WO2022165857A1

WO2022165857A1 - Communication method and device and computer readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2022165857A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/076115
Authority: WO
Inventors: 孙海洋; 周润泽
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2021-02-08
Filing date: 2021-02-08
Publication date: 2022-08-11

Abstract

Disclosed in embodiments of the present application are a communication method and device and a computer readable storage medium. The method comprises: receiving M session control rules, the M session control rules being from at least two control plane network elements, and M being an integer greater than 1; and processing data according to the M session control rules. In the embodiments of the present application, the at least two control plane network elements can directly control a UPF network element to conduct a session, so that the UPF network element can directly interact with multiple control plane network elements, and thus the flexibility of the interaction between the UPF network element and the control plane network elements can be improved.

Description

A communication method, apparatus and computer-readable storage medium

technical field

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium.

Background technique

At present, in the fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5th-generation, 5G), the user plane function (UPF) network element of the user plane and the session management function (SMF) network element of the control plane support Packet forwarding control protocol (PFCP), which can interact through PFCP. SMF network elements can control UPF network elements through PFCP. However, when the UPF network element needs to interact with other network elements of the control plane, the flexibility is low.

It should be understood that the above problems also occur in other communication systems or networks in which the user plane network elements and the control plane network elements are separated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present application disclose a communication method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium, which are used to improve the flexibility of interaction between a user plane network element and a control plane network element.

In the first aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a communication method, which can be applied to a user plane network element, and can also be applied to a module (for example, a chip) in a user plane network element. The user plane network element is taken as an example below. Be explained. The communication method may include: receiving M session control rules from at least two control plane network elements, where M is an integer greater than 1; and processing data according to the M session control rules. In other words, multiple control rules are acquired from at least two control plane network elements, and data is processed according to the multiple control rules.

In this embodiment of the present application, a user plane network element may receive session control rules from at least two control plane network elements, and then conduct a session according to these session control rules, that is, at least two control plane network elements may use these session control information The user plane network element is controlled, and the session of the user plane network element can be directly controlled. It can be seen that at least two control plane NEs can directly control user plane NEs to conduct sessions, so that user plane NEs can directly interact with multiple control plane NEs, thereby improving the interaction between user plane NEs and control plane NEs. flexibility. In 5G, the user plane network element may be a UPF network element, and in other communication systems, the user plane network element may be other network elements or functional entities, which are not limited here.

As a possible implementation manner, the processing of the data by the user plane network element according to the N session control rules includes: selecting a session control rule corresponding to the PDI matching the data from the N session control rules; using the selected session control rule to The data is processed.

In this embodiment of the present application, after receiving the session control rules from at least two control plane network elements, the user plane network element can process the session control rules, so as to avoid the occurrence of session control rules caused by the existence of multiple control plane network elements. A case where the data cannot be processed.

As a possible implementation manner, the first session control rule includes a first packet inspection rule PDR, the first PDR includes first packet inspection information PDI and first identification information, the second session control rule includes a second PDR, and the second PDR Including the second PDI and the second identification information, the first session control rule and the second session control rule are two session control rules from different control plane network elements in the M session control rules, the first identification information and the second identification information Including the identifier of at least one data packet processing rule; the user plane network element processes the M session control rules, and obtaining N session control rules includes: when the first PDI is the same as the second PDI, according to the first session control rule and the first session control rule The second session control rule determines the third session control rule, the third session control rule includes the third PDR, and the third PDR includes the first identification information, the second identification information, and the first PDI or the second PDI; When there is an intersection of the two PDIs, the fourth session control rule, the fifth session control rule and the sixth session control rule are determined according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule. The fourth session control rule includes the fourth PDR and the fourth PDR Including the same part in the first PDI and the second PDI, the first identification information and the second identification information, the fifth session control rule includes the fifth PDR, and the fifth PDR includes the part of the first PDI that is different from the second PDI and the second PDI. identification information, the sixth session control rule includes a sixth PDR, and the sixth PDR includes the part of the second PDI that is different from the first PDR and the second identification information; according to the third session control rule, or the fourth session control rule, the first PDR The fifth session control rule and the sixth session control rule determine N session control rules.

In the embodiment of the present application, when M session control rules are processed, when the session control rules from different control plane network elements are overlapped or the same, that is, the PDIs are overlapped or the same, the session control rules are processed. There is no intersection between the processed session control rules, thereby avoiding the problem that only one of the session control rules from different control plane network elements can be executed when there is an intersection.

As a possible implementation manner, the user plane network element processing the data according to the N session control rules includes: selecting a session control rule corresponding to the PDI matching the data from the N session control rules; using the selected session control rule to The data is processed.

In the embodiment of the present application, since there is no intersection between the processed session control rules, a piece of data can only match one session control rule at most, which reduces the number of session control rules that need to be processed on the data, thereby improving data processing. efficiency.

As a possible implementation manner, each session control rule in the M session control rules carries information of a corresponding control plane network element.

As a possible implementation manner, the user plane network element processes the M session control rules, and obtaining N session control rules includes: determining the session control rules corresponding to the same control plane network element among the M session control rules as a group , obtain K groups of session control rules, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 2; sort the K groups of session control rules according to the control plane network elements corresponding to the K groups of session control rules, and obtain a group sorting table, which includes N sessions control rules.

In this embodiment of the present application, the session control rules from different control plane network elements are sorted, so that when there is data that needs to be processed, the data can be sequentially matched according to the sorting, until all the session control rules in the sorting are matched. , it can avoid the situation that only part of the session control rules are matched, and thus can avoid the problem that only one of the session control rules from different control plane network elements can be executed when there is an intersection.

As a possible implementation manner, each session control rule in the M session control rules includes a PDR, and the PDR includes at least one identifier, and the at least one identifier is an identifier of at least one data packet processing rule, and the user plane network element has the M Processing the session control rules to obtain N session control rules includes: determining A session control rules according to the M session control rules, and each session control rule in the A session control rules only includes one of the at least one identifier. Type identifiers, A is an integer greater than or equal to M; the corresponding control plane network elements in A session control rules and the session control rules of the same packet processing rule type are determined as a group, and the session control rules of group B are obtained; The group session control rules are sorted to obtain a group sorting table, where the group sorting table includes N session control rules.

In this embodiment of the present application, the session control rules from different control plane network elements are split, grouped, and sorted, so that when there is data to be processed, the data can be sequentially matched according to the sorting until the sorting is completed. It can avoid the situation that only some of the session control rules are matched, and thus can avoid the problem that only one of the session control rules from different control plane network elements can be executed when there is an intersection.

As a possible implementation manner, the processing of the data by the user plane network element according to the N session control rules includes: determining, according to the group sorting table, a session control rule corresponding to the PDI matching the data among the N session control rules, and obtaining L The L session control rules are used to process the data in sequence according to the sorting in the group sorting table.

