WO2021083054A1

WO2021083054A1 - Message transmission method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2021083054A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/123333
Authority: WO
Inventors: 陶源; 侯云静; 王胡成
Original assignee: 大唐移动通信设备有限公司
Priority date: 2019-10-30
Filing date: 2020-10-23
Publication date: 2021-05-06
Also published as: CN112752253B; CN112752253A

Abstract

Disclosed are a message transmission method and apparatus, which are used to realize the situation where a terminal can be informed of a new server address when the address of a MEC server and/or a MEC application server changes. The message transmission method provided in the embodiments of the present application comprises: receiving a trigger message; and on the basis of the trigger message, informing a terminal of a new address of a mobile edge computing (MEC) related server, wherein the MEC related server comprises a MEC server and/or a MEC application server.

Description

Message transmission method and device

Cross-references to related applications

This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application filed with the Chinese Patent Office, the application number is 201911047669.5, and the application name is "message transmission method and device" on October 30, 2019, the entire content of which is incorporated into this application by reference.

Technical field

This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method and device for message transmission.

Background technique

Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) technology migrates computing storage capabilities and business service capabilities to the edge of the network, avoiding the need to transmit data back to the cloud as much as possible, reducing the waiting time for data to and from the cloud and network costs. Based on the 5G distributed cloud infrastructure, 5G user plane function modules and 5G MEC nodes are built at the edge of cloudification. The 5G MEC nodes provide the MEC application platform to realize the deployment and management capabilities of third-party applications. Users can get services through the MEC application.

5G defines application functions. It opens functions (Network Exposure Function, NEF) to non-trusted domain networks or sends application function requests (Application Function Request, AF Request) to trusted domain policy control functions (Policy Control Function, PCF), which include Target data network name (Data Network Name, DNN), application ID (Application IDentity, APP ID), N6 interface routing requirements, application location and a series of parameters. According to these information parameters provided by AF, PCF combines its own policy control to generate policy and charging control (PCC) rules for the target protocol data unit (Protocol Data Unit, PDU) session (Session) service flow, and pass The session management function (Session Management Function, SMF) selects an appropriate user plane function module (User Plan Function, UPF) for it. MEC provides functions such as application infrastructure resource orchestration, application instantiation, and application rule configuration. Therefore, when the MEC is deployed in the 5G system, the MEC can also act as an application function (AF) role, representing the interaction between the application deployed on the MEC and the 5G system control plane function module.

Figure 1 shows the edge computing network architecture. The main network functions are introduced as follows:

AMF: Access and Mobility Management Function, access and mobility management functions, registration, connection management, etc.

UPF: User Plan Function, user plane function module. External PDU conversation node interconnected with data network, message routing and forwarding.

SMF: Session Management Function, session management function. Session establishment and deletion, user plane selection and control, user terminal Internet Protocol (User Equipment Internet Protocol, UE IP) allocation, etc.

AF: Application Function, application function. Interact with the 3GPP core network to provide services. Based on the deployment of operators, trusted AF can directly interact with related network functions (Network Function, NF), while untrusted AF cannot directly interact with NF, and should use the external disclosure framework to perform through NEF.

PCF: Policy Control Function, policy control function. Support a unified policy framework to manage network behaviors and provide policy rules for control plane NF execution.

NRF: Network Repository Function, network storage function. Support service discovery function.

UDM: Unified Data Management, unified data management. Store UE information, such as subscription information, and information about established PDU sessions.

NEF: Network Exposure Function, network opening function. Provides functions that safely expose the services and capabilities provided by the 3GPP network to external networks.

UDR: Unified Data Repository, unified database UDR. Storage of contract data and retrieval of contract data by UDM. The storage of strategy information and the retrieval of strategy information by PCF.

At present, there are related application layer solutions. It can support the availability of the UE to subscribe to the target MEC application server, for example, the MEC application server is available in a certain time period and location. And support for migrating the application context and UE context to a new server when the current MEC application server is unavailable.

The UE can only learn the availability of a specific MEC application server, and when it is unavailable, the application context and UE context are migrated to a new server, and the UE cannot immediately obtain the address information of the new server to ensure the continuity of its service. In addition, when the application layer does not support this function or the application layer function cannot be executed, the existing problem cannot be solved.

Summary of the invention

The embodiments of the present application provide a message transmission method and device to realize that when the address of the MEC server and/or the MEC application server changes, the new server address can be notified to the terminal.

A message transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application includes:

Receive trigger message;

Based on the trigger message, the terminal is notified of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server.

Through this method, a trigger message is received; based on the trigger message, the terminal is notified of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes the MEC server and/or the MEC application server, thereby realizing the MEC When the server and/or MEC application server address changes, the terminal can be notified of the new server address.

Optionally, the new address of the MEC related server is notified to the terminal through a protocol data unit PDU session modification process.

