WO2022141390A1

WO2022141390A1 - Communication method and network device

Info

Publication number: WO2022141390A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/142083
Authority: WO
Inventors: 孙海洋; 周润泽
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2020-12-31
Filing date: 2020-12-31
Publication date: 2022-07-07

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and a network device, enabling flexible interaction between network elements of a core network, and reducing signaling forwarding delay. The method is performed in a session management function (SMF) and comprises: determining a packet detection rule (PDR) and first execution rule information associated with said PDR, the first execution rule information being used for instructing a user plane function (UPF) to report information to a first core network device, and the first execution rule information comprising a first address of the first core network device; and sending the PDR and the first execution rule information to the UPF.

Description

A communication method and network device

technical field

The present application relates to the field of communication, and more particularly, to a communication method and network device.

Background technique

The service based architecture (5G SBA) of 5G includes a number of different types of network elements. In order to meet business needs, some network elements may be re-divided in their functions. The interaction is too fixed, and these network elements cannot flexibly interact with other network elements. For example, the 5G SBA architecture includes a user plane function (UPF) network element and a session management function (SMF) network element, where the SMF network element is responsible for selecting a packet data unit (PDU) session The UPF network element that provides the service. In the existing SBA architecture, UPF network elements can only interact with SMF network elements through the packet forwarding control protocol (PFCP). Other network elements interact with each other. Taking charging as an example, the UPF network element needs to report charging information to the charging function (charging function, CHF) network element, but in the existing system architecture, the UPF network element cannot interact with the CHF network element. Therefore, realizing the flexible interaction of user plane network elements with other network elements has become an urgent problem to be solved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present application provides a communication method, which enables a user plane network element device to flexibly interact with other network element devices.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, executed by a session management function network element, the method includes: determining a packet inspection rule PDR and first execution rule information associated with the PDR, where the first execution rule information is used for Instructing the user plane function network element to report information to the first core network device, the first execution rule information includes the first address of the first core network device; sending the PDR and the first address to the user plane function network element Execution rule information.

In this embodiment of the present application, by adding the address of the first core network device to the first execution rule information, the user plane function network element can flexibly interact with other network element devices, and does not need to be forwarded by the session management function network element, reducing the need for Signaling forwarding delay.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first execution rule information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the user plane function network element to report to the first The first reporting information sent by the core network device, wherein the first indication information includes: charging information of the first service accessed by the first user equipment UE, service identifiers of the first service accessed by the first UE, The location information of the first UE, the time information of the first UE accessing the first service, or the credit information of the first UE, wherein the first UE is performed by the user plane function network element. Service access UE.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first execution rule information includes a usage reporting rule URR, the URR includes the first address, and the PDR includes an identifier of the URR.

In this embodiment of the present application, the URR may include multiple first addresses, which can instruct the user plane function network element to simultaneously report information to multiple first core network devices, thereby further reducing signaling overhead.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the URR further includes the first indication information and/or the condition information that needs to be satisfied when the user plane function network element sends the first reporting information .

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, where the UMR is used to indicate the user plane function network element measurement information , the RR includes the first address, the PDR includes the identifier of the UMR, and the UMR includes the identifier of the RR.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, where the UMR is used to indicate the user plane function network element measurement information , the RR includes the first address, and the PDR includes the identifier of the UMR and the identifier of the RR.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the RR further includes the first indication information and/or the condition information that needs to be satisfied when the user plane function network element sends the first reporting information .

In this embodiment of the present application, the measurement indication information is decoupled from the first address information, so that the measurement indication information and other information (the first address information, the reporting condition information, and the information reported by the session management function network element instructing the user plane function network element to report) The association method is more flexible. For example, when UMR#1 is associated with RR#1 and RR#2, the user plane function network element can be instructed to send the measurement result corresponding to UMR#1 to the first address of RR#1 when the reporting condition of RR#1 is satisfied. The indicated network element is sent to the network element indicated by the first address of RR#2 when the reporting conditions of RR#2 are met. In this way, through the flexible association method, the user plane function network element can only measure once It satisfies reporting to different network elements under different reporting conditions, saving the operation resources and signaling overhead of the user plane functional network elements.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the UMR includes a first UMR and a second UMR, and the first UMR includes an identifier of the second UMR.

The embodiment of the present application makes the association manner between the measurement results corresponding to different UMRs more flexible.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the RR includes a first RR and a second RR, the first RR includes an identifier of the second RR, the first RR or the The second RR includes the first address.

The embodiment of the present application makes the association between the reporting destination addresses corresponding to different RRs and the reporting related information more flexible. In addition, multiple RRs may include multiple reporting destination addresses. Multiple RRs are flexibly associated, so that the user plane functional network element can report to the reporting destination addresses involved in multiple RRs after only one measurement, saving the operating resources and signaling overhead of the user plane functional network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first core network device includes at least one of the following:

Charging function network element, policy control function network element, network data analysis function network element.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, executed by a user plane function network element, the method includes: receiving a packet inspection rule PDR and first execution rule information associated with the PDR from a session management function network element, the first execution rule information An execution rule information is used to instruct the user plane function network element to report information to the first core network device, where the first execution rule information includes the first address of the first core network device; The first core network device reports information.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first execution rule information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the user plane function network element to report to the first The first reporting information sent by the core network device, wherein the first indication information includes: charging information of the first service accessed by the first user equipment UE, service identifiers of the first service accessed by the first UE, The location information of the first UE, the time information of the first UE accessing the first service, or the credit information of the first UE, wherein the first UE is performed by the user plane function network element. Service access UE.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first execution rule information includes a usage reporting rule URR, and the URR includes the first address.

In this embodiment of the present application, the URR may include multiple first addresses, so that the user plane function network element can simultaneously report information to multiple first core network devices, thereby further reducing signaling overhead.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the URR further includes the first indication information and/or the condition information that needs to be satisfied when the user plane function network element sends the first reporting information .

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information includes: determining according to the identifier of the URR included in the PDR the URR; determine the first report information according to the URR; send the first report information to the first core network device corresponding to the first address according to the first address included in the URR .

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, where the UMR is used to indicate the user plane function network element measurement information , the RR includes the first address.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the RR further includes the first indication information and/or the condition information that needs to be satisfied when the user plane function network element sends the first reporting information .

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the UMR includes a first UMR and a second UMR, and the first UMR includes an identifier of the second UMR.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the RR includes a first RR and a second RR, the first RR includes an identifier of the second RR, the first RR or the The second RR includes the first address.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information includes: according to the identifier of the UMR included in the PDR and The identifier of the RR determines the UMR and the RR respectively; determines the first reporting information according to the UMR and the RR; and corresponds to the first address according to the first address included in the RR The first core network device sends the first report information.

In this embodiment of the present application, the identities of the UMR and the RR are associated with the PDR, so that the measurement indication information and other information (the first address information, the reporting condition information, and the information reported by the session management function network element indicating the user plane function network element to report) are associated way more flexible. For example, when PDR#1 is associated with UMR#1, RR#1, and RR#2, the user plane function network element can execute UMR#1, RR#1, and RR#2 at the same time after performing PDR. Functional NEs only need to make one measurement to report to different NEs under different reporting conditions, saving the operating resources and signaling overhead of user-plane functional NEs By processing UMR#1, RR#1 and RR#2, the running speed of the user plane functional network elements is accelerated, and the operating resources of the user plane functional network elements are effectively utilized.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information includes: determining according to the identifier of the UMR included in the PDR The UMR determines the RR according to the identifier of the RR included in the UMR; determines the first reporting information according to the UMR and the RR; The first core network device corresponding to the first address sends the first report information.

In this embodiment of the present application, the measurement indication information is decoupled from the first address information or the reporting condition information, so that the measurement indication information and other information (the first address information, the reporting condition information, and the session management function network element instruct the user plane function network element to report the information) is more flexible. For example, when UMR#1 is associated with RR#1 and RR#2, the user plane function network element can be instructed to send the measurement result corresponding to UMR#1 to the first address of RR#1 when the reporting condition of RR#1 is satisfied. The indicated network element is sent to the network element indicated by the first address of RR#2 when the reporting conditions of RR#2 are met. In this way, through the flexible association method, the user plane function network element can only measure once It satisfies reporting to different network elements under different reporting conditions, saving the operation resources and signaling overhead of the user plane functional network elements.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information includes:

Send the first report information to the first core network device according to the first address through the service interface; or

The first report information is sent to the first core network device according to the first address using a packet forwarding control protocol.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first core network device includes at least one of the following:

In a third aspect, a network device is provided, the network device includes: a processor and a memory, the processor is configured to read and execute a program stored in the memory to execute: determine a packet detection rule PDR and all The first execution rule information associated with the PDR, the first execution rule information is used to instruct the user plane function network element to report information to the first core network device, and the first execution rule information includes the first execution rule information of the first core network device. address; a sending unit, configured to send the PDR and the first execution rule information to the user plane function network element.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first execution rule information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the user plane function network element to report to the first The first reporting information sent by the core network device, wherein the first indication information includes: charging information of the first service accessed by the first user equipment UE, service identifiers of the first service accessed by the first UE, The location information of the first UE, the time information of the first UE accessing the first service, or the credit information of the first UE, wherein the first UE is performed by the user plane function network element. Service access UE.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first execution rule information includes a usage reporting rule URR, the URR includes the first address, and the PDR includes an identifier of the URR.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the URR further includes the first indication information and/or the condition information that needs to be satisfied when the user plane function network element sends the first reporting information .

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, where the UMR is used to indicate the user plane function network element measurement information , the RR includes the first address, the PDR includes the identifier of the UMR, and the UMR includes the identifier of the RR.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, where the UMR is used to indicate the user plane function network element measurement information , the RR includes the first address, and the PDR includes the identifier of the UMR and the identifier of the RR.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the RR further includes the first indication information and/or the condition information that needs to be satisfied when the user plane function network element sends the first reporting information .

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the UMR includes a first UMR and a second UMR, and the first UMR includes an identifier of the second UMR.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the RR includes a first RR and a second RR, the first RR includes an identifier of the second RR, the first RR or the The second RR includes the first address.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first core network device includes at least one of the following: a charging function network element, a policy control function network element, and a network data analysis function network element.