In the embodiment of the present application, when there are multiple session control rules that match the data, the session control rules can be executed in sequence according to the order of the session control rules, which can avoid the intersection of session control rules from different control plane network elements. Execute a question.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a communication device. The communication device may be a user plane network element or a module (for example, a chip) in the user plane network element. The device may include:

a receiving unit, configured to receive M session control rules, the M session control rules are from at least two control plane network elements, and M is an integer greater than 1;

A processing unit, configured to process data according to the M session control rules.

As a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to process the M session control rules to obtain N session control rules, where N is an integer greater than 0;

The processing unit processing data according to the M session control rules includes:

The data is processed according to the N session control rules.

As a possible implementation manner, the first session control rule includes a first packet inspection rule PDR, the first PDR includes first packet inspection information PDI and first identification information, and the second session control rule includes a second PDR, so The second PDR includes second PDI and second identification information, and the first session control rule and the second session control rule are two session control rules from different control plane network elements among the M session control rules , the first identification information and the second identification information include the identification of at least one packet processing rule;

The processing unit processes the M session control rules, and obtains the N session control rules including:

When the first PDI is the same as the second PDI, a third session control rule is determined according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule, where the third session control rule includes a third PDR, the third PDR includes the first identification information, the second identification information, and the first PDI or the second PDI; or

When there is an intersection between the first PDI and the second PDI, determine a fourth session control rule, a fifth session control rule and a sixth session control rule according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule , the fourth session control rule includes a fourth PDR, and the fourth PDR includes the same part of the first PDI and the second PDI, the first identification information and the second identification information, so The fifth session control rule includes a fifth PDR, the fifth PDR includes a part of the first PDI that is different from the second PDI and the first identification information, and the sixth session control rule includes a sixth PDR, the sixth PDR includes the part of the second PDI that is different from the first PDR and the second identification information;

N session control rules are determined according to the third session control rule, or the fourth session control rule, the fifth session control rule and the sixth session control rule.

As a possible implementation manner, the processing unit processing data according to the N session control rules includes:

Select the session control rule corresponding to the PDI matched with the data from the N session control rules;

The data is processed using selected session control rules.

As a possible implementation manner, the processing unit processes the M session control rules to obtain N session control rules including:

Determining a group of session control rules corresponding to the same control plane network element in the M session control rules, to obtain K groups of session control rules, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

Sort the K groups of session control rules according to the control plane network elements corresponding to the K groups of session control rules to obtain a group sorting table, where the group sorting table includes N session control rules.

As a possible implementation manner, each of the M session control rules includes a PDR, the PDR includes at least one identifier, and the at least one identifier is an identifier of at least one data packet processing rule, The processing unit processes the M session control rules, and obtains the N session control rules including:

A session control rules are determined according to the M session control rules, and each session control rule in the A session control rules only includes one kind of identification among the at least one kind of identification, and A is an integer greater than or equal to M ;

Determining a group of session control rules with the same type of control plane network elements and data packet processing rules corresponding to the A session control rules as group B to obtain session control rules in group B;

Sort the session control rules of the B group to obtain a group sorting table, where the group sorting table includes N session control rules.

Determine the session control rules corresponding to the PDI matching the data in the N session control rules according to the group sorting table, and obtain L session control rules;

The data is processed using the L session control rules in sequence according to the ordering in the group ordering table.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a communication device, where the communication device may be a user plane network element or a module (eg, a chip) in the user plane network element. The communication device may include a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from other communication devices other than the communication device, and an output interface for sending information outside the communication device The other communication device outputs information, and when the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory, the processor causes the processor to execute the communication method disclosed in the first aspect or any embodiment of the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a communication system, where the communication system includes at least two control plane network elements and the user plane network elements disclosed in the third aspect.

In a fifth aspect, the embodiments of the present application disclose a computer-readable storage medium, where computer programs or computer instructions are stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program or computer instructions are executed, the communication as disclosed in the above aspects is implemented. method.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a chip including a processor for executing a program stored in a memory, and when the program is executed, the chip executes the above method.

As a possible implementation, the memory is located off-chip.

In a seventh aspect, the embodiments of the present application disclose a computer program product, where the computer program product includes computer program code, and when the computer program code is executed, the above-mentioned communication method is executed.

Description of drawings

1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

2 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

3 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

4 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

7 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of association of different cell groups disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

9 is a schematic diagram of a UPF network element executing a rule on a data packet disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

11 is a schematic diagram of processing a session control rule disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is another schematic diagram of processing session control rules disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is another schematic diagram of processing session control rules disclosed by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method disclosed by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 15 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method disclosed by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present application disclose a communication method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium, which are used to improve flexibility. Each of them will be described in detail below.

In order to better understand a communication method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium disclosed in the embodiments of the present application, the network architecture used in the embodiments of the present application is first described below. Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the network architecture may include user equipment (UE), (radio access network, (R)AN) equipment, and user plane function (UPF) network elements , data network (DN), access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, session management function (session management function, SMF) network element, policy control function (policy control function, PCF) network element, application function (AF) network element, unified data management (UDM) network element, authentication server function (AUSF) network element, network slice selection (network slice selection) function, NSSF) network element, network exposure function (NEF) network element and network storage function (network repository function, NRF) network element. The UE and the (R)AN device can communicate directly. The UE and the AMF network element can communicate through the N1 interface. The (R)AN device and the AMF network element can communicate through the N2 interface. The (R)AN device and the UPF network element can communicate through the N3 interface. The UPF network element and the SMF network element can communicate through the N4 interface. The UPF network element and the DN can communicate through the N6 interface. AMF network element can provide service interface Namf, SMF network element can provide service interface Nsmf, AUSF network element can provide service interface Nausf, UDM network element can provide service interface Nudm, PCF network element can provide service interface Npcf, The AF network element can provide the service interface Naf, the NSSF network element can provide the service interface Nnssf, the NEF network element can provide the service interface Nnef, and the NRF network element can provide the service interface Nnrf. AMF network element, SMF network element, UDM network element, PCF network element, AF network element, AUSF network element, NSSF network element, NEF network element and NRF network element can communicate through service interfaces.

Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2 , different network elements or devices may communicate through different communication interfaces.

Among them, the network architecture shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 is a non-roaming 5G network architecture.

Please refer to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture disclosed by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, the network on the left is the visited public land mobile network (VPLMN), and the network on the right is the home public land mobile network (HPLMN). The visited security edge protection proxies (vSEPP) in the VPLMN and the home security edge protection proxies (hSEPP) in the HPLMN can communicate through the N32 interface.

Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture disclosed by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4, the PCF network element in the VPLMN, that is, the visited PCF (visited PCF, vPCF) and the PCF network element in the HPLMN, that is, the home PCF (home PCF, hPCF) can communicate through the N24 interface. The AMF network element in the VPLMN and the AUSF network element in the HPLMN can communicate through the N12 interface. The AMF network element in the VPLMN and the UDM network element in the HPLMN can communicate through the N8 interface. The SMF network element in the VPLMN and the UDM network element in the HPLMN can communicate through the N10 interface.