Optionally, when receiving an update message sent by the policy control function PCF entity containing the application function AF entity requesting to generate a new policy and charging control PCC rule, the session management function SMF entity initiates the PDU session modification process;

Or, when receiving a change message sent by the unified data management UDM entity notifying the SMF entity about the MEC subscription information, the SMF entity initiates the PDU session modification process;

Or, when receiving a response message to the notification information of the SMF entity and containing the MEC related information sent by the AF entity, the SMF entity initiates the PDU session modification process.

Optionally, the update message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The change message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The response message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The PDU session modification command in the PDU session modification process includes: application identifier and application new address.

Optionally, any of the messages also includes N6 interface traffic routing information.

Optionally, through a terminal configuration modification process, the terminal is notified of the new address of the MEC related server.

Optionally, when an update message containing a new policy and charging control PCC rule generated based on the request of the application function AF entity is received from the policy control function PCF entity, the access and mobility management function AMF entity initiates the Terminal configuration modification process;

Or, when receiving a change message sent by the unified data management UDM entity containing the AMF entity informing the access and mobility management function about the MEC subscription information, the AMF entity initiates the terminal configuration modification process.

The terminal policy container or terminal configuration update command in the terminal configuration modification process includes: application identifier and application new address.

Correspondingly, on the trigger message sending side, another message transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes:

Determine the trigger message of the first network entity to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server;

Sending the trigger message of the first network entity to the second network entity.

Optionally, the trigger message is specifically used to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the MEC related server through a protocol data unit PDU session modification process.

Optionally,

The first network entity is a policy control function PCF entity, the trigger message is an update message containing a new policy and charging control PCC rule generated based on the request of the application function AF entity, and the second network entity is a session management function SMF entity;

Alternatively, the first network entity is a unified data management UDM entity, the trigger message is a message notifying the SMF entity about changes to MEC subscription information, and the second network entity is an SMF entity;

Alternatively, the first network entity is an AF entity, the trigger message is a response message containing MEC related information to the notification information of an SMF entity or an NEF entity, and the second network entity is an SMF entity.

The response message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address.

Optionally, the trigger message is specifically used to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the MEC related server through the terminal configuration modification process.

Optionally, the first network entity is a policy control function PCF entity, the trigger message is an update message including an application function AF entity requesting to generate a new policy and charging control PCC rule, and the second network entity is Access and mobility management function AMF entity;

Alternatively, the first network entity is a unified data management UDM entity, the trigger message is a message notifying an access and mobility management function AMF entity about a change of MEC subscription information, and the second network entity is an AMF entity.

The change message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address.

Correspondingly, on the terminal side, a message transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

Receiving notification of a new address of a mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server;

Send a message to the MEC-related server according to the new address of the MEC-related server.

A message transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

The receiving unit is used to receive the trigger message;

The notification unit is configured to notify the terminal of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server based on the trigger message; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server.

The determining unit is used to determine the trigger message of the first network entity, and is used to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes the MEC server and/or the MEC application server;

The sending unit is configured to send the trigger message of the first network entity to the second network entity.

The receiving unit is configured to receive notification of a new address of a mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server;

The sending unit is configured to send a message to the MEC-related server according to the new address of the MEC-related server.

On the new address notification side of the MEC-related server, another message transmission device provided in this embodiment of the application includes:

Memory, used to store program instructions;

The processor is used to call the program instructions stored in the memory and execute according to the obtained program:

Receive trigger message;

Optionally, the processor notifies the terminal of the new address of the MEC related server through a protocol data unit PDU session modification process.

Optionally, the device is a session management function SMF entity, and when the processor receives an update message sent by a policy control function PCF entity containing an application function AF entity requesting to generate a new policy and charging control PCC rule, Initiating the PDU session modification process;

Alternatively, the device is an SMF entity, and the processor initiates the PDU session modification process when receiving a change message sent by the unified data management UDM entity to notify the SMF entity about the MEC subscription information;

Alternatively, the device is an SMF entity, and the processor initiates the PDU session modification process when receiving a response message to the notification information of the SMF entity containing MEC related information sent by the AF entity.

Optionally, the processor notifies the terminal of the new address of the MEC related server through a terminal configuration modification process.

Optionally, the device is an access and mobility management function AMF entity, and when the processor receives a policy control function PCF entity sending a new policy and charging control PCC rule generated based on the application function AF entity request Initiating the terminal configuration modification process when the update message is updated;

Alternatively, the device is an AMF entity, and the processor initiates a terminal configuration modification process when receiving a change message sent by the unified data management UDM entity that contains the AMF entity informing the access and mobility management function about the MEC subscription information.

On the trigger message sending side, another message transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

Memory, used to store program instructions;

Optionally,

Alternatively, the first network entity is a unified data management UDM entity, the trigger message is a message that informs the access and mobility management function AMF entity about the change of MEC subscription information, and the second network entity is an AMF entity.