In a fourth aspect, a network device is provided, the network device includes: a processor and a memory, the processor is configured to read and execute a program stored in the memory to execute: receive a packet from a session management function network element The detection rule PDR and the first execution rule information associated with the PDR, the first execution rule information is used to instruct the user plane function network element to report information to the first core network device, and the first execution rule information includes the first core network device. The first address of the network device; and the information is reported to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first execution rule information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the user plane function network element to report to the first The first reporting information sent by the core network device, wherein the first indication information includes: charging information of the first service accessed by the first user equipment UE, service identifiers of the first service accessed by the first UE, The location information of the first UE, the time information of the first UE accessing the first service, or the credit information of the first UE, wherein the first UE is performed by the user plane function network element. Service access UE.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first execution rule information includes a usage reporting rule URR, and the URR includes the first address.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the URR further includes the first indication information and/or the condition information that needs to be satisfied when the user plane function network element sends the first reporting information .

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information includes: determining according to the identifier of the URR included in the PDR the URR; determine the first report information according to the URR; send the first report information to the first core network device corresponding to the first address according to the first address included in the URR .

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, where the UMR is used to indicate the user plane function network element measurement information , the RR includes the first address.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the RR further includes the first indication information and/or the condition information that needs to be satisfied when the user plane function network element sends the first reporting information .

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the UMR includes a first UMR and a second UMR, and the first UMR includes an identifier of the second UMR.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the RR includes a first RR and a second RR, the first RR includes an identifier of the second RR, the first RR or the The second RR includes the first address.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information includes: according to the identifier of the UMR included in the PDR and The identifier of the RR determines the UMR and the RR respectively; determines the first reporting information according to the UMR and the RR; and corresponds to the first address according to the first address included in the RR The first core network device sends the first report information.

In this embodiment of the present application, the identities of the UMR and the RR are associated with the PDR, so that the measurement indication information and other information (the first address information, the reporting condition information, and the information reported by the session management function network element indicating the user plane function network element to report) are associated way more flexible. For example, when PDR#1 is associated with UMR#1, RR#1, and RR#2, the user plane functional network element can execute UMR#1 and RR#1 at the same time after performing PDR, except that the user plane functional network element only has With one measurement, it can be reported to different network elements under different reporting conditions, which saves the operating resources and signaling overhead of the user plane function network elements, and enables the user plane function network elements to process UMR#1 in parallel. , RR#1 and RR#2, speed up the running speed of the user plane functional network elements, and effectively utilize the operating resources of the user plane functional network elements.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information includes: determining according to the identifier of the UMR included in the PDR The UMR determines the RR according to the identifier of the RR included in the UMR; determines the first reporting information according to the UMR and the RR; The first core network device corresponding to the first address sends the first report information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information includes: reporting to the first core network device through the service interface according to the first address. The first core network device sends the first report information; or uses a message forwarding control protocol to send the first report information to the first core network device according to the first address.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first core network device includes at least one of the following: a charging function network element, a policy control function network element, and a network data analysis function network element.

In a fifth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, and a computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program runs, the apparatus is made to perform the first aspect or any one of the first aspects. Instructions for implementing the method in the possible implementation manner, or instructions for causing the apparatus to execute the method in the second aspect or any of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising: a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, so that a communication device installed with the chip system executes the first aspect or any one of the first aspects The method in a possible implementation manner; or causing a communication device installed with the chip system to execute the method in the second aspect or any of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising: a first network device configured to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect; a second network device configured to execute the method as described above The method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided, comprising: a unit for implementing the method in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect; or a unit for implementing the above-mentioned second aspect or the first aspect The method in any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising: computer program code, when the computer program code is run by a network device, the network device is made to perform the above-mentioned first aspect or the first aspect A method in any possible implementation and the second aspect or a method in any possible implementation of the second aspect.

According to the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the session management function network element delivers the indication information and the execution rule information to the user plane function network element in a flexible association manner, so that the user plane function network element can flexibly interact with other network elements, and can reduce the The forwarding delay of information reported by network elements with small user plane function saves signaling overhead and improves communication efficiency.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of a communication scenario of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a schematic interaction diagram of an example of a method for reporting information of the present application.

FIG. 3 is a schematic interaction diagram of still another example of the method for reporting information of the present application.

FIG. 4 is a schematic interaction diagram of another example of the method for reporting information of the present application.

FIG. 5 is a schematic interaction diagram of another example of the method for reporting information of the present application.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of another example of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of another example of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are some, but not all, embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should also be understood that "first" or "second" or "third" in the application examples is only for distinction, and should not constitute any limitation to the present application.

The methods in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, a long term evolution advanced (long term evolution-advanced, LTE-A) system, an enhanced long term evolution (enhanced long term evolution-advanced) system , eLTE), the 5th Generation (the 5th Generation, 5G) mobile communication system New Radio (New Radio, NR) system, can also be extended to similar wireless communication systems, such as wireless fidelity (wireless-fidelity, WiFi), Worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WIMAX), and cellular systems related to the 3rd generation partnership project (3gpp).

FIG. 1 is a network architecture 100 applied to an embodiment of the present application, and each network element that may be involved in the network architecture is described respectively.

1. Terminal device 110: may include various handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, as well as various forms of terminals, mobile stations, MS), terminal (terminal), user equipment (user equipment, UE), soft terminal and so on.

2. (wireless) access network (radio access network, (R)AN) network element 120: used to provide network access functions for authorized terminal equipment in a specific area, and can use different quality according to the level of terminal equipment, service requirements, etc. transmission tunnel.

The (R)AN network element can manage wireless resources, provide access services for terminal equipment, and then complete the forwarding of control signals and terminal equipment data between the terminal equipment and the core network. The (R)AN network element can also be understood as a traditional network. in the base station.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned "network element" may also be referred to as an entity, a device, an apparatus, or a module, etc., which is not particularly limited in this application. In addition, in this application, in order to facilitate understanding and description, the description of "network element" is omitted in some descriptions. For example, the (R)AN network element is abbreviated as (R)AN, in this case, the "(R)AN ")AN network element" should be understood as (R)AN network element or (R)AN entity, and the description of the same or similar situations is omitted below.

3. User plane network element 130: used for packet routing and forwarding, and quality of service (quality of service, QoS) processing of user plane data, and the like.

In a 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a user plane function (UPF) network element. In the future communication system, the user plane network element may still be the UPF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

4. Data network 140: a network for providing data transmission.

In a 5G communication system, the data network may be a data network (DN). In the future communication system, the data network may still be DN, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

5. Access management network element 150: mainly used for mobility management and access management, etc., and can be used to implement other functions in the mobility management entity (mobility management entity, MME) function except session management, for example, legal Monitoring and access authorization/authentication functions.

In a 5G communication system, the access management network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element. In the future communication system, the access management network element may still be an AMF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

6. Session management network element 160: mainly used for session management, Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management of terminal equipment, selection of endpoints that can manage user plane functions, policy control and charging function interfaces, and downlink data notification, etc.

In a 5G communication system, the session management network element may be a session management function (session management function, SMF) network element. In the future communication system, the session management network element may still be an SMF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

7. Policy control network element 170: a unified policy framework for guiding network behavior, providing policy rule information and the like for control plane functional network elements (eg, AMF, SMF network elements, etc.).

In a 4G communication system, the policy control network element may be a policy and charging rules function (policy and charging rules function, PCRF) network element. In a 5G communication system, the policy control network element may be a policy control function (PCF) network element. In the future communication system, the policy control network element may still be the PCF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

8. Storage function network element 180: used for maintaining real-time information of all network function services in the network.

In a 5G communication system, the network storage network element may be a network repository function (NRF) network element. In the future communication system, the network storage network element may still be an NRF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

9. Authentication service network element 190: used for authentication services, generating keys to realize two-way authentication of terminal equipment, and supporting a unified authentication framework.

In a 5G communication system, the authentication server may be an authentication server function (authentication server function, AUSF) network element. In the future communication system, the authentication server function network element may still be the AUSF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

10. Data management network element 1100: used for processing terminal equipment identification, access authentication, registration, and mobility management.

In a 5G communication system, the data management network element may be a unified data management (unified data management, UDM) network element. In the future communication system, the unified data management may still be a UDM network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

11. Billing network element: used for pricing, deduction, quota and billing parameter delivery, processing quota usage reported by SMF, etc.

In a 5G communication system, the charging function network element may be a charging function network element (charging function, CHF). In the future communication system, the charging network element may still be the CHF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

12. Network open function network element: It is mainly used for the services and capabilities provided by the security open 3GPP network function, which is open internally or open to a third party.

In a 5G communication system, the network exposure function network element may be a network exposure function network element (NEF). In the future communication system, the network opening function network element may still be the NEF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

13. Slice selection function network element: used to select a set of network slice instances for the user equipment, determine the allowed network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI), and determine the AMF set that can serve the user equipment.

In a 5G communication system, the slice selection function network element may be a slice selection function network element (network slice selection function, NSSF). In the future communication system, the slice selection function network element may still be an NSSF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

In this embodiment of the present application, a network device is a device deployed in a wireless access network to provide a wireless communication function for a terminal device. The network equipment may include various forms of base stations, macro base stations, micro base stations (also referred to as small cells), relay stations, access points, etc., or various network element equipment in a core network (core network, CN). In systems using different radio access technologies, the names of devices with base station functions may vary. For example, a network device may be an access point (AP) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), or a global system for mobile communication (GSM) or code division multiple access (CDMA). code division multiple access, CDMA) in the base station (base transceiver station, BTS). It may also be a node B (5G nodeB, gNB) in a 5G system or an evolved node B (evolved nodeB, eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system. Alternatively, the network device may also be a Node B (Node B) of the third generation (3rd generation, 3G) system, and in addition, the network device may also be a relay station or an access point, or a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a fifth-generation A network device in a communication (fifth-generation, 5G) network or a network device in a future evolved public land mobile network (Public land mobile network, PLMN) network, etc.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned "network element" may also be referred to as an entity, a device, an apparatus, or a module, etc., which is not particularly limited in this application. In addition, in this application, in order to facilitate understanding and description, the description of "network element" is omitted in some descriptions. For example, the SMF network element is abbreviated as SMF. In this case, the "SMF" should be understood as the SMF network element. or SMF entity, hereinafter, the description of the same or similar situation is omitted.

It can be understood that the above network elements or functions may be either network elements in hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (eg, a cloud platform).

