WO2022151155A1

WO2022151155A1 - Information transmission method and communication apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2022151155A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/071767
Authority: WO
Inventors: 孙海洋; 朱方园; 李岩
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2021-01-14
Filing date: 2021-01-14
Publication date: 2022-07-21
Also published as: CN116711458A

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application provide an information transmission method and a communication apparatus; the information transmission method comprises: a first access network device determines that the resource type of a slice resource used by a first carrier unit has changed; and in response to the resource type of the slice resource used by the first carrier unit changing, the first access network device notifies a first network element. By employing the present application, fairness can be achieved in fee calculation.

Description

Information transmission method and communication device

technical field

The present application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to an information transmission method and a communication device.

Background technique

Network slicing is to virtualize multiple end-to-end networks based on a common hardware through slicing technology. Each network has different network functions and adapts to different types of service requirements. Usually, single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) is used to identify a network slice. In order to ensure the continuity of services within the network slice, for each supported S-NSSAI, the radio access network ( A radio access network (RAN) node is configured with a remapping S-NSSAI list, where the S-NSSAI list includes identifiers of slice resources of various resource types configured for the network slice. If the slice resources of a certain resource type configured for network slicing on the RAN are insufficient, some slice resources of other resource types can be used to ensure service continuity. If the same charging method in the prior art is used for charging, fairness will be affected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present application provide an information transmission method and a communication device, which can realize fair charging.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an information transmission method, where the method may be performed by a first access network device, or may be performed by a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip) of the first access network device system, etc.) to execute. The information transmission method may include: the first access network device determines that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes. The granularity of the first bearer unit may be session granularity, or may also be QoS flow granularity, or may also be network slice granularity. Wherein, if the first bearer unit is a network slice granularity, the change of the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit may refer to: a session in which the resource type of the used slice resource is changed in the first bearer unit or QoS flow. The resource type of the slice resource may be determined by the identifier of the subgroup in the S-NSSAI list configured for the network slice. The identifiers of different subgroups in the S-NSSAI list are used to identify slice resources of different resource types serving the network slice. The first access network device may schedule slice resources of different resource types in the S-NSSAI list corresponding to the network slice for different sessions or different QoS flows in the network slice, or may schedule the same resources in the S-NSSAI list corresponding to the network slice. A sliced resource of resource type.

In response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit, the first access network device notifies the first network element. Optionally, if the first bearer unit is a network slice, the first access network device may determine the number of sessions whose resource types are changed in the network slice or the number of QoS flows and the number of all sessions included in the network slice. or the ratio between the number of QoS flows, and notify the first network element of the ratio.

Further, the first network element determines that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed according to the notification, and notifies the charging network element that the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit has changed, so that the charging network element can change the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit. A charging mode corresponding to the changed resource type of the second bearer unit is determined. Wherein, the second bearing unit is a subset of the first bearing unit, or the first bearing unit is a subset of the second bearing unit, or the first bearing unit and the second bearing unit are the same.

By implementing the method described in the first aspect, the first network element can sense that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, and notify the charging network element of the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit If a change occurs, the charging network element perceives the change of the resource type, so that the charging method corresponding to the changed resource type is used for charging, so as to realize fair charging.

In a possible design, the notification manner of the first access network device notifying the first network element may be that the first access network device sends first information to the first network element, where the first information may be used to indicate the first network element. The resource type of the slice resource used by a bearer unit changes, or the first information may be used to indicate the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.

Exemplarily, the number of resource types may include two, and the first access network device may notify the first network element through the first information that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes, and the first network element That is, the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed first bearer unit can be determined.

By implementing this method, the first access network device can notify the first network element that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed in various ways, thereby facilitating the first network element to determine the changed first bearer unit The resource type of the tile resource used.

In a possible design, when the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes is switched from the second access network device to the first access network device, the first access network device The resource type of the slice resource corresponding to the first bearer unit may be received from the second access network device, where the resource type is the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the second access network device for the first bearer unit.

The first access network device further determines the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit, and according to the received resource type of the slice resource corresponding to the first bearer unit and the first The access network device determines whether the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes for the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first bearer unit.

By implementing this method, in a handover scenario, the first access network device can determine whether the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.

In a possible design, the first bearer unit is one of a session, a QoS flow or a network slice.

In a possible design, the first access network device may receive indication information from the first network element, and in response to the indication information, the resource type of the slice resource used by the first access network device in the first bearer unit occurs. In case of change, the first network element is notified.

By implementing this method, the first network element can indicate to the first access network device the bearer unit that needs to be reported, thereby facilitating the first access network device to report in a targeted manner and saving network transmission resources.

In a possible design, the indication information may be used to instruct the first access network device to notify the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes; or, the indication information may be used for instructing the subscription of the first access network device to the resource type change event of the first bearer unit.

In a possible design, the first network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF) or a session management function (SMF).

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an information transmission method, where the method may be performed by a first network element, or may be performed by a component of the first network element (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) . The information transmission method may include: the first network element determines that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes, and in response to the change of the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit, the first network element notifies the computer The resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit of the fee network element changes. Wherein, the first bearing unit is a subset of the second bearing unit, or the second bearing unit is a subset of the first bearing unit, or the first bearing unit and the second bearing unit The carrying unit is the same.

Specifically, the manner in which the first network element notifies the charging network element may be that the first network element sends slice resource information to the charging network element, where the slice resource information is used to indicate the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit If the change occurs, or the slice resource information indicates the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed second bearer unit.

By implementing the method described in the second aspect, when the first network element perceives that the type of slice resources used by the first bearer unit has changed, the first network element notifies the charging network element of the slice resources used by the second bearer unit The type changes, so that the charging network element perceives the change of the resource type, and adopts the charging method corresponding to the changed resource type to perform charging, so as to realize charging fairness.

In a possible design, the way for the first network element to determine that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed may be: the first network element receives a notification from the access network device, and determines the first network element according to the notification. The resource type of the slice resource used by a bearer unit changes. The notification may indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, or the notification may indicate the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.

By implementing this method, the first network element can quickly determine that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed through the notification received from the access network device.

In a possible design, the way for the first network element to determine that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed may be: the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes is determined by the first bearer unit. When an access network device switches to a second access network device, the first network element receives first resource state information from the first access network device, where the first resource state information is used to indicate that the first access network device is The resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first bearer unit.

The first network element receives second resource state information from the second access network device, where the second resource state information is used to indicate the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the second access network device for the first bearer unit.

Further, the first network element may determine, according to the first resource state information and the second resource state information, that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed.

By implementing the method, in a handover scenario, it is convenient for the first network element to determine whether the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.

In a possible design, if the first network element is an AMF network element, the second bearer unit is one of a network slice, a session or a QoS flow.

If the first network element is an SMF network element, the second bearer unit is one of a network slice, a session, a QoS flow or a service.

By implementing this method, the granularity reported by the first network element to the charging network element can be selected in various ways.

In a possible design, the method further includes: the first network element receives first indication information from the charging network element, and in response to the first indication information, the first network element in the first bearer unit uses the slice resource When the resource type is changed, the slice resource information is sent to the charging network element.

By implementing this method, the charging network element can indicate to the first network element the bearer unit that needs to be reported, thereby facilitating the first network element to report in a targeted manner and saving network transmission resources.

In a possible design, the first indication information is used to instruct the first network element to notify the charging network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit changes; or, the first indication information may be It is used to instruct the charging network element to subscribe the first network element to the resource type change event of the second bearer unit.

In a possible design, the method may further include: in response to the first indication information received by the first network element from the charging network element, the first network element may send second indication information to the access network device, The access network device may refer to an access network device to which the terminal device is connected. The second indication information may be used to instruct the access network device to notify the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.

By implementing this method, when the charging network element subscribes to the first network element for the resource type change event of the second bearer unit, the first network element subscribes to the access network device for the resource type change event of the first bearer unit, In this way, the access network equipment can report to the bearer unit in a targeted manner, saving network transmission resources.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an information transmission method, where the method may be executed by a charging network element, or may be executed by a component of the charging network element (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) . The information transmission method may include: the charging network element receives slice resource information from the first network element, where the slice resource information is used to indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes, or the slice resource information indicates that the change The resource type of the slice resource used by the subsequent first bearer unit.

The charging network element determines, for the first bearer unit, a charging processing manner corresponding to the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit. Exemplarily, if the slice resource information is used to indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes, if the resource types include two types, and the resource type of the slice resource initially used by the first bearer unit is known, the first A network element may determine the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed first bearer unit according to the slice resource information.

By implementing the method described in the third aspect, the charging network element can perceive that the resource type of the slice resource used by the bearer unit has changed, and thus use the charging method corresponding to the changed resource type to perform charging, so as to realize fair charging .

In a possible design, the method further includes: the charging network element sends indication information to the first network element, where the indication information is used to indicate the resource type of the slice resource used by the first network element in the first bearer unit In the case of changes, the charging network element is notified.

By implementing the method, the charging network element instructs the first network element to report the resource type change event of the bearer unit in a targeted manner, thereby saving network transmission resources.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an information transmission method, where the method may be performed by a first access network device, or may be performed by a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip) of the first access network device. system, etc.) to execute. The information transmission method may include: the first access network device determines that the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes is switched. The first access network device may be the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes before the handover, that is, the source access network device, or the first access network device may also be the handover After that, the access network device through which the user plane of the first bearer unit is connected, that is, the target access network device.

In response to the handover of the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes, the first access network device sends resource status information to the first network element, where the resource status information is used to indicate the first access network device The resource type of the slice resource scheduled for the first bearer unit.