On the terminal side, another message transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

Memory, used to store program instructions;

Another embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium, the computer storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and the computer-executable instructions are used to make the computer execute any of the foregoing methods.

Description of the drawings

In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative work, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an edge computing network architecture provided by an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method provided by an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method provided by an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method provided by an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method provided by an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method provided by an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a message transmission method provided by any network entity side in an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a message transmission method provided by the sending side of the trigger message according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a message transmission method provided by the terminal side according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a message transmission apparatus provided by any network entity side in an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a message transmission device provided by a sending side of a trigger message according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a message transmission device provided by the terminal side according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of another message transmission apparatus provided by any network entity side in an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of another message transmission device provided by the sending side of the trigger message according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of another message transmission apparatus provided by the terminal side according to an embodiment of the application.

Detailed ways

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work shall fall within the protection scope of this application.

Among them, the method and the device are based on the same application concept. Since the method and the device have similar principles for solving the problem, the implementation of the device and the method can be referred to each other, and the repetition will not be repeated.

The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application may be applicable to various systems, especially 5G systems. For example, the applicable system can be the global system of mobile communication (GSM) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, and wideband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) general packet Wireless service (general packet radio service, GPRS) system, long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), general Mobile system (universal mobile telecommunication system, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) system, 5G system, 5G NR system, etc. These various systems include terminal equipment and network equipment.

The terminal device involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with a wireless connection function, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. In different systems, the name of the terminal device may be different. For example, in a 5G system, the terminal device may be called a user equipment (UE). A wireless terminal device can communicate with one or more core networks via a radio access network (RAN). The wireless terminal device can be a mobile terminal device, such as a mobile phone (or “cellular” phone) and a mobile phone. The computer of the terminal device, for example, may be a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, built-in computer or vehicle-mounted mobile device, which exchanges language and/or data with the wireless access network. For example, personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiated protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants, PDA) and other equipment. Wireless terminal equipment can also be called system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, and access point , Remote terminal equipment (remote terminal), access terminal equipment (access terminal), user terminal equipment (user terminal), user agent (user agent), user device (user device), which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

The network device involved in the embodiment of the present application may be a base station, and the base station may include multiple cells. Depending on specific application scenarios, a base station may also be called an access point, or may refer to a device in an access network that communicates with a wireless terminal device through one or more sectors on an air interface, or other names. The network device can be used to convert the received air frame and the Internet protocol (IP) packet to each other, as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, where the rest of the access network can include the Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network equipment can also coordinate the attribute management of the air interface. For example, the network equipment involved in the embodiments of this application may be a network equipment (base transmitter station, BTS) in the global system for mobile communications (GSM) or code division multiple access (CDMA). ), it can also be a network device (NodeB) in wide-band code division multiple access (WCDMA), or an evolved network device in a long-term evolution (LTE) system (evolutional node B, eNB or e-NodeB), the 5G base station in the next generation system including the 5G network architecture, or the home evolved node B (HeNB), relay node (relay node), Femto, pico, etc. are not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to the drawings of the specification. It should be noted that the display order of the embodiments of the present application only represents the sequence of the embodiments, and does not represent the pros and cons of the technical solutions provided by the embodiments.

When the UE communicates with the MEC application, the address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server may change. For example, because the MEC server is unavailable, the MEC application server is migrated to the cloud or other MEC servers, and the internal application deployment of the MEC application server changes, etc. . In order to ensure the continuity of services, the MEC needs to notify the UE of the new addresses of the MEC server and/or MEC application server that can provide the same service. The following provides a solution for how to notify this information given in the embodiments of the present application.

Example one

This embodiment introduces that the PCF generates a new PCC rule update to the SMF based on an AF request (request), and the SMF initiates a PDU session modification to notify the UE of the new address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server.

Referring to FIG. 2, the information transmission method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

200. The address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server changes. For example, because the MEC server is unavailable, the MEC application server (app server) is migrated to the cloud or other MEC servers, and the internal application deployment of the MEC application server changes.

201. The AF creates a request message by calling the first operation instruction Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Create (NEF_TrafficInfluence_Create) service operation.

The request information contains one or a combination of the following content: application identification (list), application new address (list), UE identification/address (list), the correspondence between N6 interface traffic routing information, wherein the N6 interface traffic The routing information includes at least one of the following parameters: app ID, new IP (new IP), UE ID/UE IP, N6 interface traffic routing information (traffic routing info). The relationship between each parameter can be one-to-one or one-to-many. For example, if the addresses of application 1 and application 2 connected by UE1 and UE2 are changed to IP1, the corresponding relationship is {(app ID1, app ID2), new IP, (UE ID1, UE ID2), N6 traffic routing info}. These parameters are used to indicate that the address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server to which the specific UE is currently connected has changed, and a connection can be established with the server through the new address provided.

