WO2022228006A1

WO2022228006A1 - Method for identifying service flow, and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2022228006A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/084039
Authority: WO
Inventors: 潘奇; 黄正磊; 李永翠
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2021-04-30
Filing date: 2022-03-30
Publication date: 2022-11-03
Also published as: CN115277583A

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communication technology and discloses a method for identifying a service flow and an apparatus, which are used when an end-to-end connection for transmitting a service flow is changed or re-established to prevent a terminal device from needing to initiate a session modification procedure, which would cause a session management function network element, etc., to re-configure for a service a control policy suitable for the new connection, same suffering from problems of being a cumbersome process and having poor timeliness. The method comprises: a user plane function network element receives a data packet, wherein the data packet comprises a first service flow identifier of a first service flow to which the data packet belongs; when a first data packet filter parameter in a first data packet detection rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier differs from a second data packet filter parameter in the data packet, the user plane function network element updates the first data packet detection rule to a second data packet detection rule according to the second data packet filter parameter.

Description

Service flow identification method and device

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202110480030.7 and the application title "A method and device for identifying a service flow" filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on April 30, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in in this application.

technical field

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for identifying a service flow.

Background technique

At present, the media industry is developing rapidly. Users can watch live broadcasts, TV series and video through the client installed on terminal devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers (such as Tencent video client, Youku video client, video conference client, etc.) or browsers. meetings, etc. From the perspective of the network layer, the proportion of media traffic in the 5th generation mobile communication technology (5G) network in the future is expected to exceed 90%. To a large extent, it determines the user's service experience of the entire mobile communication network; from the perspective of the service layer, media is constantly developing towards new media forms such as ultra-high-definition video, 360-degree panoramic virtual reality (VR) video, and rapid switching. , fast bit rate adaptive switching and other fashion control requirements have more and more stringent requirements on delay and bandwidth, and it is difficult to meet the user's media experience requirements solely relying on the closed-loop control of the business layer itself.

Therefore, it is particularly important to combine the network and business, improve the service quality of the business through network assistance, and optimize the user experience. At present, 5G networks can use different packet filtering parameters such as quintuple (internet protocol (IP) address between destination/source networks, destination/source port number, transport layer protocol type) to specify each The specific service flow to which the data packet belongs, thereby further providing differentiated policy control for different services.

However, due to various reasons such as load balancing of the application server, content delivery network (CDN) offloading, etc., the end-to-end connection between the terminal device and the application server will be replaced or rebuilt, such as the transmission control protocol (transmission control protocol). control protocol, TCP) connection replacement or reconstruction. However, the replacement or reconstruction of the end-to-end connection between the terminal device and the application server will cause the end-to-end connection used to transmit the service flow to change, and the packet filtering parameters used to identify the service flow in the configured detection and control policy It needs to be adjusted and updated, which requires the terminal device to frequently initiate the session modification process, so that the network elements such as the session management function on the core network side can reconfigure the detection and control policy suitable for the new end-to-end connection for the service. The network element of the plane function issues the packet inspection rules applicable to the new end-to-end connection, which is a cumbersome process and has poor timeliness.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present application provide a service flow identification method and device, which are used to solve the problem of configuring a control policy applicable to a new end-to-end connection when an end-to-end connection (such as a TCP connection, etc.) used to transmit a service flow changes, and the process Cumbersome and time-sensitive questions.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification method, the method includes: a user plane function network element receives a data packet, wherein the data packet includes a first service of a first service flow to which the data packet belongs flow identifier; when the first data packet filtering parameter in the first data packet detection rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier is different from the second data packet filtering parameter in the data packet, the user plane function network element According to the second data packet filtering parameter, the first data packet inspection rule is updated to a second data packet inspection rule; wherein the first data packet inspection rule is used to detect the data including the first data packet filtering parameter. data packet, and provide an execution policy for the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, the second data packet inspection rule is used to detect the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and for the data packet including the The data packet of the second data packet filtering parameter provides an execution policy, and the second data packet inspection rule is the same as the execution policy provided by the first data packet inspection rule. Optionally, the user plane function network element updates the first data packet detection rule to the second data packet detection rule according to the second data packet filtering parameter, including: the user plane function network element to the second data packet detection rule. The session management function network element sends the second data packet filtering parameter and the first service flow identifier; the user plane function network element receives the second data packet detection rule from the session management function network element; the The user plane function network element updates the first data packet inspection rule to the second data packet inspection rule.

In the embodiment of the present application, after the end-to-end connection for transmitting the service flow is replaced or rebuilt, the terminal device or the application server will carry the service of the service flow to which the data packet belongs in the data packet sent to the user plane functional network element. Flow ID, when the user plane function network element receives a data packet carrying a service flow ID, it will detect the first data packet filtering parameter in the first data packet detection rule saved before receiving the data packet and the data packet. Whether the second packet filtering parameter in the first packet detection rule is the same, if not, update the first packet filtering parameter in the first packet detection rule to the second packet filtering parameter, and construct the second packet detection rule, so as to realize the After the end-to-end connection is replaced or rebuilt, the data packets of the service flow are detected, and an execution policy is provided. There is no need for the terminal device to initiate the session modification process again, and the network elements such as the session management function on the core network side reconfigure the service for the new end. The control strategy of the end-to-end connection can simplify the implementation process and improve the timeliness.

In a possible design, the method further includes: when the data packet is a downlink data packet from an application server, performing the execution provided by the user plane function network element according to the second data packet detection rule policy, and send the data packet to the terminal device; or, when the data packet is an uplink data packet from the terminal device, the user plane function network element provides the execution policy according to the second data packet detection rule , and send the data packet to the application server.

In the above design, the data packets that are beneficial to the service flow are processed by corresponding policies in a timely manner (for example, the processing of obtaining the forwarding execution rules in the data packet detection rules, etc.) to improve user experience.

In a possible design, the user plane function network element adds first indication information to the data packet sent to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to The second data packet filtering parameter in the data packet updates the first quality of service QoS rule of the first service flow to the second QoS rule.

In the above design, by adding the first indication information to the data packet sent by the terminal device, it is ensured that the terminal device can perceive that the user plane function network element has completed the update of the data packet detection rule, which is beneficial to assist the terminal device to realize that it will be suitable for replacement or reconstruction. The first QoS rule of the previous end-to-end connection is updated to the second QoS rule applicable to the end-to-end connection after replacement or re-establishment.

In a possible design, the user plane function network element adds second indication information to the data packet sent to the application server, where the second indication information is used to indicate the user plane function network element The update of the data packet detection rule of the first service flow is completed.

In the above design, by sending the second indication information to the application server, the application server can be informed that the user plane functional network element has completed the update of the data packet detection rules, and the application server can inform the terminal equipment that the user plane functional network element has completed the data packet detection. The rules are updated, so that the terminal device cancels adding the first service flow identifier to the upstream data packet.

In a possible design, before the user plane function network element receives the data packet, the method further includes: the user plane function network element receives the data packet detection rule configuration information from the session management function network element, and the data packet detection The rule configuration information includes the first data packet detection rule and the first service flow identifier.

In the above design, the session management function network element can issue the service flow identifier of the first service flow to the user plane function network element, which is beneficial to the user plane function after the end-to-end connection for transmitting the service flow is replaced or rebuilt. The network element accurately identifies the data packets of the service flow transmitted over the replaced or re-established end-to-end connection.

In a possible design, the first service flow identifier may be carried at the network layer or the transport layer or the application layer of the data packet.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for identifying a service flow. The method includes: a terminal device receives a downlink data packet from a user plane functional network element, where the downlink data packet includes a first data packet to which the downlink data packet belongs. the first service flow identifier of the service flow; when the first data packet filtering parameter in the first quality of service QoS rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier is different from the second data packet filtering parameter in the downlink data packet, The terminal device updates the first QoS rule to a second QoS rule according to the second data packet filtering parameter; wherein the first QoS rule is used to detect a data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter , and provide a QoS policy for the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, the second QoS rule is used to detect the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and for the data packet including the second data packet The data packet of the filtering parameter provides a QoS policy, and the QoS policy provided by the second QoS rule is the same as the QoS policy provided by the first QoS rule.

In a possible design, the downlink data packet further includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to The first QoS rule is updated to the second QoS rule.

In a possible design, the method further includes: the terminal device sending rule update completion indication information to the application server, where the rule update completion indication information includes the first service flow identifier, which is used to indicate the The terminal device completes the update of the QoS rule for the first service flow.

In a possible design, before the terminal device receives a downlink data packet from a user plane functional network element, the method further includes: assigning, by the terminal device, the first service flow identifier to the first service flow ; The terminal device sends first service flow identification configuration information to the application function network element, where the first service flow identification configuration information includes flow description information of the first service flow and the first service flow identification.

In a possible design, before the terminal device receives the downlink data packet from the user plane function network element, the method further includes: the terminal device receives the QoS rule configuration information from the session management function network element, the The QoS rule configuration information includes the first QoS rule and the first service flow identifier.

In a possible design, the first service flow identifier may be carried at the network layer, transport layer or application layer of the downlink data packet.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification method, the method includes: a terminal device determines that an end-to-end connection corresponding to a first service flow is replaced or rebuilt; The second data packet filtering parameter corresponding to the terminal connection, and the first quality of service QoS rule of the first service flow is updated to the second QoS rule; wherein the first QoS rule includes the replacement or reconstruction of the first service flow The first data packet filtering parameter corresponding to the previous end-to-end connection, the first QoS rule is used to detect the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, and is the data including the first data packet filtering parameter. The packet provides a QoS policy, the second QoS rule is used to detect the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and provide a QoS policy for the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, the second QoS The QoS policy provided by the rule is the same as the QoS policy provided by the first QoS rule.

In a possible design, the method further includes: for the uplink data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, the terminal device sends the uplink data packet to the user plane function network element according to the QoS policy , wherein the uplink data packet includes a first service flow identifier of the first service flow.