By implementing the method described in the fourth aspect, the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes is switched, and the source access network device and the target access network device will perform the scheduling of the first bearer unit. The resource type of the slice resource is reported to the first network element, so that the first network element can determine whether the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed.

In a possible design, the method may further include: the first access network device receives indication information from the first network element; in response to the indication information, the first access network device is on the user plane of the first bearer unit When the access network device through which the connection passes is switched, the resource status information is sent to the first network element.

Optionally, the indication information is used to instruct the first access network device to notify the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.

By implementing this method, the first access network device can determine, according to the indication information, the resource state information that needs to be reported to the bearer unit of the first network element, so as to report in a targeted manner and save transmission resources.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, where the communication apparatus may be a first access network device, or may be a component of the first access network device (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) , the communication device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit;

a processing unit, configured to determine that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed;

A transceiver unit, configured to notify the first network element in response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.

In a possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send first information to the first network element, where the first information is used to indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes, or the The first information is used to indicate the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.

In a possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive the resource type of the slice resource corresponding to the first bearer unit from the second access network device;

The processing unit is further configured to determine the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit.

In a possible design, the first bearer unit is one of a session, a quality of service QoS flow or a network slice.

In a possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive indication information from the first network element;

The transceiver unit is further configured to, in response to the indication information, notify the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.

In a possible design, the indication information is used to instruct the first access network device to notify the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes .

In a possible design, the first network element is an access and mobility management function AMF network element or a session management function SMF network element.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device may be a first network element or a component of the first network element (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.). The communication device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit;

A transceiver unit, configured to send slice resource information to the charging network element in response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit, where the slice resource information is used to indicate the size of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit The resource type is changed, or the slice resource information indicates the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed second bearer unit;

Wherein, the first bearing unit is a subset of the second bearing unit, or the second bearing unit is a subset of the first bearing unit, or the first bearing unit and the second bearing unit The carrying unit is the same.

In a possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a notification from an access network device;

The processing unit is specifically configured to determine, according to the notification, that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed.

In a possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive first resource status information from a first access network device, where the first resource status information is used to indicate that the first access network device is the the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first bearer unit;

The transceiver unit is further configured to receive second resource state information from a second access network device, where the second resource state information is used to indicate the slice resource scheduled by the second access network device for the first bearer unit resource type;

The processing unit is specifically configured to determine, according to the first resource state information and the second resource state information, that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed.

In a possible design, if the first network element is an access and mobility management function AMF network element, the second bearer unit is one of a network slice, a session or a QoS flow;

If the first network element is a session management function SMF network element, the second bearer unit is one of a network slice, a session, a QoS flow or a service.

In a possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive first indication information from the charging network element;

The transceiver unit is further configured to, in response to the first indication information, send slice resource information to the charging network element in the case that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.

In a possible design, the first indication information is used to instruct the first network element to notify the charging network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit changes .

In a possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to, in response to the first indication information, send second indication information to the access network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate the access network device In the case that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes, the first network element is notified.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device may be a charging network element or a component of the charging network element (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.). The communication device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit;

A transceiver unit, configured to receive slice resource information from the first network element, where the slice resource information is used to indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, or the slice resource information indicates that the changed first The resource type of the slice resource used by the bearer unit;

A processing unit, configured to determine, for the first bearer unit, a charging processing manner corresponding to the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.

In a possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to send indication information to the first network element, where the indication information is used to indicate the slice resource used by the first network element in the first bearer unit In the case that the resource type of the device is changed, the charging network element is notified.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, where the communication apparatus may be a first access network device, or may be a component of the first access network device (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) , the communication device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit;

a processing unit, configured to determine that the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes is switched;

a transceiver unit, configured to send resource status information to the first network element in response to a handover of the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes, where the resource status information is used to indicate the first access network device The resource type of the slice resource scheduled by an access network device for the first bearer unit.

The first access network device may be the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes before the handover, that is, the source access network device, or the first access network device may also be the handover After that, the access network device through which the user plane of the first bearer unit is connected, that is, the target access network device.

The transceiver unit is further configured to, in response to the indication information, send resource status information to the first network element when the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes is switched.

In a possible design, the indication information is used to instruct the first access network device to notify the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and can be used to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method of any one of the first to fourth aspects above. Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a processor, including: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that the processor performs the method of any one of the first to fourth aspects.

In the specific implementation process, the above-mentioned processor may be one or more chips, the input circuit may be input pins, the output circuit may be output pins, and the processing circuit may be transistors, gate circuits, flip-flops and various logic circuits, etc. . The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example, but not limited to, a receiver, the signal output by the output circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, output to and transmitted by a transmitter, and the input circuit and output The circuit can be the same circuit that acts as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation manners of the processor and various circuits.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a processing apparatus, including a processor and a memory. The processor is used for reading instructions stored in the memory, and can receive signals through the receiver and transmit signals through the transmitter, so as to perform the method of any one of the first to fourth aspects.

Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

In the specific implementation process, the memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as a read only memory (ROM), which can be integrated with the processor on the same chip, or can be separately set in different On the chip, the embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the memory and the setting manner of the memory and the processor.

It should be understood that the relevant data interaction process, for example, sending information may be a process of outputting information from the processor, and receiving information may be a process of receiving information by the processor. Specifically, the data output by the processor can be output to the transmitter, and the input data received by the processor can be from the receiver. Among them, the transmitter and the receiver may be collectively referred to as a transceiver.

The processing device in the above eighth aspect may be one or more chips. The processor in the processing device may be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, implemented by reading software codes stored in a memory, which can Integrated in the processor, can be located outside the processor, independent existence.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, where the computer program product includes: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction), which, when the computer program is executed, causes a computer to execute the above-mentioned The method of any one of the first to fourth aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium, where the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction) when it runs on a computer, causing the computer to The method of any one of the first to fourth aspects above is performed.

In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including the foregoing first network element and a charging network element.

Optionally, the communication system may further include an access network device.

A fifteenth aspect provides a chip system, the chip system includes a processor and an interface, and the processor is used to call and run a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction) stored in the memory from the memory, so as to realize the first For the functions involved in any one of the one aspect to the fourth aspect, in a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory, and the memory is used for saving necessary program instructions and data. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

Description of drawings

1a to 1f are network system architecture diagrams provided by embodiments of the present application;

2a and 2b are schematic diagrams of network slicing provided by an embodiment of the present application;

3a-3e are schematic diagrams of application scenarios provided by embodiments of the present application;

4 is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

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

6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided by the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of another communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, universal mobile telecommunication system (universal mobile telecommunication system, UMTS), fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) system, new radio (NR), and other new systems that appear with the development of technology. In various communication systems, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application can be applied to various scenarios. For example, in a 5G system, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application can be used in a network architecture based on a service interface, or It is used in reference point-based network architecture, and can also be applied to roaming scenarios or non-roaming scenarios, etc.

As shown in FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b, it is a 5G network architecture diagram in a non-roaming scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1a is a 5G network architecture based on reference points in a non-roaming scenario; Figure 1b is a 5G network architecture based on a service interface in a non-roaming scenario.

As shown in FIG. 1c-FIG. 1f, it is a 5G network architecture diagram in a roaming scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application. Among them, Figure 1c is a 5G network architecture diagram based on a service interface in a local breakout (LBO) roaming scenario, Figure 1d is a reference point-based 5G network architecture diagram in an LBO roaming scenario, and Figure 1e is a home routing (home routed) 5G network architecture diagram based on service interface in roaming scenario, Figure 1f is the 5G network architecture diagram based on reference point in home routing roaming scenario.

The following is an example of the 5G network architecture based on reference points in the non-roaming scenario shown in Figure 1a. As shown in Figure 1a, the system can be divided into two parts: the access network and the core network. The access network is used to implement functions related to wireless access, and mainly includes an access network (AN) device 102. The access network device includes a radio access network (RAN) device and other devices connected through an air interface. connected devices (such as WiFi). The core network mainly includes the following key logical network elements: user plane function (user plane function) 103, access and mobility management function (AMF) 105, session management function (session management function) 106, policy Control function (policy control function, PCF) 107, unified data management function (unified data management) 109. The system 100 may also include one or more of a user equipment (UE) 101 , a data network (DN) 104 and an application function (AF) 108 . The interfaces between the network elements are shown in Figure 1a. It should be understood that a service-based interface may also be used for communication between network elements.

UE, also known as terminal equipment. Terminal devices may communicate with one or more core networks (CNs) via AN devices. A terminal device may be referred to as an access terminal, terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless network device, user agent, or user equipment. The terminal may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld wireless communication capable Devices, computing devices or other devices connected to wireless modems, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices or the Internet of Things, end devices in vehicle networks, and any form of end device in future networks, etc.

An AN device is a device that accesses a terminal device to a wireless network, and may specifically be a base station. The base station may include various forms of base stations, such as: a macro base station, a micro base station (also called a small station), a relay station, an access point, and the like. Specifically, it can be: an access point (AP) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), a global system for mobile communications (GSM) or a code division multiple access (code division multiple access). access, CDMA) in the base station (base transceiver station, BTS), can also be a wideband code division multiple access (wideband code division multiple access, WCDMA) in the base station (NodeB, NB), can also be an evolved base station in LTE (Evolved Node B, eNB or eNodeB), or relay station or access point, or in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, and the next generation Node B (gNB) in 5G systems or future evolution of public land mobile networks (public land mobile network, PLMN) base station in the network, etc.

UDM has functions such as managing user contract data and generating user authentication information.