202. AF calls the NEF_TrafficInfluence_Create/Update (Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Create/Update) service operation to send the request information to NEF, NEF stores the AF request to the UDR, PCF subscribes to the UDR to change the AF request, and obtains the AF request from the notification information information. Or AF directly sends the information to PCF.

203. The PCF generates a new PCC rule according to the AF request, and updates the new PCC rule to the SMF.

204. The PCF sends the PCC rule to the SMF by calling the second operation instruction Npcf_SMPolicyControl_UpdateNotify (PCF_Session Management Policy Control_Update Notification).

205. Including: 205a. The SMF sends an N4 interface session modification request (Session Modification Request) to the UPF to provide N6 interface traffic routing information. 205b. UPF replies to the N4 interface session modification response (Session Modification Response).

206. The SMF sends one or more PDU session modification commands (Session Modification Command) to the AMF according to the UE ID parameters in the received information. The information includes parameters such as application identification and application new address. The parameters can be one-to-one or A one-to-many relationship. For example, if different applications connected by the UE migrate to different application servers, the corresponding relationship between the parameters includes {(app ID1, new IP1), (app ID2, new IP2)}.

207. The AMF sends the PDU Session Modification Command (which carries the application identifier and the new application address) to the corresponding UE.

208. The UE sends information to the MEC according to the new server address.

Example two

This embodiment introduces that the PCF generates a new PCC rule update to the AMF based on the AF request, and the AMF initiates a UE configuration modification to notify the UE of the new address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server.

Referring to FIG. 3, the information transmission method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

300. The address of the MEC server and/or the MEC application server changes.

301. AF creates a request message by calling the Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Create service operation. The message contains application identification (list), application new address (list), UE identification/address (list), and the correspondence between N6 interface traffic routing information (app ID, new IP, UE ID/UE IP, N6 traffic routing info), each parameter may have a one-to-one or one-to-many relationship. These parameters are used to indicate that the address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server to which the specific UE is currently connected has changed, and a connection can be established with the server through the new address provided.

302. The AF sends the request information (by calling Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Create/Update) to the NEF, the NEF stores the AF request to the UDR, and the PCF subscribes to the UDR for changes in the AF request, and obtains the information of the AF request from the notification information. Or AF directly sends information (including app ID, new IP, UE ID/UE IP) to PCF.

It should be noted that in this step, the AF sending the request information to the PCF can be sent directly or in an indirect manner through interaction with NEF and UDR. In the case of the indirect method, two entities, NEF and UDR, are set between AF and PCF (not shown in the figure).

303. The PCF calls the third operation command Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer (AMF_通信_N1N2 message transfer) service operation and sends the information to the AMF. The information contains the UE ID and the UE policy container, and the UE policy container contains the application identifier and the new application address. The corresponding relationship between, for example, {(app ID1,new IP1),(app ID2,new IP2)}.

304. The AMF transparently transmits the received UE policy container (including app ID and new IP) to one or more UEs.

305. The UE sends information to the MEC according to the new server address.

Example three

In this embodiment, the UDM notifies the SMF about the change of the MEC subscription information, and the SMF initiates PDU session modification to notify the UE of the new address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server.

Prerequisite: UDM stores MEC-related contract information, for example, server address.

Referring to FIG. 4, the information transmission method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

400. The address of the MEC server and/or the MEC application server changes. MEC sends information to UDM through NEF.

401. UDM updates the MEC subscription information (updates the address of the MEC server and/or the MEC application server), UDM sends notification information of the MEC address change to the SMF, and the information includes the application identifier (list), the new application address (list), and the UE The correspondence between the identifier/address (list) and N6 interface traffic routing information (app ID, new IP, UE ID/UE IP, N6 traffic routing info), each parameter may be one-to-one or one-to-many The corresponding relationship. These parameters are used to indicate that the address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server to which the specific UE is currently connected has changed, and a connection can be established with the server through the new address provided.

402. Including: 402a. The SMF sends an N4 session modification request (Session Modification Request) to the UPF, and provides N6 interface traffic routing information, etc. 402b. The UPF replies to an N4 session modification response (Session Modification Response).

403. The SMF sends one or more PDU session modification commands (Session Modification Command) to the AMF. The information includes an application identifier and a new application address. The parameters may have a one-to-one or one-to-many correspondence relationship.

404. The AMF sends the PDU Session Modification Command (which carries the application identifier and the new application address) to the corresponding UE.

405. The UE sends information to the MEC according to the new server address.

Example four

In this embodiment, the UDM notifies the AMF about the change of the MEC subscription information, and the AMF initiates the modification of the UE configuration to notify the UE of the new address of the MEC server and/or the MEC application server.

Referring to FIG. 5, the information transmission method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

500. The address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server is changed. MEC sends information to UDM through NEF.