In a possible design, the method further includes: assigning, by the terminal device, the first service flow identifier to the first service flow; sending, by the terminal device, a configuration of the first service flow identifier to an application function network element information, the first service flow identification configuration information includes flow description information of the first service flow and the first service flow identification.

In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving, by the terminal device, QoS rule configuration information from a session management function network element, where the QoS rule configuration information includes the first QoS rule and the first service Stream ID.

In a possible design, the first service flow identifier may be carried at the network layer, transport layer or application layer of the uplink data packet.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification method, the method includes: an application server determines that an end-to-end connection corresponding to a first service flow is replaced or rebuilt; A downlink data packet of the first service flow, where the downlink data packet includes a first service flow identifier of the first service flow.

In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving, by the application server, second service flow identification configuration information from an application function network element, where the second service flow identification configuration information includes the first service flow flow description information and the first service flow identifier.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification method, the method includes: the session management function network element receives a policy and charging control rule and a first service flow identification from a policy control function network element, wherein the The policy and charging control rule includes a first packet filtering parameter; the session management function network element generates a first service flow corresponding to the first service flow identifier according to the policy and charging control rule. A packet inspection rule and a first quality of service QoS rule, where the first packet inspection rule is used to detect a packet including the first packet filtering parameter, and is a packet including the first packet filtering parameter Provide an execution policy, the first QoS rule is used to detect the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, and provide a QoS policy for the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter; the session management function network The element sends the data packet inspection rule configuration information to the user plane function network element, the data packet inspection rule configuration information includes the first data packet inspection rule and the first service flow identifier; and sends the QoS to the terminal device. Rule configuration information, where the QoS rule configuration information includes the first QoS rule and the first service flow identifier.

In a possible design, the method further includes: the session management function network element receives the second packet filtering parameter and the first service flow identifier from the user plane function network element; the session management function The functional network element generates a second data packet inspection rule for the first service flow according to the second data packet filtering parameter and the policy and charging control rule, and the second data packet inspection rule is used to detect the the second data packet filtering parameter, and provide an execution policy for the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter; the session management function network element sends the second data to the user plane function network element Packet inspection rules.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification method, the method includes: an application function network element receives first service flow identification configuration information from a terminal device, where the first service flow identification configuration information includes a first service flow identification configuration information. The flow description information of the service flow and the first service flow identification; the application function network element sends the second service flow identification configuration information to the application server, and sends the third service flow identification configuration information to the policy control function network element, and the first service flow identification configuration information is sent to the application server. Both the second service flow identification configuration information and the third service flow identification configuration information include flow description information of the first service flow and a first service flow identification.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification method, the method includes: an application function network element assigns a first service flow identifier to a first service flow; the application function network element sends a second service flow to an application server identification configuration information, and sending third service flow identification configuration information to the policy control function network element, the second service flow identification configuration information and the third service flow identification configuration information both include the flow of the first service flow description information and the first service flow identifier.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification method, the method includes: a user plane function network element receives a data packet detection rule from a session management function network element, where the data packet detection rule is used to detect a first A data packet identified by a service flow, and an execution policy is provided for the data packet, wherein the first service flow identified by the first service flow identification corresponds to one or more end-to-end connections between the terminal device and the application server; when When the user plane function network element receives the data packet including the first service flow identifier from the terminal device, the user plane function network element sends the data packet to the application server according to the execution policy ; or when the user plane function network element receives the data packet including the first service flow identifier from the application server, the user plane function network element sends the data packet to the terminal device according to the execution policy. the data package.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification method, the method comprising: a terminal device receiving a quality of service QoS rule from a session management function network element, where the QoS rule is used to detect data including a first service flow identification packet, and provide a QoS policy for the data packet, wherein the first service flow identified by the first service flow identifier corresponds to one or more end-to-end connections between the terminal device and the application server; The data packet identified by the service flow, the terminal device detects the data packet according to the QoS rule, and sends the data packet to the user plane function network element based on the QoS policy, wherein the user plane function network element is located in the one or more end-to-end connections between the terminal device and the application server.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification method, the method includes: a session management function network element generates a data packet detection rule and a quality of service QoS rule, wherein the first service flow corresponds to one or more end-to-end connections between a terminal device and an application server, and the data packet inspection rule is used to detect a data packet including an identifier of the first service flow, and provide an execution policy for the data packet, the QoS rule is used to detect the data packet including the first service flow identifier, and provide a QoS policy for the data packet; the session management network element reports to the terminal device The QoS rules are sent, and the packet inspection rules are sent to a user plane functional network element, wherein the user plane functional network element is located on one or more end-to-end connections between the terminal device and the application server.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification device, which has the first aspect or any possible in-design method of the first aspect, or the eighth aspect or the eighth aspect. The function of any possible design method, the function can be implemented by hardware, or can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units (modules) corresponding to the above functions, such as a communication unit and a processing unit.

In one possible design, the device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit, the processor is coupled to the interface circuit, and is used for implementing the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible method in the design of the first aspect, or implementing The functions of the above eighth aspect or any possible method in design of the eighth aspect. It can be understood that the interface circuit can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. The apparatus may further include a memory storing a processor executable for implementing the first aspect or any possible in-design method of the first aspect, or implementing the eighth aspect or the eighth aspect. A program of the functionality of any of the possible designs in the method.

In a possible design, the device may be a user plane functional network element.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification device, the device has any possible in-design method for implementing the second aspect or the second aspect, or implementing the third aspect or the third aspect. For any possible method in design, or to implement the functions of the ninth aspect or any possible method in design of the ninth aspect, the function may be implemented by hardware, or by executing corresponding software in hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units (modules) corresponding to the above functions, such as a communication unit and a processing unit.

In one possible design, the device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit, the processor is coupled to the interface circuit, and is used for implementing the functions of the second aspect or the method in any possible design of the second aspect, Or used to implement the above third aspect or any possible method in design of the third aspect, or to implement the function of the above ninth aspect or any possible method in design of the ninth aspect. It can be understood that the interface circuit can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. The apparatus may further include a memory storing any possible in-design method executable by the processor for implementing the second aspect or the second aspect above, or for implementing the third aspect or the third aspect above Any possible method in design of the aspect, or a program implementing the functions of the above ninth aspect or any possible method in design of the ninth aspect.

In one possible design, the apparatus may be a terminal device.

A thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification device, the device has a function of implementing the fourth aspect or any possible method in the design of the fourth aspect, the function may be implemented by hardware, or The corresponding software implementation can be performed by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units (modules) corresponding to the above functions, such as a communication unit and a processing unit.

In one possible design, the device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit, the processor is coupled to the interface circuit, and is configured to implement the functions of the fourth aspect or the method in any possible design of the fourth aspect. It can be understood that the interface circuit can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. The apparatus may further comprise a memory storing a program executable by the processor for implementing the functions of the above fourth aspect or any possible method-in-design of the fourth aspect.

In one possible design, the device may be an application server.

In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus for identifying a service flow, and the apparatus has any possible in-design method for implementing the fifth aspect or the fifth aspect, or implementing the tenth aspect or the tenth aspect. The function of any possible design method, the function can be implemented by hardware, or can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units (modules) corresponding to the above functions, such as a communication unit and a processing unit.

In one possible design, the device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit, the processor is coupled to the interface circuit, and is used for implementing the fifth aspect or any possible method in the design of the fifth aspect, or implementing The functions of the tenth aspect or the method in any possible design of the tenth aspect. It can be understood that the interface circuit can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. The apparatus may further include a memory, where the memory stores a method executable by the processor for implementing the fifth aspect or any of the possible in-design methods of the fifth aspect, or the method for implementing the tenth aspect or the tenth aspect. A program of the functionality of any of the possible designs in the method.

In one possible design, the apparatus may be a session management function network element.

In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification device, the device has any possible in-design method for implementing the sixth aspect or the sixth aspect, or implementing the seventh aspect or the seventh aspect. The function of any possible design method, the function can be implemented by hardware, or can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units (modules) corresponding to the above functions, such as a communication unit and a processing unit.

In one possible design, the device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit, the processor is coupled to the interface circuit, and is used to implement the functions of the sixth aspect or the method in any possible design of the sixth aspect, Or used to implement the functions of the seventh aspect or any possible method in the design of the seventh aspect. It can be understood that the interface circuit can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. The apparatus may further include a memory storing any possible in-design method executable by the processor for implementing the sixth aspect or the sixth aspect, or for implementing the seventh aspect or the seventh aspect. A program of the functionality of the method in any possible design of the aspect.

In one possible design, the device may be an application function network element.

In a sixteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a service flow identification system, where the system includes the user plane functional network element in the first aspect, the terminal device in the second aspect and the third aspect, and the fourth aspect. The application server in the aspect, the session management function network element in the above fifth aspect, the application function network element in the above sixth aspect and the seventh aspect.

In a seventeenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a service flow identification system, where the system includes the user plane functional network element in the eighth aspect, the terminal device in the ninth aspect, and the session management in the tenth aspect. functional network element.

In an eighteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, where the computer-readable storage medium is configured to execute the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or perform the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect above, or perform the method described in the third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect above, or perform the above-mentioned first aspect. The method described in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, or the method described in the fifth aspect or any possible design of the fifth aspect above, or the sixth aspect or the sixth aspect above. The method described in any of the possible designs of the six aspects, or the implementation of the method described in the seventh aspect or any of the possible designs of the seventh aspect, or the implementation of the eighth aspect or any of the eighth aspects. A method described in a possible design, or implementing the method described in the ninth aspect above or any possible design of the ninth aspect, or implementing the tenth aspect above or any one of the possible aspects of the tenth aspect. Computer programs or instructions for designing the methods described.

