The SGW returns a session establishment response to the MME.

S307. The MME returns a PDN connection establishment response to the UE, where the PDN connection establishment response includes an IP address allocated for the UE, and bearer information created.

When using an architecture where the control plane and user plane are separated, a PFCP connection is established between the CPF and the UPF. The PFPC connection includes a PFCP link (PFCP Association) connection and a PFCP session connection; an example of the PFCP connection establishment process is shown in the figure. As shown in 4, including:

S401, the CPF is powered on and started.

A PFCP link connection needs to be established between the CPF and the UPF to provide a stable transmission channel for session messages for the UE.

S402. The CPF sends a PFCP link establishment request (PFCP Association Request) to the UPF.

S403. The UPF receives a PFCP link establishment request, and returns a PFCP link establishment response (PFCP Association Establishment Response) to the CPF.

S404. The CPF detects a session establishment request.

Thereafter, when it is necessary to create a PDN connection for the UE, the CPF needs to create an independent PFCP session for each UE.

S405. The CPF sends a PFCP session establishment request to the UPF.

S406. The UPF receives a PFCP session establishment request and returns a PFCP session establishment response to the CPF.

In Figure 4, CPF and UPF will not exchange the specific interface types supported by CPF and UPF (such as Sxa / Sxb / Sxc) when establishing PFCP link connection, that is, they will not indicate that CPF is acting as SGW-C, PGW -C or TDF-C, nor does it indicate whether the UPF acts as SGW-U, PGW-U, or TDF-U. Therefore, under the process of SGW and PGW integration, CPF (SGW-C + PGW-C) will initiate two PFCP link establishment procedures to UPF (SGW-U + PGW-U), and for the same UE The CPF will also initiate two PFCP session connection processes to the UPF. For example, see Figure 5 for an example process, including:

S501, the CPF is powered on and started.

S502. The CPF sends a PFCP link establishment request to the UPF for establishing a PFCP link between SGW-C and SGW-U.

S503. The UPF receives the PFCP link establishment request and returns a PFCP link establishment response to the CPF.

S504. The CPF sends a PFCP link establishment request to the UPF for establishing a PFCP link between the PGW-C and the PGW-U.

S505. The UPF receives the PFCP link establishment request and returns a PFCP link establishment response to the CPF.

S506. The CPF detects a session establishment request.

S507. The CPF sends a PFCP session establishment request to the UPF, which is used to establish a PFCP session between SGW-C and SGW-U.

S508. The UPF receives a PFCP session establishment request and returns a PFCP session establishment response to the CPF.

S509. The CPF sends a PFCP session establishment request to the UPF, which is used to establish a PFCP session between the PGW-C and the PGW-U.

S510. The UPF receives a PFCP session establishment request and returns a PFCP session establishment response to the CPF.

The above-mentioned PFCP connection establishment process shown in FIG. 5 introduces unnecessary process redundancy, which greatly reduces efficiency and resource utilization. In response to this problem, a related approach is to manually configure the corresponding PFCP connection establishment method in the local configuration information of the CPF entity and the UPF entity through the network management personnel. Then, when the PFCP connection needs to be established, CPF decides the destination based on the configured information. The UPF only initiates a single PFCP link establishment request and / or a single PFCP session establishment request. However, this method requires manual configuration information on the CPF and UPF. For CPF and UPF devices of the same operator or the same manufacturer, it can be barely applicable when the number and type of devices are small. Adding or for CPF and UPF equipment of different operators or different manufacturers, this approach has great limitations and is even difficult to achieve, especially in roaming application scenarios.

In this regard, this embodiment provides a PFCP connection processing method, as shown in FIG. 6, including:

S601. The first network element obtains the PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element.

In this embodiment, the time point and method for obtaining the PFCP configuration information of the second network element by the first network element can be flexibly set according to the application scenario, such as, but not limited to, establishing a PFCP between the first network element and the second network element. Before the connection, it can be obtained through the configuration information acquisition process, or it can be obtained through the corresponding interaction information during the PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element.

It should be understood that the first network element in this embodiment may be a CPF entity and the second network element is a UPF entity; or, the first network element is a UPF entity and the second network element is a CPF entity.

S602. The first network element determines a method for establishing a PFCP connection with the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element.

The establishment methods in this embodiment include at least two methods: connection establishment alone and connection establishment.

Optionally, after the first network element determines the establishment method of the PFCP connection, the determined establishment method of the PFCP connection may also be sent to the second network element; and optionally, in some instances, the second network element may The acquired establishment method of the PFCP connection is used to control the establishment of subsequent PFCP connections. Of course, the first network element may also be used to control the establishment of subsequent PFCP connections according to the determined establishment method of the PFCP connection, or the first network element and the second network element jointly The establishment of the PFCP connection controls the establishment of subsequent PFCP connections.

S603. The first network element and the second network element control the establishment of the PFCP connection according to the establishment method of the PFCP connection.

It should be understood that the specific control process for establishing the PFCP connection in this embodiment may be flexibly determined according to a specific application scenario. For example, when the establishment method of the PFCP connection is determined before the first network element establishes a PFCP connection with the second network element, the first network element and the second network element perform the PFCP connection according to the establishment method of the PFCP connection (for example, Unified establishment or separate establishment); if the establishment method of the PFCP connection is determined in the process of establishing the PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element, the first network element and the second network element are established according to the PFCP connection The method and the establishment of the current PFCP connection determine how to control.

It should be understood that in S603, the first network element may initiate a PFCP connection, and the second network element may initiate a PFCP connection.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the PFCP connection includes at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection, that is, the first network element in S602 determines a PFCP link connection establishment method based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element. , And / or determine how to establish a PFCP session connection.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the first network element may also send its own PFCP configuration information to the second network element, so that when needed, the second network element determines the PFCP according to the PFCP configuration information of the first network element. How the connection is established.