AMF is mainly responsible for UE registration management, UE connection management, UE reachability management, UE access authorization and access authentication, UE security functions, UE mobility management, and network slice selection. , SMF selection and other functions. The AMF acts as the anchor point of the N1/N2 interface signaling connection and provides the SMF with the routing of N1/N2 interface session management (session management, SM) messages, and maintains and manages the state information of the UE. AMF is a mobility management network element in the 5G system.

SMF is mainly responsible for all control plane functions of UE session management, including UPF selection and control, network interconnection protocol (IP) address allocation and management, session quality of service (QoS) management, from PCF Obtain policy and charging control (policy and charging control, PCC) policy, etc. The SMF also acts as a termination point for the SM part of a non-access stratum (NAS) message.

PCF has functions such as providing policy rules to control plane functional entities.

AF, which may be an application server, may belong to an operator or a third party.

UPF is mainly responsible for processing user packets, such as forwarding, charging, etc., and can be used as an anchor point for protocol data unit (PDU) session connection, that is, PDU session anchor (PSA session anchor, PSA). ), responsible for UE data packet filtering, data transmission/forwarding, rate control, generation of charging information, user plane QoS processing, uplink transmission authentication, transmission level verification, downlink data packet buffering, and downlink data notification triggering, etc. The UPF can also act as a branch point for a multi-homed PDU session.

DN, a network that provides data transmission services for users, such as IP Multi-media service (IMS), Internet, etc. The DN can include an application server (AS), which is a software framework that provides an application running environment and is used to provide applications with services such as security, data, transaction support, load balancing, and large-scale distributed system management. . The UE obtains the application message by communicating with the AS. It should be noted that the above-mentioned AF is the control plane of the AS.

It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application are not limited to be applied only to the system architecture shown in FIG. 1a. For example, a communication system to which the information transmission method of the embodiment of the present application can be applied may include more or less network elements or devices. The device or network element in FIG. 1a may be hardware, software divided by functions, or a combination of the above two. The devices or network elements in FIG. 1a may communicate with each other through other devices or network elements.

Before introducing the method of the present application in detail, some concepts involved in the present application are briefly introduced first.

1. Network Slicing

Network slicing is to virtualize multiple end-to-end networks on the basis of a common hardware through slicing technology. Each network has different network functions and adapts to different types of service requirements. Various industries have various requirements for network functions, but these requirements can be parsed into requirements for network functions such as network bandwidth, number of connections, delay, and reliability. As shown in Figure 2a, the 5G standard also summarizes the requirements of different services for network functions into three typical scenarios, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services, massive machine type communication (mMTC) services and ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communications, URLLC) services. Correspondingly, the types of network slices corresponding to these three typical scenarios are eMBB slices, mMTC slices, and uRLLC slices.

As shown in Figure 2b, the schematic diagram of the 5G network slicing architecture is shown in the figure. After the operator purchases physical resources, an eMBB slicing network is virtualized using the physical resources for the public Internet business, and then the smart meter reading of some manufacturers in the vertical industry is used. To meet the requirements, a mMTC slicing network is virtualized by using physical resources. The two slicing networks provide services for different business scenarios. Different slicing networks correspond to different physical resources, thereby realizing resource isolation between slicing networks.

2. S-NSSAI

S-NSSAI is used to identify a network slice. S-NSSAI includes two parts: slice/service type (SST) and slice differentiator (SD). Among them, SST refers to the expected network slicing behavior in terms of features and services. The standard value range of SST is 1, 2, and 3. The value 1 indicates the eMBB slice type, 2 indicates the URLLC slice type, and 3 indicates the mMTC slice type. SD is optional information used to supplement SST to distinguish multiple network slices of the same slice/service type. The SST and SD parts are combined to represent a slice type and multiple slices of the same slice type. For example, the value of S-NSSAI is 0x01000000, 0x02000000, and 0x03000000, which represent eMBB type slices, uRLLC type slices, and mMTC type slices, respectively. The S-NSSAI values of 0x01000001 and 0x01000002 indicate eMBB type slices, serving user group 1 and user group 2 respectively, that is, identifying two specific network slices respectively.

3. Remapping strategy

The RAN node is pre-configured with a remapping policy by an operation administration and maintenance (OAM) network element. The granularity of the remapping policy is per network slice, that is, for each supported S-NSSAI, the RAN node is configured with a possible remapping list. The remapping list includes multiple subgroups, and different subgroups can be used to identify different resource types. Slice resources. For example, the remapping list configured for S-NSSAI 1 is (S-NSSAI 1a, S-NSSAI 1b). S-NSSAI 1a and S-NSSAI 1b can be respectively identified as slice resources of two resource types of the network slice service corresponding to S-NSSAI 1.

The slice resources of different subgroups can be mapped to each other, that is, when the slice resources of a certain subgroup are insufficient, the slice resources of another subgroup can be used. Taking S-NSSAI 1 as an example, if the slice resources of S-NSSAI 1a on the RAN are insufficient, part of the slice resources of S-NSSAI 1b can be used (S-NSSAI 1b still has surplus resources).

The resource types of sliced resources include but are not limited to shared resources (shared resources), priority resources (priortized resources) or dedicated resources (dedicated resources).

It should be noted that S-NSSAI-1a and S-NSSAI-1b are just an example of resource identifiers, which do not mean that the resource only serves S-NSSAI1. For example, the slice resource identified by S-NSSAI-1b can be the priority resource of S-NSSAI2, that is, if the slice resource identified by S-NSSAI-1b is guaranteed to be used by S-NSSAI2, if there are idle resources available for other S-NSSAI use. In some scenarios, the slice resources identified by S-NSSAI-1b may be shared resources, that is, different S-NSSAIs can use the slice resources identified by the S-NSSAI-1b, but there is no guarantee that the S-NSSAI-1b will be used when needed. - There are free resources in the slice resource identified by NSSAI-1b.

Usually, when the RAN schedules slice resources of different resource types, the resource processing methods may be different. Continue to take S-NSSAI1 as an example. For example, the RAN schedules the slice resources identified by S-NSSAI 1a, and the resource processing is better (for example, S-NSSAI-1a is a dedicated resource of S-NSSAI-1, and S-NSSAI-1 does not When used, it cannot be used by other S-NSSAIs); and the scheduling of slice resources identified by S-NSSAI1b is slightly worse. However, for business continuity, it is acceptable to use S-NSSAI 1b slice resources to serve network slices.

It is understandable that different resource processing methods may lead to differences in QoS. For example, if the resource processing is better, the network delay will be smaller, the bandwidth will be higher, and correspondingly, the user experience will be better. Different resource processing methods may also have other processing differences, such as data packet scheduling methods, etc., which will not be repeated here.

4. Bearing unit

The bearer unit in this embodiment of the present application may refer to a transmission unit for transmitting data. Specifically, there may be various granularities of the bearer unit, for example, the bearer unit may be one of a session, a quality of service (quality of service, QoS) flow, a network slice, or a service. A network slice can be associated with multiple sessions, and a session can include multiple QoS flows. A session can also include multiple services. A service may refer to a specific service data flow (service data flow, SDF), or may be one or more service data flows identified by a charging key (charging key). Among them, one or more service data streams identified by the same charging key are charged in the same manner.

The first bearing unit and the second bearing unit in the embodiment of the present application may be used to distinguish different granularities, or the granularity of the first bearing unit and the second bearing unit may be the same. In the case of the same granularity, the first bearer unit may be the same bearer unit as the second bearer unit, for example, the first bearer unit and the second bearer unit are the same network slice.

5. Regarding "in response to **, perform a certain operation" in the embodiment of the present application, it can be understood that the operation is performed based on **, wherein "in response to **" can be replaced with "according to * *", or it can be replaced by "based on **", or it can be replaced by "under the trigger of **", etc.

Before specifically describing the information transmission method of the embodiment of the present application, the following describes the scenarios applied by the embodiment of the present application with reference to FIG. 3a-FIG. 3e. It can be understood that the RAN in FIG. 3a-FIG. 3e may be a The RAN in the network architecture shown in Fig. 1a-Fig. 1f, the UE in Fig. 3a-Fig. 3e may be the UE in the network architecture shown in Fig. 1a-Fig. 1f.

Scenario 1, as shown in Figure 3a, RAN1 and RAN2 belong to the same registration area (RA). As the UE moves, the UE moves from the coverage of RAN1 to the coverage of RAN2, that is, the RAN accessed by the UE is switched from RAN1 to RAN2. Wherein, RAN1 and RAN2 configure slice resources of different resource types for a specific network slice (eg, network slice 1 ), for example, configure a remapping list for this network slice 1 . When the UE is handed over from RAN1 to RAN2, the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by RAN1 for network slice 1 of the UE and the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by RAN2 for network slice 1 of the UE are changed. For example, RAN1 schedules resources for network slice 1 of the UE to process better slice resources, while RAN2 is congested, that is, more UEs use the slice resources of network slice 1. Among the slice resources configured by RAN2 for network slice 1, the resource processing If the better slice resources are insufficient, the RAN2 can schedule resources for the UE's network slice 1 to handle slightly worse slice resources. It can be understood that the resource type of slice resources of one or more sessions in network slice 1 or one or more QoS flows in network slice 1 may also change. For example, RAN2 schedules some sessions in network slice 1. Resources handle slightly less tiled resources.

In the embodiment of the present application, the RAN2 determines that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, and then notifies the AMF or SMF of the change of the resource type, and further, the AMF or SMF reports the change to the CHF or PCF for distinction Billing to achieve billing fairness. The first bearer unit may be the above-mentioned network slice 1, or may be a part of the session in the network slice 1, or may be part of the QoS flow included in the session. Optionally, the reporting granularity may be based on the corresponding network element. Determined by subscription granularity.