Among them, the network architecture shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 is a roaming 5G network architecture using local breakout.

Please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture disclosed by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, a communication service can be performed between the vSEPP and the hSEPP through the N32 interface. The UPF network element in the VPLMN and the UPF network element in the HPLMN can communicate through the N9 interface.

Please refer to FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture disclosed by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6 , the UPF network element in the VPLMN and the UPF network element in the HPLMN can communicate through the N9 interface. The PCF network element in the VPLMN, that is, the visited PCF (V-PCF) and the PCF network element in the HPLMN, that is, the home PCF (home PCF, H-PCF) can communicate through the N24 interface. The SMF network element in the VPLMN, that is, the visited SMF (visited SMF, V-SMF) and the SMF network element in the HPLMN, that is, the home SMF (home SMF, H-SMF) can communicate through the N16 interface. The AMF network element in the VPLMN and the UDM network element in the HPLMN can communicate through the N8 interface. The NSSF network element in the VPLMN, that is, the visited NSSF (visited NSSF, V-NSSF) and the NSSF network element in the HPLMN, that is, the home NSSF (home NSSF, H-NSSF) can communicate through the N31 interface. The AMF network element in the VPLMN and the AUSF network element in the HPLMN can communicate through the N12 interface.

Among them, the network architecture shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 is a roaming 5G network architecture using home routed.

It should be understood that the above-mentioned communication interface name and service interface name are merely illustrative, and are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

UE, also known as terminal equipment, mobile station (mobile station, MS), mobile terminal (mobile terminal, MT), etc., is a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to users. The terminal device can be a handheld terminal, a notebook computer, a subscriber unit, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA) computer, a tablet computer , wireless modem (modem), handheld device (handheld), laptop computer (laptop computer), cordless phone (cordless phone) or wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, machine type communication (machine type communication, MTC) terminals, wearable devices (such as smart watches, smart bracelets, pedometers, etc.), in-vehicle devices (such as cars, bicycles, electric vehicles, airplanes, ships, trains, high-speed rail, etc.), virtual reality (virtual reality, VR) equipment, augmented reality (AR) equipment, wireless terminals in industrial control (industrial control), smart home equipment (for example, refrigerators, TVs, air conditioners, electricity meters, etc.), intelligent robots, workshop equipment, unmanned driving Wireless terminals in (self driving), wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grid, wireless terminals in transportation safety, in smart city wireless terminals, or wireless terminals in smart homes, flying devices (eg, smart robots, hot air balloons, drones, airplanes), or other devices that can access the network. The terminal device in FIG. 1 is shown as a UE, which is only an example and does not limit the terminal device. The UE can access the DN by establishing a session between the UE-(R)AN device-UPF network element-DN, that is, a protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session.

The (R)AN device is a device that provides wireless access for the UE, and is mainly responsible for functions such as radio resource management, quality of service (QoS) flow management, data compression, and encryption on the air interface side. (R)AN devices may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also called small stations), relay stations, access points, and the like. The (R)AN device may also include a wireless fidelity (WiFi) access point (AP). The (R)AN device may also include a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMax) base station (BS).

UPF network elements are mainly responsible for user plane-related content, such as data packet routing and transmission, packet detection, service usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) processing, legal interception, and downlink packet storage.

The DN can be the Internet (internet), an internet protocol (IP) multimedia service (IP multi-media service, IMS) network, a regional network, that is, a local network, such as multi-access edge computing (multi-access edge computing, MEC) network, etc. The DN is the destination of the UE's protocol data unit (PDU) session access. An application server is included or deployed in the DN, and the application server can perform data transmission with the UE and provide business services for the UE.

AMF network elements can complete access and mobility-related functions such as connection management, registration process, mobility management, access authentication and authorization management, reachability management, and security context management.

SMF network elements are mainly responsible for session-related functions such as session management in mobile networks, selection and control of UPF network elements, service and session continuity (SSC) mode selection, and roaming. Session management may include session establishment, modification, release, update, and the like. Session management may also include tunnel maintenance between UPF network elements and access network (AN) devices.

The PCF network element can be responsible for policy-related functions such as unified policy formulation, policy control provision, and acquisition of policy decision-related subscription information from a unified data repository (UDR) network element.

The AF network element mainly supports interaction with the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) core network to provide services or services, and affects service flow routing, access network capability opening, policy control, etc., and can interact with NEF network elements. etc. to interact.

The UDM network element is responsible for user key management, user identification processing, access authorization for subscription data, UE network function entity management, session and business continuity management, short message push, legal interception, access authorization, registration and mobility management, Contract management, short message management, used to manage and control user data, such as contract information management.

The AUSF network element may be responsible for authenticating and authorizing the access of the UE, such as generating an intermediate key.

The NSSF network element is mainly responsible for selecting a set of network slice instances for the UE, determining the allowed network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI), and determining the set of AMF network elements that can serve the UE.

NRF network elements are mainly responsible for the service discovery function, maintaining the NF text of available network function (NF) instances and the services they support.

The NEF network element is mainly responsible for safely opening the services and capabilities provided by the 3GPP network functions, which are open internally or open to third parties. Convert or translate information interacting with AF network elements and internal network function interaction ethics information, such as AF network element service identifiers and internal 5G core network information, such as data network name (DNN), single NSSAI (single NSSAI, S -NSSAI) etc.

Each of the above network elements in the core network can also be referred to as functional entities, which can be either network elements implemented on dedicated hardware, software instances running on dedicated hardware, or instances of virtualized functions on an appropriate platform For example, the above-mentioned virtualization platform may be a cloud platform.

It should be noted that the network architecture shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6 is not limited to include only the network elements shown in the figures, but may also include other devices or network elements not shown in the figures. List them one by one.

It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the distribution form of each network element in the core network. The distribution forms shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6 are only exemplary and are not limited in the present application.

It should be understood that the names of all network elements in this application are only examples, and in future communications, such as 6G, they may also be called other names, or in future communications, such as 6G, the network elements involved in this application can also be referred to by It can be replaced by other entities or devices with the same function, which are not limited in this application.

It should be noted that the 5G network architecture shown in Figures 1 to 6 does not constitute a limitation on the 5G network. Optionally, the methods in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to various future communication systems, such as 6G or other communication networks.