For ease of understanding, this embodiment is described below by taking several PFCP configuration information acquisition methods of the second network element as examples.

Example one:

The first network element receives a PFCP configuration information request sent by the second network element, and the PFCP configuration information request includes the PFCP configuration information of the second network element.

For example, assuming that the first network element is a UPF entity and the second network element is a CPF entity, an example acquisition process is shown in FIG. 7, including:

S701: The CPF is powered on and started.

S702. The CPF sends a PFCP configuration information request to the UPF. The PFCP configuration information request may carry the PFCP configuration information of the CPF.

S703: After receiving the PFCP configuration information request, the UPF returns a PFCP configuration information response to the CPF; optionally, the PFCP configuration information response may carry the PFCP configuration information of the UPF or may not carry the PFCP configuration information of the UPF.

Example two:

The first network element receives a PFCP configuration information response sent by the second network element, and the PFCP configuration information response includes the PFCP configuration information of the second network element.

For example, assuming that the first network element is a CPF entity and the second network element is a UPF entity, similar to the process shown in FIG. 7, the CPF may send a PFCP configuration information request to the UPF. Alternatively, the PFCP configuration information request may carry the PFCP of the CPF. The configuration information may not carry the PFCP configuration information of the CPF; the UPF returns a PFCP configuration information response to the CPF after receiving the PFCP configuration information request; the PFCP configuration information response carries the PFCP configuration information of the UPF.

Optionally, the above examples 1 and 2 may be performed before the PFCP link connection is established.

Example three:

The first network element receives a PFCP link establishment request sent by the second network element, and the PFCP link establishment request includes PFCP configuration information of the second network element.

For example, suppose the first network element is a UPF entity and the second network element is a CPF entity. An example acquisition process is shown in FIG. 8 and includes:

S801. The CPF is powered on and started.

S802. The CPF sends a PFCP link establishment request to the UPF. The PFCP link establishment request may carry CPF PFCP configuration information.

S803, after receiving the PFCP link establishment request, the UPF creates a PFCP link connection and returns a PFCP link establishment response to the CPF; optionally, the PFCP configuration information response may carry the PFCP configuration information of the UPF or may not carry the PFCP of the UPF. Configuration information.

Example four:

The first network element receives a PFCP link establishment response sent by the second network element, and the PFCP link establishment response includes PFCP configuration information of the second network element.

For example, it is assumed that the first network element is a CPF entity and the second network element is a UPF entity. Similar to the process shown in FIG. 8, the CPF may send a PFCP link establishment request to the UPF. Alternatively, the PFCP link establishment request may carry a CPF. The PFCP configuration information may not carry the PFCP configuration information of CPF; after the UPF receives the PFCP link establishment request, it returns a PFCP link establishment response to the CPF; the PFCP link establishment response carries the PFCP configuration information of the UPF.

In this embodiment, the PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include any information that can determine the PFCP connection mode, for example, including but not limited to the capability information of the second network element and the preferred PFCP connection establishment mode of the second network element. At least one. The first network element may determine the establishment method of the PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to its own capability information and the PFCP configuration information of the second network element. In order to facilitate understanding, the following implementation examples are combined with several examples. Examples will be described.

Example one:

The PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include only the capability information of the second network element, and the capability information can reflect the role that the second network element can play, such as simultaneously serving as SGW-C, PGW-C, TDF-C, The role of at least two of the control plane units such as SMF is still one of the above control plane units alone, or at least two of the user plane units such as SGW-U, PGW-U, TDF-U, and 5G UPF. Each role also plays the role of one of the above control plane units alone.

For example, the capability information in this example may include the PFCP interface type supported by the network element. As shown in the above example, the PFCP interface type in this embodiment includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the Sxa interface, Sxb interface, Sxc interface, and N4 interface. One. For example, when the second network element is an SGW-C, PGW-C unified CPF entity or an SGW-U, PGW-U unified UPF entity, the PFCP configuration information included in the PFCP configuration information in the second network element is Including Sxa interface, Sxb interface.

To facilitate understanding, this example is described in combination with an application scenario. In this application scenario, the first network element is a CPF entity, and the second network element is a UPF entity. In this application scenario, during the PFCP link establishment process, CPF and UPF interact with each other to support the type of PFCP interface. The supported PFCP interface types determine how to establish at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection; an example process is shown in Figure 9, including:

S901, the CPF is powered on and started.

S902. The CPF sends a PFCP link establishment request to the UPF.

Optionally, in this step, the PFCP link establishment request sent by the CPF may carry a PFCP interface type (Supported Interface Type, SIT) supported by the CPF itself; if the CPF supports both Sxa and Sxb interfaces, the PFCP chain sent by the CPF The way establishment request indicates that the PFCP interface type is SIT = Sxa + Sxb. If CPF only supports Sxa, then SIT = Sxa. If CPF only supports Sxb, then SIT = Sxb. In this example, it is assumed that CPF supports both Sxa and Sxb interfaces. It is understood that the PFCP link establishment request in this step may not carry the PFCP interface type supported by the CPF itself.

S903: After receiving the PFCP link establishment request, the UPF creates a PFCP link connection and returns a PFCP link establishment response.

In this step, the PFCP link establishment response sent by the UPF carries the PFCP interface type supported by the UPF itself. If the UPF supports both Sxa and Sxb interfaces, the PFCP link establishment response sent by the UPF indicates that the PFCP interface type is SIT = Sxa + Sxb; if the UPF only supports Sxa, then SIT = Sxa, if the UPF only supports Sxb, then SIT = Sxb. In this example, it is assumed that the UPF supports both the Sxa interface and the Sxb interface.