In this network architecture, the N2 interface is the reference point of the RAN120 network element and the AMF160 network element, and is used for sending non-access stratum (NAS) messages; the N3 interface is the one between the RAN120 network element and the UPF130 network element. The reference point between the N4 interfaces is used to transmit user plane data, etc.; the N4 interface is the reference point between the SMF170 network element and the UPF130 network element, which is used to transmit, for example, the tunnel identification information of the N3 connection, the data buffer indication information, and the downlink data notification Information such as messages; the N6 interface is the reference point between the UPF network element 130 and the DN network element 140, and is used to transmit user plane data and the like. The N _UPF interface can be a service-oriented interface of the UPF130 network element. It adopts service registration and service discovery, and is used for other network elements except SMF to interact with the UPF through this interface, so that multiple network elements can pass the N _UPF interface. Mechanisms to access the UPF. This application does not limit the type of N _UPF interface, and any interface that can realize interaction between UPF and network elements other than SMF belongs to the protection scope of this application.

It should be understood that each network element included in the communication system listed above is only an exemplary illustration, and the present application is not limited to this. For example, it may also include but not limited to:

Binding support function (binding support function, BSF) network element: used to find the PCF associated with the session.

Network data analysis function (NWDAF) network element: used to collect and store information from terminal equipment, RAN network elements, and other network entities (for example, AMF network elements), and analyze the information, And generate context information about the user (which can be considered as application layer information), and distribute the application layer information.

It should be understood that the above-mentioned network architecture applied to the embodiments of the present application is only an example of the network architecture described from the perspective of service-oriented architecture, and the network architecture applied to the embodiments of the present application is not limited to this. Any network elements that can implement the above-mentioned network elements The functional network architectures are all applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

For example, in some network architectures, network function entities such as AMF, SMF, PCF, GMF, and UDM are called network function (NF) network elements; or, in other network architectures, AMF, SMF, PC A set of network elements such as , GMF, and UDM can be called a control plane function (Control Plane Function, CPF) network element.

The embodiments of this application describe the various embodiments in conjunction with core network equipment, wherein the functions of the core network are mainly to provide user connection, manage users, and carry out services, and serve as an interface for the bearer network to provide an external network. The establishment of user connection includes functions such as mobility management (mobile management, MM), call management (connection management, CM), switching/routing, and recording notification. User management includes user description, quality of service (QoS), user communication records (accounting), virtual home environment (VHE) and security (corresponding security measures provided by the authentication center include Security management of mobile services and security processing of access to external networks). Bearer connections include access to external public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), external circuit data networks and packet data networks, the internet and intranets, and mobile phone texting on the mobile network itself Service (short message service, SMS) server and so on.

The basic services that the core network can provide include mobile office, e-commerce, communication, entertainment services, travel and location-based services, telemetry, simple messaging (monitoring and control), and so on.

As an example and not a limitation, the core network equipment may include: access and mobility management function (access&mobility function, AMF), session management function (session management function, SMF), policy control function (policy control function, PCF), user plane Functional units such as user plane function (UPF), these functional units can work independently, or can be combined to achieve some control functions, such as: AMF, SMF and PCF can be combined as a management device to complete the terminal equipment Access control and mobility management functions such as access authentication, security encryption, and location registration, as well as session management functions such as establishment, release, and change of user plane transmission paths, and analysis of some slice-related data (such as congestion ), the function of terminal equipment related data.

The embodiments of the present application are applied to a communication system including a forwarding device and at least a plurality of core network devices. The following describes in detail the manner in which a network element flexibly interacts with other network elements in the embodiments of the present application.

By way of example and not limitation, it may include implementing the interaction of UPF and CHF, the interaction of UPF and PCF, and the interaction of UPF and NWDAF. The interaction between UPF and CHF is taken as an example to illustrate. UPF mainly provides service processing functions of the user plane, including service routing, packet forwarding, anchoring function, quality of service (QoS) mapping and execution, and uplink. The identity of the identification and routing to the data network, downlink packet buffering and notification trigger of the arrival of downlink data, connection to external data networks, etc. CHF is mainly responsible for issuing the batch price, deduction, quota, and charging parameters for online charging, and issuing charging parameters for offline charging, processing the quota usage reported by SMF, and generating detailed bills.

The SMF obtains the information (denoted as information #E) issued by the network element #A. As an example and not a limitation, the information #E may include at least one of the following information:

Billing-related information issued by CHF, such as credit request trigger information, including subscription of usage information;

Policy control information delivered by PCF, such as PCC rule information or policy control request trigger information, wherein PCC rule information includes quality of service monitoring (quality of service monitoring, QoS Monitoring) information, and policy control request trigger information includes request to report detected application information;

Data collection request information issued by NWDAF.

The SMF generates address information of network element #A (denoted as information #A), where network element #A may be CHF, PCF or NWDAF.

In a possible implementation manner, the SMF may also generate information #B according to the information #E, where the information #B is used to indicate the type of the information #C reported by the UPF to the network element #A.

In another possible implementation manner, the SMF may also generate information #D according to the information #E, where the information #D is used to indicate a condition that needs to be satisfied when the UPF reports the information #C to the network element #A.

In a possible implementation manner, the SMF may send the information #A to the UPF, so that the UPF can flexibly report the information to the core network element #A other than the SMF according to the information #A. The SMF may also send information #B and/or information #D to the UPF, so that the UPF can flexibly determine the information to be reported. This embodiment of the present application does not limit the order in which the SMF sends the foregoing information.

In a possible implementation manner, after successfully receiving the information #A and/or the information #B and/or the information #D, the UPF sends a response message indicating that the reception is successful to the SMF.

In a possible implementation manner, the information #B includes indication information #B1, where the indication information #B1 is used to indicate the content of the UPF reporting information #C, as an example but not a limitation, for example, the indication information #B1 includes the following One or more of the information:

Subscription identifier (subscriber identifier) information, including charging group (rating group) or charging key (charging key) information, and/or service identifier (serviceidentifier) information, wherein the charging key information is used for The CHF determines the rate of the service flow accessed by the user equipment UE through the UPF, and the subscription identifier information may include a set of charging key information of the same type, which is used for the usage of the same type of charging key by the UPF. Process; the service identification information is used to indicate the type of service to which the amount of the UE access reported by the UPF belongs, for example, it can include the service data flow filter template (service data flow filter) in the packet detection rule (packet detection rule, PDR). ) or application identifier;

Location information (location information), that is, the location information of the UE sent by the SMF to the UPF, the UE needs to carry the location information when reporting information #C;

Time and date (time and date) indication information, used to indicate the time and date information of the user access service reported by the UPF to the network element #A;

Requested service units (requested service units) indication information, that is, the credit indication information sent by the SMF to the UPF after obtaining it from the CHF, such as the traffic quota for the UE to perform service access, or the UE to perform service access. Charging quota;

Event based reporting information, which points to a locally configured policy that identifies event triggers to generate usage reports.

In a possible implementation manner, the information #B includes indication information #B2, where the indication information #B2 is used to indicate measurement-related information of the UPF, as an example but not a limitation, for example, the indication information #B2 includes the following information: one or more of:

Inactivity detection time (inactivity detection time), that is, the time elapsed from when the UPF did not receive a data packet to the stop time measurement;

measurement method, the measurement method information indicates a method for the UPF to measure the network resource usage when the UE performs service access, that is, the data volume, duration, combined traffic/duration or event of the UE's service access;

Measurement information (measurement information), the measurement information indicates that the UPF measures the condition information for starting or stopping the measurement when the user equipment performs service access;

The QoS parameter to be measured (QoS parameter(s) to be measured), the measurement parameter is used to instruct the UPF to report the service delay information to the PCF, including the service description information and the corresponding delay information. The delay information can be an uplink packet delay, downlink packet delay or round-trip packet delay;

Policy control request information, used to instruct the UPF to report the start or end information of the service/application to the PCF, including service description information and corresponding status information;

Reporting frequency, the reporting frequency is used to indicate the frequency at which the UPF reports the measurement information to the PCF, for example, according to the frequency triggered by a specific event, a specific period, or the measurement information is reported according to the delay threshold that does not receive the packet delay measurement result;

Data collection request information, which is used to instruct the UPF to report the collected service data information to the NWDAF.

In a possible implementation, the information #D includes, by way of example and not limitation, for example, one or more of the following information:

Periodic measurement threshold, reporting triggers, volume measurement threshold, time measurement threshold, event measurement threshold, time and date ), that is, the time and date information that the SMF sends to the UPF and needs to be reported to the core network device #A.

It should be understood that the information #A, information #B, and information #D listed in this application are only an example of the indication information obtained by the UPF, which is not particularly limited in this application. Others are used to instruct the UPF to report information to the network element #A. Or the information about the role of the condition that needs to be satisfied when the UPF reports the information to the network element #A is within the protection scope of this application.

As an example and not a limitation, the SMF can instruct the UPF to report the information #C through packet detection rule (packet detection rule, PDR) information and the information of the execution rule, where the information of the execution rule is composed of information #A, information #B, and information #D , and the execution rule information can be composed in any of the following ways.

way 1

SMF usage reporting rule (URR) and packet detection rule (packet detection rule, PDR) information indicates UPF reporting information #C, where URR is used to indicate the address of network element #A, and can also indicate UPF reporting information The content of #C can also indicate the conditions that the UPF needs to meet when reporting information #C to NE #A. Taking URR#1 and PDR#1 as examples, PDR#1 includes the identifier of URR#1, URR# 1 includes at least one piece of information #A, optionally, may also include information #B and/or information #D, the identifier of URR#1 is the URR#1 ID, and the URR#1 ID is used to determine the association with PDR#1 of URR#1.

way 2

SMF usage measurement rule (usage measurement rule, UMR), reporting rule (reporting rule, RR) and packet detection rule (packet detection rule, PDR) information indicates that UPF reports information #C, where the UMR is used to instruct the UPF to report to the network The measurement result reported by element #A, the RR is used to indicate the address of network element #A reported by UPF, optionally, it can also indicate the content of information #C reported by UPF, and it can also indicate UPF to report information to network element #A# The conditions that need to be met in C are illustrated by taking UMR#1, RR#1 and PDR#1 as examples. UMR#1 includes indication information #B2 and the identifier of RR#1, that is, the RR#1 ID, the RR#1 The ID is used to instruct the UPF to determine the corresponding RR#1 according to the measurement result corresponding to UMR#1; RR#1 includes at least one piece of information #A, and optionally, may also include indication information #B1 and/or information #D; PDR #1 includes the identifier of UMR#1, that is, the UMR#1 ID, and the UMR#1 ID is used to determine the UMR#1 associated with the PDR#1.

way 3

SMF usage measurement rule (usage measurement rule, UMR), reporting rule (reporting rule, RR) and packet detection rule (packet detection rule, PDR) information indicates that UPF reports information #C, where the UMR is used to instruct the UPF to report to the network The measurement result reported by element #A, this RR is used to indicate the address of network element #A reported by UPF, optionally, it may indicate the content of information #C reported by UPF, and it may also indicate UPF to report information #C to network element #A The conditions that need to be met during the operation are described by taking UMR#1, RR#1 and PDR#1 as examples. UMR#1 includes indication information #B2; RR#1 includes at least one piece of information #A. Optionally, you can also Including indication information #B1 and/or information #D; PDR#1 includes the identity of UMR#1 and the identity of RR#1, that is, UMR#1 ID and RR#1 ID, the UMR#1 ID is used to indicate the UPF according to The service corresponding to PDR#1 determines the corresponding UMR#1, and the RR#1 ID is used to determine the RR#1 associated with PDR#1.