In a nineteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, the chip system includes: a processor and an interface, the processor is configured to call and run a computer program from the interface, and when the processor executes the As a computer program, the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect can be implemented, or the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect can be implemented, Or implement the method described in the above third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect, or implement the method described in the above fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, or implement the above-mentioned third aspect. The method described in the fifth aspect or any possible design of the fifth aspect, or the method described in the sixth aspect or any possible design of the sixth aspect, or the seventh aspect or the sixth aspect. The method described in any possible design of the seven aspects, or the method described in the implementation of the eighth aspect or any of the possible designs of the eighth aspect, or the implementation of the ninth aspect or any of the ninth aspects. A method described in a possible design, or implementing the method described in the tenth aspect or any possible design of the tenth aspect.

A twentieth aspect is a computer program product according to an embodiment of the present application. When the computer program product runs on a computer, the computer is made to execute the methods described in the above aspects.

For the technical effects that can be achieved by the above-mentioned second aspect to the twentieth aspect, please refer to the technical effects that can be achieved by the above-mentioned first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a data packet detection rule provided by an embodiment of the present application;

2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is one of schematic diagrams of a service flow identification method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is one of the schematic diagrams of the service flow identifier configuration process provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is the second schematic diagram of the configuration process of the service flow identifier provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an initial rule configuration process provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an update process of a packet detection rule provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is the second schematic diagram of the service flow identification method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a third schematic diagram of a service flow identification method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

10 is a schematic diagram of an implementation architecture of service flow identification provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is one of the schematic diagrams of a service flow identification apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a second schematic diagram of a service flow identification apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "a plurality" refers to two or more. "And/or" and "or/and" describe the relationship between associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone , where A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the associated objects are an "or" relationship. "At least one (item) of the following" or its similar expression refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item (item) or plural item (item). For example, at least one (a) of a, b or c may represent: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b and c, where a, b, c Each can be an element itself, or a collection containing one or more elements.

In the embodiments of the present application, "exemplary", "in some embodiments", "in another embodiment" and the like are used to mean serving as an example, illustration or illustration. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the word example is intended to present a concept in a concrete way.

In the embodiments of the present application, "of", "corresponding (relevant)" and "corresponding (corresponding)" may sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be pointed out that when the difference is not emphasized, the meaning to be expressed is the same. In the embodiments of the present application, communication and transmission may sometimes be mixed. It should be noted that, unless differences are emphasized, the meanings expressed are the same. For example, transmission can include sending and/or receiving, and can be a noun or a verb.

It should be pointed out that words such as "first" and "second" involved in the embodiments of the present application are only used for the purpose of distinguishing and describing, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying order.

The "network element" involved in the embodiments of this application may also be referred to as "equipment", which is not limited. The network element may be hardware, software divided by function, or a combination of the above two structures. The network elements may include core network network elements, access network equipment (or referred to as access network network elements), and the like. Core network elements, such as session management function network elements, user plane function network elements, etc.

The packet filtering parameters of the existing packet filter (packet filter) application are mainly represented by quintuple, including source/destination IP address, source/destination port number, transport layer protocol type, according to the five tuples carried in the packet. Tuple, which can identify the service type corresponding to each transmitted data packet. For example, according to the transport layer protocol in the quintuple, the IP address and port number on the application server side, the services of iQIYI, Youku Video and Tencent Video can be distinguished.

In the mobile network, in order to distinguish different service flows, such as distinguishing iQIYI's service flow, Youku's service flow, etc., or further distinguishing video service flow and audio service flow in iQIYI's service flow, Youku's service flow, etc. and subtitle service flow, etc., a service (or service) data filter (service data filter, SDF) is introduced to filter and filter the data packets corresponding to the service flow. Among them, on the side of the terminal device, there are often quality of service (QoS) rules, and the QoS rules include one or more SDFs, which aim to map the data of the service flow to the corresponding QoS flow according to the SDF; similar user plane functions The network element side is often a packet detection rule (PDR). As shown in Figure 1, the PDR can include packet detection information (PDI), and the packet filtering parameters contained are usually consistent with the SDF ( Such as quintuple, etc.), as well as the actions (or policies) that need to be executed to detect and identify the data packets of the service flow, such as forwarding action rule (FAR), using reporting rule (URR) , one or more of QoS enforcement rules (QoS enforcement rules, QERs).

After an end-to-end connection (such as a TCP connection) has been established for the service flow between the terminal device and the application server, the terminal device will initiate a session modification process and send the latest service flow description information (such as packet filtering parameters) to the session management function The network element triggers the session modification process. Or the session modification process is triggered by the policy control function network element, and the policy and charging control (policy and charging control, PCC) rule (rule) including the service data filter of the service flow is sent to the session management function network element, wherein The service data filter includes data packet filtering parameters for filtering and filtering data packets of the service flow. The session management function network element generates PDR and QoS rules based on the policy and charging control rules, and delivers them to the user plane function network element and terminal equipment to implement policy control over the service flow.

However, due to application server load balancing, content delivery network (CDN) offloading and other reasons, the end-to-end connection between the terminal device and the application server for transmitting service flow will be frequently replaced or rebuilt. , resulting in frequent changes of the data packet filtering parameters of the corresponding service flow, resulting in the original PDR and QoS rules that can no longer filter and filter the data packets of the service flow due to the change of the data packet filtering parameters. This requires frequent initiation of a session modification process so that the session management function network element reconfigures PDR and QoS rules for the user plane function network element and terminal equipment, which is complicated and time-sensitive. And after replacing or re-establishing the end-to-end connection used to transmit the service flow, if there is data packet transmission immediately, the user plane function network element may still have no PDR suitable for the end-to-end connection after the replacement or reconstruction. Provides policy control for data packets, which further deteriorates user service experience.

In view of the above problems, an embodiment of the present application provides a service flow identification method. By assigning a service flow identifier to a service flow, when an end-to-end connection (such as a TCP connection, which is used to transmit the service flow, is used in subsequent embodiments of the present application) Taking the end-to-end connection as the TCP connection as an example to describe), after the replacement or reconstruction occurs, the service flow identifier is included (that is, carries) in the data packet sent by the end-to-end connection after the replacement or reconstruction, so that the terminal device and/or Or the user plane function network element can perform packet inspection and policy control according to the packet filtering parameters included in the data packet, or use the QoS rules and/or packet inspection rules (PDR) of the service flow to detect the service flow. The data packet filtering parameters of the data packets are updated to the data packet filtering parameters corresponding to the replaced or rebuilt end-to-end connection, so as to avoid frequent initiation of the session modification process.

Some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained below to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

1), business flow. In the embodiment of the present application, the service flow refers to the data flow of the service, such as the data flow of the iQIYI service transmitted between the iQIYI client and the iQIYI application server. In some possible implementations, the service flow of the service can also be subdivided according to specific data types. For example, the service flow corresponding to the live client can be subdivided into a video service flow, an audio service flow and a subtitle service flow. or content distribution network offloading. The video stream may include one or more video frames or video block files; the audio stream may include one or more audio frames or audio block files; the subtitle stream may include one or more pieces of text.

2) Terminal equipment is a device with wireless transceiver function, which can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld or vehicle; it can also be deployed on water (such as ships, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (such as planes, balloons, satellites, etc.). For example, the terminal device may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (pad), a smart screen, a computer with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, industrial control Wireless terminals in (industrial control), wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical, wireless terminals in smart grid, and transportation safety wireless terminals, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, etc.

It should be noted that the implementation of the service flow identification method provided by this application involves a session management function (session management function, SMF) network element, a policy control function (policy control function, PCF) network element, an application function (application function) on the network side , AF) network element, user plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element, access network (access network, AN) equipment, wherein, session management function network element, policy control function network element, application function network element, user The plane functional network elements are core network network elements. Access network equipment can be used to provide wireless communication functions for terminal equipment; session management function network elements can be used to control the establishment, modification and deletion of packet data unit (PDU) sessions; user plane function network elements can be used to be responsible for connecting external Network (eg data network (DN)); application function network elements can be used to interact with the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) core network to provide services to affect traffic flow routing, access network Capability opening, policy control, etc.; the policy control function network element can be used to be responsible for policy control, such as generating a quality of service (quality of service, QoS) parameter set. Executing the service flow identification method provided by this application also involves a terminal device and an application server. It should be understood that, in this embodiment of this application, a terminal device may also be referred to as a terminal, a user equipment (UE), a mobile terminal, a media The client, the media session handler (media session handler, MSH) client, etc., are not limited, and the application server may also be called a media streaming server, etc., and the comparison is not limited. The embodiments of the present application are described below by taking a terminal device (such as a UE) and an application server as examples.

Illustratively, as shown in FIG. 2 , it is a schematic diagram of a network architecture to which this embodiment of the present application is applied. The network architecture is a 5G network architecture. The network architecture includes a radio access network (RAN), an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, an SMF network element, a UPF network element, a PCF network element, and a DN. In some embodiments, the network architecture further includes a unified data management function (unified data management, UDM) network element, an authentication server function (authentication server function, AUSF) network element, an application function (application function, AF) network element, Network exposure function (NEF) network element and network data analysis function (network data analytics function, NWDAF) network element, etc.

RAN equipment (also called access network (AN) equipment), whose main function is to control terminal equipment to access the mobile communication network through wireless, is located between the terminal equipment and the core network. At present, some examples of RAN equipment are: 5G (g nodeB, gNB), evolved node B (evolved node B, eNB), radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), node B (node B, NB) ), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), home base station (for example, home evolved nodeB, or home node B, HNB), base band unit (base band unit, BBU) , transmission point (transmitting and receiving point, TRP), transmitting point (transmitting point, TP), mobile switching center, etc., in addition, RAN equipment can also include wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wifi) access point (access point, AP) )Wait.

The AMF network element is responsible for the access management and mobility management of terminal equipment, including management of user registration, reachability detection, selection of SMF network elements, and mobility state transition management.

The SMF network element is mainly responsible for controlling the establishment, modification and deletion of PDU sessions, and the selection of UPF network elements.

UPF network elements are mainly responsible for data packet routing and forwarding, mobility anchors, uplink classifiers to support routing traffic flows to the data network, branch points to support multi-homed PDU sessions, and so on.