S904. After the CPF learns the interface of the UPF, it can determine the establishment method of the PFCP link connection and / or the PFCP session connection according to the interface type supported by the CPF and the interface type supported by the UPF.

For example, in this example, CPF finds that both itself and UPF support Sxa and Sxb interfaces at the same time, then CPF may decide to establish only one PFCP link between CPF and UPF, that is, the PFCP link connection is established in the same way as PFCP link integration ( Of course, it can be determined that the PFCP link connection establishment method is PFCP link independent, etc.), and / or CPF can decide to establish a PFCP session between CPF and UPF for the same UE, that is, the PFCP session connection establishment method is PFCP session. Unification (of course, it can be determined that the PFCP session connection establishment method is PFCP session independent, etc. according to requirements).

In this application scenario, since the determined establishment method of the PFCP link connection is PFCP link integration, and S902 to S903 have established a PFCP link connection, it is considered that the PFCP link connection is currently completed; of course, if this The PFCP link connection establishment method determined in the application scenario is that the PFCP link is independent, and then a PFCP link connection is established through a process similar to S902 to S903.

S905. Thereafter, when a PDN connection needs to be established for a UE, the CPF initiates a PFCP session establishment request to the UPF.

According to the decision in the foregoing step S904, the CPF only initiates a PFCP session establishment request to the UPF.

S906. The CPF initiates a PFCP session establishment request to the UPF.

S907: The UPF receives a PFCP session establishment request, establishes a corresponding PFCP session for the UE, and returns a PFCP session establishment response to the CPF.

Example two:

The PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include capability information of the second network element and a preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element; and it should be understood that the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element in this example The method may include only one of the PFCP link connection and the PFCP session connection establishment method, or may include the combination of the PFCP link connection and the PFCP session connection establishment method; and the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element includes There can be one or multiple establishment methods. When there are multiple establishment methods, the multiple establishment methods can be sorted by a priority sorting rule for subsequent selection. In this example, a combination of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection is used as an example. The combination includes at least one of the following combinations: PFCP link unification, PFCP session unification; PFCP chain One way, PFCP session is independent; PFCP link is independent, PFCP session is independent.

To facilitate understanding, this example is described in combination with an application scenario. In this application scenario, the first network element is a CPF entity, and the second network element is a UPF entity. In this application scenario, during the PFCP link establishment process, the types of PFCP interfaces supported by the interaction between CPF and UPF and the preferred UPF PFCP connection establishment method, so CPF decides how to establish at least one of PFCP link connection and PFCP session connection according to the PFCP interface type supported by UPF and the preferred PFCP connection establishment method; an example process is shown in FIG. 10, include:

S1001, CPF is powered on and started.

S1002. The CPF sends a PFCP link establishment request to the UPF.

Optionally, in this step, the PFCP link establishment request sent by the CPF may carry a PFCP interface type (Supported Interface Type, SIT) supported by the CPF and a CPF preferred PFCP connection establishment method (Preferred PFCP Type, PPT); This example assumes that CPF supports both Sxa and Sxb interfaces.

S1003: After receiving the PFCP link establishment request, the UPF creates a PFCP link connection and returns a PFCP link establishment response.

In this step, the PFCP link establishment response sent by the UPF carries the PFCP interface type supported by the UPF itself and the UPF preferred PFCP connection establishment method. In this example, it is assumed that the UPF supports both the Sxa interface and the Sxb interface.

The preferred PFCP connection establishment method in this example includes at least one of the following methods:

a) PFCP link unification (in this example, Sxa link connection and Sxb link connection unification, in other application scenarios can be changed corresponding interface type), PFCP session unification (in this example, the UE Sxa session and Sxb session are integrated, which can be changed correspondingly in other application scenarios);

b) The PFCP link is unified, and the PFCP session is independent (in this example, the Sxa session and Sxb session of the UE are independently established, and the interface type can be changed correspondingly in other application scenarios);

c) The PFCP link is independent (in this example, the Sxa link connection and the Sxb link connection are independent, and the interface type can be changed correspondingly in other application scenarios), and the PFCP session is independent.

S1004. After the CPF learns the interface of the UPF, it can determine the method of establishing the PFCP link connection and the PFCP session connection according to the type of interface supported by the UPF, the type of interface supported by the UPF, and the preferred PFCP connection establishment method, for example:

When it is determined that an independent PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection need to be established, CPF subsequently initiates a PFCP connection establishment process to the UPF, and when a subsequent PFCP session connection is established, it independently initiates a PFCP session establishment process for the Sxa and Sxb interfaces; When only one PFCP link connection is established, but the PFCP session is established independently, CPF no longer repeatedly initiates the PFCP link connection establishment process to the UPF, but the Sxa and Sxb interfaces still need to initiate the PFCP session establishment process independently; when the PFCP link, When the PFCP sessions are unified, CPF no longer repeatedly initiates the PFCP link connection establishment process to the UPF. Only one unified PFCP session is subsequently established and applied to the Sxa and Sxb interfaces simultaneously; this example assumes that this is the case.

In addition, it should be understood that the capability information (e.g., PFCP interface type) between the first network element (e.g., CPF) determining itself and the second network element (e.g., UPF) does not support the establishment of the preferred PFCP connection of the second network element. In the method, the establishment method supported by the capability information of the two is subject to establishment control of the PFCP connection, and alarm prompts such as capability mismatch may be issued; the first network element (such as CPF) determines itself and the second network element ( For example, when the capability information (such as the PFCP interface type) between the second network element supports the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element, control is based on the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element; When the PFCP connection establishment method also exists, it can flexibly set the priority of its own preferred PFCP connection establishment method and the second network element's preferred PFCP connection establishment method priority, for example, setting its own preferred PFCP connection establishment method priority The preferred PFCP connection establishment method with a level higher or lower than that of the second network element is used as the basis for subsequent selection, or the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element is used as the basis Select etc.