Scenario 2, as shown in Figure 3b, RAN1 and RAN2 belong to different RAs, RAN1 belongs to RA1, and RAN2 belongs to RA2. As the UE moves, the UE moves from the coverage of RAN1 to the coverage of RAN2, that is, the RAN accessed by the UE is switched from RAN1 to RAN2. The resource type of the slice resource scheduled by RAN1 for network slice 1 of the UE and the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by RAN2 for network slice 1 of the UE may change. RAN2 may notify the AMF or SMF of the change of the resource type, and further, the AMF or SMF may report the change to the CHF or PCF for differential charging. For details, refer to the description of scenario 1, which is not repeated here.

Scenario 3, as shown in Figure 3c, RAN1 and RAN2 belong to different RAs, RAN1 belongs to RA1, RAN2 belongs to RA2, or RAN1 and RAN2 may belong to the same RA. As the UE moves, the UE moves from the coverage of RAN1 to the coverage of RAN2, and then from the coverage of RAN2 to the coverage of RAN1, that is, the RAN the UE accesses is switched from RAN1 to RAN2, and then from RAN2 to RAN1, optionally, if RAN1 and RAN2 belong to different RAs, scenario 3 may be a scenario of switching back to RAN1 based on scenario 2. If RAN1 and RAN2 belong to the same RA, scenario 3 may be a scenario of switching back to RAN1 based on scenario 1. The resource type of the slice resource scheduled by RAN2 for network slice 1 of the UE and the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by RAN1 for network slice 1 of the UE may change. For example, if RAN2 is congested, that is, there are more UEs using the slice resources of network slice 1. Among the slice resources configured by RAN2 for network slice 1, the slice resources with better resource processing are insufficient, then RAN2 can schedule the network slice 1 of the UE. Resources handle slightly less tiled resources. However, the RAN1 is not congested, even if there are fewer UEs using the slice resources of the network slice 1, the RAN1 can schedule resources for the network slice 1 to process more optimal slice resources.

It can be understood that the resource type of slice resources of one or more sessions in network slice 1 or one or more QoS flows in network slice 1 may also change. For example, RAN1 schedules some sessions in network slice 1. Resource handles better sliced resources.

In the embodiment of the present application, when RAN1 determines that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, the AMF or SMF is notified of the change of the resource type, and further, the AMF or SMF reports the change to the CHF or PCF for distinction. Billing to achieve billing fairness. The first bearer unit may be the above-mentioned network slice 1, or may be a part of the session in the network slice 1, or may be part of the QoS flow included in the session. Optionally, the reporting granularity may be based on the corresponding network element. Determined by subscription granularity.

Scenario 4, as shown in Figure 3d, RAN1 and RAN2 are the master station and slave station in a dual-connectivity (DC) scenario, and RAN2 (slave station) is the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the UE's network slice 1 subject to change. For example, RAN2 may change from non-congested to congested, that is, when RAN2 is not congested, it schedules resources for the UE's network slice 1 to handle better slice resources, while when RAN2 is relatively congested, that is, UEs using network slice 1's slice resources More, RAN2 can schedule resources for the UE's network slice 1 to handle slightly worse slice resources. It can be understood that the resource type of slice resources of one or more sessions in network slice 1 or one or more QoS flows in network slice 1 may also change. For example, RAN2 schedules some sessions in network slice 1. Resources handle slightly less tiled resources. It should be noted that RAN2 may also change from congested to non-congested. When RAN2 is congested, RAN2 can schedule resources for the UE's network slice 1 to handle slightly worse slice resources, and when RAN2 is not congested, RAN2 is the UE's network slice. Network slice 1 schedules resources to handle more optimal slice resources.

Scenario 5, as shown in Figure 3e, the UE accesses RAN1, and the UE is in a non-mobile scenario, and the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by RAN1 for the UE's network slice 1 may change. For example, RAN1 may change from non-congested to congested, or from non-congested to congested, and the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by RAN1 for network slice 1 of UE1 may change. When RAN1 is not congested, RAN1 can schedule resources for network slice 1 of the UE to handle better slice resources, and when RAN1 is relatively congested, RAN1 can schedule resources for network slice 1 of the UE to handle slightly worse slice resources. It can be understood that the resource type of slice resources of one or more sessions in network slice 1 or one or more QoS flows in network slice 1 may also change. For example, RAN1 schedules some sessions in network slice 1. Resources handle slightly less tiled resources.

The information transmission method according to the embodiment of the present application will be described below with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 respectively. In FIG. 4 , the access network device may determine that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit is changed, and the The change of the resource type is notified to the first network element, which is further reported by the first network element to the charging network element for charging at the granularity of the second bearer unit. FIG. 5 may show that in a handover scenario, the first access network device and the second access network device report resource status information to the first network element, respectively, and the first network element is based on the first access network device and the second access network device. The resource status information reported by the network device determines that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, and the change of the resource type is notified to the first network element, which is further reported by the first network element with the granularity of the second bearer unit. Charge the billing network element. Exemplarily, in the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , the first network element may be AMF or SMF, and the charging network element may be CHF or PCF. The specific steps of the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are respectively introduced below.

Please refer to FIG. 4 , which is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application, and FIGS. 1 a to 1 e may be examples of network architectures to which the information transmission method is applied. 3a to 3e may be examples of scenarios to which the information transmission method is applied. As shown in FIG. 4 , the method may include: S102-S106, and optionally, may further include one or both of a subscription process and a handover process. The subscription process may include S100 and S101, and the handover process may include S10 and S11. The execution sequence of each step is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. As shown in the figure, the information transmission method of the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to the following steps:

S100: The charging network element sends first indication information to the first network element.

In one embodiment, the charging network element may subscribe the first network element to the resource type change event of the second bearer unit. Exemplarily, the charging network element sends the first indication information to the first network element, where the first indication information can be used to indicate that the first network element changes when the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit changes, Send slice resource information to the charging network element; or, the first indication information may be used to instruct the charging network element to subscribe the second bearer unit to the first network element; or, the first indication information may be used to indicate that the second bearer When the resource type of the slice resource used by the unit changes, it needs to be reported to the charging network element; or the first indication information can be used to indicate to the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit changes Notify the charging network element. Optionally, the first indication information may be sent to the first network element through a subscription request. As an implementation manner, the charging network element may simultaneously send the second bearer unit identifier (such as S-NSSAI, QoS flow identifier, service data flow template, PDU session identifier, etc.) and the first indication information, representing the second bearer unit's identifier. When the resource type changes, it needs to be reported, and in this implementation manner, the first indication information may be an indication used to indicate that the resource type is changed to be reported. It can be understood that, the identifier of the second bearing unit may also be in the first indication information, which is not limited in this application.

The granularity of the second bearer unit may be network slice granularity, that is, when the resource type of the slice resource used by one or more network slices changes, it needs to be reported to the charging network element; the granularity of the second bearer unit is also It can be session granularity, that is, when the resource type of slice resources used by one or more sessions changes, it needs to be reported to the charging network element; the granularity of the second bearer unit can also be QoS flow granularity, that is, when a certain or When the resource type of the slice resources used by multiple QoS flows changes, it needs to be reported to the charging network element; optionally, the granularity of the second bearer unit may also be the service granularity, for example, if the first network element is SMF, the second The granularity of the second bearer unit may be the service granularity, that is, when the resource type of the slice resource used by one or more services changes, it needs to be reported to the charging network element. It can be understood that, the second bearing unit may also be of other granularity, which is not limited in this application. If the first network element is an AMF network element, the second bearer unit may be one of a session or a network slice. If the first network element is an SMF network element, the second bearer unit may be one of a network slice, a session, a QoS flow or a service. The service granularity may refer to a specific SDF, or may be one or more service data streams identified by a charging key. Generally, the charging processing methods of the service data streams identified by the same charging key are the same.

In some embodiments, if the charging network element is a CHF, the CHF may also subscribe to the first network element through the PCF. For example, the CHF subscribes to the PCF for resource type change events. After receiving the subscription, the PCF subscribes the resource type change event of the second bearer unit to the first network element. The granularity of the subscription of the CHF to the PCF and the granularity of the subscription of the PCF to the first network element may be the same or different.

Exemplarily, when the charging network element subscribes to the SMF for the service granularity, and the SMF subscribes to the first access network device for the QoS flow granularity, the SMF can bind the service data flow with subscription requirements to the same QoS flow. , that is, SMF binds service data streams with different subscription requirements (such as those with and without subscription requirements, or the specific content of subscriptions are different, etc.) to different QoS streams. The processing rules are the same, and the processing rules include the same way of changing resource types of service data flows belonging to the same QoS flow. Optionally, when the charging network element is the PCF, the PCF can send the policy and charging control (policy and charging control, PCC) rules carrying the binding parameters to the SMF, and the PCC rules have a corresponding relationship with the service data flow. The above-mentioned first indication information may also be sent to the SMF through a PCC rule, and optionally, the above-mentioned first indication information may be used as a binding parameter. After the SMF receives the PCC rule, when the binding parameters in the PCC rule are exactly the same as the binding parameters of the current QoS flow, the SMF binds the PCC rule to the QoS flow, that is, the service data flow corresponding to the PCC rule is bound by the SMF. Bind to this QoS flow. If there is currently no QoS flow with the same binding parameters as the binding parameters in the PCC rule, SMF can create a new QoS flow according to the binding parameters in the PCC rule, and bind the PCC rule to the new QoS flow. In an implementation manner, if the first indication information is used as a binding parameter, the binding parameter in the PCC rule is the same as the binding parameter of the current QoS flow, which may mean that the indication information in the PCC rule is the same as the one bound to the current QoS flow. The indication information in other PCC rules of the QoS flow is the same, that is, the SMF binds all PCC rules with the same indication information to the same QoS flow. Afterwards, as described in S101, the SMF may send second indication information to the first access network device, where the second indication information may be used to indicate that the QoS flow needs to be reported when the resource type of the QoS flow changes.