501. UDM updates MEC subscription information (updates the address of MEC server and/or MEC application server), UDM sends notification information of MEC address change to AMF, the information includes application identification (list), application new address (list), UE The correspondence between the identifier/address (list) and N6 interface traffic routing information (app ID, new IP, UE ID/UE IP, N6 traffic routing info), each parameter can be one-to-one or one-to-many The corresponding relationship. These parameters are used to indicate that the address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server to which the specific UE is currently connected has changed, and a connection can be established with the server through the new address provided.

502. The AMF sends a UE configuration update command (Configuration Update Command) to one or more UEs according to the received information, and the information includes the application identifier and the new application address.

503. The UE sends information to the MEC according to the new server address.

Example five

This embodiment introduces that the AF sends the MEC related information to the SMF in response to the SMF notification information, and the SMF initiates PDU session modification to notify the UE of the new address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server.

Referring to FIG. 6, the information transmission method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

601. AF notification is triggered (for example, SMF receives AF notification request information). SMF calls the fourth operation instruction Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify (SMF_event trigger_notify) service operation to send the information to NEF. NEF triggers Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Notify to notify AF, or SMF directly calls Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify to notify AF.

602. AF replies to information (directly sent to SMF or sent to SMF via NEF) by calling the fifth operation command Nsmf_EventExposure_AppRelocation Info (SMF_Event Trigger_App Relocation), and the information includes the application identification (list) and the new application address (list) ), the correspondence between UE identification/address (list) (app ID, new IP, UE ID/UE IP), and each parameter may have a one-to-one or one-to-many correspondence. Used to indicate that the address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server to which a specific UE is currently connected has changed, and a connection with the server can be established through the provided new address.

603. The SMF sends one or more PDU session modification commands (Session Modification Command) to the AMF according to the UE ID parameters in the received information. The information includes the application identifier and the new application address. The parameters can be one-to-one or one-to-many. relationship.

604. The AMF sends the PDU Session Modification Command (which carries the application identifier and the new application address) to the corresponding UE.

In summary, referring to FIG. 7, on any network entity side, a message transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

S101. Receive a trigger message;

S102. Based on the trigger message, notify the terminal of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; where the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server.

Correspondingly, referring to FIG. 8, on the sending side of the trigger message, another message transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

S201. Determine the trigger message of the first network entity, which is used to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server;

S202: Send the trigger message of the first network entity to the second network entity.

Optionally,

Correspondingly, on the terminal side, referring to FIG. 9, a message transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application includes:

S301. Receive notification of a new address of a mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server;

S302: Send a message to the MEC-related server according to the new address of the MEC-related server.

Corresponding to the foregoing method, referring to FIG. 10, on any network node side, a message transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

The receiving unit 11 is configured to receive a trigger message;

The notification unit 12 is configured to notify the terminal of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server based on the trigger message; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server.

Or, when receiving a response message to the notification information of the SMF entity or the NEF entity and containing the MEC related information sent by the AF entity, the SMF entity initiates the PDU session modification process.

Referring to FIG. 11, on the trigger message sending side, a message transmission apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

The determining unit 21 is configured to determine the trigger message of the first network entity, and is used to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or MEC application server;

The sending unit 22 is configured to send the trigger message of the first network entity to the second network entity.

Optionally,

Referring to FIG. 12, on the terminal side, a message transmission apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

The receiving unit 31 is configured to receive a new address notification of a mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server;

The sending unit 32 is configured to send a message to the MEC-related server according to the new address of the MEC-related server.

It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation. In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional unit.

If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application essentially or the part that contributes to the existing technology or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium , Including a number of instructions to enable a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage media include: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk and other media that can store program code .

Referring to FIG. 13, on any network node side, another message transmission apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

The processor 500 is configured to read a program in the memory 520 and execute the following process:

Receive trigger message;

Optionally, the processor 500 notifies the terminal of the new address of the MEC related server through a protocol data unit PDU session modification process.

Optionally, the device is a session management function SMF entity, and when the processor 500 receives an update message sent by a policy control function PCF entity containing an application function AF entity requesting to generate a new policy and charging control PCC rule , The processor 500 initiates the PDU session modification process;

Alternatively, the device is a session management function SMF entity, and the processor 500 initiates the PDU session modification process when receiving a change message sent by the unified data management UDM entity notifying the SMF entity about the MEC subscription information;

Alternatively, the device is a session management function SMF entity, and the processor 500 initiates the PDU session modification process when receiving a response message containing MEC related information sent by the AF entity to the notification information of the SMF entity.

Optionally, the processor 500 notifies the terminal of the new address of the MEC related server through a terminal configuration modification process.

Optionally, the device is an access and mobility management function AMF entity, and when the processor 500 receives a new policy and charging control PCC generated based on the request of the application function AF entity sent by the policy control function PCF entity, Initiating the terminal configuration modification process when the rule is updated;

Alternatively, the device is an AMF entity, and the processor 500 initiates a terminal configuration modification process when receiving a change message sent by a unified data management UDM entity that includes an AMF entity notifying access and mobility management functions regarding MEC subscription information.