S1005. Thereafter, when a PDN connection needs to be established for a UE, the CPF initiates a PFCP session establishment request to the UPF.

According to the decision in step S1004, the CPF only initiates a PFCP session establishment request to the UPF.

S1006. The CPF initiates a PFCP session establishment request to the UPF.

S1007. The UPF receives a PFCP session establishment request, establishes a corresponding PFCP session for the UE, and returns a PFCP session establishment response to the CPF.

Example three:

The PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include only a preferred PFCP connection establishment manner of the second network element. In this example, the preferred establishment method of the PFCP connection of the network element is associated with the capability information of the network element itself, that is, at the local end of the second network element, according to the capability information of the second network element, the preferred establishment method of the PFCP connection is selected. After the first network element obtains the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element, it can obtain the capability information of the second network element according to the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element, such as including but not limited to the second network element. The type of PFCP interface supported by the element, and then based on the capability information of the second network element and the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element determine how to establish at least one of the PFCP link connection and the PFCP session connection. The subsequent determination of the nature of the process The determination process is the same as in the second example above.

According to the above example, it can be known that among the respective PFCP configuration information exchanged between the first network element and the second network element in this example, specifically, which of the capability information of the respective network element and the preferred PFCP connection establishment method is flexible Settings.

To facilitate understanding, this embodiment is described below by taking the capability information as the type of the PFCP interface, the integration of the SGW and the PGW, and the PFCP configuration information of the network element obtained through the configuration information acquisition process as examples.

In this example, before the PFCP link connection is established, the CPF and the UPF first obtain the configuration information acquisition process, exchange the interface types supported by the CPF and the UPF, or interact with the preferred PFCP connection establishment method. Therefore, CPF determines the PFCP link connection and PFCP session connection establishment mode according to the interface type supported by the UPF or the preferred PFCP connection establishment mode of the UPF. An example process is shown in FIG. 11 and includes:

S1101, the CPF is powered on and started.

S1102: The CPF sends a PFCP configuration information request to the UPF.

In this step, optionally, the PFCP configuration information request sent by the CPF carries the interface type SIT supported by the CPF itself. Optionally, the PFCP configuration information request sent by the CPF may also carry the PFCP connection establishment method preferred by the CPF itself.

S1103, the UPF returns a PFCP configuration information response to the CPF.

In this step, the PFCP configuration information response sent by the UPF carries the interface type SIT supported by the UPF itself. Optionally, the PFCP configuration information response sent by the UPF may also carry the PFCP connection establishment method preferred by the UPF itself.

S1104. The CPF determines a method for establishing a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection.

Through S1102 to S1103, the CPF learns the interface type SIT supported by the UPF and the preferred PFCP connection establishment method, so that it can determine how to establish a PFCP link connection and how to establish a PFCP session connection.

In this process, it is assumed that based on the obtained UPF configuration information and CPF configuration information, the CPF finally determines the establishment methods as PFCP link unification and PFCP session unification.

S1105: The CPF initiates a PFCP link establishment request to the UPF.

S1106, the UPF returns a PFCP link establishment response to the CPF.

According to the assumption of S1104, the PFCP link connection established in this step is applied to both the Sxa and Sxb interfaces, that is, the PFCP link is unified.

S1107. Thereafter, when a PDN connection needs to be established for a UE, the CPF initiates a PFCP session establishment request to the UPF.

S1108: The CPF initiates a PFCP session establishment request to the UPF.

S1109: The UPF returns a PFCP session establishment response to the CPF.

According to the assumption of S1104, the PFCP session connection established in this step is applied to both the Sxa and Sxb interfaces, that is, the PFCP session is unified.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the PFCP link connection establishment process or the PFCP configuration information acquisition process can be initiated by the CPF in addition to the CPF in the above example, and can also interact in the process initiated by the UPF. Configuration information between CPF and UPF.

By using the PFCP connection processing method provided in this embodiment, in some implementation processes, the first network element may receive the PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element, and the first network element may according to its own PFCP configuration information The PFCP configuration information with the second network element determines the establishment method of the PFCP link connection and / or the PFCP session connection between the first network element and the second network element, without the need for a network administrator to one by one for the network elements in the network system. Setting the PFCP link connection establishment method reduces the investment of human resources. In addition, in some embodiments, the first network element determines the PFCP link connection based on the PFCP configuration information of the first and second network elements and / Or the PFCP session connection is established in a unified manner, which can effectively and accurately reduce redundant link connections and redundant sessions, and improve efficiency.

Embodiment two:

An embodiment of the present application provides a PFCP connection processing device applicable to a first network element, as shown in FIG. 12, including:

The information obtaining module 1201 is configured to obtain PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element. In this embodiment, the time point and method for obtaining the PFCP configuration information of the second network element by the first network element can be flexibly set according to the application scenario, such as, but not limited to, establishing a PFCP between the first network element and the second network element. Before the connection, it can be obtained through the configuration information acquisition process, or it can be obtained through the corresponding interactive information during the PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element, for example:

The information obtaining module 1201 is configured to receive a PFCP configuration information request sent by the second network element, and obtain the PFCP configuration information of the second network element from the received PFCP configuration information request;

Or, the information acquisition module 1201 is configured to receive a PFCP configuration information response sent by the second network element, and acquire the PFCP configuration information of the second network element from the received PFCP configuration information response;

Or, the information acquisition module 1201 is configured to receive a PFCP link establishment request sent by the second network element, and obtain PFCP configuration information of the second network element from the received PFCP link establishment request;

Or, the information obtaining module 1201 is configured to receive a PFCP link establishment response sent by the second network element, and obtain PFCP configuration information of the second network element from the received PFCP link establishment response.