S101, a first network element sends second indication information to a first access network device in response to the first indication information.

In one embodiment, after receiving the subscription of the charging network element, the first network element may subscribe to the first access network device for the resource type change event of the first bearer unit. That is, after receiving the first indication information of the charging network element, the first network element sends second indication information to the first access network device in response to the first indication information. The second indication information may also be called slice resources Information change reporting indication, the second indication information can be used to instruct the first access network device to notify the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes; or, the second indication The information may be used to instruct the first network element to subscribe the first bearer unit to the first access network device. As an implementation manner, the first network element may send the first bearer unit identifier (such as S-NSSAI, QoS flow identifier, service data flow template, PDU session identifier, etc.) and second indication information at the same time, representing the first bearer unit's identifier. When the resource type changes, it needs to be reported, and in this implementation manner, the second indication information may be an indication used to indicate that the resource type is changed to be reported. It can be understood that, the first bearing unit identifier may also be in the second indication information, which is not limited in this application.

The granularity of the first bearer unit may be network slice granularity, that is, when the resource type of the slice resource used by one or more network slices changes, it needs to be reported to the first network element; the granularity of the second bearer unit is also It can be session granularity, that is, when the resource type of slice resources used by one or more sessions changes, it needs to be reported to the first network element; the granularity of the second bearer unit can also be QoS flow granularity, that is, when a certain or When the resource type of the slice resource used by the multiple QoS flows changes, it needs to be reported to the first network element. It can be understood that, the first bearing unit may also be of other granularity, which is not limited in this application.

The granularity of the first bearing unit and the granularity of the second bearing unit may be the same or different. If the granularity of the first bearer unit is the same as the granularity of the second bearer unit, the first bearer unit and the second bearer unit may be the same, for example, the charging network element may indicate to the first network element the slice resources used in network slice 1 When the resource type of the network slice 1 changes, the charging network element is notified, and the first network element may indicate to the first access network device that the resource type of the slice resource used by the network slice 1 changes to notify the first network element. . If the granularity of the first bearing unit is different from the granularity of the second bearing unit, the first bearing unit may be a subset of the second bearing unit, or the second bearing unit may be a subset of the first bearing unit. For example, the second bearer unit may be network slice 1, and the first bearer unit may be a session in network slice 1, that is, the first bearer unit is a subset of the second bearer unit, and the charging network element may indicate to the first network element When the resource type of the slice resource used by the network slice 1 changes, the charging network element is notified. When the resource type changes, the first network element is notified that the session 1, the session 2 and the session 3 belong to the network slice 1.

In some optional embodiments, when the granularity of the second bearer unit subscribed by the charging network element to the first network element is smaller than the granularity of the first bearer unit subscribed by the first network element to the first access network device, that is, The second bearer unit is a subset of the first bearer unit. In order for the first network element to accurately determine whether the resource type of the second bearer unit has changed, the resources of the slice resources used by all bearer units included in the first bearer unit The types may all be the same, or the resource types of the slice resources used by all the bearer units included in the first bearer unit may be changed.

Through the above steps S100 and S101, the charging network element completes the subscription of the resource type change event of the second bearer unit to the first network element, and the first network element completes the resource type change event of the first bearer unit to the first access network device. subscription. The first access network device may be an access network device to which the terminal device is connected.

It should be noted that, in some embodiments, when the access network device accessed by the terminal device is switched, the subscription event (including the subscribed bearer unit) of the first network element to the first access network device can be used as The context is transferred to the switched access network device, or the subscription event may not be delivered, but the first network element re-subscribes the resource type change event to the switched access network device. For details, refer to the foregoing embodiments. The process in which the first network element subscribes to the first access network device (that is, as shown in step S101). Similarly, when the first network element is switched, the subscription event (including the subscribed bearer unit) of the charging network element to the first network element can also be passed as a context to the first network element after the switch. Alternatively, the subscription event may not be delivered, but the charging network element subscribes the resource type change event to the switched first network element again. For details, refer to the charging network element subscribes to the first network element in the foregoing embodiment. process (that is, as shown in step S100).

S102, the first access network device determines that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.

In one embodiment, the first network element subscribes the resource type change event of the first bearer unit to the first access network device. Optionally, the first bearer unit may be a network slice, or may also be a session in a network slice, or may also be a QoS flow of a session in a network slice, or the like. Specifically, the OAM may pre-configure slice resources of multiple resource types for the network slice service in the first access network device. For example, a remapping list is configured in the first access network device, and the remapping list includes multiple subgroups, and different subgroups can be used to identify slice resources of different resource types. For example, S-NSSAI 1 identifies network slice 1, and the remap list configured for S-NSSAI 1 is (S-NSSAI 1a, S-NSSAI 1b). S-NSSAI 1a and S-NSSAI 1b can respectively identify slice resources of two resource types served by network slice 1. For example, the slice resources corresponding to S-NSSAI 1a are priority resources, and the slice resources corresponding to S-NSSAI 1b are shared resources.

The first access network device may schedule slice resources of different resource types corresponding to the network slice for different sessions in the network slice. Of course, in the case that slice resources of a certain resource type are sufficient, the first access network device may also Schedule slice resources of the same resource type for different sessions within a network slice. Similarly, the first access network device may also schedule slice resources of different resource types for different QoS flows in the same session, or, in the case that slice resources of a certain resource type are sufficient, the first access network device may also be Different QoS flows schedule slice resources of the same resource type. It can be understood that the first access network device may schedule resources for sessions or QoS flows in the network slice preferentially to process slice resources of a resource type with better resource processing. Slice resources of lesser resource handling resource types can be scheduled to sessions or QoS flows within a network slice. The following uses the session granularity as an example to illustrate the resource status diagram of the first access network device scheduling slice resources for sessions in the network slice. As shown in Table 1, the first access network device schedules the slice resources corresponding to S-NSSAI 1a for session 1 , schedule the slice resource corresponding to S-NSSAI 1b for session 2.

PDU会话标识PDU session identifier	切片资源状态Slice resource status
11	S-NSSAI 1aS-NSSAI 1a
22	S-NSSAI 1bS-NSSAI 1b

Form 1

It can be understood that, it is not limited to the context of maintaining slice resource status at session granularity as shown in Table 1. The first access network device may also maintain context of other granularities, such as QoS flow identifier and corresponding slice resource status, or S-NSSAI. and the corresponding slice resource status.

In this embodiment of the present application, the method for determining that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit is changed by the first access network device may include, but is not limited to, the following two optional implementation manners:

In a first optional implementation manner, the state transition of the first access network device (eg transition between a congested state and a non-congested state) causes the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit to change.

Exemplarily, the first access network device accessed by the terminal device may be converted from a congested state to a non-congested state. The number of terminal devices changes from more to less, and the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first bearer unit of the first access network device may change. For example, the first access network device is the first bearer of the terminal device. The slice resource scheduled by the unit may be switched from the slice resource with slightly poor resource processing to the slice resource with better resource processing.

Exemplarily, the first access network device accessed by the terminal device may be converted from a non-congested state to a congested state. The number of terminal devices changes from a small number to a large number, and the resource type of the slice resources scheduled by the first bearer unit of the first access network device for the terminal device may change. For example, the first access network device is the first bearer of the terminal device. The slice resource scheduled by the unit may be switched from a slice resource with better resource processing to a slice resource with slightly poor resource processing.

Wherein, the above-mentioned first bearer unit may be a network slice, or may be a session in a network slice, or may also be a QoS flow of a session in a network slice, or the like. It should be noted that, if the first bearer unit is a network slice, the change of the resource type of the slice resource used by the network slice may mean that there is a session or QoS flow whose resource type is changed in the network slice.

In the second optional implementation manner, the switching of the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes is switched from the second access network device to the first access network device, resulting in the change of slice resources used by the first bearer unit. The resource type has changed.

Specifically, with the movement of the terminal device (such as the aforementioned scenarios in FIG. 3a to FIG. 3c ), the terminal device moves from the coverage of the second access network device to the coverage of the first access network device, that is, The access network device accessed by the terminal device is switched from the second access network device to the first access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device through which the user plane of the first bearer unit of the terminal device is connected is The second access network device is switched to the first access network device. The resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the second access network device for the first bearer unit of the terminal device may be different from the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit of the terminal device.

In this embodiment, in order to facilitate the first access network device to determine whether the resource type of the slice resource scheduled for the first bearer unit of the terminal device has changed, the second access network device may change the resource type of the slice resource corresponding to the first bearer unit. The resource type of the slice resource is sent to the first access network device, so that the first access network device can determine whether the resource type of the slice resource scheduled for the first bearer unit of the terminal device has changed. of steps S10 and S11;

S10: The first access network device receives the resource type of the slice resource corresponding to the first bearer unit from the second access network device.

Specifically, the second access network device may send the resource type of the slice resource corresponding to the first bearer unit to the first access network device through the context, where the resource type of the slice resource corresponding to the first bearer unit is the resource type of the slice resource corresponding to the first bearer unit. The network access device is the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first bearer unit. The first bearer unit may be a bearer unit subscribed by the first network element to the second access network device. It can be understood that, the first network element can subscribe the second access network device to one or more first bearer units associated with one or more network slices, and then the second access network device can subscribe to the first access network device. The device sends the resource type of the slice resources corresponding to one or more first bearer units associated with one or more network slices. The first bearer unit is used as an example for the following description. As shown in Table 2, the second connection A context example of the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the network access device for each session, wherein S-NSSAI 2 identifies network slice 2, and the second access network device schedules the corresponding S-NSSAI 2a for session 3 in network slice 2 Slice resources:

PDU会话标识PDU session identifier	切片资源状态Slice resource status
11	S-NSSAI 1aS-NSSAI 1a
22	S-NSSAI 1bS-NSSAI 1b
33	S-NSSAI 2aS-NSSAI 2a

Form 2

It can be understood that it is not limited to the context of maintaining slice resource status at session granularity as shown in Table 2, and the second access network device may also maintain context of other granularities, such as QoS flow identifier and corresponding slice resource status, or S-NSSAI. and the corresponding slice resource status.