The PCF network element is the policy decision point, and is mainly responsible for providing rules based on service data flow and application detection, gate control, QoS and flow-based charging control.

The UDM network element is mainly responsible for storing user subscription data.

AUSF network elements are mainly used to provide authentication services.

The AF network element is mainly used to interact with the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) core network to provide services, and to affect service flow routing, access network capability opening, and policy control.

NEF network elements are mainly used to securely open services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions, such as third parties, edge computing, AF, etc.

The DN provides network services for terminal devices, such as operator services, Internet access, or third-party services.

NWDAF network elements are mainly used to provide network data collection and analysis functions based on technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence.

In addition, in order to make the description more concise, in the subsequent description, the "network element" in each functional network element can be removed. For example, the AMF network element is abbreviated as AMF, and the UPF network element is abbreviated as UPF. An example.

In Figure 2, between NWDAF, NEF, NRF, PCF, UDM, AF, AUSF, AMF and SMF, the communication between any two network elements can adopt a service-oriented communication mode, such as the interface Nnef used for communication between NEF and AUSF Both Nnwdaf, Nnrf, Npcf, Nudm, Naf, Namf, and Nsmf are service-oriented interfaces. In addition, AMF and UE can communicate through N1 interface, AMF and RAN network element can communicate through N2 interface, RAN network element and UPF can communicate through N3 interface, SMF and UPF can communicate through N4 interface, UE and RAN network element can communicate with each other through N4 interface. For air interface communication, UPF and DN can communicate through N6 interface, and UPF can communicate through N9 interface. It should be noted that, the service-oriented interface between each network element in FIG. 2 may also be replaced by a point-to-point interface.

Among them, in the network architecture shown in FIG. 2 , the network elements related to the present application are mainly: SMF network element, UPF network element, AF network element, and terminal equipment (UE).

It should be noted that FIG. 2 is only an example of a network architecture applicable to the embodiments of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation to the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application may also be applied to other network architectures, for example, future mobile communication network architectures (eg, 6G network architectures).

Due to application server load balancing, CDN offloading and other reasons, the end-to-end connection (such as TCP connection, etc.) established between the client of the terminal device and the application server for transmitting service flows is frequently replaced or rebuilt. In this application, after the end-to-end connection used to transmit the service flow is replaced or re-established, the terminal equipment and the user plane functional network elements can be based on the uplink (terminal equipment to application server) service flow or downlink (application server to terminal equipment) service flow The flow implements automatic updating of QoS rules and packet inspection rules (PDR) for service flows. The service flow identification method of the present application will be introduced below by taking the first service flow as an example in conjunction with specific scenarios.

Scenario 1: After the end-to-end connection (such as TCP connection, etc.) used to transmit the service flow is replaced or rebuilt, the terminal device and the user plane functional network element realize the automatic QoS rules and data packet inspection rules for the service flow according to the downstream service flow. renew.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a service flow identification method provided by an embodiment of the present application, and the method includes:

S301: The application server sends a downlink data packet of a first service flow to a user plane functional network element, and the user plane functional network element receives the downlink data packet, where the downlink data packet includes the first service flow of the first service flow. Business flow ID.

Due to application server (application server, AS) load balancing and CDN offloading, etc., an end-to-end connection (such as a TCP connection, etc.) for transmitting the first service flow may be established between the client of the terminal device and the application server. ) is replaced or rebuilt. If a downlink data packet is sent first after the end-to-end connection is replaced or rebuilt, the application server will add the first service flow identifier of the first service flow to the header of the downlink data packet. As an example, the first service flow identifier may be added to the extension bit (or field) of the IP/TCP layer in the downlink data packet, or even the extension bit of the application layer or the additional middle layer in the downlink data packet may be added. A service flow identifier, as long as the user plane functional network element can be identified.

In some implementations, in order to save the overhead of processing resources and transmission resources, the application server may only add the first service flow identifier to the first X data packets after the end-to-end connection is replaced or rebuilt, where X is greater than or equal to 1 Integer, which can be configured according to application function network elements, policy control function network elements, etc., or configured by the application server itself.

The configuration of the first service flow identifier for the first service flow. In a possible implementation, the first service flow identifier of the first service flow may be allocated by the terminal device. As an example: as shown in Figure 4, when the client on the terminal device is started, the terminal device will be triggered to request the 5G network to establish a session (such as requesting to establish a new PDU session) or use the existing session, If a session needs to be established, the session management function network element selects a user plane function network element for the session. After the session is established, the terminal device can establish an end-to-end connection (eg, a TCP connection) with the application server for transmitting the first service flow through the user plane functional network element.

After establishing the end-to-end connection for transmitting the first service flow, the terminal device may allocate a first service flow identifier to the first service flow, where the first service flow identifier allocated by the terminal device to the first service flow may be It is unique within each terminal device, or it can be unique within each session of each terminal device (wherein each session of the terminal device will be assigned an IP address by the session management function network element, that is, each terminal device can be It is only necessary to ensure that the first service flow can be uniquely determined according to the first service flow identification, or according to the first service flow identification and the IP address of the terminal device, such as unique Determine the flow description information of the first service flow (eg, a quintuple in the packet filtering parameter).

After assigning the first service flow identifier to the first service flow, the terminal device can use the first service flow identifier configuration information including the first service flow identifier and the flow description information of the first service flow to assign the first service flow identifier to the first service flow. The service flow identification is sent to the application function network element, and the application function network element can also use the second service flow identification configuration information including the first service flow identification and the flow description information of the first service flow, the first service flow of the first service flow. The stream ID is sent to the application server.

In another possible implementation, the first service flow identifier of the first service flow may be allocated by the application function network element. As an example, after the terminal device and the application server establish an end-to-end connection for transmitting the first service flow, the application function network element assigns the first service flow identifier to the first service flow, where the application function network element is the first service flow For the realization of the flow assignment of the first service flow identifier, reference may be made to the realization of the terminal device assigning the first service flow identifier to the first service flow, and the repetition will not be repeated. After the application function network element allocates the first service flow identifier to the first service flow, the application function network element can directly send the assigned first service flow identifier to the terminal device. A service flow identifier and flow description information of the first service flow are sent to the user plane functional network element, which is forwarded by the user plane functional network element to the access network device, and then forwarded by the access network device to the terminal device. The application function network element may also send the first service flow identifier and the flow description information of the first service flow to the policy control function network element, and the policy control function network element triggers the session modification process to send to the terminal device. In addition, the application function network element may also send the first service flow identification of the first service flow to the application server through the second service flow identification configuration information including the first service flow identification and flow description information of the first service flow.

In yet another possible implementation, the first service flow identifier of the first service flow may also be allocated by the policy control function network element. As an example: as shown in Figure 5, after the terminal device and the application server establish an end-to-end connection for transmitting the first service flow, the application function network element may send an application function request (such as an AF request) to the policy control function network element ), including the flow description information of the first service flow (which can be obtained from the application server) and the allocation instruction information for instructing the policy control function network element to allocate the first service flow identifier for the first service flow in the application function request; policy control After receiving the application function request, the functional network element allocates a first service flow identifier to the flow description information of the first service flow, and can use an application function response (such as an AF response) to combine the flow description information of the first service flow with the first service flow. The service flow identification is returned to the application function network element, wherein the implementation of the policy control function network element assigning the first service flow identification to the first service flow can refer to the realization of assigning the first service flow identification to the first service flow by the terminal device, and repeat the process. It is not repeated here. After receiving the first service flow identifier, the application function network element can directly send the allocated first service flow identifier to the terminal device, or the policy control function network element can trigger the session modification process and send it to the terminal device without processing. In addition, the application function network element may send the first service flow identification of the first service flow to the application server through the second service flow identification configuration information including the first service flow identification and flow description information of the first service flow.

It should be understood that if the terminal device or the application function network element allocates the first service flow identifier for the first service flow, the application function network element also needs to send the first service flow identifier of the first service flow to the policy control function network element. . For example, send to the policy control function network element through an application function request (such as AF request) including the flow description information of the first service flow and the identifier of the first service flow. Or when the terminal device allocates the first service flow identifier for the first service flow, the terminal device directly sends the first service flow identifier of the first service flow to the session management network in the session modification process (such as the PDU session modification process). element and policy control function network element. For example, the flow description information of the first service and the first service flow identifier are sent to the session management network element and the policy control function network element through the PDU session modification request message.

Taking the terminal device assigning the first service flow identifier for the first service flow as an example, as shown in FIG. 6 , after the policy control function network element obtains the first service flow identifier of the first service flow, the policy control function network element will communicate with the session. The management network element initiates the session management policy association establishment/modification process. For example, the policy control function network element can send a session management (session management, SM) policy association modification request (such as SM policy association modification request) to the session management network element, which will include The service data filter of the first service flow (the service filter includes data packet filtering parameters used to filter and filter the data packets of the first service flow), the policy and charging control rules and the first service flow identifier are sent to the session management The functional network element and the session management functional network element generate packet inspection rules and QoS rules according to the policy and charging control rules. It should be understood that, in some possible implementations, the first service flow identifier may also be included in the policy and charging control rules. within the control rules.

The session management function can send the data packet inspection rule configuration information including the data packet inspection rule and the first service flow identifier to the user plane function network element through the session creation or modification process. For example, the packet inspection rule configuration information is sent to the user plane functional network element through an N4 session establishment/modification request (N4 session establishment/modification request). The QoS rule and the first service flow identifier may also be sent to the terminal device through a session modification command or the like. For example, the session management function network element may first send a communication message transfer message (such as a Namf_communication_N1N2message transfer message) carrying a session modification command (such as a PDU session modification command) to the access and mobility management function (AMF) network The access and mobility management function network element sends the session modification command to the terminal device. It should be understood that, in some possible implementations, the first service flow identifier may also be included in the QoS rule or the data packet inspection rule.