In this embodiment, optionally, the information obtaining module 1201 may be further configured to send the PFCP configuration information of the first network element to the second network element, so that the second network element may configure the PFCP configuration of the first network element when needed. The information determines the establishment mode of the PFCP connection; and optionally, in this embodiment, the type of information included in the PFCP configuration information of the first network element may be the same as the type of information included in the PFCP of the second network element, or may be based on specific applications. The scene settings are different.

A processing module 1202 is configured to determine a method for establishing a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element; the method for establishing in this embodiment includes at least a separate connection establishment and a unified connection. Establish two ways. Optionally, the processing module 1202 may be further configured to send the determined establishment method of the PFCP connection to the second network element after determining the establishment method of the PFCP connection.

The connection establishment module 1203 is configured to control the establishment of the PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to the establishment mode of the PFCP connection determined by the processing module 1202.

It should be understood that the specific control process for the establishment of the PFCP connection by the connection establishment module 1203 in this embodiment may be flexibly determined according to a specific application scenario. For example, when the establishment method of the PFCP connection is determined before the first network element establishes a PFCP connection with the second network element, the connection establishment module 1203 may perform a PFCP connection according to the establishment method of the PFCP connection (for example, whether it is established in one unit or Separately established); if the establishment method of the PFCP connection is determined in the process of establishing the PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element, the connection establishment module 1203 may according to the establishment method of the PFCP connection and the current establishment situation of the PFCP connection Determine how to control. It should be understood that, in this embodiment, the PFCP connection may be initiated by the first network element, and the PFCP connection may be initiated by the second network element.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the PFCP connection includes at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection, that is, the processing module 1202 may determine a PFCP link connection establishment method according to the PFCP configuration information, and / or determine a PFCP session. How the connection is established.

In this embodiment, the PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include any information that can determine the PFCP connection mode, for example, including but not limited to the capability information of the second network element and the preferred PFCP connection establishment mode of the second network element. At least one. The processing module 1202 may determine the establishment method of the PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to the capability information of the first network element and the PFCP configuration information of the second network element.

For ease of understanding, this embodiment is described below with reference to several examples.

For example, in one example, the PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include only the capability information of the second network element, and the capability information can reflect the role that the second network element can play, such as simultaneously serving as SGW-C, PGW -C, TDF-C, SMF and other control plane units at least two of the role of the control plane unit alone, or at the same time as SGW-U, PGW-U, TDF-U, 5G UPF, etc. The roles of at least two of the user plane units are also the roles that individually serve as one of the control plane units. For example, the capability information in this example may include the PFCP interface type supported by the network element. As shown in the above example, the PFCP interface type in this embodiment includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the Sxa interface, Sxb interface, Sxc interface, and N4 interface. One. For example, when the second network element is an SGW-C, PGW-C unified CPF entity or an SGW-U, PGW-U unified UPF entity, the PFCP configuration information included in the PFCP configuration information in the second network element is Including Sxa interface, Sxb interface. In an application scenario, the first network element is a CPF entity and the second network element is a UPF entity. In this application scenario, during the PFCP link establishment process, CPF and UPF establish a request or PFCP link through the PFCP link. A PFCP interface type supported in response to mutual interaction is established, so that the processing module 1202 can decide how to establish at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection according to the PFCP interface type supported by the CPF and the PFCP interface type supported by the UPF.

As another example, in an example, the PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include capability information of the second network element and a preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element; and it should be understood that the second network element in this example The preferred method for establishing a PFCP connection may include only one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection, or a combination of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection; and the second network element is preferred. The PFCP connection establishment method includes one or more establishment methods. When there are multiple establishment methods, the multiple establishment methods can be sorted by a priority sorting rule for subsequent selection. In this example, a combination of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection is used as an example, and the combination includes at least one of the following combinations:

Unify PFCP links and unify PFCP sessions;

PFCP links are unified, and PFCP sessions are independent;

PFCP links are independent, and PFCP sessions are independent.

To facilitate understanding, this example is described in combination with an application scenario. In this application scenario, the first network element is a CPF entity, and the second network element is a UPF entity. In this application scenario, during the PFCP link establishment process, CPF and UPF pass configuration information or during the PFCP connection establishment process through the PFCP chain. Path establishment request or PFCP link establishment response mutual interaction supported PFCP interface type and UPF preferred PFCP connection establishment method, so the processing module 1202 can according to CPF capability information, UPF supported PFCP interface type and preferred PFCP connection The establishment method determines how to establish at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection.

As another example, in one example, the PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include only a preferred PFCP connection establishment manner of the second network element. In this example, the preferred establishment method of the PFCP connection of the network element is associated with the capability information of the network element itself, that is, at the local end of the second network element, according to the capability information of the second network element, the preferred establishment method of the PFCP connection is selected. After the processing module 1202 obtains the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element through the information acquisition module 1201, it can obtain the capability information of the second network element according to the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element, such as including but not limited to The type of PFCP interface supported by the second network element may further determine how to establish at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection based on the capability information of the second network element and its preferred PFCP connection establishment method.

It should be understood that the functions of the above-mentioned information acquisition module 1201, processing module 1202, and connection establishment module 1203 may be implemented by a processor of a network element.

It should also be understood that the PFCP connection processing device in this embodiment may also be provided independently of the first network element.