According to the manner in which the information #A, the information #B, and the information #D constitute the information to be sent or received, correspondingly, there are the following three execution modes of the UPF.

For the above method 1, the UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, determines the corresponding URR#1 according to the URR#1 ID in the PDR#1, and determines the corresponding URR#1 according to the information #A of the URR#1, and determines the corresponding URR#1 according to the information #A of the URR#1. After sending the report information #C, the UPF can also determine the report information #C to be sent according to the information #B of the URR #1.

For the above method 2, the UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, determines the corresponding UMR#1 according to the UMR#1 ID in the PDR#1, and determines the report to be sent according to the indication information #B2 of the UMR#1 Information #C, the corresponding RR#1 is determined according to the RR#1 ID of UMR#1, and the report information #C is determined to be sent to NE #A according to the information #A in RR#1. Optionally, it can also be determined according to the RR# The indication information #B1 in 1 determines the reporting information #C to be sent.

For the above mode 3, the UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, determines the corresponding UMR#1 according to the UMR#1 ID in the PDR#1, and determines the corresponding RR according to the RR#1 ID in the PDR#1 #1, determine the report information #C to be sent according to the indication information #B2 in the UMR#1, and determine to send the report information #C to the network element #A according to the information #A in the RR#1. The indication information #B1 of the RR#1 determines the reporting information #C to be sent.

The reporting information #C includes the measurement result information #C1 and/or the indication information #B1 made by the UPF according to the indication information #B2.

In a possible implementation manner, the UPF determines the condition information that needs to be satisfied when reporting the information #C to the network element #A according to the information #D, and when the conditions are satisfied, the UPF sends the reporting information #C to the network element #A.

In a possible implementation manner, the UPF sends the report information #C to the network element #A through the N _UPF interface, or sends the report information #C to the network element #A through the PFCP protocol.

In a possible implementation manner, after successfully receiving the information #A and/or the information #B and/or the information D, the UPF sends to the sender (eg SMF) the indication information #A and/or the information #B and/or Message D receives a successful response message.

In a possible implementation manner, after successfully receiving the reporting information #C, the network element #A sends a response message indicating that the reporting information #C is successfully received to the UPF.

It should be understood that the embodiment for realizing the interaction between the UPF and the network element #A listed in this application is only an example for realizing the flexible interaction between the network element in the core network and other network elements. Realizing the interaction between network elements, such as realizing the interaction between the UPF and the NEF, is within the scope of the protection of this application.

Hereinafter, the method for realizing the flexible interaction between network elements in the core network and other network elements will be described in detail.

2 is a schematic interaction diagram of a method 200 for flexibly interacting with other network elements in a core network according to an embodiment of the present application, and, for ease of understanding, in the method 200, as an example and not a limitation, the network element # For example, B sends reporting information to network element #A, where network element #A, network element #B, and network element #C may be other network element devices such as CHF, UPF, and SMF in the core network, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, in S210, the network element #C generates information #A, and information #B and/or information #D.

Optionally, network element #C may generate information #B and/or information #D according to information #E.

As shown in FIG. 2, in S211, network element #C sends information #A to network element #B, and may also send information #B and/or information D, and network element #B receives information #A, information #B and/or or information D.

In a possible implementation manner, network element #B may receive one or more pieces of information #A, and network element #B may simultaneously send reporting information to multiple network elements #A indicated by multiple pieces of information #A.

Wherein, the composition of information #A, information #B, and information D, the method of sending or receiving information, and the content of information #B and information #D, refer to the relevant description of the first embodiment, and the relevant description will not be repeated here.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 2 , in S220, after successfully receiving information #A, information #B and/or information D, network element #B sends response information to network element #C, and network element #C receives the response information. .

As shown in FIG. 2, in S230, the network element #B determines the report information #C to be sent according to the information #B, and determines the network element #A according to the information #A.

Wherein, the execution mode of the network element #B and the content of the reported information #C refer to the relevant description of the first embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 2, in S240, the network element #B determines the reporting condition to be satisfied when sending the reporting information #C to the network element #A according to the information #D.

For the content of the information #D, please refer to the relevant description of the first embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

As shown in FIG. 2, in S250, network element #B sends reporting information #C to network element #A, and network element #A receives the reporting information #C.

In a possible implementation manner, when the reporting condition of the information #D is satisfied, the network element #B sends the reporting information #C to the network element #A, and the network element #A receives the reporting information #C.

For the content of the information #D and the manner in which the network element #B sends and report the information #C, refer to the relevant description of the first embodiment, and the relevant description will not be repeated here.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 2 , in S260, after successfully receiving the report information #C, the network element #A sends response information to the network element #B, and the network element #B receives the response information.

In the following, taking the network element #C as the SMF and the network element #B as the UPF as an example, the method for the UPF to report information to the other network element #A except the SMF will be described in detail.

FIG. 3 is a schematic interaction diagram of a method 300 for reporting information by UPF according to an embodiment of the present application, and, for ease of understanding, in method 300, as an example and not limitation, take UPF reporting information to network element #A as an example, The network element #A may be a network element device with other functions, such as CHF, PCF, or NWDAF.

As shown in FIG. 3, in S310, the SMF generates a PDR and a URR, wherein, taking PDR#1 and URR#1 as examples, PDR#1 includes the identifier of URR#1, and URR#1 includes information #A and may also include information #B and/or Information #D.

Optionally, the SMF may generate the PDR and URR according to the information #E.

As shown in FIG. 3, in S311, the SMF sends PDR#1 and URR#1 to the UPF, and the UPF receives the PDR#1 and URR#1.

PDR#1 includes 1 or more URR#1 IDs.

URR#1 includes one or more pieces of information #A, and the UPF can simultaneously send reporting information to network element #A indicated by the pieces of information #A.

For the contents of the information #B and the information #D, please refer to the relevant description of the first embodiment, and the relevant description will not be repeated here.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 3 , in S320, after successfully receiving the PDR and URR, the UPF sends response information to the SMF, and the SMF receives the response information.

As shown in FIG. 3 , in S330, the UPF determines the report information #C to be sent according to the information #B, and determines the network element #A according to the information #A.

Specifically, the UPF determines the PDR#1, and determines the corresponding URR#1 according to the URR#1 ID included in the PDR#1. According to the information #A in the URR#1, the destination network element #A is determined.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 3 , in S340, the UPF determines the conditions to be satisfied when sending the reporting information #C to the network element #A according to the information #D.

As shown in FIG. 3 , in S350, the UPF sends reporting information #C to network element #A.

As an example and not a limitation, when one PDR corresponds to multiple URRs, the UPF may determine the reporting information #C, information #A, information #B and information #D and send the reporting information #C in the following manners.

method one

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, wherein the PDR#1 includes a plurality of URR#1 IDs, as an example but not a limitation, for example, the PDR#1 includes the URR#11 ID and the URR#12 ID , where URR#11 includes information #A1 and information #A2, URR#12 includes information #A3, and the implementation of UPF is: UPF makes measurement result #1 according to indication information #B2 in URR#11, and UPF makes measurement result #1 according to URR Information #A1 and information #A2 of #11 determine NE #A1 and NE #A2, UPF makes measurement result #2 according to information #B2 in URR#12, and determines NE # according to information #A3 of URR#12 A3: UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 and network element #A2 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in URR #11 are met, reporting information #C1 is sent), wherein reporting information #C1 Including, measurement result #1, may also include indication information #B1 in URR#11; UPF sends reporting information #C2 to network element #A3 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in URR#12 are met , sending reporting information #C2), wherein the reporting information #C2 includes the measurement result #2, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the URR #12.

Method 2

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, wherein the PDR#1 includes at least one URR#1 ID, and one URR#1 includes at least one URR#2 ID, as an example but not a limitation, for example, a PDR #1 includes URR#11 ID, URR#11 includes URR#21 ID and information #A1, URR#21 includes information #A2, and the UPF is implemented in the following way: UPF determines URR#11 according to URR#11 ID in PDR#1 , determine the ID of network element #A1 and URR#21 according to the information #A1 in URR#11, make measurement result #1 according to the indication information #B2 of URR#11, UPF determines URR#21 according to the ID of URR#21, and according to URR# 21 information #A2 determines network element #A2, and UPF makes measurement result #2 according to URR #21; UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting of information #D in URR #11 is satisfied When the conditions are met, the report information #C1 is sent, wherein the report information #C1 includes the measurement result #1, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the URR #11; the UPF sends the report information #C2 to the network element #A2 (optionally , when the reporting condition of the information D in URR#21 is met, the reporting information #C2) is sent, wherein the reporting information #C2 includes the measurement result #2, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the URR#21.

It should be understood that the above-listed PDR#1 includes multiple URR#1 IDs, URR#1 includes at least one URR#2 ID, and the specific examples of the execution manner and execution order of the UPF are only illustrative, and the present application is not limited to Therefore, other execution modes and execution sequences involving PDR#1 including one or more URR#1 IDs, URR#1 including at least one URR#2 ID, and UPF all fall within the protection scope of the present application.