After receiving the data packet inspection rule configuration information, the user plane function network element will bind the data packet inspection rule of the first service flow with the corresponding first service flow identifier; the terminal device will also associate the QoS rule with the corresponding first service flow. Flow identification binding, wherein the packet inspection rules and the packet inspection parameters in the QoS rules for detecting the data packets of the first service flow can be dynamically adjusted, for example, according to the data in the data packets including the first service flow identification Packet inspection parameters are dynamically adjusted.

S302: When the first data packet filtering parameter in the first data packet detection rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier is different from the second data packet filtering parameter in the downlink data packet, the user plane function network element According to the second data packet filtering parameter, the first data packet detection rule is updated to a second data packet detection rule.

The first data packet filtering rule is a data packet detection rule used in the user plane functional network element to detect data packets in the first service flow before receiving the downlink data packet. Specifically, the first The data packet detection rule is used to detect the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter in the first service flow, and provide an execution policy, the second data packet for the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter The packet inspection rule is used to detect the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and provide an execution policy for the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, the second data packet inspection rule and the first data packet inspection rule. Packet inspection rules provide the same enforcement policy.

Specifically, after the user plane function network element receives the downlink data packet including the first service flow identifier from the application server, it will filter the parameters of the first data packet in the first data packet detection rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier Check whether the filtering parameter of the second data packet in the downlink data packet is the same, and if it is different, it is determined that the end-to-end connection corresponding to the first service flow is replaced or rebuilt, and the user plane function network element detects the first data packet. The first data packet filtering parameter in the rule is updated to the second data packet filtering parameter in the downlink data packet, so as to realize the detection and identification of the data packet (uplink or downlink) including the second data packet filtering parameter, and the The packet (uplink or downlink) of the second packet filtering parameter provides the same execution policy as in the first packet inspection rule, such as forwarding action rule (FAR), using reporting rule (URR) ), one or more of QoS enforcement rules (QoS enforcement rule, QER), etc. Specifically, the identity information of the corresponding enforcement policy, such as the ID information of FAR/URR/QER, may be carried in the packet inspection rule.

In a possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 7 , when determining the first data packet in the first data packet detection rule corresponding to the second data packet filtering parameter in the downlink data packet and the first service flow identifier When the filtering parameters are different, the user plane function network element may also send the second packet filtering parameter and the first service flow identifier to the session management function network element through an N4 session modification request (such as N4 session modification request), and the session management function network element will send the second packet filter parameter and the first service flow identifier to the session management function network element through an N4 session modification request (such as N4 session modification request). According to the policy and charging control rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier and the second data packet filtering parameter, the second data packet inspection rule is generated, or the original first data packet inspection rule is updated by the session management function network element, wherein The first data packet filtering parameter in the first data packet inspection rule is replaced with the second data packet filtering parameter, and the second data packet inspection rule is generated. Through the N4 session modification response (such as N4session modification response) including the second packet detection rule, the session management function network element can send the second packet detection rule to the user plane function network element for the user plane function network element to receive. After reaching the second data packet detection rule, the second data packet detection rule is bound with the first service flow identifier to ensure that the data of the first service flow can be normally processed by the corresponding policy.

S303: The user plane function network element sends the data packet to the terminal device according to the execution policy provided by the second data packet detection rule, and the terminal device receives the downlink data packet.

The user plane function network element uses the second data packet detection rule to detect and identify the downlink data, and after identifying that the second data packet filtering parameter in the downlink data packet is consistent with the data packet detection parameter recorded in the second data packet detection rule, The downlink data packet is sent to the terminal device by adopting the execution policy provided by the second data packet detection rule, such as the forwarding execution rule, etc.

S304: When the first data packet filtering parameter in the first QoS rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier is different from the second data packet filtering parameter in the downlink data packet, the terminal device according to the second data packet filtering parameter Packet filtering parameters, updating the first QoS rule to a second QoS rule.

The first QoS rule is a QoS rule used in the terminal device to detect data packets in the first service flow before receiving the downlink data packets. After receiving the downlink data packet from the user plane functional network element, the terminal device will detect whether the first data packet filtering parameter in the first QoS rule and the second data packet filtering parameter in the downlink data packet are the same, If it is different, it is determined that the end-to-end connection corresponding to the first service flow is replaced or rebuilt, and the terminal device updates the first data packet filtering parameter in the first QoS rule to the second data packet filtering parameter in the downlink data packet, and determines The second QoS rule is used to detect and identify the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and provide a QoS policy for the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter. If provided, the second data packet filtering parameter will be included. The upstream data packets are mapped to the policies in the corresponding QoS flow.

Specifically, the first QoS rule is used to detect the data packets including the first data packet filtering parameter, and provide a QoS policy for the data packets including the first data packet filtering parameter, and the second QoS rule is used for for detecting packets including the second packet filtering parameter, and providing a QoS policy for the packet including the second packet filtering parameter, the QoS policy provided by the second QoS rule and the first QoS rule The QoS policies provided are the same.

In some implementations, after the terminal device has updated the first QoS rule to the second QoS rule, it is already clear that the user plane functional network element has also completed the update of the packet detection rule of the first service flow, and the terminal device can also send The application server sends the rule update completion indication information (for example, sent through the application layer M8d interface between the terminal device and the application server), and the rule update completion indication information includes the first service flow identifier, which is used to instruct the terminal device to complete the pairing. The QoS rule of the first service flow is updated to inform the application server that the first service flow identifier may not be added to the downlink data packet.

It can be understood that, in some possible implementations, the terminal device may not recognize the first service flow identifier included in the data packet. If the user plane function network element filters the The first data packet detection rule of a service flow is updated to the second data packet detection rule. When the user plane function network element sends the downlink data packet to the terminal device, it may also add a message indicating the The terminal device updates the first QoS rule of the first service flow to the first indication of the second QoS rule according to the second data packet filtering parameter in the data packet, and instructs the terminal device to update the first QoS rule of the first service flow. QoS rules.

As an example, the user plane function network element may add the first indication information at the general packet radio service (general packet radio service, GPRS) tunneling protocol user plane (GRPS tunneling protocol user plane, GTP-U) layer of the downlink data packet, If the first indication information is added to the extension bit of the CTP-U layer, the access network device can forward the downlink data packet to the terminal device through a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) message or the first The indication information is added to the packet data convergence protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP)/service data adaptation protocol (service data adaptation protocol, SDAP) layer in the downlink data packet, and the first indication information is sent to the terminal device.

In addition, if the terminal device does not recognize the first service flow identifier included in the data packet, the session management function network element generates the second data packet detection rule of the first service flow according to the second data packet filtering parameter reported by the user plane function network element. , the session management function network element can also generate a second QoS rule of the first service flow according to the second data packet filtering parameter, and send it to the terminal device through a session management message (SM message), so that the terminal device can use the first service flow. A QoS rule is updated to a second QoS rule.

In addition, it should be understood that, when the terminal device determines that the end-to-end connection corresponding to the first service flow is replaced or rebuilt, it can also take the initiative to filter the The first QoS rule of a service flow is updated to the second QoS rule.

Scenario 2: After the end-to-end connection (such as TCP connection, etc.) used to transmit the service flow is replaced or rebuilt, the terminal device and the user plane functional network element realize the automatic QoS rules and data packet inspection rules for the service flow according to the upstream service flow. renew.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a service flow identification method provided by an embodiment of the present application, and the method includes:

S801: The terminal device determines that the end-to-end connection corresponding to the first service flow is replaced or rebuilt.

S802: The terminal device updates the first QoS rule of the first service flow to a second QoS rule according to the second data packet filtering parameter corresponding to the replaced or rebuilt end-to-end connection.

Wherein, the first QoS rule includes first data packet filtering parameters corresponding to the end-to-end connection before the first service flow is replaced or re-established, and the first QoS rule is used to detect that the first data packet includes the first data packet. filtering the data packets of the parameters, and providing a QoS policy for the data packets including the first data packet filtering parameters, the second QoS rules for detecting the data packets including the second data packet filtering parameters, and providing the data packets including the The data packet of the second data packet filtering parameter provides a QoS policy, and the QoS policy provided by the second QoS rule is the same as the QoS policy provided by the first QoS rule.

Due to application server (application server, AS) load balancing and CDN offloading, etc., an end-to-end connection (such as a TCP connection, etc.) for transmitting the first service flow may be established between the client of the terminal device and the application server. ) is replaced or rebuilt. If the upstream data packet is sent first after the end-to-end connection is replaced or re-established, the terminal device will detect that the flow description information of the first service flow (such as the quintuple in the data packet filtering parameters) has changed, and the terminal device will Update the first data packet filtering parameter in the first QoS rule to the second data packet filtering parameter corresponding to the end-to-end connection after the replacement or reconstruction, so as to provide QoS for the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter A policy, such as providing a policy for mapping the upstream data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter into the corresponding QoS flow.

In some possible implementations, the terminal device may also initiate a session modification process (eg, a PDU session modification process), and the session management function network element generates a second QoS rule based on the policy and charging control rules and sends it to the terminal device.

S803: For the uplink data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, the terminal device sends the uplink data packet to the user plane function network element according to the QoS policy provided by the first QoS rule, wherein the uplink data packet includes the first service flow identifier of the first service flow.

The terminal device uses the second QoS rule to detect and identify the upstream data packet of the first service flow, and after identifying that the second data packet filtering parameter in the upstream data packet is consistent with the data packet detection parameter recorded in the second QoS rule, The downlink data packet is mapped to the QoS flow specified by the QoS policy and sent to the user plane function network element.

Wherein, for the implementation of allocating the first service flow identifier for the first service flow and how the terminal equipment, user plane function network element, application server, etc. know the first service flow identifier allocated for the first service flow, refer to the above scenario 1, No further description will be given.

As an example, the terminal device may add the first service flow identifier in the IP/TCP layer of the uplink data packet, and send the first service flow identifier to the user plane function network element; or in the PDCP/SDAP layer of the uplink data packet Adding the first service flow identifier, when forwarding the uplink data packet to the user plane function, the access network device adds the first service flow identifier to the GTP-U layer of the uplink data packet and sends it to the user plane function network element.