Exemplarily, the second access network device may transfer the context to the first access network device through the Xn interface; or, the second access network device may transfer the context to the first access network device via the core network (such as AMF). access equipment.

S11. The first access network device determines the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit.

Specifically, the first access network device may determine the resource type of the slice resource scheduled for the first bearer unit according to the congestion state of the first access network device. Exemplarily, if the number of terminal devices accessing the first access network device and using the network slice (for example, network slice 1) is relatively large, the first access network device schedules resources for the first bearer unit to process a bit. poor slicing resources; if the number of terminal devices accessing the first access network device and using the network slicing is relatively small, and the slicing resources with better resource processing are sufficient, the first bearer unit can be scheduled for better resource processing slice resource.

Further, the first access network device may be based on the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the second access network device for the first bearer unit and the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit. Resource type, to determine whether the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed.

S103, the first access network device notifies the first network element in response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.

In one embodiment, the first access network device determines that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, and notifies the first network element. Specifically, the first access network device may notify the first network element in various ways. For example, the first access network device may send first information to the first network element. Optionally, the first information may be The resource type used to indicate the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes. For example, the resource types corresponding to network slices include two types. If the resource type of the slice resource initially used by the first bearer unit is known, the first access The network device may indicate to the first network element that the resource type is changed, and the first network element may obtain the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit. Optionally, the first information may be used to indicate the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit. For example, when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes, the first access network The device indicates to the first network element the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed first bearer unit. Optionally, the first information can also be used to indicate the resource type of the slice resource used in each time period, for example, the resource type used on January 1, 2020 from 10:00-11:00 is S-NSSAI 1a , the resource type used from 11:00-11:30 on January 1, 2020 is S-NSSAI 1b, and the resource type used from 11:00-12:30 on January 1, 2020 is S-NSSAI 1c.

In some embodiments, if the resource types corresponding to the network slice include two types, the first network element may instruct the first access network device to report to the first network element when a certain resource type changes. For example, when switching from another resource type to the subscribed resource type, the first access network device reports to the first network element, or when switching from the subscribed resource type to another resource type, the first access network device The device is then reported to the first network element.

Wherein, if the first bearer unit is a network slice, the first access network device may determine that the number of sessions or QoS flows in which the resource type is changed in the network slice is between the number of all sessions or QoS flows included in the network slice and report the ratio to the first network element, so as to report the resource type change information of the network slice at the granularity of the network slice.

It can be understood that in the handover scenario (that is, the above-mentioned second optional implementation manner), the granularity of the bearer unit in the context sent by the second access network device to the first access network device is the same as that notified by the first access network device. The granularity of the bearer units for the first network element may be the same or different. If the two granularities are different, the first access network device may further determine whether the resource type corresponding to the bearer unit reported to the first network element has changed according to the resource type corresponding to the bearer unit in the context. For example, the first network element instructs the access network device (the first access network device and/or the second access network device) to report when the resource type of the slice resource used by the network slice 1 changes. The second access network device may send the resource type corresponding to each session in all sessions included in the network slice 1 as a context to the first access network device, and the first access network device may further use the received data of each session according to The corresponding resource type and the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for each session determine whether the slice resource type used by the network slice 1 has changed, so as to report to the first network element with network slice granularity.

The above-mentioned first bearer unit may be the bearer unit indicated in the second indication information in step S101, therefore, the first access network device may notify the first access network device of the first bearer according to the second indication information The resource type of the tile resource used by the cell has changed.

S104: The first network element receives a notification from the first access network device, and determines, according to the notification, that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed.

In one embodiment, the first access network device notifies the first network element that the type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, so that the first network element can determine the resource of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit according to the notification Type changes.

S105, the first network element sends slice resource information to the charging network element in response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.

Specifically, the first network element may notify the charging network element of the change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit in response to the change of the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit. The second bearer unit may be the bearer unit indicated in the first indication information in step S100. Therefore, the first network element may notify the charging network element of the slice used by the second bearer unit according to the first indication information The resource type of the resource has changed.

Optionally, the second bearer unit may be the same as the first bearer unit, that is, the granularity reported by the first access network device to the first network element is the same as the granularity reported by the first network element to the charging network element, for example, the first The access network device notifies the first network element that the resource type of the slice resource used by the session 1 changes, and the first network element notifies the charging network element that the resource type of the slice resource used by the session 1 changes.

Optionally, the second bearer unit may be a subset of the first bearer unit, that is, the granularity reported by the first access network device to the first network element is larger than the granularity reported by the first network element to the charging network element, for example, the One network element is an SMF, the first access network device notifies the SMF that the resource type of the slice resource used by session 1 has changed, and the SMF notifies the charging network element that the resource type of the slice resource used by the service 1 in the session 1 has changed. . It can be understood that in this scenario, the resource types of slice resources used by all bearer units in the first bearer unit may be the same, that is, the resource types of slice resources used by all services in session 1 are the same.

Optionally, the first bearer unit may be a subset of the second bearer unit, that is, the granularity reported by the first access network device to the first network element is smaller than the granularity reported by the first network element to the charging network element, for example, the first A network element is an AMF, the first access network device notifies the AMF that the resource types of the slice resources used by session 1 and session 2 in the network slice have changed, and the number of all sessions included in the network slice is 3, then the AMF determines that the network The resource type of the slice resources used by 2/3 of the sessions in the slice changes. Further, the AMF notifies the charging network element that the resource type of the slice resources used by the 2/3 sessions in the network slice changes, so that the AMF uses the network slice granularity. Notify the charging network element that the resource type has changed.

There may be various notification manners for the first network element to notify the charging network element that the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit has changed. Exemplarily, the first network element sends slice resource information to the charging network element, where the slice resource information may be used to indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit has changed. For example, the resource type corresponding to the network slice includes two types. If the resource type of the slice resource initially used by the second bearer unit is known, the first network element can indicate to the charging network element that the resource type has changed, and the charging network element can obtain the changed use of the second bearer unit. The resource type of the sliced resource. Optionally, the slice resource information may also be used to indicate the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit after the change. For example, when the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit changes, the first network element The resource type of the slice resource used by the changed second bearer unit is indicated to the charging network element. Optionally, the slice resource information can also be used to indicate the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit in each time period. The resource type used is S-NSSAI 1a at 11:00-11:30 on January 1, 2020, and the resource type used by the second bearer unit is S-NSSAI 1b at 11:00-11 January 2020 At 12:30, the resource type used by the second bearer unit is S-NSSAI 1c.

In some embodiments, if the resource types corresponding to the network slice include two types, the charging network element may instruct the first network element to report to the charging network element when a certain resource type changes. For example, when switching from other resource types to the subscribed resource type, the first network element reports to the billing network element, or when switching from the subscribed resource type to other resource types, the first network element reports to the billing network element. Billing network element.

Wherein, if the second bearer unit is a network slice, the first network element may determine the ratio of the number of sessions or QoS flows whose resource types are changed in the network slice to the number of all sessions or QoS flows contained in the network slice , and send slice resource information to the charging network element, where the slice resource information includes the ratio, and may further include the resource type after switching of the network slice, so that the first network element reports the resource type of the network slice at the network slice granularity Change information.

S106: The charging network element receives the slice resource information from the first network element, and determines, for the second bearer unit, a charging processing manner corresponding to the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit.

In one embodiment, after receiving the slice resource information, the charging network element may determine, according to the slice resource information, the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed second bearer unit.

Exemplarily, if the slice resource information indicates that the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit changes, for example, the resource types corresponding to the network slice include two types, and the charging network element knows the slice initially used by the second bearer unit. The resource type of the resource. For example, the resource type of the slice resource initially used by the second bearer unit is the default configuration. After receiving the slice resource information, the charging network element can determine the difference between the slice resource and the changed slice resource used by the second bearer unit. resource type, so as to determine the charging processing method corresponding to the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed second bearer unit.

Exemplarily, if the slice resource information indicates the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed second bearer unit, the charging network element may obtain the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit according to the slice resource information, A charging processing manner corresponding to the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed second bearer unit is further determined.

It can be understood that the charging processing manner corresponding to the resource type after the change may be different from the charging processing manner corresponding to the resource type before the change, or may be the same.

Please refer to FIG. 5 , which is a schematic flowchart of another information transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application, and FIGS. 1 a to 1 e may be examples of network architectures to which the information transmission method is applied. Figures 3a to 3c may be examples of scenarios in which the information transmission method is applied. As shown in FIG. 5 , the method may include: S200-S204. The execution sequence of each step is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. As shown in the figure, the information transmission method of the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to the following steps:

S200, the first access network device sends first resource status information to the first network element.

S201, the second access network device sends second resource status information to the first network element.

Optionally, before step S200 and step S201, the charging network element may send first indication information to the first network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate the slice resource used by the first network element in the second bearer unit. The charging network element is notified when the resource type changes. In response to the first indication information, the first network element sends second indication information to the first access network device accessed by the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first access network device is in the first bearer unit The first network element is notified when the resource type of the used slice resource changes. The specific description of the charging network element sending the first indication information to the first network element, and the first network element sending the second indication information to the first access network device, please refer to steps S100 and S100 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 . The description of step S101 will not be repeated here.

