WO2021072970A1

WO2021072970A1 - Method for restricting user terminal to access upf

Info

Publication number: WO2021072970A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/127745
Authority: WO
Inventors: 廖雪松; 周远长
Original assignee: 广州爱浦路网络技术有限公司
Priority date: 2019-10-15
Filing date: 2019-12-24
Publication date: 2021-04-22
Also published as: CN110602803A; CN110602803B

Abstract

Provided in the present invention is a method for limiting a user terminal in accessing a UPF. The method comprises: firstly, configuring a private UPF; an SMF acquiring identification information of the current user terminal; and the SMF selecting a UPF for the current user terminal according to the identification information. According to the present invention, the purpose of user-level access restriction of the UPF is realized, and specificity or privacy of the UPF is realized.

Description

A method of restricting user terminal access to UPF

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communication, in particular to a method for restricting user terminals from accessing UPF.

Background technique

In the current 5G core network, the session management function entity (SMF) manages one or more user plane function entities (UPF). After the user terminal UE is successfully registered, the SMF is responsible for selecting the UPF to connect with the user terminal UE. At the same time, the SMF is also responsible for the establishment, modification and release of the PDU session between the user terminal UE and the data network DN.

There are many ways to select UPF. The Chinese patent application publication number is CN108307402A, and the title of the invention is "Methods, devices and systems for managing UPF". According to the capability information of one or more UPFs in the preset area, such as node information, Qos Information, supported APN information, supported DCN information, network slice information, service type information, etc., combined with CPF node information, location/area information, UE request, Qos information, DCN information, APN, etc., flexibly Choose UPF. The flexibility of management and selection of UPF is improved, and the orientation is relatively broad, and there is no mention of UPF's restrictions on user terminal access.

The Chinese patent application publication number is CN110149675A, and the invention name is "A UPF selection method and device". By obtaining the service application ID supported by UPF, it matches the service application ID of the user terminal UE, which solves the current 5G use of DNN and other parameter selection The inaccuracy during UPF does not involve the use of the SUPI and other identification information of the user terminal.

The Chinese patent application publication number is CN108271229A, and the title of the invention is "a user plane selection method and device". By determining the change of the UE's access to the application server, the UPF is re-selected for the UE to optimize and enhance the business path. Selection strategy for private UPF.

The functions of one or more UPFs managed by SMF are basically the same as those of the prior art, such as data packet inspection, packet routing and forwarding, connection points between PDU sessions and data networks, QoS processing and policy control, and so on. The difference is that the service type, geographic location information, access point and other information supported by UPF, the existing UPF selection methods mostly control the selection of UPF based on the one or more kinds of information, and there is no mention of docking. The user terminal that enters the UPF carries out the restriction strategy.

The above existing technologies can all achieve the purpose of accessing the UPF for the user terminal UE. However, in the 5G core network, for some private UPFs, user terminals accessing the UPF need to be restricted, and only certain specific user terminals can access the UPF.

In some special cases, a specific user terminal UE needs a corresponding private UPF to provide services in order to work normally. At the same time, other user terminals may connect to the private UPF, occupy the resources of the private UPF, and indirectly affect the normal operation of the specific user terminal UE.

Summary of the invention

In view of this, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method for restricting user terminals from accessing UPF, allowing specific user terminals to access private UPF, satisfying user-level access restrictions, and avoiding other users that do not need to access the private UPF. The user terminal of the UPF accesses the private UPF, realizing the dedicated or private UPF.

The technical scheme of the present invention is as follows:

A method for restricting user terminals from accessing UPF includes the following steps:

Step S1: Configure private UPF;

Step S2, SMF obtains the identification information of the current user terminal;

Step S3: The SMF selects the UPF for the current user terminal according to the identification information.

Specifically, the step S1 includes:

Step S101: Configure identification information of at least one specific user terminal in the private UPF;

Step S102: The private UPF sends the configured identification information of the specific user terminal when registering with the SMF;

Step S103: The SMF saves the identification information of a specific user terminal, and establishes a mapping table from the identification information to the corresponding private UPF.

Specifically, the step S2 includes:

Step S201: The current user terminal initiates a PDU session establishment request to the core network through a nearby base station;

Step S202: The AMF receives the PDU session establishment request of the current user terminal, and forwards the PDU session establishment request to the SMF, and the request carries the identification information of the current user terminal;

Step S203: The SMF receives the PDU session establishment request, and saves the identification information of the current user terminal.

Preferably, the identification information includes but is not limited to SUPI, MSISDN or PEI.