Through the PFCP connection processing device provided in this embodiment, in some implementation processes, the information obtaining module 1201 may obtain the PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element, and the processing module 1202 may obtain the PFCP configuration information of the first network element. The PFCP configuration information with the second network element determines the PFCP link connection establishment method between the first network element and the second network element. There is no need for the network administrator to manually configure the PFCP link connection establishment method for the network elements in the network system. , Reducing the investment of human resources. In addition, in some embodiments, the processing module 1202 may correspond to the first network element and the second network element according to the PFCP configuration information of the first network element and the second network element. Control plane unit and user plane unit (the multiple control plane units correspond to the user plane unit), the PFCP connection is established in a unified manner, that is, one is established in the first network element and the second network element The PFCP link is connected and a PFCP session is established for one UE, which reduces the process of establishing a redundant PFCP link connection between the first network element and the second network element, and improves efficiency.

Example three:

This embodiment provides a PFCP connection processing device, as shown in FIG. 13, and includes: an information receiving module 1301, configured to receive PFCP configuration information of a second network element sent by a second network element; the information receiving module 1301 may be Before a network element establishes a PFCP connection with a second network element, the PFCP configuration information of the second network element is obtained through a configuration information acquisition process. The second network element may also be obtained during the process of establishing a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element. PFCP configuration information.

A determining module 1302 is configured to determine a method for establishing a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element; the method for establishing in this embodiment includes at least connection establishment and connection integration. Establish two ways. Optionally, the determining module 1302 may be further configured to send the determined establishment method of the PFCP connection to the second network element after determining the establishment method of the PFCP connection.

The connection processing module 1303 is configured to control the establishment of the PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to the establishment method of the PFCP connection determined by the determination module 1302.

In this embodiment, the specific control process for the establishment of the PFCP connection by the connection processing module 1303 can be flexibly determined according to a specific application scenario. For example, when the establishment method of the PFCP connection is determined before the first network element establishes a PFCP connection with the second network element, the connection processing module 1303 may perform a PFCP connection according to the establishment method of the PFCP connection. Separately established); if the establishment method of the PFCP connection is determined during the establishment of the PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element, the connection processing module 1303 may determine the PFCP connection and the current establishment of the PFCP connection Determine how to control. It should be understood that, in this embodiment, the PFCP connection may be initiated by the first network element, and the PFCP connection may be initiated by the second network element.

Optionally, the PFCP connection processing apparatus may further include an information sending module 1304, configured to send the PFCP configuration information determined by the first network element to the second network element.

Optionally, the PFCP connection in this embodiment includes at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection, that is, the determination module 1302 in this embodiment may determine a PFCP link connection establishment method according to the PFCP configuration information, and / Or determine how to establish a PFCP session connection.

Referring to FIG. 14, in this embodiment, the determination module 1302 may include at least one of a link connection determination submodule 13021 and a session connection determination submodule 13022; the link connection determination submodule 13021 is configured to be based on the PFCP of the second network element The configuration information determines a method for establishing a PFCP link connection between the first network element and the second network element; the session connection determination submodule 13022 is configured to determine the first network element and the second network based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element How to establish a PFCP session connection between elements.

Referring to FIG. 15, the information receiving module 1301 in this embodiment may include any one of the following sub-modules: a configuration information request receiving sub-module 13011, configured to receive a PFCP configuration information request sent by a second network element. To obtain the PFCP configuration information of the second network element in the PFCP configuration information request; the configuration information response receiving submodule 13012 is configured to receive the PFCP configuration information response sent by the second network element, and obtain the second from the received PFCP configuration information response PFCP configuration information of the network element; the link establishment request receiving submodule 13013 is configured to receive a PFCP link establishment request sent by the second network element, and obtain the PFCP configuration information of the second network element from the received PFCP link establishment request. ; A link establishment response receiving submodule 13014, configured to receive a PFCP link establishment response sent by the second network element, and obtain PFCP configuration information of the second network element from the received PFCP link establishment response.

In this embodiment, the PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include any information that can determine the PFCP connection mode, for example, including but not limited to the capability information of the second network element and the preferred PFCP connection establishment mode of the second network element. At least one. The determining module 1302 may determine a method for establishing a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to the capability information of the first network element and the PFCP configuration information of the second network element.

For example, in one example, the PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include only the capability information of the second network element, and the capability information can reflect the role that the second network element can play, such as simultaneously serving as SGW-C, PGW -C, TDF-C, SMF and other control plane units at least two of the role of the control plane unit alone, or at the same time as SGW-U, PGW-U, TDF-U, 5G UPF, etc. The roles of at least two of the user plane units are also the roles that individually serve as one of the control plane units. For example, the capability information in this example may include the PFCP interface type supported by the network element. As shown in the above example, the PFCP interface type in this embodiment includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the Sxa interface, Sxb interface, Sxc interface, and N4 interface. One. For example, when the second network element is an SGW-C, PGW-C unified CPF entity or an SGW-U, PGW-U unified UPF entity, the PFCP configuration information included in the PFCP configuration information in the second network element is Including Sxa interface, Sxb interface. In an application scenario, the first network element is a CPF entity and the second network element is a UPF entity. In this application scenario, during the PFCP link establishment process, CPF and UPF establish a request or PFCP link through the PFCP link. A PFCP interface type supported in response to mutual interaction is established, so that the determination module 1302 can determine how to establish at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection according to the PFCP interface type supported by the CPF and the PFCP interface type supported by the UPF.

As another example, in an example, the PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include capability information of the second network element and a preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element; and it should be understood that the second network element in this example The preferred method for establishing a PFCP connection element may include only one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection, or a combination of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection. The preferred PFCP connection establishment method may include one or more establishment methods. When there are multiple establishment methods, the multiple establishment methods may be sorted by a priority ordering rule for subsequent selection. In this example, a combination of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection is used as an example, and the combination includes at least one of the following combinations:

Unify PFCP links and unify PFCP sessions;

PFCP links are unified, and PFCP sessions are independent;

PFCP links are independent, and PFCP sessions are independent.