In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, the related contents of the embodiments of the present application are first described below. Please refer to FIG. 7 , which is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 7 , the SMF network element and the UPF network element may include a packet forwarding control protocol (PFCP) layer, a user datagram protocol (user datagram protocol, UDP) layer, an IP layer, an L2 layer and an L1 layer. Currently, UPF network elements and SMF network elements can interact through the PFCP layer. The SMF network element can send a PFCP session establishment request (Session Establishment Request) message to the UPF network element to establish a PFCP session between the UPF network element and the SMF network element, so that the interaction can be performed through PFCP. The information element (IE) of the PFCP Session Establishment Request message can be as shown in Table 1:

IEIE	存在要求Existence requirement
节点(node)标识(identity，ID)Node (node) identification (identity, ID)	MM
包检测规则(packet detection rule，PDR)Packet detection rule (PDR)	MM
转发行为规则(forwarding action rule，FAR)Forwarding action rule (FAR)	MM
使用报告规则(usage reporting rule，URR)usage reporting rule (URR)	CC
QoS实施规则(QoS enforcement rule，QER)QoS enforcement rule (QER)	CC
缓存行为规则(buffering action rule，BAR)Buffering action rule (BAR)	OO
多接入规则(multi-access rule，MAR)Multi-access rule (MAR)	OO

Table 1

Among them, M means mandatory, C means conditional, and O means optional. PDR, FAR, URR, QER and BAR are cell groups. PDR is used to control how UPF network elements detect and classify data packets, ie identify data packets (for flow policy). The FAR is used to forward the data packets identified by the PDR. The URR is used to report measurement statistics on the data packets identified by the PDR. QER is used to perform QoS control on the data packets identified by the PDR. The BAR is used to buffer the data packets identified by the PDR. The MAR includes associations with two FARs for 3GPP access and non-3GPP access. The PDR cell group can be as shown in Table 2:

Table 2

For data processing rules, taking URR as an example, the URR cell group can be as shown in Table 3:

table 3

For the specific information elements of data processing rules such as FAR, QER, and MAR, please refer to 3GPP standard protocol TS 23.501, chapter 5.8.

Please refer to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of association of different cell groups disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. Among them, P in Figure 8 is packet. As shown in FIG. 8 , the flow policy is PDR, the flow rule (ie flow detection rule) is PDI, and the flow action may include data packet processing rules. The packet processing rule can be one or more of FAR, QER, URR, etc. Flow policies can include flow rules and flow actions, ie PDR can include PDI and packet processing rules. The PDR may include one or more of PDR ID, priority, PDI, remove outer header, identification of packet processing rules, and the like. The PDI may include one or more of a source interface, a local F-TEID, a packet switch data network (PDN) instance (instance), a UE IP address, an SDF filter, an application ID, and the like. The FAR may include one or more of FAR ID, apply action, forwarding parameters, additional forwarding parameters, BAR ID, and the like. QER may include QER ID, priority, QER correlation ID, gate status, maximum bitrate, guaranteed bitrate, packet rate, downstream level identification ( DL flow level marking), etc. one or more. URR may include one or more of URR ID, active/inactive rule, measurement method, report trigger, measurement period, etc. The PDI may include one or more matching fields, and when the corresponding fields of the ingress data flow are successfully matched with all the matching fields in the PDI, it is determined that the ingress data flow matches the PDI. Flows serve to indicate actions that need to be performed on data traffic.

Please refer to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a UPF network element executing a rule on a data packet disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 9, after the data packet enters the UPF network element, the data packet is matched according to the priority of the PDR. If the matching is successful, the packet is processed using the packet processing rules in the successfully matched PDR. Packet processing rules may include one or more of MAR, FAR, QER, and URR.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to FIG. 10 , which is a schematic flowchart of a communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 10, the communication method may include the following steps.

1001. At least two control plane network elements send M session control rules to the UPF network element.

When a communication interface exists between each of the at least two control plane network elements and the UPF network element, the at least two control plane network elements may send M session control rules to the UPF network element, that is, at least two Each control plane network element in the control plane network element sends session control rules to the UPF network element respectively. The control plane network element may send session control rules to the UPF network element in the process of session establishment or session modification. The number of session control rules sent by each control plane network element may be one or multiple. When there are multiple session control rules sent by one control plane network element, the multiple session control rules may be sent through one message or signaling, or may be sent through multiple messages or signaling. M is an integer greater than 1. The session here may be an N4 session or other sessions, which are not limited here. The at least two control plane network elements may comprise control plane network elements of the same type. For example, the at least two control plane network elements may comprise different SMF network elements. The at least two control plane network elements may also include different types of control plane network elements. For example, the at least two control plane network elements may include SMF network elements and AF network elements. The at least two control plane network elements may also include control plane network elements of the same type and control plane network elements of different types. For example, the at least two control plane network elements may include an AF network element and two different SMF network elements.

Since there is a communication interface between each of the at least two control plane network elements and the UPF network element, each of the at least two control plane network elements can directly communicate with the UPF network element. communication, ie each of the at least two control plane network elements can directly control the UPF network element. A control plane network element directly controls the UPF network element, which can be understood as the control plane network element does not need to convert the session control rules between it and the UPF network element to the session control between another control plane network element and the UPF network element. It can also be understood that the control plane network element can directly use the session control rules between it and the UPF network element to control the session of the UPF network element, without the need to indirectly control it through other control plane network elements. It can also be understood as this control plane. The network elements can directly communicate with the UPF network elements through the communication interface between them.

Each of the M session control rules may carry information of the corresponding control plane network element. When multiple session control rules are sent through one message or signaling, it can also be understood that the message or signaling carries information about the network elements of the control plane corresponding to the multiple session control rules. The information may be the identifier of the network element of the control plane, the name of the network element of the control plane, or other information that can uniquely identify the network element of the control plane.

Accordingly, the UPF network element receives M session control rules from at least two control plane network elements.

The at least two control plane network elements may also send R pieces of session information to the UPF network elements. The session information may be information of a PDU session. Each session control rule in the M session control rules may correspond to one session information in the R session information, and one session information in the R session information may correspond to one or more session control rules in the M session control rules. The correspondence between the M session information and the R session control rules may be shown in Table 4 or Table 5:

会话控制规则的标识ID of the session control rule	会话信息session information
会话控制规则1Session Control Rule 1	会话信息1session info 1
会话控制规则2Session Control Rule 2	会话信息2session info 2
会话控制规则3Session Control Rule 3	会话信息3session info 3
……	……

Table 4

table 5

As shown in Table 4, R may be M, and each session control rule in the M session control rules may correspond to one session information in the M session information, and the M session information may include the same session information, or may include different session information. The session information may also include the same and different information, which can be understood as each session control rule in the M session control rules may correspond to one PDU session in the Q PDU sessions. As shown in Table 5, one or more session control rules in the M session control rules may correspond to one session information in the R session information, which can be understood as one or more session control rules in the M session control rules can be Corresponds to one PDU session among the Q PDU sessions. It should be understood that when the PDU sessions corresponding to multiple session control rules from the same control plane network element are the same, the multiple session control rules may correspond to the same session information. Session control rules from different control plane network elements cannot correspond to the same session information, but the corresponding PDU sessions can be the same. To sum up, the relationship between M session control rules and Q PDU sessions can be a one-to-many relationship or a one-to-one relationship. It can be understood that one PDU session can uniquely correspond to one session control rule , and can also correspond to multiple session control rules. The information of the PDU session may be an identifier of the PDU session, a tunnel identifier, address information of a terminal device, or other information that can uniquely identify the PDU session. The address information of the terminal device may be the IPv4 address of the terminal device, the IPv6 prefix of the terminal device, the MAC address of the terminal device, or other information that can identify the address of the terminal device. Wherein, Q is an integer less than or equal to M. The Q PDU sessions are PDU sessions corresponding to the M session information. R is an integer less than or equal to M. Q is less than or equal to R.