In one embodiment, as the terminal device moves, the terminal device moves from the coverage area of the first access network device to the coverage area of the second access network device, that is, the access area accessed by the terminal device The network device is switched from the first access network device to the second access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit of the terminal device passes is switched from the first access network device to the second access network device. 2. Access network equipment. Optionally, the first access network device may transmit the resource type change event of the first bearer unit subscribed by the first network element to the first access network device to the second access network device, or the first network element The resource type change event of the first bearer unit may be subscribed to the second access network device.

The resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit of the terminal device may be different from the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the second access network device for the first bearer unit of the terminal device. In order to facilitate the first network element to determine whether the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, in this embodiment of the present application, the first access network device sends first resource status information to the first network element, the first resource The status information is used to indicate the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit. The second access network device sends second resource state information to the first network element, where the second resource state information is used to indicate the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the second access network device for the first bearer unit. Exemplarily, the first access network device and the second access network device may send resource status information to the first network element in a handover scenario.

The first bearer unit may be one of a network slice, a session or a QoS flow. The first bearer unit may be a bearer unit subscribed by the first network element to the access network device (the first access network device and/or the second access network device).

S202: The first network element determines, according to the first resource state information and the second resource state information, that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed.

In one embodiment, the first network element may compare the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit of the terminal device with the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the second access network device for the first bearer unit of the terminal device Whether the resource types of the slice resources are the same, so as to determine whether the resource type of the slice resources used by the first bearer unit has changed.

As an implementation manner, the first resource state information may be stored in the first network element, and the two are compared when the second resource state information is received.

S203, in response to the change of the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit, the first network element sends slice resource information to the charging network element.

S204, the charging network element receives the slice resource information from the first network element, and determines, for the second bearer unit, a charging processing manner corresponding to the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit.

The specific description of step S203 and step S204 may refer to the description of step S105 and step S106 in the embodiment of FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

In the above, the method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 . Hereinafter, the apparatuses provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6 to FIG. 8 .

It can be understood that, in order to implement the functions in the foregoing embodiments, the access network device, the first network element, and the charging network element include hardware structures and/or software modules corresponding to executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that the units and method steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Whether a function is performed by hardware, software, or computer software-driven hardware depends on the specific application scenarios and design constraints of the technical solution.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6 , the communication device 10 may include a processing unit 11 and a transceiver unit 12 . The processing unit 11 and the transceiver unit 12 may be software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

Wherein, the transceiver unit 12 may include a sending unit and a receiving unit, the sending unit is used to implement the sending function, the receiving unit is used to implement the receiving function, and the transceiver unit 12 may implement the sending function and/or the receiving function. The transceiver unit can also be described as a communication unit.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 12 may be configured to receive information sent by other devices, and may also be configured to send information to other devices. The processing unit 11 may be used to perform internal processing of the device.

In a possible design, the communication apparatus 10 may correspond to the first access network device in the above method embodiment, for example, the communication apparatus 10 may be the first access network device or the first access network device chip in the device. The communication apparatus 10 may include a unit for performing operations performed by the first access network device in the above method embodiments, and each unit in the communication apparatus 10 is respectively used to implement the above method embodiments by the first access network device. The operation performed by the networked device.

Exemplarily, the processing unit 11 is configured to determine that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed;

The transceiver unit 12 is configured to notify the first network element in response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.

Exemplarily, the processing unit 11 is configured to determine that the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes is switched. The first access network device may be the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes before the handover, that is, the source access network device, or the first access network device may also be the handover After that, the access network device through which the user plane of the first bearer unit is connected, that is, the target access network device.

In response to the switching of the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes, the transceiver unit 12 is configured to send resource status information to the first network element, where the resource status information is used to indicate that the first access network device is the first access network device. The resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first bearer unit.

In a possible design, the communication device 10 may correspond to the first network element, or may be a chip in the first network element. The communication apparatus 10 may include a unit for performing the operations performed by the first network element in the above method embodiments, and each unit in the communication apparatus 10 is respectively configured to implement the operations performed by the first network element in the above method embodiments. action performed.

The transceiver unit 12 is configured to, in response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit, send slice resource information to the charging network element, where the slice resource information is used to indicate the slice resource used by the second bearer unit The resource type of the resource is changed, or the slice resource information indicates the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit after the change;

In a possible design, the communication device 10 may correspond to a charging network element, or may be a chip in the charging network element. The communication apparatus 10 may include a unit for performing the operations performed by the charging network element in the above method embodiments, and each unit in the communication apparatus 10 is respectively configured to implement the operations performed by the charging network element in the above method embodiments. action performed.

Exemplarily, the transceiver unit 12 is configured to receive slice resource information from the first network element, where the slice resource information is used to indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes, or the slice resource information indicates that the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed first bearer unit;

The processing unit 11 is configured to determine, for the first bearer unit, a charging processing manner corresponding to the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.

It should be understood that when the above communication apparatus 10 is a chip configured in the first access network device, the first network element or the charging network element, the transceiver unit 12 in the communication apparatus 10 may be an input/output interface.

It should be understood that when the communication device 10 is a first access network device, a first network element or a charging network element, the transceiver unit 12 in the communication device 10 may correspond to the communication interface 21 shown in FIG. 7 , and the processing unit 11 may correspond to the processor 22 shown in FIG. 7 .

Please refer to FIG. 7 , which is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that the communication apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 7 is only an example, and the communication apparatus in this embodiment of the present application may further include other components, or include components with functions similar to those of the respective components in FIG. All parts.

The communication device 20 includes a communication interface 21 and at least one processor 22 .

The communication apparatus 20 may correspond to any one of the first access network equipment, the first network element or the charging network element. The communication interface 21 is used to send and receive signals, and at least one processor 22 executes program instructions, so that the communication device 20 implements the corresponding process of the method executed by the corresponding network element in the above method embodiments.

In a possible design, the communication apparatus 20 may correspond to the first access network device in the foregoing method embodiment, for example, the communication apparatus 20 may be the first access network device or the first access network device chip in the device. The communication apparatus 20 may include components for performing the operations performed by the first access network device in the above method embodiments, and each component in the communication apparatus 10 is respectively in order to implement the above method embodiments by the first access network device. The operation performed by the networked device.

Exemplarily, the processor 22 is configured to determine that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes;

The communication interface 21 is configured to notify the first network element in response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.

Exemplarily, the processor 22 is configured to determine that the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes is switched. The first access network device may be the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes before the handover, that is, the source access network device, or the first access network device may also be the handover After that, the access network device through which the user plane of the first bearer unit is connected, that is, the target access network device.

In response to the switching of the access network device through which the user plane connection of the first bearer unit passes, the communication interface 21 is configured to send resource status information to the first network element, where the resource status information is used to indicate that the first access network device is the The resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first bearer unit.

In a possible design, the communication device 20 may correspond to the first network element, or may be a chip in the first network element. The communication apparatus 20 may include components for performing the operations performed by the first network element in the above method embodiments, and each component in the communication apparatus 10 is respectively used to implement the above method embodiments performed by the first network element. action performed.

Exemplarily, the processor 22 is configured to determine that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed;

The communication interface 21 is configured to send slice resource information to the charging network element in response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit, where the slice resource information is used to indicate the slice resource used by the second bearer unit The resource type of the resource is changed, or the slice resource information indicates the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit after the change;

In a possible design, the communication device 20 may correspond to a charging network element, or may be a chip in the charging network element. The communication device 20 may include components for performing the operations performed by the charging network element in the above method embodiments, and each component in the communication device 10 is designed to implement the operations performed by the charging network element in the above method embodiments, respectively. action performed.

Exemplarily, the communication interface 21 is configured to receive slice resource information from the first network element, where the slice resource information is used to indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, or the slice resource information indicates that the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed first bearer unit;

The processor 22 is configured to determine, for the first bearer unit, a charging processing manner corresponding to the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.

Optionally, the communication device 20 may also include a memory. The memory may store program instructions, and at least one processor 22 may read the program instructions stored in the memory and execute the program instructions.

For the case that the communication device may be a chip or a chip system, reference may be made to the schematic structural diagram of the chip shown in FIG. 8 . The chip 30 shown in FIG. 8 includes a processor 31 and an interface 32 . The number of processors 31 may be one or more, and the number of interfaces 32 may be multiple. It should be noted that the respective functions of the processor 31 and the interface 32 can be implemented by hardware design, software design, or a combination of software and hardware, which is not limited here.

Optionally, the chip may further include a memory 33 for storing necessary program instructions and data.

In this application, the processor 31 may be configured to call the information transmission method provided by one or more embodiments of this application from the memory to one or more devices in the first access network device, the first network element or the charging network element or the implementation program of the network element, and execute the instructions contained in the program. The interface 32 can be used to output the execution result of the processor 31 . In this application, the interface 32 may be specifically used to output various messages or information of the processor 31 . For the information transmission method provided by one or more embodiments of the present application, reference may be made to the foregoing embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , and details are not repeated here.

The processor in this embodiment of the present application 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), application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuits) 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. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product, the computer program product includes: computer program code, when the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer is made to execute any of the foregoing method embodiments The method on the side of the first access network device, the first network element or the charging network element in the above.

In another embodiment of the present application, a communication system is further provided, where the communication system includes a first network element and a charging network element. Optionally, the communication system may further include access network equipment, and optionally, the communication system may further include terminal equipment. Exemplarily, the first network element, charging network element, access network device, and terminal device may be the first network element, charging network element, access network device, and The terminal device is used to perform the steps performed by the corresponding network element in any of the embodiments in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 .