To facilitate understanding, this example is described in combination with an application scenario. In this application scenario, the first network element is a CPF entity, and the second network element is a UPF entity. In this application scenario, during the PFCP link establishment process, CPF and UPF pass configuration information or during the PFCP connection establishment process through the PFCP chain. The path establishment request or the PFCP link establishment response interacts with the PFCP interface type supported by the mutual interaction and the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the UPF, so as to determine the module 1302, based on the CPF capability information and the PFCP interface type supported by the UPF and the preferred PFCP. The connection establishment method determines how to establish at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection.

As another example, in one example, the PFCP configuration information of the second network element may include only a preferred PFCP connection establishment manner of the second network element. In this example, the preferred establishment method of the PFCP connection of the network element is associated with the capability information of the network element itself, that is, at the local end of the second network element, according to the capability information of the second network element, the preferred establishment method of the PFCP connection is selected. The determination module 1302, after obtaining the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element through the information acquisition module 1201, can obtain the capability information of the second network element according to the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element, such as including but not Limited to the type of PFCP interface supported by the second network element, and then based on the capability information of the second network element and the preferred PFCP connection establishment method of the second network element, how to establish at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection can be determined .

It should also be understood that the PFCP connection processing device in this embodiment may be provided in the first network element, or may be provided independently of the first network element.

The PFCP connection processing device provided in this embodiment may obtain the PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element in some implementation processes, and automatically determine the first network element and the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information. The PFCP link connection establishment method between them does not require the network administrator to manually configure the PFCP link connection establishment method for the network elements in the network system, and there is no need to manually configure the PFCP connection on the first network element and the second network element. The establishment method reduces the investment of human resources, while reducing the cost, it can also improve the accuracy of PFCP connection establishment control and ensure the stability and reliability of communication.

In addition, in some embodiments, the PFCP connection processing device may determine that the PFCP link connection and / or the PFCP session connection are established in a unified manner according to the PFCP configuration information of the first network element and the second network element, which may effectively establish Reduce redundant link connections, redundant sessions, and improve efficiency.

Embodiment 4:

This embodiment provides a communication system. As shown in FIG. 16, the communication system includes a first network element 1601 and a second network element 1602.

The second network element 1602 is configured to send its own PFCP configuration information to the first network element 1601, and to establish a PFCP connection with the first network element 1601 according to the establishment method of the PFCP connection determined by the first network element 1601; the second network The specific process of implementing these functions by the element 1602 may adopt, but is not limited to, the processes illustrated in the foregoing embodiments.

The first network element 1601 is used to determine a PFCP connection establishment method with the second network element 1602 based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element 1602, and is used to establish a PFCP with the second network element according to the determined PFCP connection establishment method. For connection, the specific process for the first network element 1601 to implement these functions may use, but is not limited to, the processes illustrated in the foregoing embodiments.

This embodiment further provides a network element. As shown in FIG. 17, the network element includes a processor 1701, a memory 1702, and a communication bus 1703. The communication bus 1703 is used to implement a connection between the processor 1701 and the memory 1702. Communication; the processor 1701 is configured to execute one or more computer programs stored in the memory 1702 to implement at least one step in the PFCP connection processing method in any of the foregoing embodiments. That is, the network element provided in this embodiment may be used as the foregoing first network element, which may be a UPF entity or a CPF entity.

This embodiment also provides a computer-readable storage medium that is implemented in any method or technology for storing information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, computer program modules, or other data. Volatile or nonvolatile, removable or non-removable media. Computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read-Only Memory, Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) ), Flash memory or other storage technology, CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory), digital versatile disc (Digital Versatile Disc, DVD) or other optical disc storage, magnetic box, tape, disk storage or other A magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to store desired information and can be accessed by a computer.

The computer-readable storage medium in this embodiment may be used to store one or more computer programs, and the stored one or more computer programs may be executed by a processor to implement at least one of the PFCP connection processing methods in the foregoing embodiments. step.

This embodiment also provides a computer program, which can be distributed on a computer-readable medium and executed by a computable device to implement at least one step of the PFCP connection processing method in the foregoing embodiments; and In some cases, at least one of the steps shown or described may be performed in an order different from that described in the above embodiments.

This embodiment also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer-readable device, and the computer-readable device stores the computer program as shown above. The computer-readable device in this embodiment may include a computer-readable storage medium as shown above.

It can be seen that those skilled in the art should understand that all or some of the steps, systems, and functional modules / units in the methods disclosed in the above methods can be implemented as software (can be implemented by computer program code executable by a computing device ), Firmware, hardware, and their appropriate combinations. In a hardware implementation, the division between functional modules / units mentioned in the above description does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, one physical component may have multiple functions, or one function or step may be composed of several physical The components execute cooperatively. Some or all physical components can be implemented as software executed by a processor, such as a central processing unit, digital signal processor, or microprocessor, or as hardware, or as an integrated circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit .

In addition, it is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that a communication medium typically contains computer readable instructions, data structures, computer program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transmission mechanism, and may include any information delivery medium. Therefore, the application of the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The above content is a further detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention in combination with specific implementation manners, and it cannot be considered that the specific implementation of this application is limited to these descriptions. For those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which this application belongs, without deviating from the concept of this application, several simple deductions or replacements can be made, which should all be regarded as falling within the protection scope of this application.