In one case, each of the M session control rules may include or carry corresponding session information. In another case, at least two control plane network elements may send M messages or signaling to the UPF network element, and each of the M messages or signaling may include one of M session control rules Session control rules and session information corresponding to the session control rules.

Accordingly, the UPF network element receives M session information from at least two control plane network elements.

1002. The UPF network element processes the data according to the M session control rules.

After receiving the M session control rules from at least two control plane network elements, the UPF network element can process the data according to the M session control rules.

Since there may be conflicts between session control rules from different control plane network elements, M session control rules can be processed first to obtain N session control rules, and then data can be processed according to the N session control rules. N is an integer greater than 0.

In one case, after receiving M session control rules from at least two control plane network elements, the UPF network element may first determine whether there is a conflict between any two session control rules from different control plane network elements. When it is determined that there is no conflict between any two session control rules from different control plane network elements, the M session control rules may not be processed, and the M session control rules may be directly determined as N session control rules. At this time, M and N are equal. When it is determined that there is a conflict, the M session control rules may be processed to obtain N session control rules. At this time, N may be greater than N, may be smaller than N, and may also be equal to N.

The following takes the first session control rule and the second session control rule as examples for description. The first session control rule and the second session control rule are two session control rules from different control plane network elements among the M session control rules. The first session control rule may include the first PDR, the first PDR may include the first PDI and the first identification information, the second session control rule may include the second PDR, and the second PDR may include the second PDI and the second identification information. The first identification information and the second identification information may include the identification of at least one data packet processing rule, that is, the first identification information may include the identification of at least one data packet processing rule, and the second identification information may include the identification of at least one data packet processing rule. . The data packet processing rule may be QER, URR, FAR, or other rules for processing data packets, which are not limited here.

As a possible situation, the UPF network element may determine whether the first PDI and the second PDI are the same, and when it is determined that the first PDI and the second PDI are the same, the UPF network element may determine the first PDI and the second session control rule according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule. Three session control rules, the third session control rule includes a third PDR, and the third PDR includes the first identification information, the second identification information, and the first PDI or the second PDI. That is, the first session control rule and the second session control rule are merged, that is, the first session control rule and the second session control rule are merged into one session control rule, and the merged session control rule includes a PDR, the PDR It includes a PDI, and includes the identifiers of all data packet processing rules belonging to the first session control rule and the second session control rule.

As another possible situation, when it is determined that the first PDI and the second PDI are different, it is possible to continue to determine whether there is an intersection between the first PDI and the second PDI, that is, to determine whether the same information exists in the first PDI and the second PDI . When it is determined that the first PDI and the second PDI have an intersection, the fourth session control rule, the fifth session control rule and the sixth session control rule may be determined according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule. The fourth session control rule includes a fourth PDR, the fourth PDR includes the same part of the first PDI and the second PDI, the first identification information, and the second identification information, the fifth session control rule includes a fifth PDR, and the fifth PDR includes The part of the first PDI that is different from the second PDI and the first identification information, the sixth session control rule includes a sixth PDR, and the sixth PDR includes the part of the second PDI that is different from the first PDR and the second identification information. That is, three session control rules are determined according to the two session control rules, and there is no intersection among the PDIs of the three determined session control rules. One of the three session control rules is obtained by excluding the same part of the first PDI and the second PDI from the first session control rule, and the other session control rule is obtained by excluding the second PDI and the second PDI from the second session control rule. The same part of the first PDI is obtained, and the third session control rule includes the same part of the PDI in the two session control rules, and all the data packet processing rules.

As a further possibility, when it is determined that there is no intersection between the first PDI and the second PDI, the first session control rule and the second session control rule may be kept unchanged.

After that, the UPF network element may determine N session control rules according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule, or the third session control rule, or the fourth session control rule, the fifth session control rule, and the sixth session control rule. . That is, the above processing is performed on any two session control rules from different control plane network elements in the M session control rules, and N session control rules can be obtained after the processing.

For example, please refer to FIG. 11 . FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of processing a session control rule disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 11, session control rule 1 includes PDR1, PDR1 includes PDI1, URR1 and FAR1, session control rule 2 includes PDR2, and PDR2 includes PDI2, QER1 and FAR2. When PDI1 and PDI2 are the same, session control rule 1 and session control rule 2 can be combined into one session control rule, this session control rule includes PDR3, PDR3 includes PDI, QER1, URR1, FAR1 and FAR2, the PDI can be PDI1, or Can be PDI2. When FAR1 is the same as FAR2, FAR1 and FAR2 can be combined into one FAR. When FAR1 and FAR2 are different, FAR1 and FAR2 can be integrated (eg, the actions of the two are combined), or one of them can be selected. When two QERs are included, and the two QERs are the same, they can be merged into one, that is, delete one, that is, only execute the QER once. When there is an intersection between PDI1 and PDI2, session control rule 4, session control rule 5 and session control rule 6 can be obtained according to session control rule 1 and session control rule 2. Session control rule 4 includes PDR4, and PDR4 includes PDI4, QER1, URR1, FAR1 and FAR2, PDI4 are the same parts between PDI1 and PDI2. Session control rule 5 includes PDR5, PDR5 includes PDI5, URR1 and FAR1, and PDI5 is the same part of PDI1 that is different from PDI2. Session control rule 6 includes PDR6, PDR6 includes PDI6, QER1 and FAR2, and PDI6 is the same part of PDI2 that is different from PDI1. Among them, PDI1=PDI4+PDI5, PDI2=PDI4+PDI6. When there is no intersection between PDI1 and PDI2, session control rule 1 and session control rule 2 remain unchanged. When the session control rule includes URR, the URR may carry indication information, and the indication information may indicate the execution sequence of the URR. For example, it is possible to indicate whether the URR is executed before the QER or after the QER. When merging, the UPF network element may also consider the indication information.

After the UPF network element receives the data from the (R)AN device (or DN), it can select the session control rule corresponding to the PDI matching the data from the N session control rules, and then use the selected session control rule to process the data. processed, after which the processed data can be sent to the DN data ((or R)AN device). Since there is no intersection of PDIs in the N session control rules, one session control rule is selected.