S804: When the first data packet filtering parameter in the first data packet detection rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier is different from the second data packet filtering parameter in the uplink data packet, the user plane function network element According to the second data packet filtering parameter, the first data packet detection rule is updated to a second data packet detection rule.

The first data packet filtering rule is a data packet detection rule used in the user plane functional network element to detect data packets in the first service flow before receiving the uplink data packet. Specifically, the first The data packet detection rule is used to detect the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter in the first service flow, and provide an execution policy, the second data packet for the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter The packet inspection rule is used to detect the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and provide an execution policy for the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, the second data packet inspection rule and the first data packet inspection rule. Packet inspection rules provide the same enforcement policy.

When the user plane function network element receives the uplink data packet including the first service flow identifier from the terminal device, it will check the first data packet filtering parameter in the first data packet detection rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier with the above Check whether the second data packet filtering parameters in the uplink data packets are the same. If they are different, it is determined that the end-to-end connection corresponding to the first service flow has been replaced or rebuilt, and the user plane function network element will use the first data packet detection rule. The first data packet filtering parameter is updated to the second data packet filtering parameter in the uplink data packet, so as to realize the detection and identification of the data packet (uplink or downlink) including the second data packet filtering parameter, and the second data packet The data packet (uplink or downlink) of the packet filtering parameter provides the same execution policy as in the first packet inspection rule, such as providing one or more of FAR, URR, QoS, and so on.

In a possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 7 , when determining the first data packet detection rule corresponding to the second data packet filtering parameter in the upstream data packet and the first service flow identifier, the first When the data packet filtering parameters are different, the user plane function network element may also send the second data packet filtering parameter and the first service flow identifier to the session management function network element through an N4 session modification request (such as an N4 session modification request), and the session The management function network element generates the second data packet detection rule according to the policy and charging control rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier and the second data packet filtering parameter, or the session management function network element updates the original first data packet A detection rule, wherein the first data packet filtering parameter in the first data packet detection rule is replaced with the second data packet filtering parameter, and a second data packet detection rule is generated. Through the N4 session modification response (such as N4session modification response) including the second packet detection rule, the session management function network element can send the second packet detection rule to the user plane function network element for the user plane function network element to receive. After reaching the second data packet detection rule, the second data packet detection rule is bound with the first service flow identifier to ensure that the data of the first service flow can be normally processed by the corresponding policy.

S805: The user plane function network element sends the uplink data packet to the application server according to the execution policy provided by the second data packet detection rule.

The user plane function network element uses the second data packet detection rule to detect and identify the uplink data, and after identifying that the second data packet filtering parameter in the uplink data packet is consistent with the data packet detection parameter recorded in the second data packet detection rule, The uplink data packet is sent to the application server by adopting the execution policy provided by the second data packet detection rule, such as the forwarding execution rule, etc.

In some implementations, after the user plane functional network element updates the first data packet detection rule to the second data packet detection rule, it may also add an instruction to the user plane functional network element in the uplink data packet sent to the application server. Complete the second indication information for updating the data packet detection rule of the first service flow, such as adding the second indication information to the IP/TCP layer or the application layer in the upstream data packet. According to the second indication information from the user plane function network element, the application server can confirm that the user plane function network element has completed the update of the data packet detection rule of the first service flow, and can notify the terminal through the application layer M8d interface with the terminal device. The device user plane function network element has completed the update of the data packet detection rule of the first service flow, and informs the terminal device that the first service flow identifier may not be added to the upstream data packet.

It should be understood that the service flow may be divided based on the quintuple, and may also be divided in more detail based on the quintuple + other information used to identify the flow, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In some implementations, the terminal device and the user plane functional network element may also directly detect and identify the data packets of the first service flow according to the first service flow identifier of the first service flow, and provide QoS policies and execution policies for the data packets. As shown in Figure 9, after the policy control function network element obtains the first service flow identifier of the first service flow, the policy control function network element will initiate a session management policy association establishment/modification process with the session management network element, for example: policy The control function network element may send a session management (session management, SM) policy association modification request (such as an SM policy association modification request) to the session management network element, and the policy including the first service flow identifier of the first service flow is matched with the first service flow identifier. The charging control rules are sent to the session management function network element, and the session management function network element generates data packet inspection rules and QoS rules according to the policy and charging control rules. The data packet detection rule is used to detect the data packet including the first service flow identifier of the first service flow, and provide an execution policy for the data packet, and the QoS rule is used to detect the data packet including the first service flow identifier data packets, and provide QoS policies for the data packets. That is to say, different from the existing packet detection rules and QoS rules based on packet filtering parameters to detect and identify packets of the first service flow, in this implementation, the first service flow is detected and identified based on the service flow identifier of the first service. the data package.

The session management function can send the packet inspection rules to the user plane function network elements through the session creation or modification process. For example, the packet inspection rule is sent to the user plane functional network element through an N4 session establishment/modification request (N4 session establishment/modification request). The QoS rules can also be sent to the terminal device through a session modification command or the like. For example, the session management function network element may first send a communication message transfer message (such as a Namf_communication_N1N2message transfer message) carrying a session modification command (such as a PDU session modification command) to the access and mobility management function (AMF) network The access and mobility management function network element sends the session modification command to the terminal device.

The data packets (uplink or downlink) of the first service flow transmitted between the terminal device and the application server all carry the identifier of the first service flow, because the data packet detection rule detects the data packets of the first service flow based on the first service flow identifier. , and provide an execution policy, the QoS rule detects the data packets of the first service flow based on the first service flow identifier, and provides QoS policies, even if due to the load balancing of the application server, CDN offloading, etc. The end-to-end connection established between the application servers for transmitting the first service flow is replaced or rebuilt. When the first service flow corresponds to one or more end-to-end connections between the terminal device and the application server at different times, there is no need to The update then initiates the update of the packet inspection rules and QoS.

It should be understood that the first service flow identifier can be carried in the network layer, transport layer, or application layer of the data packet, etc., to assign the first service flow identifier to the first service flow and how to make the policy control function network element know that the first service is the first service. For the flow assignment of the first service flow identifier, reference may be made to the implementation in the above scenario 1, and details are not repeated here.

As shown in FIG. 10 , the above-mentioned main terminal equipment and the solution provided by this application are introduced from the perspective of interaction of session management function network elements, user plane function network elements, application servers, and application function network elements. It can be understood that, in order to realize the above functions, each network element (or device) includes a corresponding hardware structure and/or software module (or unit) for performing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that the present application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein. Whether a function is implemented by hardware or computer software driven hardware 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.

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are schematic structural diagrams of possible service flow identification apparatuses provided by embodiments of the present application. These service flow identification apparatuses can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device, the session management function network element, the user plane function network element, the application server, and the application function network element in the above method embodiments, and thus can also implement the functions of the above method embodiments. beneficial effect. In the embodiment of the present application, the service flow identification device may be a terminal device, a session management function network element, a user plane function network element, an application server or an application function network element in the above method embodiments, or may be applied to a terminal A device, a session management function network element, a user plane function network element, an application server or a module (such as a chip) of an application function network element.

As shown in Figure 11. The apparatus 1100 for identifying a service flow may include: a processing unit 1102 and a communication unit 1103, and may further include a storage unit 1101. The service flow identification apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the functions of a terminal device, a session management function network element, a user plane function network element, an application server or an application function network element in the above method embodiments.

In a possible design, the processing unit 1102 is used to implement corresponding processing functions. The communication unit 1103 is used to support the communication between the service flow identification apparatus 1100 and other network entities. The storage unit 1101 is used for storing program codes and/or data of the service flow identification apparatus 1100 . Optionally, the communication unit 1103 may include a receiving unit and/or a sending unit for performing receiving and sending operations, respectively.

When the service flow identification apparatus 1100 is used to implement the function of the user plane function network element in the method embodiment:

A communication unit 1103, configured to receive a data packet, wherein the data packet includes a first service flow identifier of the first service flow to which the data packet belongs;

The processing unit 1102 is configured to, when the first data packet filtering parameter in the first data packet detection rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier is different from the second data packet filtering parameter in the data packet, according to the first data packet filtering parameter in the data packet Two data packet filtering parameters, updating the first data packet inspection rule to a second data packet inspection rule; wherein the first data packet inspection rule is used to detect data packets including the first data packet filtering parameter, and providing an enforcement policy for packets including the first packet filtering parameter, the second packet inspection rule for detecting packets including the second packet filtering parameter, and providing an execution policy for packets including the second packet filtering parameter The data packet of the filtering parameter provides an execution policy, and the second data packet inspection rule is the same as the execution policy provided by the first data packet inspection rule.

In a possible design, the communication unit 1103 is further configured to, when the data packet is a downlink data packet from an application server, send to the terminal according to the execution policy provided by the second data packet detection rule the device sends the packet; or,

When the data packet is an uplink data packet from a terminal device, the data packet is sent to the application server according to the execution policy provided by the second data packet detection rule.

In a possible design, the processing unit 1102 is further configured to add first indication information to the data packet sent to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device according to the The second data packet filtering parameter in the data packet updates the first quality of service QoS rule of the first service flow to the second QoS rule.

In a possible design, the processing unit 1102 is further configured to add second indication information to the data packet sent to the application server, where the second indication information is used to indicate the identification of the service flow The apparatus completes the update of the data packet detection rule of the first service flow.

In a possible design, when the processing unit 1102 updates the first data packet inspection rule to the second data packet inspection rule according to the second data packet filtering parameter, the processing unit 1102 is specifically configured to pass the communication Unit 1103 sends the second data packet filtering parameter and the first service flow identifier to the session management function network element; receives the second data packet detection rule from the session management function network element, the second data The packet inspection rule is determined by the session management function network element according to the second data packet filtering parameter and the first service flow identifier; and the first data packet inspection rule is updated to the second data packet inspection rule rule.