As an example but not a limitation, when one PDR corresponds to one URR, for example, the UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, wherein the PDR#1 includes a URR#1 ID, and the URR#1 includes information #A1 , UPF is implemented in the following way: UPF determines URR#1 according to URR#1 ID in PDR#1, determines network element #A1 according to information #A1 in URR#1, and makes measurement results according to indication information #B2 of URR#1 #1, UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in URR#1 are met, reporting information #C1 is sent), where reporting information #C1 includes the measurement result #1 may also include indication information #B1 in URR#1.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 3 , in S360, after the network element #A successfully receives the report information #C, it sends response information to the UPF, and the UPF receives the response information.

FIG. 4 is a schematic interaction diagram of a method 400 for reporting information by UPF according to another embodiment of the present application, and for ease of understanding, in method 400, as an example and not limitation, the UPF reports information to network element #A as an example , where the network element #A may be a network element device with other functions, such as CHF, PCF, or NWDAF.

As shown in FIG. 4 , in S410, SMF generates PDR, UMR and RR, taking PDR#1, UMR#1 and RR#1 as examples, wherein PDR#1 includes the identifier of UMR#1, and UMR#1 includes RR The identifier of #1 may further include indication information #B2, RR#1 includes information #A, and may also include indication information #B1 and/or information #D.

Optionally, the SMF may generate PDR, UMR and RR according to information #E.

As shown in FIG. 4, in S411, the SMF sends PDR#1, UMR#1 and RR#1 to the UPF, and the UPF receives PDR#1, UMR#1 and RR#1.

Wherein, PDR#1 includes one or more UMR#1 IDs.

Wherein, UMR#1 includes one or more RR#1 IDs.

Optionally, UMR#1 includes 1 or more UMR#2 IDs.

The RR includes one or more pieces of information #A, and the UPF can simultaneously send reporting information to multiple network elements #A indicated by the multiple pieces of information #A.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 4 , in S420, after the UPF receives the PDR, the UMR and the RR successfully, it sends response information to the SMF, and the SMF receives the response information.

As shown in FIG. 4 , in S430, the UPF determines the reporting information #C to be sent according to the indication information #B1 and/or the indication information #B2, and determines the network element #A according to the information #A.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 4 , in S440, the UPF determines the conditions to be satisfied when sending the reporting information #C to the network element #A according to the information #D.

As shown in FIG. 4 , in S450, the UPF sends reporting information #C to network element #A.

When PDR#1 includes one or more UMR#1 IDs, and UMR#1 includes one or more RR#1 IDs, as an example and not a limitation, the UPF determines to report information #C, information #A and indication information # B1, the indication information #B2, the information #D, and the manner of sending the reporting information #C may include the following.

method one

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, where the PDR#1 includes one UMR#1 ID, and the UMR#1 includes one or more RR#1 IDs, as an example but not a limitation, for example, this UMR#1 includes RR#11 ID and RR#12 ID, RR#11 includes information #A1, RR#12 includes information #A2, and the implementation of UPF is: UPF determines UMR# according to UMR#1 ID in PDR#1 1. Determine RR#11 and RR#12 according to the RR#11 ID and RR#12 ID of UMR#1, and make measurement result #1 according to the indication information #B2 in UMR#1, and UPF according to the information in RR#11 #A1 determines network element #A1, and determines network element #A2 according to information #A2 in RR#12; UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the information #D in RR#11 is satisfied When reporting conditions, send reporting information #C1), where reporting information #C1 includes measurement result #1, and may also include indication information #B1 in RR#11; UPF sends reporting information #C2 to network element #A2 (optional Alternatively, when the reporting condition of the information #D in RR#12 is satisfied, the reporting information #C2) is sent, wherein the reporting information #C2 includes the measurement result #1, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR#12.

Method 2

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, where the PDR#1 includes multiple UMR#1 IDs, and each UMR#1 includes one or more RR#1 IDs, as an example but not a limitation, for example , PDR#1 includes UMR#11 ID and UMR#12 ID, UMR#11 includes RR#11 ID, UMR#12 includes RR#12 ID, RR#11 includes information #A1, RR#12 includes information #A2, UPF The execution method is as follows: UPF determines UMR#11 and UMR#12 according to the UMR#11 ID and UMR#12 ID in PDR#1, determines RR#11 according to the R#11 ID of UMR#11, and determines RR#11 according to the indication of UMR#11 Information #B2 makes measurement result #1, determines RR#12 according to the R#12 ID of UMR#12, makes measurement result #2 according to the indication information #B2 of UMR#12, and UPF determines the network according to information #A1 in RR#11 Element #A1, determines network element #A2 according to information #A2 in RR#12; UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#11 are met, Send reporting information #C1), where reporting information #C1 includes measurement result #1, and may also include indication information #B1 in RR#11; UPF sends reporting information #C2 to network element #A2 (optionally, when the When the reporting condition of the information #D in the RR#12 is used, the reporting information #C2) is sent, wherein the reporting information #C2 includes the measurement result #2, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR#12.

way three

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, wherein the PDR#1 includes a UMR#1 ID, the UMR#1 includes one RR#1 ID, and the RR#1 includes the information #A1. The execution mode of the UPF It is: UPF determines the corresponding UMR#1 according to the UMR#1 ID in PDR#1, determines the corresponding RR#1 according to the RR#1 ID in UMR#1, and makes the measurement result according to the indication information #B2 of UMR#1# 1. Determine network element #A1 according to information #A1 in RR#1, and the UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#1 are met, send reporting information #C1), wherein the reporting information #C1 includes the measurement result #1, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR#1.

When PDR#1 includes one or more UMR#1 IDs, UMR#1 includes one or more RR#1 IDs, or further includes one or more UMR#2 IDs, as an example and not a limitation, the UPF determines The reporting information #C, the information #A, the indication information #B1, the indication information #B2, the information #D, and the manner of sending the reporting information #C may be the following manner.

UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, where PDR#1 includes UMR#11 ID, UMR#11 includes UMR#21 ID, UMR#11 includes RR#11 ID, and UMR#21 includes RR#21 ID, RR#11 includes information #A1, RR#21 includes information #A2, the UPF is implemented in the following way: UPF determines UMR#11 according to the UMR#11 ID in PDR#1, and determines UMR#11 according to the UMR#21 ID of UMR#11 and RR#11 ID to determine UMR#21 and RR#11, UPF makes measurement result #1 according to information #B2 of UMR#11, UPF determines network element #A1 according to information #A1 in RR#11, UPF according to UMR The RR#21 ID of #21 determines RR#21, the UPF makes measurement result #2 according to the indication information #B2 in UMR#21, and the UPF determines network element #A2 according to the information #A2 in RR#21; A1 sends reporting information #C1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#11 are met, reporting information #C1 is sent), where reporting information #C1 includes measurement result #1, and may also include RR# Indication information #B1 in 11; UPF sends reporting information #C2 to network element #A2 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#21 are met, reporting information #C2 is sent), where reporting information # C2 includes measurement result #2, and may also include indication information #B1 in RR#21.

It should be understood that the above-listed PDR#1 includes one or more UMR#1 IDs, UMR#1 includes one or more UMR#2 IDs, and the specific examples of the execution manner and execution order of the UPF are only illustrative, The present application is not limited to this. For example, in the above example, UMR#2 may also include one or more UMR#3 IDs, and UMR#2 may also include multiple RR#2 IDs. The application will not go into details, and other schemes involving PDR including one or more UMR#1 IDs, UMR#1 including UMR#2 IDs, and the execution mode and execution order of UPF all fall within the protection scope of this application.

UPF can execute multiple RR#1s through one UMR#1, and send corresponding reporting information. As an example and not a limitation, it can be any of the following methods:

way 1

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, wherein the PDR#1 includes the UMR#1 ID, the UMR#1 includes the RR#11 ID, the RR#11 includes the RR#12 ID, and the RR#12 includes the RR#12 ID. RR#13 ID, where RR#11 includes information #A1, RR#12 includes information #A2, and RR#13 includes information #A3. The execution mode of UPF is as follows: UPF makes measurement result #1 according to the indication information #B2 of the UMR#1, UPF determines RR#11 according to the RR#11 ID of the UMR#1, and determines RR#12 according to the RR#12 ID in RR#11 RR#12 and NE #A1 are determined according to the information #A1, RR#13 is determined according to the RR#13 ID in RR#12, and NE #A2 is determined according to the information #A2, and the network element #A2 is determined according to the information #A3 in RR#13. Element #A3. UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#11 are met, reporting information #C1 is sent), wherein reporting information #C1 includes measurement result #1, It may also include indication information #B1 in RR#11; UPF sends reporting information #C2 to network element #A2 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#12 are met, reporting information #C2 is sent) , where the reporting information #C2 includes the measurement result #1, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR#12; the UPF sends the reporting information #C3 to the network element #A3 (optionally, when the information in the RR#13 is satisfied When the reporting condition of #D is used, the reporting information #C3) is sent, wherein the reporting information #C3 includes the measurement result #1, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR#13.

way 2

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, wherein the PDR#1 includes the UMR#1 ID, and the UMR#1 includes the RR#11 ID, RR#12 ID and RR#13 ID, RR#11 , RR#12 and RR#13 do not include other RR#1 IDs, where RR#11 includes information #A1, RR#12 includes information #A2, and RR#13 includes information #A3. The execution mode of UPF is as follows: UPF makes measurement result #1 according to the indication information #B2 of the UMR#1, and UPF determines RR#11 according to the RR#11 ID, RR#12 ID and RR#13 ID of the UMR#1, respectively, RR#12 and RR#13, UPF determines network element #A1 according to information #A1 in RR#11, determines network element #A2 according to information #A2 in RR#12, and determines network element #A2 according to information #A3 in RR#13. Element #A3. UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#11 are met, reporting information #C1 is sent), wherein reporting information #C1 includes measurement result #1, It may also include indication information #B1 in RR#11; UPF sends reporting information #C2 to network element #A2 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#12 are met, reporting information #C2 is sent) , where the reporting information #C2 includes the measurement result #1, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR#12; the UPF sends the reporting information #C3 to the network element #A3 (optionally, when the information in the RR#13 is satisfied When the reporting condition of #D is used, the reporting information #C3) is sent, wherein the reporting information #C3 includes the measurement result #1, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR#13.

way 3

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, wherein the PDR#1 includes the UMR#1 ID, the UMR#1 includes the RR#11 ID and the RR#12 ID, and the RR#11 does not include other RRs #1 ID, RR#12 includes RR#13 ID, RR#11 includes information #A1, RR#12 includes information #A2, and RR#13 includes information #A3. The execution mode of UPF is as follows: UPF makes measurement result #1 according to the indication information #B2 of the UMR#1, UPF determines RR#11 and RR#12 according to the RR#11 ID and RR#12 ID of the UMR#1, and determines RR#11 and RR#12 according to the RR The information #A1 in #11 determines the network element #A1, the information #A2 in RR#12 determines the network element #A2, the RR#13 ID is determined according to the RR#13 ID, and the RR#13 is determined according to the information #13 in RR#13. A3 determines network element #A3. UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#11 are met, reporting information #C1 is sent), wherein reporting information #C1 includes measurement result #1, It may also include indication information #B1 in RR#11; UPF sends reporting information #C2 to network element #A2 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#12 are met, reporting information #C2 is sent) , where the reporting information #C2 includes the measurement result #1, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR#12; the UPF sends the reporting information #C3 to the network element #A3 (optionally, when the information in the RR#13 is satisfied When the reporting condition of #D is used, the reporting information #C3) is sent, wherein the reporting information #C3 includes the measurement result #1, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR#13.