Claims

A packet forwarding control protocol PFCP connection processing method includes:

The first network element obtains the PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element;

Determining, by the first network element, a method for establishing a PFCP connection with the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

The first network element controls the establishment of a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to a manner of establishing the PFCP connection.
The method of claim 1, wherein the PFCP connection includes at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the first network element is a control plane function CPF entity, and the second network element is a user plane function UPF entity;

or,

The first network element is a UPF entity, and the second network element is a CPF entity.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

The first network element sends its own PFCP configuration information to the second network element.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the first network element acquiring the PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element includes any one of the following acquisition methods:

Receiving, by the first network element, a PFCP configuration information request sent by the second network element, where the PFCP configuration information request includes PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

Receiving, by the first network element, a PFCP configuration information response sent by the second network element, where the PFCP configuration information response includes the PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

Receiving, by the first network element, a PFCP link establishment request sent by the second network element, where the PFCP link establishment request includes PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

The first network element receives a PFCP link establishment response sent by the second network element, and the PFCP link establishment response includes PFCP configuration information of the second network element.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the PFCP configuration information of the second network element comprises: a PFCP interface type supported by the second network element and a preferred PFCP of the second network element At least one of the connection establishment methods.
The method according to claim 6, wherein the first network element determining a method for establishing a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element includes: :

The first network element determines a method for establishing a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to a type of a PFCP interface supported by the first network element and PFCP configuration information of the second network element.
The method according to claim 6, wherein the preferred PFCP connection establishment mode includes a combination of a PFCP link connection establishment mode and a PFCP session connection establishment mode, and the combination includes at least one of the following combinations:

Unify PFCP links and unify PFCP sessions;

PFCP links are unified, and PFCP sessions are independent;

PFCP links are independent, and PFCP sessions are independent.
The method according to claim 6, wherein the PFCP interface type includes at least one of an Sxa interface, an Sxb interface, an Sxc interface, and an N4 interface.
A packet forwarding control protocol PFCP connection processing device applied to a first network element includes:

An information acquisition module, configured to acquire PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element;

A processing module configured to determine a method for establishing a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

The connection establishment module is configured to control the establishment of a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to the establishment mode of the PFCP connection.
The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the PFCP connection includes at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection.
The device according to claim 10, wherein the first network element is a control plane function CPF entity, and the second network element is a user plane function UPF entity;

or,

The first network element is a UPF entity, and the second network element is a CPF entity.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 10-12, wherein the information acquisition module is configured to receive a PFCP configuration information request sent by the second network element, and the PFCP configuration information request includes the second network Meta PFCP configuration information;

or,

The information acquisition module is configured to receive a PFCP configuration information response sent by the second network element, and the PFCP configuration information response includes the PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

or,

The information acquisition module is configured to receive a PFCP link establishment request sent by the second network element, where the PFCP link establishment request includes PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

or,

The information acquisition module is configured to receive a PFCP link establishment response sent by the second network element, and the PFCP link establishment response includes PFCP configuration information of the second network element.
The device according to any one of claims 10-12, wherein the PFCP configuration information of the second network element includes: a PFCP interface type supported by the second network element and a preferred PFCP of the second network element At least one of the connection establishment methods.
The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the preferred PFCP connection establishment mode includes a combination of a PFCP link connection establishment mode and a PFCP session connection establishment mode, and the combination includes at least one of the following combinations:

Unify PFCP links and unify PFCP sessions;

PFCP links are unified, and PFCP sessions are independent;

PFCP links are independent, and PFCP sessions are independent.
A packet forwarding control protocol PFCP connection processing device includes:

An information receiving module configured to receive PFCP configuration information of the second network element sent by the second network element;

A determining module configured to determine a method for establishing a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

The connection processing module is configured to control the establishment of a PFCP connection between the first network element and the second network element according to the establishment method of the PFCP connection.
The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the PFCP connection includes at least one of a PFCP link connection and a PFCP session connection;

The determining module includes at least one of a link connection determining sub-module and a session connection determining sub-module;

The link connection determination submodule is configured to determine a method for establishing a PFCP link connection between the first network element and the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

The session connection determination sub-module is configured to determine a method for establishing a PFCP session connection between the first network element and the second network element based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element.
The apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising an information sending module configured to send PFCP configuration information of the first network element to the second network element.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the information receiving module comprises:

A configuration information request receiving submodule configured to receive a PFCP configuration information request sent by the second network element, where the PFCP configuration information request includes PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

or,

A configuration information response receiving submodule configured to receive a PFCP configuration information response sent by the second network element, where the PFCP configuration information response includes the PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

or,

The link establishment request receiving submodule is configured to receive a PFCP link establishment request sent by the second network element, where the PFCP link establishment request includes PFCP configuration information of the second network element;

or,

The link establishment response receiving submodule is configured to receive a PFCP link establishment response sent by the second network element, where the PFCP link establishment response includes PFCP configuration information of the second network element.
The device according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the PFCP configuration information of the second network element comprises: a PFCP interface type supported by the second network element and a preferred PFCP of the second network element At least one of the connection establishment methods.
A network element includes a processor, a memory, and a communication bus, the communication bus is configured to implement connection and communication between the processor and the memory, and the memory is configured to store at least one computer program;

The processor is configured to execute at least one computer program stored in the memory to implement the PFCP connection processing method according to any one of claims 1-9.
A communication system including a first network element and a second network element;

The second network element is configured to send its own PFCP configuration information to the first network element, and is configured to establish a PFCP connection with the first network element according to a PFCP connection establishment method determined by the first network element ;

The first network element is configured to determine, based on the PFCP configuration information of the second network element, a method for establishing a PFCP connection with the second network element, and is configured to communicate with the The two network elements establish a PFCP connection.
A computer-readable storage medium stores at least one computer program, and the at least one computer program is executable by at least one processor to implement the PFCP connection processing method according to any one of claims 1-9.