An embodiment of the present application further provides a processing apparatus, including a processor and an interface, where the processor is configured to execute the method in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

It should be understood that the above processing device may be a chip. For example, the processing device may be a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an 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, can also be system on chip (system on chip, SoC), can also be central processing It can be a central processor unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DSP), or a microcontroller (MCU) , it can also be a programmable logic device (PLD) or other integrated chips. The methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be implemented or executed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as executed by a hardware decoding processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules may be located in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers and other storage media mature in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory, and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

It can be understood that the memory in this embodiment of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically programmable 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 RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), 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 link dynamic random access memory (synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM) ) and direct memory bus random access memory (direct rambus RAM, DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can 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 instructions are loaded and 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, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line, DSL) or wireless (eg, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that includes an integration of one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media (eg, floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (eg, high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (eg, solid state discs, SSD)) etc.

The access network equipment, the first network element, and the charging network element in the above apparatus embodiments are completely corresponding to the access network equipment, the first network element, and the charging network element in the method embodiments, and are composed of corresponding modules or units. Corresponding steps are performed, for example, the communication unit (transceiver) performs the step of receiving or sending in the method embodiment, and other steps except sending and receiving may be performed by the processing unit (processor). For functions of specific units, reference may be made to corresponding method embodiments. The number of processors may be one or more.

The terms "component", "module", "system" and the like are used in this specification to refer to a computer-related entity, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device may be components. One or more components may reside within a process or thread of execution, and a component may be localized on one computer or distributed among 2 or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. A component may, for example, pass a signal through a local system based on a signal having one or more data packets (such as data from two components interacting with another component between a local system, a distributed system, or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems through signals). or remote process to communicate.

It is to be understood that reference throughout the specification to an "embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic associated with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Thus, various embodiments throughout this specification are not necessarily necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the numbers "first", "second"... are only used to distinguish different objects, such as to distinguish different network devices, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The example is not limited to this.

It should also be understood that in this application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the network element will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, not a limited time, and does not require the network element There must be a judgmental action during implementation, and it does not mean that there are other restrictions.

It should also be understood that, in each embodiment of the present application, "B corresponding to A" indicates that B is associated with A, and B can be determined according to A. However, it should also be understood that determining B according to A does not mean that B is only determined according to A, and B may also be determined according to A and/or other information.

It should also be understood that the term "and/or" in this document is only an association relationship for describing 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. B, there are three cases of B alone. In addition, the character "/" in this document generally indicates that the related objects are an "or" relationship.

In this application, the meanings of expressions similar to "the item includes one or more of the following: A, B, and C" usually mean that the item can be any of the following: A; B, unless otherwise specified. ;C;A and B;A and C;B and C;A,B and C;A and A;A,A and A;A,A and B;A,A and C,A,B and B;A , C and C; B and B, B, B and B, B, B and C, C and C; C, C and C, and other combinations of A, B and C. A total of three elements of A, B and C are used as examples above to illustrate the optional items of the item. When the expression is "the item includes at least one of the following: A, B, ..., and X", it means that the expression is in When there are more elements, then the items to which the item can apply can also be obtained according to the preceding rules.

It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the access network device, the first network element, and the charging network element may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application also further Other operations or variations of the various operations may be performed. In addition, various steps may be performed in different orders presented in the embodiments of the present application, and may not be required to perform all the operations in the embodiments of the present application.

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 displayed 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. 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: a U disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory ROM, a random access memory RAM, a magnetic disk or an 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

An information transmission method, comprising:

The first access network device determines that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed;

In response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit, the first access network device notifies the first network element.
The method of claim 1, wherein the first access network device notifying the first network element comprises:

The first access network device sends first information to the first network element, where the first information is used to indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, or the first information is used to indicate that The changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the method further comprises:

The first access network device receives the resource type of the slice resource corresponding to the first bearer unit from the second access network device;

The first access network device determines a resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit.
The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the first bearer unit is one of a session, a quality of service (QoS) flow, or a network slice.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the first access network device, indication information from the first network element;

In response to the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit being changed, the first access network device notifying the first network element includes:

In response to the indication information, the first access network device notifies the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the indication information is used to instruct the first access network device to notify the first access network device to notify the Describe the first network element.
The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the first network element is an access and mobility management function AMF network element or a session management function SMF network element.
An information transmission method, comprising:

The first network element determines that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes;

In response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit, the first network element sends slice resource information to the charging network element, where the slice resource information is used to indicate the slice resource used by the second bearer unit The resource type of the resource is changed, or the slice resource information indicates the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit after the change;

Wherein, the first bearing unit is a subset of the second bearing unit, or the second bearing unit is a subset of the first bearing unit, or the first bearing unit and the second bearing unit The carrying unit is the same.
The method according to claim 8, wherein determining, by the first network element, that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, comprising:

The first network element receives a notification from the access network device, and determines, according to the notification, that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed.
The method according to claim 8, wherein determining, by the first network element, that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, comprising:

The first network element receives first resource state information from a first access network device, where the first resource state information is used to indicate the slice resource that is scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit. Resource Type;

The first network element receives second resource state information from the second access network device, where the second resource state information is used to indicate the slice resources scheduled by the second access network device for the first bearer unit. Resource Type;

The first network element determines, according to the first resource state information and the second resource state information, that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed.
The method according to any one of claims 8-10, wherein the first bearer unit is one of a session, a quality of service (QoS) flow, or a network slice.
The method according to any one of claims 8-11, wherein if the first network element is an access and mobility management function AMF network element, the second bearer unit is a network slice, session or QoS flow one of the

If the first network element is a session management function SMF network element, the second bearer unit is one of a network slice, a session, a QoS flow or a service.
The method according to any one of claims 8-12, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the first network element, first indication information from the charging network element;

In response to the change of the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit, the first network element sends slice resource information to the charging network element, including:

In response to the first indication information, the first network element sends slice resource information to the charging network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.
The method according to claim 13, wherein the first indication information is used to instruct the first network element to notify the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit changes the billing network element.
The method of claim 13 or 14, wherein the method further comprises:

In response to the first indication information, the first network element sends second indication information to the access network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate the access network device to use in the first bearer unit. When the resource type of the slice resource is changed, the first network element is notified.
An information transmission method, comprising:

The charging network element receives slice resource information from the first network element, where the slice resource information is used to indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, or the slice resource information indicates the changed first bearer The resource type of the slice resource used by the unit;

The charging network element determines, for the first bearer unit, a charging processing manner corresponding to the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.
The method of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:

The charging network element sends indication information to the first network element, where the indication information is used to indicate to the first network element that when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes, Notify the charging network element.
A communication device, characterized in that the communication device is applied to a first access network device, and the device includes:

a processing unit, configured to determine that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed;

A transceiver unit, configured to notify the first network element in response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.
The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send first information to the first network element, where the first information is used to indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit occurs Change, or the first information is used to indicate the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.
The device of claim 18 or 19, wherein:

The transceiver unit is further configured to receive the resource type of the slice resource corresponding to the first bearer unit from the second access network device;

The processing unit is further configured to determine the resource type of the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit.
The device according to any one of claims 18-20, characterized in that,

The transceiver unit is further configured to receive indication information from the first network element;

The transceiver unit is further configured to, in response to the indication information, notify the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.
The method according to any one of claims 18-21, wherein the first network element is an access and mobility management function AMF network element or a session management function SMF network element.
A communication device, characterized in that the communication device is applied to a first network element, and the device comprises:

a processing unit, configured to determine that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed;

A transceiver unit, configured to send slice resource information to the charging network element in response to a change in the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit, where the slice resource information is used to indicate the size of the slice resource used by the second bearer unit The resource type is changed, or the slice resource information indicates the resource type of the slice resource used by the changed second bearer unit;

Wherein, the first bearing unit is a subset of the second bearing unit, or the second bearing unit is a subset of the first bearing unit, or the first bearing unit and the second bearing unit The carrying unit is the same.
The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a notification from an access network device;

The processing unit is specifically configured to determine, according to the notification, that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed.
The apparatus of claim 23, wherein

The transceiver unit is further configured to receive first resource state information from the first access network device, where the first resource state information is used to indicate the slice resource scheduled by the first access network device for the first bearer unit resource type;

The transceiver unit is further configured to receive second resource state information from a second access network device, where the second resource state information is used to indicate the slice resource scheduled by the second access network device for the first bearer unit resource type;

The processing unit is specifically configured to determine, according to the first resource state information and the second resource state information, that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed.
The device according to any one of claims 23-25, characterized in that,

The transceiver unit is further configured to receive first indication information from the charging network element;

The transceiver unit is further configured to, in response to the first indication information, send slice resource information to the charging network element in the case that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes.
A communication device, characterized in that the communication device is applied to a charging network element, and the device comprises:

A transceiver unit, configured to receive slice resource information from the first network element, where the slice resource information is used to indicate that the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit has changed, or the slice resource information indicates that the changed first The resource type of the slice resource used by the bearer unit;

A processing unit, configured to determine, for the first bearer unit, a charging processing manner corresponding to the changed resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit.
The apparatus of claim 27, wherein:

The transceiver unit is further configured to send indication information to the first network element, where the indication information is used to indicate to the first network element when the resource type of the slice resource used by the first bearer unit changes , and notify the charging network element.
A communication device, characterized by comprising: a processor, when the processor invokes a computer program or instruction in a memory, as in claims 1 to 7 or as in claims 8 to 15 or as in any of claims 16 to 17 A described method is performed.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program or instruction, which, when the computer program or instruction is run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the operations as claimed in claims 1 to 7 or as claimed in claim 1. A method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 15 or claims 16 to 17.