It should be understood that the above specific examples of the manner in which the UPF executes multiple RR#1s through one UMR#1 and the manner in which the reporting information is sent are only illustrative, and the present application is not limited thereto. For example, the PDR#1 may include multiple UMR#1 ID, the execution method of UPF and so on, this application will not repeat it, and other UPFs execute multiple RR#1 through one UMR#1 and send report information all fall within the protection scope of this application .

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 4 , in S460, after the network element #A successfully receives the report information #C, it sends response information to the UPF, and the UPF receives the response information.

FIG. 5 is a schematic interaction diagram of a method 500 for reporting information by UPF according to still another embodiment of the present application, and for ease of understanding, in method 500, as an example and not limitation, the UPF reports information to network element #A as an example , where the network element #A may be a network element device with other functions, such as CHF, PCF, or NWDAF.

As shown in FIG. 5, in S510, SMF generates PDR, UMR and RR, taking PDR#1, UMR#1 and RR#1 as an example, wherein PDR#1 includes the identifier of UMR#1 and the identifier of RR#1 ; UMR#1 includes indication information #B2; RR#1 includes information #A, and may also include indication information #B1 and/or information #D.

Optionally, the SMF may generate PDR, UMR and RR according to information #E.

As shown in FIG. 5, in S511, the SMF sends PDR#1, UMR#1 and RR#1 to the UPF, and the UPF receives PDR#1, UMR#1 and RR#1.

Wherein, PDR#1 includes one or more UMR#1 IDs.

Wherein, PDR#1 includes one or more RR#1 IDs.

Optionally, UMR#1 may also include 1 or more other UMR#2 IDs.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 5 , in S520, the UPF sends response information to the SMF after successfully receiving the PDR, UMR and RR, and the SMF receives the response information.

As shown in FIG. 5 , in S530, the UPF determines the reporting information #C to be sent according to the indication information #B1 and/or the indication information #B2, and determines the network element #A according to the information #A.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 5 , in S540, the UPF determines the conditions to be satisfied when sending the reporting information #C to the network element #A according to the information #D.

As shown in FIG. 5 , in S550, the UPF sends reporting information #C to network element #A.

When PDR#1 includes one or more UMR#1 IDs and one or more RR#1 IDs, by way of example and not limitation, UPF determines to report information #C, information #A and indication information #B1, indication information The ways of #B2, information #D and sending and reporting information #C can be as follows.

method one

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, where the PDR#1 includes multiple UMR#1 IDs and one RR#1 ID, this is an example but not a limitation. For example, PDR#1 includes UMR#1 11 ID and UMR#12 ID, and RR#11 ID, RR#11 includes information #A1, and the UPF is implemented in the following way: UPF determines UMR#11 and UMR according to UMR#11 ID and UMR#12 ID in PDR#1 #12, make measurement result #1 according to the indication information #B2 in the UMR#11, make measurement result #2 according to the indication information #B2 in the UMR#12, and the UPF determines the RR according to the RR#11 ID in the PDR#1 #11: Determine network element #A1 according to information #A1 in RR#11, and the UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#11 are met, send Reporting information #C1), wherein the reporting information #C1 includes measurement result #1 and measurement result #2, and may also include indication information #B1 in RR#11.

Method 2

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, where the PDR#1 includes multiple UMR#1 IDs and multiple RR#1 IDs, as an example and not a limitation, for example, PDR#1 includes UMR#1 11 ID, UMR#12 ID, and RR#11 ID, RR#12 ID, RR#11 includes the address of information #A1, RR#12 includes information #A2, and the UPF is implemented in the following way: UPF UMR#11 ID and UMR#12 ID determine UMR#11 and UMR#12 respectively, UPF makes measurement result #1 according to indication information #B2 in UMR11, and makes measurement result #2 according to indication information #B2 in UMR#12, UPF determines network element #A1 according to information #A1 in RR#11, and determines network element #A2 according to information #A2 in RR#12; UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when RR# is satisfied When the reporting condition of the information #D in 11, the reporting information #C1) is sent, wherein the reporting information #C1 includes the measurement result #1 and the measurement result #2, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR#11; Network element #A2 sends reporting information #C2 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#12 are met, reporting information #C2 is sent), where reporting information #C2 includes measurement result #1 and measurement result #2 may also include indication information #B1 in RR#12.

way three

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, wherein the PDR#1 includes a UMR#1 ID and an RR#1 ID, and the RR#1 includes the information #A1. The execution mode of the UPF is: UPF according to the PDR# The UMR#1 ID and RR#1 ID in 1 determine the corresponding UMR#1 and RR#1 respectively, make measurement result #1 according to the indication information #B2 of UMR#1, and determine the network according to the information #A1 in RR#1. Element #A1, the UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#1 are met, reporting information #C1 is sent), where reporting information #C1 includes, measurement Result #1 may also include indication information #B1 in RR#1.

When PDR#1 includes 1 or more UMR#1 IDs and 1 or more RR#1 IDs, and UMR#1 includes 1 or more UMR#2 IDs, as an example and not a limitation, the UPF determines The reporting information #C, the information #A, the indication information #B1, the indication information #B2, the information #D, and the manner of sending the reporting information #C may be as follows.

method one

As an example and not a limitation, for example, the UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, wherein the PDR#1 includes the UMR#11 ID and the RR#11 ID, wherein the UMR#11 includes the UMR#21 ID, and the RR #11 includes information #A1, and the UPF is implemented in the following way: UPF determines the corresponding UMR#11 according to the UMR#11 ID included in the PDR#1, determines the corresponding UMR#21 according to the UMR#21 ID included in the UMR#11, and determines the corresponding UMR#21 according to the UMR#21 ID included in the UMR#11. The indication information #B2 in the UMR#11 makes the measurement result #1, and the UPF makes the measurement result #2 according to the UMR#21. The UPF determines the corresponding RR#11 according to the RR#11 ID included in the PDR#11, and according to the RR The information #A1 in #11 determines the network element #A1; the UPF sends the reporting information #C1 to the network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of the information #D in RR#11 are met, the reporting information #C1 is sent) , wherein the reporting information #C1 includes measurement result #1 and measurement result #2, and may also include indication information #B1 in RR#11.

Method 2

As an example and not a limitation, for example, the UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, where PDR#1 includes UMR#11 ID, RR#11 ID and RR#12 ID, and UMR#11 includes UMR#21 ID, RR#11 includes information #A1, RR#12 includes information #A2, and the UPF is implemented in the following way: UPF determines the corresponding UMR#11 according to the UMR#11 ID included in PDR#1, and determines the corresponding UMR#11 according to the UMR#11 ID included in UMR#11. 21 ID determines the corresponding UMR#21 and makes measurement result #1 according to the indication information #B2 in UMR#11, UPF makes measurement result #2 according to the indication information #B2 in UMR#21, and UPF makes measurement result #2 according to the indication information #B2 in the PDR#1. The RR#11 ID determines the corresponding RR#11, and the corresponding RR#12 is determined according to the RR#12 ID included in the PDR#1. The UPF determines the network element #A1 according to the information #A1 in the RR#11. Information #A2 determines network element #A2; UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#11 are met, reporting information #C1 is sent), wherein the reporting information #C1 includes measurement result #1 and measurement result #2, and may also include indication information #B1 in RR#11; UPF sends reporting information #C2 to network element #A2 (optionally, when the When the reporting condition of the information #D, the reporting information #C2) is sent, wherein the reporting information #C2 includes the measurement result #1 and the measurement result #2, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR #12.

It should be understood that the PDR#1 listed above includes one or more UMR#1 IDs, the UMR#1 includes one or more UMR#2 IDs, the PDR#1 includes one or more RR#1 IDs, The specific examples of the execution mode and execution sequence of UPF are only illustrative, and this application is not limited to this. For example, in the above example, UMR#2 may also include UMR#3 ID, and the execution mode of UPF is deduced by analogy. No further description will be given. Other related PDRs include multiple UMR IDs, UMRs include one or more other UMR IDs, PDRs include one or more RR IDs, and the execution mode and execution order of UPF all fall within the protection scope of this application. Inside.