In a possible design, the communication unit 1103 is further configured to receive data packet detection rule configuration information from the session management function network element before receiving the data packet, where the data packet detection rule configuration information includes the first A first data packet detection rule of a service flow and an identifier of the first service flow.

In a possible design, the first service flow identifier is carried at the network layer or the transport layer or the application layer of the data packet.

In some implementations, the communication unit 1103 is configured to receive a data packet inspection rule from the session management function network element, the data packet inspection rule being used to detect a data packet including a first traffic flow identifier, and to provide execution for the data packet strategy, wherein the first service flow identified by the first service flow identifier corresponds to one or more end-to-end connections between the terminal device and the application server;

The communication unit 1103 is further configured to send the data packet to the application server according to the execution policy when receiving the data packet including the first service flow identifier from the terminal device; When the data packet including the first service flow identifier is received from the application server, the data packet is sent to the terminal device according to the execution policy.

When the service flow identification apparatus 1100 is used to implement the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment:

In a possible implementation, the communication unit 1103 is configured to receive a downlink data packet from a user plane functional network element, where the downlink data packet includes a first service flow identifier of the first service flow to which the downlink data packet belongs ;

The processing unit 1102 is configured to, when the first data packet filtering parameter in the first quality of service QoS rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier is different from the second data packet filtering parameter in the downlink data packet, according to the The second data packet filtering parameter is to update the first QoS rule to a second QoS rule; wherein the first QoS rule is used to detect data packets including the first data packet filtering parameter, and is configured to include the first data packet filtering parameter. A packet with a packet filter parameter provides a QoS policy, the second QoS rule is used to detect packets including the second packet filter parameter, and provide QoS for the packet including the second packet filter parameter policy, the QoS policy provided by the second QoS rule is the same as the QoS policy provided by the first QoS rule.

In a possible design, the downlink data packet further includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the service flow identification device to filter parameters according to the second data packet in the downlink data packet , and update the first QoS rule to the second QoS rule.

In a possible design, the communication unit 1103 is further configured to send rule update completion indication information to the application server, where the rule update completion indication information includes the first service flow identifier, which is used to indicate the terminal The device completes the QoS rule update for the first service flow.

In a possible design, the processing unit 1102, before the communication unit 1103 receives the downlink data packet from the user plane functional network element, is further configured to allocate the first service flow to the first service flow identification;

The communication unit 1103 is further configured to send first service flow identification configuration information to the application function network element, where the first service flow identification configuration information includes flow description information of the first service flow and the first service Stream ID.

In a possible design, before receiving the downlink data packet from the user plane function network element, the communication unit 1103 is further configured to receive QoS rule configuration information from the session management function network element, where the QoS rule configuration information includes all the first QoS rule and the first service flow identifier.

In a possible design, the first service flow identifier is carried at the network layer or the transport layer or the application layer of the downlink data packet.

In another possible implementation, the processing unit 1102 is configured to determine that the end-to-end connection corresponding to the first service flow is replaced or rebuilt;

The processing unit 1102 is further configured to update the first quality of service QoS rule of the first service flow to a second QoS rule according to the second packet filtering parameter corresponding to the end-to-end connection after the replacement or reconstruction, wherein The first QoS rule includes the first packet filtering parameter corresponding to the end-to-end connection before the first service flow is replaced or reestablished, and the first QoS rule is used to detect that the first packet filtering parameter includes the first packet filtering parameter. and provide QoS policy for the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, the second QoS rule is used to detect the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and provide QoS policy for the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter. A data packet with two data packet filtering parameters provides a QoS policy, and the QoS policy provided by the second QoS rule is the same as the QoS policy provided by the first QoS rule.

In a possible design, the communication unit 1103 is configured to, for the uplink data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, send the uplink data packet to the user plane function network element according to the QoS policy, wherein the The upstream data packet includes a first service flow identifier of the first service flow.

In a possible design, the processing unit 1102 is further configured to assign the first service flow identifier to the first service flow;

In a possible design, the communication unit 1103 is further configured to receive QoS rule configuration information from the session management function network element, where the QoS rule configuration information includes the first QoS rule and the first service flow logo.

In a possible design, the first service flow identifier is carried at the network layer or the transport layer or the application layer of the uplink data packet.

In some implementations, the communication unit 1103 is configured to receive a quality of service QoS rule from the session management function network element, where the QoS rule is configured to detect a data packet including the first service flow identifier, and provide the data packet with QoS policy, wherein the first service flow identified by the first service flow identifier corresponds to one or more end-to-end connections between the terminal device and the application server;

The communication unit 1103 is further configured to, for the data packet including the first service flow identifier, detect the data packet according to the QoS rule, and send the data packet to the user plane function network element based on the QoS policy , wherein the user plane functional network element is located on one or more end-to-end connections between the terminal device and the application server.

When the service flow identification apparatus 1100 is used to implement the function of the application server in the method embodiment:

A processing unit 1102, configured to determine that the end-to-end connection corresponding to the first service flow is replaced or rebuilt;

The communication unit 1103 is configured to send a downlink data packet of the first service flow to a user plane functional network element, where the downlink data packet includes a first service flow identifier of the first service flow.

In a possible design, the communication unit 1103 is further configured to receive second service flow identification configuration information from the application function network element, where the second service flow identification configuration information includes the first service flow Flow description information and the first service flow identifier.

When the service flow identification apparatus 1100 is used to implement the function of the session management function network element in the method embodiment:

A communication unit 1103, configured to receive a policy and charging control rule and a first service flow identifier from a policy control function network element, wherein the policy and charging control rule includes a first packet filtering parameter;

The processing unit 1102 is configured to generate a first packet inspection rule and a first quality of service QoS rule for the first service flow corresponding to the first service flow identifier according to the policy and the charging control rule. The data packet inspection rule is used to detect the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, and provide an execution policy for the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, and the first QoS rule is used to detect the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter. filtering the data packets of the first data packet parameters, and providing a QoS policy for the data packets including the first data packet filtering parameters;

The communication unit 1103 is further configured to send data packet inspection rule configuration information to the user plane functional network element, where the data packet inspection rule configuration information includes the first data packet inspection rule and the first service flow identifier; and Send the QoS rule configuration information to the terminal device, where the QoS rule configuration information includes the first QoS rule and the first service flow identifier.

In a possible design, the communication unit 1103 is further configured to receive the second data packet filtering parameter and the first service flow identifier from the user plane functional network element;

The processing unit 1102 is further configured to generate a second packet detection rule for the first service flow according to the second packet filtering parameter and the policy and charging control rule, and the second packet detection The rule is used to detect the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and provide an enforcement policy for the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter;

The communication unit 1103 is further configured to send the second data packet detection rule to the user plane functional network element.

In some implementations, the processing unit 1102 is configured to generate a data packet inspection rule and a quality of service QoS rule according to the policy and charging control rule of the first service flow and the first service flow identifier, wherein the first service flow corresponds to the terminal One or more end-to-end connections between a device and an application server, the data packet inspection rules are used to detect data packets including the first service flow identifier, and provide execution policies for the data packets, and the QoS rules for detecting a data packet including the first service flow identifier, and providing a QoS policy for the data packet;

The communication unit 1103 is configured to send the QoS rule to the terminal device, and send the data packet detection rule to a user plane function network element, where the user plane function network element is located between the terminal device and the application server. on one or more end-to-end connections.

When the service flow identification apparatus 1100 is used to implement the function of the application function network element in the method embodiment:

In a possible implementation, the communication unit 1103 is configured to receive first service flow identification configuration information from the terminal device, where the first service flow identification configuration information includes flow description information of the first service flow and the first service flow identification; and send the second service flow identification configuration information to the application server, and send the third service flow identification configuration information to the policy control function network element, the second service flow identification configuration information and the third service flow identification configuration information The information includes the flow description information of the first service flow and the first service flow identifier.

In another possible implementation, the processing unit 1102 is configured to assign a first service flow identifier to the first service flow;

The communication unit 1103 is configured to send the second service flow identification configuration information to the application server, and send the third service flow identification configuration information to the policy control function network element, the second service flow identification configuration information and the third service flow The identification configuration information includes the flow description information of the first service flow and the first service flow identification.

More detailed descriptions about the above-mentioned processing unit 1102 and the communication unit 1103 can be obtained directly by referring to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments, and details are not repeated here.

As shown in FIG. 12 , the service flow identification apparatus 1200 includes a processor 1210 and an interface circuit 1220 . The processor 1210 and the interface circuit 1220 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1220 can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the service flow identification apparatus 1200 may further include a memory 1230 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1210 or input data required by the processor 1210 to run the instructions or data generated after the processor 1210 runs the instructions.

When the service flow identification apparatus 1200 is used to implement the service flow identification method applicable to the terminal device, the session management function network element, the user plane function network element, the application server or the application function network element in the above method embodiments, the processor 1210 is used for The function of the above-mentioned processing unit 1102 is realized, and the interface circuit 1220 is used to realize the function of the above-mentioned communication unit 1103 .

As another form of this embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which instructions are stored, and when the instructions are executed, the above-mentioned method embodiments are applicable to terminal devices, session management function network elements, and user planes. A service flow identification method for a functional network element, an application server or an application functional network element.

As another form of this embodiment, a computer program product containing an instruction is provided. When the instruction is executed, it can execute the above method in the embodiment, which is applicable to a terminal device, a network element with a session management function, a network element with a user plane function, and an application. Service flow identification method of server or application function network element.

As another form of this embodiment, a chip is provided. When the chip is running, it can execute the functions in the foregoing method embodiments applicable to terminal equipment, session management function network elements, user plane function network elements, application servers or application functions. Service flow identification method of network element.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the present application. It will be understood that each process and/or block in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of processes and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to the processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine such that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce Means for implementing the functions specified in a flow or flow of a flowchart and/or a block or blocks of a block diagram.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory result in an article of manufacture comprising instruction means, the instructions The apparatus implements the functions specified in the flow or flow of the flowcharts and/or the block or blocks of the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process such that The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flow or blocks of the flowcharts and/or the block or blocks of the block diagrams.