In another possible situation, after receiving M session control rules from at least two control plane network elements, the UPF network element may determine the session control rule corresponding to the same control plane network element among the M session control rules as One group is obtained, and K groups of session control rules are obtained, that is, the session control rules are grouped according to the source of the session control rules. Afterwards, the UPF network element may sort the K groups of session control rules according to the control plane network elements corresponding to the K groups of session control rules to obtain a group sorting table. In an implementation manner, the execution order of session control rules corresponding to different control plane network elements may vary. For example, the execution order corresponding to different services is different. For another example, the execution sequences corresponding to different scenarios are different. The execution sequence of the session control rules corresponding to different control plane network elements may be delivered by the control plane network elements to the UPF network elements. For example, it can be delivered by the PCF network element or the SMF network element. In another implementation manner, the execution order of the session control rules corresponding to different control plane network elements is fixed and may be configured in the UPF network element. For example, SMF network element→PCF network element→AMF network element, K groups of session control rules may be sorted according to this order. K is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the group sorting table includes N session control rules.

After the UPF network element receives the data from the (R)AN device (or DN), it can determine the session control rules corresponding to the PDI matching the data in the N session control rules according to the group sorting table to obtain L session control rules, and then can The data is processed using the L session control rules in sequence according to the sorting in the group sorting table. The UPF network element can then send the processed data to the DN data (or (R)AN device). Since there is no intersection between the PDIs of the session control rules in each group of session control rules in the K groups of session control rules, the data can match at most one session control rule in each group of session control rules in the K groups of session control rules Therefore, L is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to K.

For example, please refer to FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of another method of processing session control rules disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 12, a large box is a set of session control rules, and a small box of the large box is a session control rule. M is 8 and K is 3. First, the data is matched with the session control rules in the first group of session control rules, and the session control rule 2 is matched, and then the data is matched with the session control rules in the second group of session control rules, and no session control rules are matched. Finally, the data is matched with the session control rules in the third group of session control rules, and the session control rule 6 is matched. Afterwards, the session control rule 2 may be used to process the data, and then the session control rule 6 may be used to process the processed data. When using session control rule 2 to process data, if FAR is included, since the execution of FAR will forward the data, therefore, FAR in session control rule 2 may not be executed, but FAR is executed at the end of session control rule 6.

In yet another case, each of the M session control rules includes a PDR, and the PDR includes at least one identifier, and the at least one identifier is an identifier of at least one data packet processing rule. After the UPF network element receives M session control rules from at least two control plane network elements, it can determine A session control rules according to the M session control rules, and each session control rule in the A session control rules only includes at least one session control rule. One of the identifiers, A is an integer greater than or equal to M. That is, each session control rule is split into multiple session control rules according to the identifier of the data packet processing rule, and the multiple session control rules obtained by splitting the same session control rule include the same PDI. Afterwards, the UPF network element can determine the corresponding control plane network elements in the A session control rules and the session control rules of the same data packet processing rule type as a group to obtain the session control rules of the group B, and can sort the session control rules of the group B, Get the group sort table. The group sorting table includes N session control rules. When sorting, different groups of session control rules corresponding to the same control plane network element can be sorted together, and different groups of session control rules corresponding to different control plane network elements can be sorted according to the corresponding control plane network elements, corresponding to the same control plane network element. The different groups of session control rules can be sorted in a fixed order or as indicated. For example, among the M session control rules, the session control rules include URRs, and the URRs carry indication information. The indication information is used to indicate the execution order of the URRs, which may be instructed to be executed before the QER or be executed after the QER. Different groups of session control rules corresponding to the same control plane network element may also be sorted separately.

After the UPF network element receives the data from the (R)AN device (or DN), it can determine the session control rules corresponding to the PDI matching the data in the N session control rules according to the group sorting table to obtain L session control rules, and then can The data is processed using the L session control rules in sequence according to the sorting in the group sorting table. The UPF network element can then send the processed data to the DN data (or (R)AN device). Since there is no intersection between the PDIs of the session control rules in each group of session control rules in group B session control rules, the data can match at most one session control rule in each group of session control rules in group B session control rules Therefore, L is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to B.

For example, please refer to FIG. 13 . FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of another method of processing a session control rule disclosed by an embodiment of the present application. Among them, M is 3, A is 9, and B is 6. As shown in Figure 13, session control rule 1 includes PDI1, URR1, QER1 and FAR1, session control rule 2 includes PDI2, URR2, QER2 and FAR2, and session control rule 3 includes PDI3, URR3, QER3 and FAR3. Session control rule 1 and session control rule 2 correspond to the same control plane network element, and session control rule 3 corresponds to another control plane network element. The session control rule 1, the session control rule 2, and the session control rule 3 can be divided into 3 session control rules, respectively, to obtain 9 session control rules. After that, grouping is performed to obtain 6 groups of session control rules, and a large box represents a group of session control rules. Then sort the six groups of session control rules. FIG. 13 shows two sorting manners, and other sorting manners are also possible, which are not limited here. After the data is received, the data can be matched group by group in the order indicated at the beginning of the figure. For the execution sequence after matching, refer to the corresponding description in FIG. 12 .

When the UPF network element receives M session information from at least two control plane network elements, the UPF network element may first classify the M session control rules according to the M session information, and may classify the M session control rules among the M session control rules. The session control rules corresponding to the same PDU session are divided into one category, and then the session control rules in the same category are processed according to the above processing flow.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to FIG. 14 , which is a schematic flowchart of another communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 14 , the communication method may include the following steps.

1401. A control plane network element triggers session establishment or modification.

Among them, only one control plane network element is shown in the figure, but there are actually at least two control plane network elements.

1402. The control plane network element sends a session establishment request or a session modification request to the UPF network element.

Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the session establishment request or the session modification request from the control plane network element.

The session establishment request or the session modification request carries or includes the session control rules and the information of the network elements of the control plane. The detailed description may refer to the description of step 1001 .

1403. The UPF network element processes the session control rule.

The UPF network element can process the session control rule according to the processing method in step 1002 .

1404. The UPF network element sends a session establishment response or a session modification response to the control plane network element.

After the UPF network element processes the session control rules, it may send a session establishment response or a session modification response to the control plane network element. The session establishment response or the session modification response may carry the processed session control rules.

Correspondingly, the control plane network element receives the session establishment response or the session modification response from the UPF network element.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to FIG. 15 , which is a schematic flowchart of another communication method disclosed by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 15 , the communication method may include the following steps.

1501. A control plane network element triggers session establishment or modification.

1502. The control plane network element sends a session establishment request or a session modification request to the UPF network element.

1503. The UPF network element sends a session establishment response or a session modification response to the control plane network element.

After receiving the session establishment request or the session modification request from the control plane network element, the UPF network element may send the session establishment response or the session modification response to the control plane network element. Correspondingly, the control plane network element receives the session establishment response or the session modification response from the UPF network element.

1504. The UPF network element processes the session control rule.

In one case, the session establishment response or the session modification response may carry the processed session control rules.