UPF can execute multiple RR#1 through one PDR#1, and send the corresponding reporting information. As an example and not a limitation, it can be any of the following methods:

way 1

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, where PDR#1 includes UMR#11 ID, UMR#12 ID and RR#11 ID, RR#11 includes RR#21 ID, and RR#21 includes RR #31 ID, where RR#11 includes information #A1, RR#21 includes information #A2, and RR#31 includes information #A3. The execution mode of UPF is as follows: UPF determines UMR#11, UMR#12 and RR#11 respectively according to UMR#11 ID, UMR#12 ID and RR#11 ID in PDR#1, and according to the indication information in UMR#11# B2 makes measurement result #1, makes measurement result #2 according to UMR#12, UPF determines RR#21 according to the RR#21 ID in RR#11, and determines network element #A1 according to the information #A1 in RR#11, and according to RR RR#31 ID in #21 determines RR#31 and NE #A2 according to information #A2 in RR#21, and NE #A3 according to information #A3 in RR#31; UPF sends to NE #A1 Reporting information #C1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#11 are met, reporting information #C1 is sent), where reporting information #C1 includes measurement result #1 and measurement result #2, or Including indication information #B1 in RR#11; UPF sends reporting information #C2 to network element #A2 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#21 are met, reporting information #C2 is sent), wherein Reporting information #C2 includes measurement result #1 and measurement result #2, and may also include indication information #B1 in RR#21; UPF sends reporting information #C3 to network element #A3 (optionally, when RR#13 is satisfied When the reporting condition of the information #D in RR #C3 is sent, the reporting information #C3 includes the measurement result #1 and the measurement result #2, and may also include the indication information #B1 in the RR #13.

way 2

The UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, wherein the PDR#1 includes the UMR#11 ID, UMR#12 ID, RR#11 ID, RR#12 ID and RR#13 ID, RR#11, RR#12 and RR#13 do not include other RR#1 IDs, wherein RR#11 includes information #A1, RR#12 includes information #A2, and RR#13 includes information #A3. The implementation of UPF is as follows: UPF determines UMR#11, UMR#12, RR#11 according to UMR#11 ID, UMR#12 ID, RR#11 ID, RR#12 ID and RR#13 ID in PDR#1, respectively , RR#12 and RR#13, UPF makes measurement result #1 according to indication information #B2 in UMR#11, and makes measurement result #2 according to indication information #B2 in UMR#12, UPF makes measurement result #2 according to the information in RR#11 #A1 determines network element #A1, determines network element #A2 according to information #A2 in RR#12, and determines network element #A3 according to information #A3 in RR#13. UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#11 are met, reporting information #C1 is sent), where reporting information #C1 includes measurement results #1 and Measurement result #2 may also include indication information #B1 in RR#11; UPF sends reporting information #C2 to network element #A2 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#21 are met, sending Report information #C2), wherein report information #C2 includes measurement result #1 and measurement result #2, and may also include indication information #B1 in RR#21; UPF sends report information #C3 to network element #A3 (optional In addition, when the reporting condition of information #D in RR#13 is satisfied, report information #C3) is sent, wherein reporting information #C3 includes measurement result #1 and measurement result #2, and may also include the indication in RR #13 Message #B1.

way 3

UPF determines the corresponding PDR#1 according to the service accessed by the user equipment, wherein, PDR#1 includes UMR#11 ID, UMR#12 ID, RR#11 ID and RR#12 ID, and RR#12 ID includes RR#13 ID, RR#11 includes information #A1, RR#12 includes information #A2, and RR#13 includes information #A3. The execution mode of UPF is as follows: UPF determines UMR#11, UMR#12, RR#11 and RR#12 respectively according to UMR#11 ID, UMR#12 ID, RR#11 ID and RR#12 ID in PDR#1, The UPF makes measurement result #1 according to the indication information #B2 in UMR#11, and makes measurement result #2 according to the indication information #B2 in UMR#12. The UPF determines the network element #A1 according to the information #A1 in RR#11. Information #A2 in RR#12 determines network element #A2, UPF determines RR#13 according to the RR#13 ID in RR#12, and determines network element #A3 according to information #A3 in RR#13. UPF sends reporting information #C1 to network element #A1 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#11 are met, reporting information #C1 is sent), where reporting information #C1 includes measurement results #1 and Measurement result #2 may also include indication information #B1 in RR#11; UPF sends reporting information #C2 to network element #A2 (optionally, when the reporting conditions of information #D in RR#21 are met, sending Report information #C2), wherein report information #C2 includes measurement result #1 and measurement result #2, and may also include indication information #B1 in RR#21; UPF sends report information #C3 to network element #A3 (optional In addition, when the reporting condition of information #D in RR#13 is satisfied, report information #C3) is sent, wherein reporting information #C3 includes measurement result #1 and measurement result #2, and may also include the indication in RR #13 Message #B1.

It should be understood that the UPF executes multiple RR#1 through one PDR#1, and the specific examples of the corresponding manner and execution sequence of sending and reporting information are only illustrative, and the present application is not limited to this, and other combinations of the foregoing manners are used. The manner in which the UPF executes multiple RR#1 through one PDR#1, the execution manner and execution order of the corresponding UPF, and so on, are not repeated in this application, and all fall within the protection scope of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 5 , in S560, after the network element #A successfully receives the report information #C, it sends response information to the UPF, and the UPF receives the response information.

The method for determining the transmission direction according to the embodiment of the present application is described above with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 , and the device according to the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to FIG. 6 to FIG. 9 .

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6, the network device 600 includes:

A processing unit 610, the processing unit is configured to determine a packet inspection rule PDR and first execution rule information, where the PDR includes an identifier of the first execution rule information, and the first execution rule information is used to indicate the first core network The first address of the device and the content of the first report information sent by the user plane function UPF network element;

A sending unit 620, where the sending unit sends the PDR and the first execution rule information to the UPF.

In a possible implementation manner, the first execution rule information includes a usage reporting rule URR, the URR includes the first address, and the URR is used to instruct the UPF to send the first reporting information The content and/or the condition that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first report information, wherein the PDR includes the identifier of the URR.

In a possible implementation manner, the URR further includes at least one of the following information:

Charging information of the first service accessed by the first user equipment UE, service identifier of the first UE accessing the first service, location information of the first UE, and the first UE accessing the first service time information or the credit information of the first UE,

Wherein, the first UE is a UE that performs service access through the UPF.

In a possible implementation manner, the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, where the UMR is used to indicate information about the UPF measurement content, and the RR includes the first address, and the RR is used to instruct the UPF to send the content of the first report information and/or a condition that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first report information, wherein the PDR includes the identifier of the UMR, The UMR includes the identity of the RR.

In a possible implementation manner, the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, where the UMR is used to indicate information about the UPF measurement content, and the RR includes the first address, and the RR is used to instruct the UPF to send the content of the first report information and/or the conditions that need to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first report information, wherein the PDR includes the identifier of the UMR and The identifier of the RR.

In a possible implementation manner, the RR further includes at least one of the following information:

Wherein, the first UE is a UE that performs service access through the UPF.

In a possible implementation manner, the UMR further includes an identifier of a second UMR, and the second UMR is a UMR determined by the SMF and different from the UMR.

In a possible implementation manner, the RR further includes an identifier of a second RR, where the second RR is an RR determined by the SMF that is different from the RR.

In a possible implementation manner, the first core network device includes at least one of the following:

Charging function CHF network element, policy control function PCF network element, network data analysis function NWDAF network element.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 7, the network device 700 includes:

A receiving unit 710, the receiving unit is configured to receive a packet inspection rule PDR and first execution rule information from a session management function SMF network element, where the PDR includes an identifier of the first execution rule information, the first execution rule information used to indicate the first address of the first core network device and the content of the first report information sent by the UPF;

a processing unit 720, configured to determine the first reporting information and the first address according to the first execution rule information;

A sending unit 730, where the sending unit is configured to send the first report information to the first core network device according to the first address.

In a possible implementation manner, the first execution rule information includes a usage reporting rule URR, the URR includes the first address, and the URR is used to instruct the UPF to send the content of the first reporting information and /or a condition that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first reported information.

Wherein, the first UE is a UE that performs service access through the UPF.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining the first reporting information and the first address according to the first execution rule information includes:

The first PDR is determined according to the service accessed by the first user equipment UE, wherein the first PDR includes the identifier of the first URR;

Execute the first PDR, and execute the first URR according to the identifier of the first URR in the first PDR, and determine the address of the core network device included in the first URR as the first address, and determining the first reporting information according to the first URR.

In a possible implementation manner, the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, where the UMR is used to indicate information about the UPF measurement content, and the RR includes the first address, and the RR is used to instruct the UPF to send the content of the first report information and/or a condition that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first report information.

Wherein, the first UE is a UE that performs service access through the UPF.

In a possible implementation manner, the UMR includes an identifier of a second UMR, and the second UMR is a UMR that is different from the UMR received by the UPF.

In a possible implementation manner, the RR further includes an identifier of a second RR, where the second RR is an RR different from the RR received by the UPF.

A first PDR is determined according to a service accessed by the first user equipment UE, where the first PDR includes an identifier of the first UMR and an identifier of the first RR;

Execute the first PDR, execute the first UMR according to the identification of the first UMR in the first PDR, execute the first RR according to the identification of the first RR in the first PDR, and convert the The address of the core network device included in the first RR is determined as the first address, and the first reporting information is determined according to the first UMR and the first RR.

A first PDR is determined according to a service accessed by the first user equipment UE, where the first PDR includes an identifier of the first UMR, and the first UMR includes an identifier of the first RR;

Execute the first PDR, execute the first UMR according to the identity of the first UMR in the first PDR, execute the first RR according to the identity of the first RR in the first UMR, and The address of the core network device included in the first RR is determined as the first address, and the first reporting information is determined according to the first UMR and the first RR.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending the first reporting information to the first core network device according to the first address includes:

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of another example of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 8 , the network device 800 includes a transceiver 810 and a processor 820, and the processor 820 is configured to support the network device to perform the corresponding functions of the network device in the above method. Optionally, the network device may further include a memory 830, where the memory 830 is coupled to the processor 820 and stores necessary program instructions and data of the network device. The processor 820 is specifically configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 830, and when the instructions are executed, the network device executes the method performed by the network device in the foregoing method.

It should be noted that the network device 600 shown in FIG. 6 may be implemented by the network device 800 shown in FIG. 8 . For example, the transmitting unit 620 shown in FIG. 6 may be implemented by the transceiver 810 , and the processing unit 610 may be implemented by the processor 820 .

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of another example of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 9 , the network device 900 includes a transceiver 910 and a processor 920, and the processor 920 is configured to support the network device to perform the corresponding functions of the network device in the above method. Optionally, the network device may further include a memory 930, and the memory 930 is configured to be coupled with the processor 920 and store necessary program instructions and data of the network device. The processor 920 is specifically configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 930, and when the instructions are executed, the network device executes the method performed by the network device in the foregoing methods.

It should be noted that the network device 700 shown in FIG. 7 can be implemented by the network device 900 shown in FIG. 9 . For example, the receiving unit 710 and the transmitting unit 730 shown in FIG. 7 may be implemented by the transceiver 910 , and the processing unit 720 may be implemented by the processor 920 .

It should be noted that this application takes a network device as an example to describe a communication method and network device according to the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that a communication method in the embodiment of the present application may also be implemented by a baseband chip, and the baseband chip is used to implement the related operations of the above-mentioned network device in the embodiment of the present application.

It should also be noted that the input/output circuit of the baseband chip can be used to implement the relevant operations of the transceiver of the above network device.