While the preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, additional changes and modifications to these embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once the basic inventive concepts are known. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be construed to include the preferred embodiment and all changes and modifications that fall within the scope of this application.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

A service flow identification method, comprising:

The user plane function network element receives a data packet, wherein the data packet includes a first service flow identifier of the first service flow to which the data packet belongs;

When the first data packet filtering parameter in the first data packet detection rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier is different from the second data packet filtering parameter in the data packet, the user plane function network element according to the a second data packet filtering parameter, updating the first data packet detection rule to a second data packet detection rule;

The first data packet inspection rule is used to detect data packets including the first data packet filtering parameters, and provides an execution policy for the data packets including the first data packet filtering parameters, and the second data packet inspection The rule is used to detect the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and provide an execution policy for the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, the second data packet detection rule and the first data packet The execution policies provided by detection rules are the same.
The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

When the data packet is a downlink data packet from an application server, the user plane function network element sends the data packet to the terminal device according to the execution policy provided by the second data packet detection rule; or,

When the data packet is an uplink data packet from a terminal device, the user plane function network element sends the data packet to the application server according to the execution policy provided by the second data packet detection rule.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the user plane function network element adds first indication information to the data packet sent to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate the The terminal device updates the first quality of service QoS rule of the first service flow to a second QoS rule according to the second data packet filtering parameter in the data packet.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the user plane function network element adds second indication information to the data packet sent to the application server, where the second indication information is used to indicate the The user plane function network element completes the update of the data packet detection rule of the first service flow.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the user plane function network element updates the first data packet detection rule to the second data packet filtering parameter according to the second data packet filtering parameter Packet inspection rules, including:

sending, by the user plane function network element, the second data packet filtering parameter and the first service flow identifier to the session management function network element;

The user plane function network element receives the second packet detection rule from the session management function network element, and the second packet detection rule is that the session management function network element filters the second packet according to the second packet detection rule. The parameter is determined by the identifier of the first service flow;

The user plane function network element updates the first data packet inspection rule to the second data packet inspection rule.
The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein before the user plane function network element receives the data packet, the method further comprises:

The user plane function network element receives data packet inspection rule configuration information from the session management function network element, where the data packet inspection rule configuration information includes the first data packet inspection rule and the first service flow identifier.
The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the first service flow identifier is carried at a network layer, a transport layer or an application layer of the data packet.
A service flow identification method, comprising:

The terminal device receives the downlink data packet from the user plane function network element, and the downlink data packet includes the first service flow identifier of the first service flow to which the downlink data packet belongs;

When the first data packet filtering parameter in the first quality of service QoS rule corresponding to the first service flow identifier is different from the second data packet filtering parameter in the downlink data packet, the terminal device according to the second data packet filtering parameter Packet filtering parameters, updating the first QoS rule to a second QoS rule;

The first QoS rule is used to detect the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, and provide a QoS policy for the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, and the second QoS rule is used to detect A data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and a QoS policy is provided for the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and the QoS policy provided by the second QoS rule is the same as that provided by the first QoS rule. The QoS policies are the same.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the downlink data packet further includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device according to the second data in the downlink data packet Packet filtering parameters, and update the first QoS rule to the second QoS rule.
The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the method further comprises:

The terminal device sends rule update completion indication information to the application server, where the rule update completion indication information includes the first service flow identifier, which is used to instruct the terminal device to complete the QoS rule update for the first service flow .
The method according to any one of claims 8-10, wherein before the terminal device receives a downlink data packet from a user plane function network element, the method further comprises:

assigning, by the terminal device, the first service flow identifier to the first service flow;

The terminal device sends first service flow identification configuration information to the application function network element, where the first service flow identification configuration information includes flow description information of the first service flow and the first service flow identification.
The method according to any one of claims 8-11, wherein before the terminal device receives a downlink data packet from a user plane function network element, the method further comprises:

The terminal device receives QoS rule configuration information from the session management function network element, where the QoS rule configuration information includes the first QoS rule and the first service flow identifier.
The method according to any one of claims 8-12, wherein the first service flow identifier is carried at a network layer, a transport layer or an application layer of the downlink data packet.
A service flow identification method, comprising:

The terminal device determines that the end-to-end connection corresponding to the first service flow is replaced or rebuilt;

The terminal device updates the first quality of service QoS rule of the first service flow to a second QoS rule according to the second data packet filtering parameter corresponding to the replaced or rebuilt end-to-end connection;

The first QoS rule includes the first packet filtering parameter corresponding to the end-to-end connection before the first service flow is replaced or reestablished, and the first QoS rule is used to detect that the first packet filtering parameter includes the first packet filtering parameter. parameter, and provide a QoS policy for the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, the second QoS rule is used to detect the data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, and for the data packet including the The data packet of the second data packet filtering parameter provides a QoS policy, and the QoS policy provided by the second QoS rule is the same as the QoS policy provided by the first QoS rule.
The method of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

For the uplink data packet including the second data packet filtering parameter, the terminal device sends the uplink data packet to the user plane function network element according to the QoS policy, wherein the uplink data packet includes the first The first service flow identifier of the service flow.
The method of claim 14 or 15, wherein the method further comprises:

assigning, by the terminal device, the first service flow identifier to the first service flow;

The terminal device sends first service flow identification configuration information to the application function network element, where the first service flow identification configuration information includes flow description information of the first service flow and the first service flow identification.
The method of claim 14 or 15, wherein the method further comprises:

The terminal device receives QoS rule configuration information from the session management function network element, where the QoS rule configuration information includes the first QoS rule and the first service flow identifier.
The method of claim 15, wherein the first service flow identifier is carried at a network layer, a transport layer or an application layer of the uplink data packet.
A service flow identification method, comprising:

The application server determines that the end-to-end connection corresponding to the first service flow is replaced or rebuilt;

The application server sends a downlink data packet of the first service flow to the user plane functional network element, where the downlink data packet includes a first service flow identifier of the first service flow.
The method of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:

The application server receives second service flow identification configuration information from the application function network element, where the second service flow identification configuration information includes flow description information of the first service flow and the first service flow identification.
The method according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the first service flow identifier is carried at a network layer, a transport layer or an application layer of the downlink data packet.
A service flow identification method, comprising:

The session management function network element receives the policy and charging control rule and the first service flow identifier from the policy control function network element, wherein the policy and charging control rule includes the first packet filtering parameter;

The session management function network element generates a first packet inspection rule and a first quality of service QoS rule for the first service flow corresponding to the first service flow identifier according to the policy and the charging control rule. The data packet inspection rule is used to detect the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, and provide an execution policy for the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter, and the first QoS rule is used to detect the data packet including the first data packet filtering parameter. filtering the data packets of the first data packet parameters, and providing a QoS policy for the data packets including the first data packet filtering parameters;

The session management function network element sends data packet detection rule configuration information to the user plane function network element, where the data packet detection rule configuration information includes the first data packet detection rule and the first service flow identifier; The device sends the QoS rule configuration information, where the QoS rule configuration information includes the first QoS rule and the first service flow identifier.
The method of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises:

The session management function network element receives the second data packet filtering parameter and the first service flow identifier from the user plane function network element;

The session management function network element generates a second data packet inspection rule for the first service flow according to the second data packet filtering parameter and the policy and charging control rule, and the second data packet inspection rule uses for detecting data packets including the second data packet filtering parameter, and providing an enforcement policy for the data packets including the second data packet filtering parameter;

The session management function network element sends the second data packet detection rule to the user plane function network element.
A service flow identification method, comprising:

The application function network element receives the first service flow identification configuration information from the terminal device, where the first service flow identification configuration information includes flow description information of the first service flow and the first service flow identification;

The application function network element sends the second service flow identification configuration information to the application server, and sends the third service flow identification configuration information to the policy control function network element, the second service flow identification configuration information and the third service flow The identification configuration information includes the flow description information of the first service flow and the first service flow identification.
A service flow identification method, comprising:

The application function network element assigns the first service flow identifier to the first service flow;

The application function network element sends the second service flow identification configuration information to the application server, and sends the third service flow identification configuration information to the policy control function network element, the second service flow identification configuration information and the third service flow The identification configuration information includes the flow description information of the first service flow and the first service flow identification.
An apparatus for identifying a media service stream, comprising: a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores program instructions, the processor executes the program instructions stored in the memory, and executes the program as claimed in claim 1 - The method of any one of 7, or the method of any one of claims 8-13, or the method of any one of claims 14-18, or the method of any one of claims 19-21 The method of any one of the above, or the method of claim 22 or 23, or the method of claim 24 or 25.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that a computer program is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer is made to execute any one of claims 1-7 The method described, or the method of any one of claims 8-13, or the method of any one of claims 14-18, or the method of any one of claims 19-21 method, or the method of claim 22 or 23, or the method of claim 24 or 25.
A chip system, characterized in that the chip system includes:

A processor and an interface, the processor for invoking and executing instructions from the interface, when the processor executes the instructions, implements the method of any one of claims 1-7, or as claimed in claim The method of any one of 8-13, or the method of any one of claims 14-18, or the method of any one of claims 19-21, or the method of claim 22 or 23, or a method as claimed in claim 24 or 25.
A service flow identification system, characterized in that the system includes a user plane function network element, a terminal device, an application server, a session management function network element, and an application function network element;

Wherein, the user plane function network element is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-7;

The terminal device is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 8-18;

The application server is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 19-21;

The session management function network element is used to perform the method according to claim 22 or 23;

The application function network element is used to perform the method as claimed in claim 24 or 25.
A computer program product, characterized in that it includes a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction is executed, implements the method according to any one of claims 1-7, or any one of claims 8-13. A method as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 18 or as a method as claimed in any of claims 19 to 21 or as claimed in claim 22 or 23 , or a method as claimed in claim 24 or 25.