The transceiver 510 is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor 500.

Wherein, in FIG. 13, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges. Specifically, one or more processors represented by the processor 500 and various circuits of the memory represented by the memory 520 are linked together. The bus architecture can also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are all known in the art, and therefore, will not be further described herein. The bus interface provides the interface. The transceiver 510 may be a plurality of elements, that is, including a transmitter and a transceiver, and provide a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium. The processor 500 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 520 can store data used by the processor 500 when performing operations.

The processor 500 may be a central processor (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or a complex programmable logic device (Complex Programmable Logic Device). , CPLD).

Referring to FIG. 14, on the trigger message sending side, another message transmission apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

The processor 504 is configured to read a program in the memory 505 and execute the following process:

Optionally,

The transceiver 501 is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor 504.

In Figure 14, the bus architecture (represented by bus 506), bus 506 can include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, bus 506 will include one or more processors represented by processor 504 and memory represented by memory 505 The various circuits are linked together. The bus 506 can also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are all known in the art, and therefore, no further description will be given herein. The bus interface 503 provides an interface between the bus 506 and the transceiver 501. The transceiver 501 may be one element or multiple elements, such as multiple receivers and transmitters, and provide a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium. The data processed by the processor 504 is transmitted on the wireless medium through the antenna 502, and further, the antenna 502 also receives the data and transmits the data to the processor 504.

The processor 504 is responsible for managing the bus 506 and general processing, and can also provide various functions, including timing, peripheral interfaces, voltage regulation, power management, and other control functions. The memory 505 may be used to store data used by the processor 504 when performing operations.

Optionally, the processor 504 may be a CPU (central embedded device), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, application-specific integrated circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array, field programmable gate array) or CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) , Complex Programmable Logic Devices).

Referring to FIG. 15, on the terminal side, another message transmission apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

The processor 600 is configured to read a program in the memory 620, and execute the following process:

The transceiver 610 is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor 600.

Wherein, in FIG. 15, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges. Specifically, one or more processors represented by the processor 600 and various circuits of the memory represented by the memory 620 are linked together. The bus architecture can also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are all known in the art, and therefore, will not be further described herein. The bus interface provides the interface. The transceiver 610 may be a plurality of elements, including a transmitter and a receiver, and provide a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium. For different user equipment, the user interface 630 may also be an interface capable of connecting externally and internally with the required equipment. The connected equipment includes but not limited to a keypad, a display, a speaker, a microphone, a joystick, and the like.

The processor 600 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 620 can store data used by the processor 600 when performing operations.

Optionally, the processor 600 may be a CPU (central embedded device), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, application-specific integrated circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array, field programmable gate array) or CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) , Complex Programmable Logic Devices).

The embodiments of the present application provide a computing device, and the computing device may specifically be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA), etc. The computing device may include a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, an input/output device, etc. The input device may include a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, etc., and an output device may include a display device, such as a liquid crystal display (Liquid Crystal Display, LCD), Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), etc.

The memory may include read only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM), and provides the processor with program instructions and data stored in the memory. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory may be used to store the program of any of the methods provided in the embodiment of the present application.

The processor calls the program instructions stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to execute any of the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application according to the obtained program instructions.

The embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium for storing computer program instructions used by the device provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present application, which includes a program for executing any method provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present application.

The computer storage medium may be any available medium or data storage device that can be accessed by the computer, including but not limited to magnetic storage (such as floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disk (MO), etc.), optical storage (such as CD, DVD, BD, HVD, etc.), and semiconductor memory (such as ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, non-volatile memory (NAND FLASH), solid state drive (SSD)), etc.

The method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to terminal equipment, and can also be applied to network equipment.

Among them, the terminal equipment can also be called User Equipment (User Equipment, referred to as "UE"), Mobile Station (Mobile Station, referred to as "MS"), Mobile Terminal (Mobile Terminal), etc. Optionally, the terminal can be It has the ability to communicate with one or more core networks via a radio access network (RAN). For example, the terminal can be a mobile phone (or called a "cellular" phone), or a mobile computer, etc., For example, the terminal may also be a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile device.

The network device may be a base station (for example, an access point), which refers to a device that communicates with a wireless terminal through one or more sectors on an air interface in an access network. The base station can be used to convert received air frames and IP packets into each other, and act as a router between the wireless terminal and the rest of the access network, where the rest of the access network can include an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The base station can also coordinate the attribute management of the air interface. For example, the base station may be a base station (BTS, Base Transceiver Station) in GSM or CDMA, a base station (NodeB) in WCDMA, or an evolved base station (NodeB or eNB or e-NodeB, evolutional NodeB) in LTE. B), or it can be gNB in the 5G system, etc. There is no limitation in the embodiment of this application.