Specifically, the step S3 includes:

Step S301: The SMF selects a UPF group among the UPFs managed by the SMF according to the existing UPF selection method;

Step S302, judge whether there is a private UPF in the UPF group, if there is a private UPF, go to step S303; if not, go to step S305;

Step S303: Judge whether the private UPF can provide services for the current user terminal, if yes, go to step S304; if not, go to step S305;

Step S304, selecting the private UPF to provide services for the current user terminal;

Step S305: Select a non-private UPF in the UPF group to provide services for the current user terminal.

Preferably, a specific user terminal can be connected to multiple private UPFs.

Preferably, in the step S303, it is judged according to the mapping table whether the private UPF can provide services for the current user terminal.

Preferably, the mapping table includes the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the specific user terminal and the private UPF.

Preferably, if the identification information in the mapping table is empty, it means that the private UPF does not restrict the identification information of the user terminal.

Preferably, when the identification information of the current user terminal satisfies the identification information corresponding to the private UPF in the mapping table, the private UPF can provide services for the current user terminal.

The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

Save the private UPF and the identification information of the specific user terminal supported by the UPF in the SMF, so that the SMF can judge that the private UPF in the UPF group can provide services for the current user terminal UE, ensuring that the specific user terminal must access the corresponding private UPF. Non-specific user terminals access ordinary UPF, which meets the needs of specific user terminals and achieves the purpose of user-level UPF access restriction.

Description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the steps of restricting user terminal access to UPF according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the steps of configuring a private UPF according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the steps in which the SMF of the present invention obtains the identification information of the current user terminal;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the steps in which the SMF of the present invention selects the UPF for the current user terminal according to the identification information;

Figure 5 is a flow chart of matching and accessing UPF of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of SMF selecting UPF access according to the present invention.

Detailed ways

The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The following describes the implementation of the present disclosure through specific specific examples, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present disclosure from the content disclosed in this specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all of the embodiments. The present disclosure can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and various details in this specification can also be modified or changed based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. It should be noted that, in the case of no conflict, the following embodiments and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

Example one

The present invention achieves the purpose of UPF user-level access restriction, and the method of using identification information matching achieves the effect of a specific user terminal accessing a private UPF, and realizes the exclusiveness or privacy of the UPF.

The method for restricting user terminal access to UPF of the present invention is as follows:

Step S1, configure private UPF, the specific steps are as follows:

Step S101: Configure identification information of a specific user terminal in the private UPF;

When the private UPF is deployed, the identification information of one or more specific user terminals is configured in the private UPF. The identification information may be a single identification information, an identification information interval or a null value.

During UPF registration, each private UPF sends identification information of a specific user terminal to the SMF of its home core network. There are one or more specific user terminals. The identification information includes but is not limited to the following: SUPI, MSISDN, PEI, etc. According to user requirements, when configuring the UPF, one or more of the identification information is used to restrict user terminals that access the UPF. Use one or more types of identification information to configure UPF to meet different UPF configuration requirements. SUPI, MSISDN and PEI can determine a user terminal to the greatest extent, ensuring that only specific user terminals can access the corresponding private UPF.

SUPI: SUbscription Permanent Identifier user permanent identification;

MSISDN: Mobile Station international ISDN number mobile station identification code;

PEI: Permanent Equipment Identifier permanent equipment identification.

Step S103: The SMF saves the identification information of the specific user terminal, and establishes a mapping table from the identification information to the corresponding private UPF.

The SMF establishes a mapping table from the identification information to the corresponding private UPF according to the identification information of the specific user terminal sent by the private UPF. A specific user terminal can be connected to multiple private UPFs. If the identification information is empty, it means that no restriction is imposed on the identification information of the user terminal; the identification information carrying symbol (*) represents an identification information interval, and the identification information of the user terminal to which the UPF restricts access is within the identification interval. The following table is an example of the mapping between the identification information in the SMF and the UPF. This example is only an example and does not represent the final solution.

Step S2, SMF obtains the identification information of the current user terminal, which specifically includes:

Step S201: The current user terminal UE initiates a PDU session establishment request to the core network by connecting to a nearby base station. The base station forwards the PDU session establishment request of the user terminal UE to the AMF of the home core network, and the request includes identification information such as SUCI and PEI of the user terminal UE.

Step S202: The AMF receives the PDU session establishment request of the current user terminal UE, interacts with the control plane network functions (AUSF, UDM, NSSF, etc.), and verifies the identity of the user terminal UE. SUPI corresponds to MSISDN and so on, and then forwards the PDU session establishment request to SMF.

Step S203: The SMF receives the PDU session establishment request, and saves the identification information of the current user terminal UE.

Specifically:

After SMF obtains the identification information of the current user terminal UE, it first selects the UPF group according to the existing UPF selection method; the existing UPF selection method such as the patent CN108307402A method, device and system for managing UPF, the patent CN110149675A is a UPF selection method and Device, but not limited to this method, here is just an example.