It should be understood that, in this embodiment of the present application, the processor may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processors, DSP), dedicated integrated Circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), off-the-shelf programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc.

It should also be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Wherein, the non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM). Erase programmable read-only memory (electrically EPROM, EEPROM) or flash memory. Volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM), which acts as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (DRAM) Access memory (synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (double data rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous connection dynamic random access memory Fetch memory (synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM) and direct memory bus random access memory (direct rambus RAM, DR RAM).

The above embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any other combination. When implemented in software, the above-described embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded or executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be downloaded from a website site, computer, server, or data center Transmission to another website site, computer, server or data center by wire (eg, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, a data center, or the like that contains one or more sets of available media. The usable media may be magnetic media (eg, floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (eg, digital versatile disc (DVD)), or semiconductor media. The semiconductor medium may be a solid state drive.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" in this document is only an association relationship to describe associated objects, indicating that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean that A exists alone, and A and B exist at the same time , there are three cases of B alone. In addition, the character "/" in this document generally indicates that the related objects are an "or" relationship.

Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality using different methods for each particular application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the above-described systems, devices and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are only illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or Can be integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored, or not implemented. On the other hand, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, and may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution in this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically alone, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solution, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including Several instructions are used to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, removable hard disk, read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk and other media that can store program codes.

The above are only specific embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited to this. should be covered within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A communication method, characterized in that it is performed by a session management function SMF, the method comprising:

Determine the first execution rule information associated with the packet inspection rule PDR and the PDR, where the first execution rule information is used to instruct the user plane function UPF to report information to the first core network device, and the first execution rule information includes the first execution rule information. The first address of the core network device;

The PDR and the first enforcement rule information are sent to the UPF.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the first execution rule information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the first reporting information sent by the UPF to the first core network device.
The method of claim 2, wherein the first indication information comprises:

Charging information of the first service accessed by the first user equipment UE, service identifier of the first UE accessing the first service, location information of the first UE, and the first UE accessing the first service time information or the credit information of the first UE,

Wherein, the first UE is a UE that performs service access through the UPF.
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first execution rule information includes a usage reporting rule URR, the URR includes the first address, and the PDR includes an identifier of the URR.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the URR further includes the first indication information and/or condition information that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first reporting information.
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, wherein the UMR is used to indicate the UPF measurement information, and the RR includes the first address, the PDR includes the identifier of the UMR, and the UMR includes the identifier of the RR.
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, wherein the UMR is used to indicate the UPF measurement information, and the RR includes the first address, the PDR includes the identifier of the UMR and the identifier of the RR.
The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the RR further includes the first indication information and/or condition information that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first reporting information.
The method according to any one of claims 6-8, wherein the RR includes a first RR and a second RR, the first RR includes an identifier of the second RR; the first RR or the second RR Two RRs include the first address.
The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the first core network device comprises at least one of the following:

Charging function CHF, policy control function PCF, network data analysis function NWDAF.
A communication method, characterized in that it is performed by a user plane function UPF, the method comprising:

Receive the packet inspection rule PDR and the first execution rule information associated with the PDR from the session management function SMF, where the first execution rule information is used to instruct the user plane function UPF to report information to the first core network device, and the first execution rule information The rule information includes the first address of the first core network device;

Report information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the first execution rule information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the first reporting information sent by the UPF to the first core network device.
The method of claim 12, wherein the first indication information comprises:

Charging information of the first service accessed by the first user equipment UE, service identifier of the first UE accessing the first service, location information of the first UE, and the first UE accessing the first service time information or the credit information of the first UE,

Wherein, the first UE is a UE that performs service access through the UPF.
The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the first execution rule information includes a usage reporting rule URR, and the URR includes the first address.
The method according to claim 14, wherein the URR further includes the first indication information and/or condition information that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first reporting information.
The method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information comprises:

Determine the URR according to the identifier of the URR included in the PDR;

determining the first reporting information according to the URR;

Send the first report information to the first core network device corresponding to the first address according to the first address included in the URR.
The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, wherein the UMR is used to indicate the UPF measurement information, and the RR includes the first address.
The method according to claim 17, wherein the RR further includes the first indication information and/or condition information that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first reporting information.
The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the RR includes a first RR and a second RR, the first RR includes an identifier of the second RR, and the first RR or the second RR includes the the first address.
The method according to any one of claims 17-19, wherein the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information comprises:

Determine the UMR and the RR respectively according to the identifier of the UMR and the identifier of the RR included in the PDR;

determining the first reporting information according to the UMR and the RR;

According to the first address included in the RR, the first report information is sent to the first core network device corresponding to the first address.
The method according to any one of claims 17-19, wherein the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information comprises:

The UMR is determined according to the identifier of the UMR included in the PDR, and the RR is determined according to the identifier of the RR included in the UMR;

determining the first reporting information according to the UMR and the RR;

According to the first address included in the RR, the first report information is sent to the first core network device corresponding to the first address.
The method according to any one of claims 12-21, wherein the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information comprises:

Send the first report information to the first core network device according to the first address through the service interface; or

The first report information is sent to the first core network device according to the first address using a message forwarding control protocol.
The method according to any one of claims 12-22, wherein the first core network device comprises at least one of the following:

Charging function CHF, policy control function PCF, network data analysis function NWDAF.
A network device, characterized in that the network device includes:

Including a processor and a memory, the processor is used to read and execute the program stored in the memory to execute: determine the first execution rule information associated with the packet inspection rule PDR and the PDR, the first execution rule information is used to instruct the user plane function UPF to report information to the first core network device, where the first execution rule information includes the first address of the first core network device;

The PDR and the first enforcement rule information are sent to the UPF.
The network device according to claim 24, wherein the first execution rule information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the UPF to send first reporting information to the first core network device.
The network device of claim 25, wherein the first indication information comprises:

Charging information of the first service accessed by the first user equipment UE, service identifier of the first UE accessing the first service, location information of the first UE, and the first UE accessing the first service time information or the credit information of the first UE,

Wherein, the first UE is a UE that performs service access through the UPF.
The network device according to claim 25 or 26, wherein the first execution rule information includes a usage reporting rule URR, the URR includes the first address, and the PDR includes an identifier of the URR.
The network device according to claim 27, wherein the URR further includes the first indication information and/or condition information that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first reporting information.
The network device according to claim 25 or 26, wherein the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, wherein the UMR is used to indicate the UPF measurement information, and the RR includes the first an address, the PDR includes the identity of the UMR, and the UMR includes the identity of the RR.
The network device according to claim 25 or 26, wherein the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, wherein the UMR is used to indicate the UPF measurement information, and the RR includes the first an address, the PDR includes the identity of the UMR and the identity of the RR.
The network device according to claim 29 or 30, wherein the RR further includes the first indication information and/or condition information that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first reporting information.
The network device according to any one of claims 29-31, wherein the RR includes a first RR and a second RR, the first RR includes an identifier of the second RR, the first RR or the The second RR includes the first address.
The network device according to any one of claims 24-32, wherein the network device is at least one of the following:

Charging function CHF, policy control function PCF, network data analysis function NWDAF.
A network device, characterized in that the network device includes a processor and a memory, and the processor is configured to read and execute a program stored in the memory to execute:

Receive the packet inspection rule PDR and the first execution rule information associated with the PDR from the session management function SMF, where the first execution rule information is used to instruct the user plane function UPF to report information to the first core network device, and the first execution rule information The rule information includes the first address of the first core network device;

Report information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information.
The network device according to claim 34, wherein the first execution rule information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the UPF to send first reporting information to the first core network device.
The network device of claim 35, wherein the first indication information comprises:

Charging information of the first service accessed by the first user equipment UE, service identifier of the first UE accessing the first service, location information of the first UE, and the first UE accessing the first service time information or the credit information of the first UE,

Wherein, the first UE is a UE that performs service access through the UPF.
The network device according to claim 35 or 36, wherein the first execution rule information includes a usage reporting rule URR, and the URR includes the first address.
The network device according to claim 37, wherein the URR further includes the first indication information and/or condition information that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first report information.
The network device according to claim 37 or 38, wherein the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information comprises:

Determine the URR according to the identifier of the URR included in the PDR;

determining the first reporting information according to the URR;

Send the first report information to the first core network device corresponding to the first address according to the first address included in the URR.
The network device according to claim 37, wherein the first execution rule information includes a usage measurement rule UMR and a reporting rule RR, wherein the UMR is used to indicate the UPF measurement information, and the RR includes the first address .
The network device according to claim 40, wherein the RR further includes the first indication information and/or condition information that needs to be satisfied when the UPF sends the first reporting information.
The network device according to any one of claims 40 or 41, wherein the RR includes a first RR and a second RR, the first RR includes an identifier of the second RR, the first RR or the The second RR includes the first address.
The network device according to any one of claims 40-42, wherein the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information comprises:

Determine the UMR and the RR respectively according to the identifier of the UMR and the identifier of the RR included in the PDR;

determining the first reporting information according to the UMR and the RR;

According to the first address included in the RR, the first report information is sent to the first core network device corresponding to the first address.
The network device according to any one of claims 40-42, wherein the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information comprises:

The UMR is determined according to the identifier of the UMR included in the PDR, and the RR is determined according to the identifier of the RR included in the UMR;

determining the first reporting information according to the UMR and the RR;

According to the first address included in the RR, the first report information is sent to the first core network device corresponding to the first address.
The network device according to any one of claims 35-44, wherein the reporting information to the first core network device according to the first execution rule information comprises:

Send the first report information to the first core network device according to the first address through the service interface; or

The first report information is sent to the first core network device according to the first address using a packet forwarding control protocol.
The network device according to any one of claims 34-45, wherein the first core network device includes at least one of the following:

Charging function CHF, policy control function PCF, network data analysis function NWDAF.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that a computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program runs,

causing the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 10, or

The apparatus is caused to perform a method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 23.
A chip system is characterized by comprising: a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory,

causing a communication device mounted with the chip system to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 10; or

A communication device mounted with the chip system is caused to perform the method of any one of claims 11 to 23 .
A communication system, comprising:

a first network device for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10;

The second network device is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 11 to 23.
A device for wireless communication, comprising:

A unit for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 10; or

A unit for implementing the method of any one of claims 11 to 23.
A computer program product comprising: computer program code, which, when executed by a network device, causes the network device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 23.