The above-mentioned method processing flow can be implemented by a software program, which can be stored in a storage medium, and when the stored software program is called, the above-mentioned method steps are executed.

In summary, in this embodiment of the present application, the AF request sent by the AF is used to indicate that the address of the MEC server and/or MEC application server to which the specific UE is currently connected has changed, and a connection with the server can be established through the provided new address. The AF request includes application identification, application new address, UE identification/address, and N6 interface traffic routing information. UDM sends notification information of MEC address change to SMF, and the information includes application identification, application new address, and UE identification/address. The AF responds to the application relocation response notified by the SMF, and the information includes the application ID, the new application address, and the UE ID/address. The SMF initiates PDU session modification, and notifies the UE of the application identifier and the new address of the application. AMF initiates UE configuration modification, and notifies the UE of the application identifier and the new address of the application. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application solves the problem of supporting the address change of the edge computing server.

Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application may adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. Moreover, this application may adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program codes.

This application is described with reference to flowcharts and/or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It should be understood that each process and/or block in the flowchart and/or block diagram, and the combination of processes and/or blocks in the flowchart and/or block diagram can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to the processors of general-purpose computers, special-purpose computers, embedded processors, or other programmable data processing equipment to generate a machine, so that instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment are generated for use. It is a device that realizes the functions specified in one process or multiple processes in the flowchart and/or one block or multiple blocks in the block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can guide a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including the instruction device. The device implements the functions specified in one process or multiple processes in the flowchart and/or one block or multiple blocks in the block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, so that a series of operation steps are executed on the computer or other programmable equipment to produce computer-implemented processing, so as to execute on the computer or other programmable equipment. The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one process or multiple processes in the flowchart and/or one block or multiple blocks in the block diagram.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. In this way, if these modifications and variations of this application fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalent technologies, this application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

A message transmission method, characterized in that the method includes:

Receive trigger message;

Based on the trigger message, the terminal is notified of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the new address of the MEC related server is notified to the terminal through a protocol data unit PDU session modification process.
The method according to claim 2, characterized in that when an update message sent by the policy control function PCF entity containing the application function AF entity requesting to generate a new policy and charging control PCC rule is received, the session management function SMF The entity initiates the PDU session modification process;

Or, when receiving a change message sent by the unified data management UDM entity notifying the SMF entity about the MEC subscription information, the SMF entity initiates the PDU session modification process;

Or, when receiving a response message to the notification information of the SMF entity or the NEF entity and containing the MEC related information sent by the AF entity, the SMF entity initiates the PDU session modification process.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the update message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The change message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The response message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The PDU session modification command in the PDU session modification process includes: application identifier and application new address.
The method according to claim 4, wherein any of the messages further includes N6 interface traffic routing information.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the new address of the MEC related server is notified to the terminal through a terminal configuration modification process.
The method according to claim 6, wherein when an update message containing a new policy and charging control PCC rule generated based on the request of the application function AF entity is received from the policy control function PCF entity, the access and charging control PCC rules are received The mobility management function AMF entity initiates the terminal configuration modification process;

Or, when receiving a change message sent by the unified data management UDM entity containing the AMF entity informing the access and mobility management function about the MEC subscription information, the AMF entity initiates the terminal configuration modification process.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the update message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The change message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The terminal policy container or terminal configuration update command in the terminal configuration modification process includes: application identifier and application new address.
A message transmission method, characterized in that the method includes:

Determine the trigger message of the first network entity to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server;

Sending the trigger message of the first network entity to the second network entity.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the trigger message is specifically used to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the MEC related server through a protocol data unit PDU session modification process.
The method of claim 10, wherein:

The first network entity is a policy control function PCF entity, the trigger message is an update message containing a new policy and charging control PCC rule generated based on the request of the application function AF entity, and the second network entity is a session management function SMF entity;

Alternatively, the first network entity is a unified data management UDM entity, the trigger message is a message notifying the SMF entity about changes to MEC subscription information, and the second network entity is an SMF entity;

Alternatively, the first network entity is an AF entity, the trigger message is a response message containing MEC related information to the notification information of an SMF entity or an NEF entity, and the second network entity is an SMF entity.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the update message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The change message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The response message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address.
The method according to claim 12, wherein any of the messages further includes N6 interface traffic routing information.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the trigger message is specifically used to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the MEC related server through a terminal configuration modification process.
The method according to claim 14, wherein the first network entity is a policy control function (PCF) entity, and the trigger message includes an application function AF entity requesting to generate a new policy and charging control PCC rule update Message, the second network entity is an access and mobility management function AMF entity;

Alternatively, the first network entity is a unified data management UDM entity, the trigger message is a message notifying an access and mobility management function AMF entity about a change of MEC subscription information, and the second network entity is an AMF entity.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the update message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The change message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address.
A message transmission method, characterized in that it comprises:

Receiving notification of a new address of a mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server;

Send a message to the MEC-related server according to the new address of the MEC-related server.
A message transmission device is characterized in that it comprises:

The receiving unit is used to receive the trigger message;

The notification unit is configured to notify the terminal of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server based on the trigger message; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server.
A message transmission device is characterized in that it comprises:

The determining unit is used to determine the trigger message of the first network entity, and is used to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes the MEC server and/or the MEC application server;

The sending unit is configured to send the trigger message of the first network entity to the second network entity.
A message transmission device is characterized in that it comprises:

The receiving unit is configured to receive notification of a new address of a mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server;

The sending unit is configured to send a message to the MEC-related server according to the new address of the MEC-related server.
A message transmission device is characterized in that it comprises:

Memory, used to store program instructions;

The processor is used to call the program instructions stored in the memory and execute according to the obtained program:

Receive trigger message;

Based on the trigger message, the terminal is notified of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server.
The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the processor notifies the terminal of the new address of the MEC related server through a protocol data unit PDU session modification process.
The device according to claim 22, wherein the device is a session management function SMF entity, and when the processor receives a request from the policy control function PCF entity to generate a new policy and plan based on the application function AF entity request Initiating the PDU session modification process when charging an update message of the PCC rule;

Alternatively, the device is an SMF entity, and the processor initiates the PDU session modification process when receiving a change message sent by the unified data management UDM entity to notify the SMF entity about the MEC subscription information;

Alternatively, the device is an SMF entity, and the processor initiates the PDU session modification process when receiving a response message containing MEC related information sent by the AF entity to the notification information of the SMF entity.
The device according to claim 23, wherein the update message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The change message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The response message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The PDU session modification command in the PDU session modification process includes: application identifier and application new address.
The device according to claim 24, wherein any of the messages further includes N6 interface traffic routing information.
The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the processor notifies the terminal of the new address of the MEC-related server through a terminal configuration modification process.
The device according to claim 26, wherein the device is an access and mobility management function AMF entity, and when the processor receives a policy control function PCF entity sent by a policy control function PCF entity containing information generated based on an application function AF entity request When a new policy and charging control PCC rule updates message, initiate the terminal configuration modification process;

Alternatively, the device is an AMF entity, and the processor initiates a terminal configuration modification process when receiving a change message sent by the unified data management UDM entity that contains the AMF entity informing the access and mobility management function about the MEC subscription information.
The device according to claim 27, wherein the update message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The change message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The terminal policy container or terminal configuration update command in the terminal configuration modification process includes: application identifier and application new address.
A message transmission device is characterized in that it comprises:

Memory, used to store program instructions;

The processor is used to call the program instructions stored in the memory and execute according to the obtained program:

Determine the trigger message of the first network entity to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein, the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server;

Sending the trigger message of the first network entity to the second network entity.
The device according to claim 29, wherein the trigger message is specifically used to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the MEC related server through a protocol data unit PDU session modification process.
The device of claim 30, wherein:

The first network entity is a policy control function PCF entity, the trigger message is an update message containing a new policy and charging control PCC rule generated based on the request of the application function AF entity, and the second network entity is a session management function SMF entity;

Alternatively, the first network entity is a unified data management UDM entity, the trigger message is a message notifying the SMF entity about changes to MEC subscription information, and the second network entity is an SMF entity;

Alternatively, the first network entity is an AF entity, the trigger message is a response message containing MEC related information to the notification information of an SMF entity or an NEF entity, and the second network entity is an SMF entity.
The device according to claim 31, wherein the update message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The change message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The response message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address.
The device according to claim 32, wherein any of the messages further includes N6 interface traffic routing information.
The device according to claim 29, wherein the trigger message is specifically used to trigger the second network entity to notify the terminal of the new address of the MEC related server through a terminal configuration modification process.
The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the first network entity is a policy control function (PCF) entity, and the trigger message includes an update of the application function AF entity requesting to generate a new policy and charging control PCC rule Message, the second network entity is an access and mobility management function AMF entity;

Alternatively, the first network entity is a unified data management UDM entity, the trigger message is a message notifying an access and mobility management function AMF entity about a change of MEC subscription information, and the second network entity is an AMF entity.
The device according to claim 29, wherein the update message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address;

The change message includes: application identification, application new address, terminal identification and/or address.
A message transmission device is characterized in that it comprises:

Memory, used to store program instructions;

The processor is used to call the program instructions stored in the memory and execute according to the obtained program:

Receiving notification of a new address of a mobile edge computing MEC related server; wherein the MEC related server includes an MEC server and/or an MEC application server;

Send a message to the MEC-related server according to the new address of the MEC-related server.
A computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and the computer-executable instructions are used to make the computer execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17.