It is judged whether there is a private UPF in the UPF group, and if there is, and the private UPF can provide services for the current user terminal UE, then the private UPF is selected to provide services for the current user terminal. If the private UPF cannot provide services for the current user terminal UE, select a non-private UPF in the UPF group to provide services for the current user terminal. If there is no private UPF, select a non-private UPF in the UPF group to provide services for the current user terminal.

In the example of Figure 6, when the user terminal UE1 is connected to the core network, SMF1 first selects the UPF group (UPF1, UPF2, UPF3, UPF4, UPF5, etc.) according to the identification information of the user terminal according to a certain selection method; UPF1, UPF2, and UPF3 are private UPFs, and UPF4 and UPF5 are non-private UPFs. In the mapping table shown in FIG. 6, the identification information of the current user terminal UE1 meets the identification information corresponding to UPF1, and UPF1 can provide services for UE1. SMF1 selects UPF1 to provide services for the current user terminal UE1.

When the user terminal UE2 connects to the core network, SMF1 first selects the UPF group (UPF1, UPF2, UPF3, UPF4, UPF5, etc.) according to the identification information of the user terminal according to a certain selection method; among them, UPF1, UPF2 and UPF3 They are private UPF, and UPF4 and UPF5 are non-private UPF. In the mapping table shown in FIG. 6, the identification information of the current user terminal UE2 does not meet the identification information corresponding to the private UPF, and the private UPF cannot provide services for UE2. , SMF1 designates a non-private UPF in the selected UPF to provide services for the current user terminal UE2 (such as UPF4).

When the user terminal UE3 is connected to the core network, the SMF2 first selects the UPF group (UPF6) according to a certain selection method according to the identification information of the user terminal, where UPF6 is not a private UPF. As shown in Fig. 6, there is no private UPF in the UPF group selected by SMF2. SMF designates a UPF in the UPF group to provide services for the current user terminal UE3 (for example, UPF6).

The above is only to illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and not to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, all modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made without creative work are within the spirit and principle of the present invention. Etc., should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

A method for restricting user terminal access to UPF is characterized in that it includes the following steps:

Step S1: Configure private UPF;

Step S2, SMF obtains the identification information of the current user terminal;

Step S3: The SMF selects the UPF for the current user terminal according to the identification information.
The method for restricting user terminal access to UPF according to claim 1, characterized in that: said step S1 comprises:

Step S101: Configure identification information of at least one specific user terminal in the private UPF;

Step S102: The private UPF sends the configured identification information of the specific user terminal when registering with the SMF;

Step S103: The SMF saves the identification information of a specific user terminal, and establishes a mapping table from the identification information to the corresponding private UPF.
The method for restricting user terminal access to UPF according to claim 1, characterized in that: said step S2 comprises:

Step S201: The current user terminal initiates a PDU session establishment request to the core network through a nearby base station;

Step S202: The AMF receives the PDU session establishment request of the current user terminal, and forwards the PDU session establishment request to the SMF, and the request carries the identification information of the current user terminal;

Step S203: The SMF receives the PDU session establishment request, and saves the identification information of the current user terminal.
The method for restricting user terminal access to UPF according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: the identification information includes but is not limited to SUPI, MSISDN or PEI.
The method for restricting user terminal access to UPF according to claim 1, characterized in that: said step S3 comprises:

Step S301: The SMF selects a UPF group from the UPF managed by the SMF according to the existing UPF selection method;

Step S302: Determine whether there is a private UPF in the UPF group, if there is a private UPF, go to step S303; if not, go to step S305;

Step S303: Judge whether the private UPF can provide services for the current user terminal, if yes, go to step S304; if not, go to step S305;

Step S304: Select the private UPF to provide services for the current user terminal;

Step S305: Select a non-private UPF in the UPF group to provide services for the current user terminal.
A method for restricting user terminal access to UPF according to claim 5, characterized in that: a specific user terminal can be connected to more than one private UPF.
A method for restricting user terminal access to UPF according to claim 5, characterized in that: in said step S303, it is judged according to the mapping table whether the private UPF can provide services for the current user terminal.
A method for restricting user terminals from accessing UPF according to claim 7, characterized in that: the mapping table includes the corresponding relationship between the identification information of the specific user terminal and the private UPF.
A method for restricting user terminal access to UPF according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: when the identification information of the current user terminal meets the identification information corresponding to the private UPF in the mapping table, the private UPF may be the current user The terminal provides services.
The method for restricting user terminal access to UPF according to claim 8, characterized in that: if the identification information in the mapping table is empty, it means that the private UPF does not restrict the identification information of the user terminal.