Among them, step 1503 and step 1504 can be executed in parallel, or can be executed in series

It should be understood that the functions performed by the UPF network element in the above communication method may also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in the UPF network element, and the function performed by the control plane network element may also be performed by a module in the control plane network element ( For example, a chip) to perform. The control plane network elements that can directly control the UPF network elements may include SMF network elements, PCF network elements, network data analytics function (NWDAF) network elements, AF network elements, and the like. The above is only a schematic description of the control plane network elements that directly control the UPF network elements, and does not constitute a limitation on the control plane network elements that directly control the UPF network elements. For example, the control plane network elements that directly control the UPF network elements may also include AMF network elements and the like.

It should be understood that in 5G, the communication between user planes is session-granular, and therefore, the control rules may be session control rules. In other communication systems or networks, the granularity may change, and when the granularity changes, the control rules may also change. For example, when the granularity becomes connections, the control rules can also be connection control rules.

It should be understood that, in other communication systems or networks, the above-mentioned UPF network elements may be replaced with other user plane network elements or user plane functional entities, which are not limited herein.

It should be understood that the user plane network elements may have different names in different communication systems or networks. For example, in 5G, the user plane network element may be a UPF network element, and may have other names in 6G or future communication systems.

It should be understood that the related information in the above-mentioned different embodiments may refer to each other.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to FIG. 16 , which is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 16, the communication device may include:

a receiving unit 1601, configured to receive M session control rules, where the M session control rules come from at least two control plane network elements, and M is an integer greater than 1;

The processing unit 1602 is configured to process the data according to the M session control rules.

In one embodiment, the processing unit 1602 is further configured to process the M session control rules to obtain N session control rules, where N is an integer greater than 0;

The processing unit 1602 processes the data according to the M session control rules, including:

The data is processed according to N session control rules.

In one embodiment, the first session control rule includes a first PDR, the first PDR includes a first PDI and first identification information, the second session control rule includes a second PDR, and the second PDR includes a second PDI and a second identification information, the first session control rule and the second session control rule are two session control rules from different control plane network elements among the M session control rules, and the first identification information and the second identification information include at least one data packet processing rule. identification;

The processing unit 1602 processes the M session control rules, and obtains the N session control rules including:

When the first PDI is the same as the second PDI, a third session control rule is determined according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule, the third session control rule includes a third PDR, and the third PDR includes the first identification information, the third session control rule two identification information and the first PDI or the second PDI; or

When there is an intersection between the first PDI and the second PDI, the fourth session control rule, the fifth session control rule and the sixth session control rule are determined according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule, and the fourth session control rule includes the first session control rule and the sixth session control rule. Four PDRs, the fourth PDR includes the same part of the first PDI and the second PDI, the first identification information and the second identification information, the fifth session control rule includes the fifth PDR, and the fifth PDR includes the first PDI and the second PDR. The different part of the PDI and the first identification information, the sixth session control rule includes the sixth PDR, and the sixth PDR includes the part of the second PDI that is different from the first PDR and the second identification information;

In one embodiment, the processing unit 1602 processing data according to the N session control rules includes:

Select the session control rule corresponding to the PDI matching the data from the N session control rules;

The data is processed using selected session control rules.

In one embodiment, each of the M session control rules carries information of a corresponding control plane network element.

In one embodiment, the processing unit 1602 processes the M session control rules to obtain N session control rules including:

Determining the session control rules corresponding to the same control plane network element among the M session control rules as a group to obtain K groups of session control rules, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

The K groups of session control rules are sorted according to the control plane network elements corresponding to the K groups of session control rules to obtain a group sorting table, where the group sorting table includes N session control rules.

In one embodiment, each of the M session control rules includes a PDR, the PDR includes at least one identifier, and the at least one identifier is an identifier of at least one data packet processing rule, and the processing unit 1602 controls the M sessions The rules are processed, and N session control rules are obtained, including:

A session control rule is determined according to the M session control rules, and each session control rule in the A session control rules only includes at least one kind of identification, and A is an integer greater than or equal to M;

Determining a group of session control rules with the same type of control plane network elements and data packet processing rules corresponding to the A session control rules, to obtain a group B session control rules;

Sort the session control rules of group B to obtain a group sorting table, where the group sorting table includes N session control rules.

Determine the session control rule corresponding to the PDI matching the data in the N session control rules according to the group sorting table, and obtain L session control rules;

The L session control rules are used to process the data sequentially according to the sorting in the group sorting table.

More detailed descriptions of the above receiving unit 1601 and processing unit 1602 can be obtained directly by referring to the relevant descriptions of the UPF network elements in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 10 , FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 .

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to FIG. 17 , which is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 17 , the communication device may include a processor 1701 , a memory 1702 , an input interface 1703 , an output interface 1704 and a bus 1705 . The memory 1702 may exist independently, and may be connected to the processor 1701 through the bus 1705 . The memory 1702 may also be integrated with the processor 1701. Among them, the bus 1705 is used to realize the connection between these components.

In one embodiment, the communication device may be a UPF network element or a module (eg, a chip) in the UPF network element. When the computer program instructions stored in the memory 1702 are executed, the processor 1701 is configured to control the receiving unit 1601 to execute For the operations performed in the above-mentioned embodiments, the processor 1701 is also used to perform the operations performed by the processing unit 1602 in the above-mentioned embodiments, the input interface 1703 is used to perform the operations performed by the receiving unit 1601 in the above-mentioned embodiments, and the output interface 1704 is used to send Other communication devices other than the communication device output information. The above-mentioned UPF network element or the modules in the UPF network element may also be used to execute various methods performed by the UPF network element in the above method embodiments of FIG. 10 , FIG. 14 , and FIG.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to FIG. 18 , which is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 18 , the communication device may include an input interface 1801 , a logic circuit 1802 and an output interface 1803 . The input interface 1801 and the output interface 1803 are connected through the logic circuit 1802 . The input interface 1801 is used for receiving information from other communication devices, and the output interface 1803 is used for outputting, scheduling or sending information to other communication devices. The logic circuit 1802 is configured to perform operations other than the operations of the input interface 1801 and the output interface 1803, for example, to implement the functions implemented by the processor 1701 in the above-mentioned embodiment. Wherein, the communication device may be a UPF network element or a module of a UPF network element. The more detailed description about the input interface 1801 , the logic circuit 1802 and the output interface 1803 can be obtained directly by referring to the relevant description of the UPF network element in the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

The embodiments of the present application further disclose a computer-readable storage medium, on which computer instructions are stored, and when the computer instructions are executed, the methods in the foregoing method embodiments are executed.

The embodiment of the present application further discloses a computer program product including computer instructions, and when the computer instructions are executed, the methods in the foregoing method embodiments are executed.

The embodiment of the present application also discloses a communication system, the communication system includes a UPF network element and at least two control plane network elements. For a specific description, reference may be made to the communication methods shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 14-FIG. 15 .

The specific embodiments described above further describe the purpose, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present application in detail. It should be understood that the above descriptions are only specific embodiments of the present application and are not intended to limit the The protection scope, any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made on the basis of the technical solutions of the present application shall be included within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

A communication method, comprising:

receiving M session control rules, the M session control rules are from at least two control plane network elements, and M is an integer greater than 1;

The data is processed according to the M session control rules.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

Process the M session control rules to obtain N session control rules, where N is an integer greater than 0;

The processing of the data according to the M session control rules includes:

The data is processed according to the N session control rules.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the first session control rule includes a first packet inspection rule PDR, the first PDR includes first packet inspection information PDI and first identification information, and the second session control rule includes A second PDR, where the second PDR includes a second PDI and second identification information, and the first session control rule and the second session control rule are the M session control rules from different control plane network elements Two session control rules, the first identification information and the second identification information include the identification of at least one packet processing rule;

The processing of the M session control rules to obtain N session control rules includes:

When the first PDI is the same as the second PDI, a third session control rule is determined according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule, where the third session control rule includes a third PDR, the third PDR includes the first identification information, the second identification information, and the first PDI or the second PDI; or

When the first PDI and the second PDI have an intersection, a fourth session control rule, a fifth session control rule and a sixth session control rule are determined according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule , the fourth session control rule includes a fourth PDR, and the fourth PDR includes the same part of the first PDI and the second PDI, the first identification information and the second identification information, so The fifth session control rule includes a fifth PDR, the fifth PDR includes a part of the first PDI that is different from the second PDI and the first identification information, and the sixth session control rule includes a sixth PDR, the sixth PDR includes the part of the second PDI that is different from the first PDR and the second identification information;

N session control rules are determined according to the third session control rule, or the fourth session control rule, the fifth session control rule and the sixth session control rule.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the processing data according to the N session control rules comprises:

Select the session control rule corresponding to the PDI matched with the data from the N session control rules;

The data is processed using selected session control rules.
The method according to claim 2, wherein each session control rule in the M session control rules carries information of a corresponding control plane network element.
The method according to claim 2 or 5, wherein the processing of the M session control rules to obtain N session control rules comprises:

Determining a group of session control rules corresponding to the same control plane network element in the M session control rules, to obtain K groups of session control rules, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

Sort the K groups of session control rules according to the control plane network elements corresponding to the K groups of session control rules to obtain a group sorting table, where the group sorting table includes N session control rules.
The method according to claim 2 or 5, wherein each session control rule in the M session control rules includes a PDR, the PDR includes at least one kind of identification, and the at least one kind of identification is at least one kind of identification The identifier of the data packet processing rule, the processing of the M session control rules to obtain the N session control rules includes:

A session control rules are determined according to the M session control rules, and each session control rule in the A session control rules only includes one kind of identification among the at least one kind of identification, and A is an integer greater than or equal to M ;

Determining a group of session control rules with the same type of control plane network elements and data packet processing rules corresponding to the A session control rules as group B to obtain session control rules in group B;

Sort the session control rules of the B group to obtain a group sorting table, where the group sorting table includes N session control rules.
The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the processing the data according to the N session control rules comprises:

Determine the session control rules corresponding to the PDI matching the data in the N session control rules according to the group sorting table, and obtain L session control rules;

The data is processed using the L session control rules in sequence according to the ordering in the group ordering table.
A communication device, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive M session control rules, the M session control rules are from at least two control plane network elements, and M is an integer greater than 1;

A processing unit, configured to process data according to the M session control rules.
The device according to claim 9, wherein the processing unit is further configured to process the M session control rules to obtain N session control rules, where N is an integer greater than 0;

The processing unit processing data according to the M session control rules includes:

The data is processed according to the N session control rules.
The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the first session control rule includes a first packet inspection rule PDR, the first PDR includes first packet inspection information PDI and first identification information, and the second session control rule includes A second PDR, where the second PDR includes a second PDI and second identification information, and the first session control rule and the second session control rule are the M session control rules from different control plane network elements Two session control rules, the first identification information and the second identification information include the identification of at least one packet processing rule;

The processing unit processes the M session control rules, and obtains the N session control rules including:

When the first PDI is the same as the second PDI, a third session control rule is determined according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule, where the third session control rule includes a third PDR, the third PDR includes the first identification information, the second identification information, and the first PDI or the second PDI; or

When there is an intersection between the first PDI and the second PDI, determine a fourth session control rule, a fifth session control rule and a sixth session control rule according to the first session control rule and the second session control rule , the fourth session control rule includes a fourth PDR, and the fourth PDR includes the same part of the first PDI and the second PDI, the first identification information and the second identification information, so The fifth session control rule includes a fifth PDR, the fifth PDR includes a part of the first PDI that is different from the second PDI and the first identification information, and the sixth session control rule includes a sixth PDR, the sixth PDR includes the part of the second PDI that is different from the first PDR and the second identification information;

N session control rules are determined according to the third session control rule, or the fourth session control rule, the fifth session control rule and the sixth session control rule.
The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the processing unit processing the data according to the N session control rules comprises:

Select the session control rule corresponding to the PDI matched with the data from the N session control rules;

The data is processed using selected session control rules.
The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein each session control rule in the M session control rules carries information of a corresponding control plane network element.
The device according to claim 10 or 13, wherein the processing unit processes the M session control rules, and obtaining the N session control rules comprises:

Determining a group of session control rules corresponding to the same control plane network element in the M session control rules, to obtain K groups of session control rules, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

Sort the K groups of session control rules according to the control plane network elements corresponding to the K groups of session control rules to obtain a group sorting table, where the group sorting table includes N session control rules.
The apparatus according to claim 10 or 13, wherein each session control rule in the M session control rules includes a PDR, the PDR includes at least one identifier, and the at least one identifier is at least one The identifier of the data packet processing rule, the processing unit processes the M session control rules, and obtains the N session control rules including:

A session control rules are determined according to the M session control rules, and each session control rule in the A session control rules only includes one kind of identification among the at least one kind of identification, and A is an integer greater than or equal to M ;

Determining a group of session control rules with the same type of control plane network elements and data packet processing rules corresponding to the A session control rules, to obtain a group B session control rules;

Sort the session control rules of the B group to obtain a group sorting table, where the group sorting table includes N session control rules.
The apparatus according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the processing unit processing the data according to the N session control rules comprises:

Determine, according to the group sorting table, the session control rules corresponding to the PDIs that match the data in the N session control rules, and obtain L session control rules;

The data are processed sequentially using the L session control rules according to the ordering in the group ordering table.
A communication device, characterized in that it comprises a processor, a memory, an input interface and an output interface, the input interface is used to receive information from other communication devices other than the communication device, and the output interface is used to send information to all communication devices. Other communication devices other than the communication device output information, and the processor invokes the computer program stored in the memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1-8.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, a computer program or computer instruction is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program or computer instruction is executed, any one of claims 1-8 is realized. the method described.
A chip, characterized in that it includes a processor for executing a program stored in a memory, and when the program is executed, causes the chip to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8.