WO2024066924A1

WO2024066924A1 - User terminal policy configuration method and apparatus, and medium and chip

Info

Publication number: WO2024066924A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/116590
Authority: WO
Inventors: 孙悦; 陈卓怡; 龙彪
Original assignee: 中国电信股份有限公司
Priority date: 2022-09-28
Filing date: 2023-09-01
Publication date: 2024-04-04
Also published as: CN117793737A

Abstract

A user terminal policy configuration method and apparatus, and a medium and a chip, which relate to the technical field of communications. The method comprises: a first access and mobility management function (AMF) receiving information of a user terminal sent by a second AMF; when the information of the user terminal does not comprise a policy container, the first AMF sending to the user terminal a request for providing the policy container; the first AMF receiving the policy container sent by the user terminal; and the first AMF sending the policy container to a first policy control function (PCF), such that the first PCF configures a policy of the user terminal according to the policy container. Therefore, a policy of a user terminal can be configured during AMF redirection.

Description

User terminal policy configuration method, device, medium and chip

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This disclosure claims priority to a Chinese patent application with application number 202211193867.4 filed on September 28, 2022 and entitled “User terminal policy configuration method, device, medium and chip”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of mobile communications, and in particular to a method, device, computer-readable storage medium and chip for configuring a user terminal policy.

Background technique

In the prior art, when the access and mobility management function AMF redirects, the policy control function PCF will be reselected. In this scenario, the new AMF will re-initiate the user terminal UE policy association establishment process. During this process, the new AMF may not send the UE policy container information to the new PCF. Then the new PCF will think that the UE is newly registered, and the new PCF will create all UE policies.

Summary of the invention

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method, device, medium, and chip for configuring a user terminal policy.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for configuring a user terminal policy, the method comprising: a first access and mobility management function AMF receives information about a user terminal sent by a second AMF; when the first AMF does not include a policy container in the information about the user terminal, the first AMF sends a request for providing a policy container to the user terminal; the first AMF receives the policy container sent by the user terminal; the first AMF sends the policy container to a first policy control function PCF, so that the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container.

In one embodiment, the method further includes: the first AMF determines whether the information of the user terminal includes a policy container.

In one embodiment, the method further includes: when the first AMF includes a policy container in the information of the user terminal, sending the policy container to the first PCF, so that the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container.

In one embodiment, the policy container includes a list of policy segment identifiers, an operating system identifier, and an indication of access network service discovery and selection policies supported by the user terminal.

In one embodiment, enabling the first PCF to configure the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container includes: the first AMF receives the policy of the user terminal configured by the first PCF according to the policy container; the first AMF sends the policy of the user terminal to the user terminal so that the user terminal updates the policy configuration.

In one embodiment, enabling the first PCF to configure the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container includes: enabling the first PCF to configure the access network service discovery and selection policy of the user terminal or the user terminal routing selection policy according to the policy container.

In one embodiment, enabling the first PCF to configure the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container includes: enabling the first PCF to configure the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container and a local policy of the first PCF.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device, which includes a processing module and a transceiver module, and is used for the device to implement any method in the above embodiments.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device, including: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store programs or instructions, when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the device executes any method in the above embodiments.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the computer executes any method in the above embodiments.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a chip, including a processor, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory, and the memory is used to store programs or instructions. When the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the device executes any method in the above embodiments.

The configuration method of the user terminal policy of the present application receives the information of the user terminal sent by the second AMF through the first access and mobility management function AMF; the first AMF determines whether the information of the user terminal includes a policy container; when the first AMF does not include a policy container in the information of the user terminal, the first AMF sends a request for providing a policy container to the user terminal; the first AMF receives the policy container sent by the user terminal; the first AMF sends the policy container to the first policy control function PCF, so that the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram showing a network architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment;

FIG2 shows a flow chart of a method for configuring a user terminal policy according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG3 shows an example diagram of a method for configuring a user terminal policy according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG4 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG5 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed ways

The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, based on a communication system, such as a fifth-generation (5G) system, a first access and mobility management function (AMF) can receive information of a user terminal sent by a second AMF; the first AMF determines whether the information of the user terminal includes a policy container; when the information of the user terminal does not include a policy container, the first AMF sends a request for providing a policy container to the user terminal; the first AMF receives the policy container sent by the user terminal; the first AMF sends the policy container to a first policy control function (PCF), so that the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container, thereby configuring the policy of the user terminal when the AMF is redirected.

The communication system may include a terminal device 110, an access network 120, and a core network 130. For example, reference may be made to the network architecture diagram of the communication system shown in FIG1 .

The terminal device 110 is a device with wireless transceiver function, which can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.). The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a vehicle-mounted terminal device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a wearable terminal device, etc. Terminal equipment may also be sometimes referred to as terminal, user equipment (UE), access terminal equipment, vehicle-mounted terminal, industrial control terminal, UE unit, UE station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal equipment, mobile equipment, UE agent or UE device, etc. Terminal equipment It may also be fixed or mobile. In FIG1 and the present application, the terminal device 110 is introduced by taking UE as an example.

Among them, the access network 120 is used to implement access-related functions and can provide network access functions for authorized users in a specific area. The access network forwards control signals and user data between the terminal device and the core network. The access network may include access network equipment, which may be equipment that provides access to the terminal device, and may include radio access network (RAN) equipment and AN equipment. RAN equipment is mainly wireless network equipment in the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) network, and AN equipment may be access network equipment not defined by 3GPP. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of devices with base station functions may be different. For example, in 5G systems, they are called RAN or next-generation Node basestation (gNB); in long-term evolution (LTE) systems, they are called evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB).

The core network 130 is responsible for maintaining the subscription data of the mobile network and providing functions such as session management, mobility management, policy management and security authentication for the UE 110. The core network 130 may include the following network elements (modules): user plane function 131 (UPF), authentication server function 132 (AUSF), access and mobility management function 133 (AMF), session management function 134 (SMF), network exposure function 135 (NEF), network function repository function 136 (NRF), policy control function 137 (PCF) and unified data management 1381 (UDM), and optionally, application function 139 (AF) and unified data repository 1382 (UDR). In the embodiment of the present application, UDM 1381 and UDR 1382 are collectively referred to as data management network element 138 .

In the core network, AMF133 is mainly responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as user location update, user registration network, user switching, etc. SMF134 is mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification, and release. UPF131 is responsible for forwarding and receiving user data in the terminal device. It can receive user data from the data network and transmit it to the terminal device through the access network device; it can also receive user data from the terminal device through the access network device and forward it to the data network. PCF137 mainly supports providing a unified policy framework to control network behavior, provides policy rules to the control layer network function, and is responsible for obtaining user subscription information related to policy decisions. AUSF132 is used to perform security authentication of UE110. NEF136 is mainly used to support the opening of capabilities and events. NRF137 is used to provide storage and selection functions of network function entity information for other network elements. UDM1381 is used to store user data, such as subscription data, authentication/authorization data, etc. AF139 interacts with the 3GPP core network 130 to provide application layer services, such as providing information about application layer data routing and providing access network Capability exposure function, interacting with the policy framework to provide policy control, interacting with the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) of the communication network, etc.

The data network 140 (DN) is used to provide business services to users. It can be a private network, such as a local area network; it can also be an external network that is not controlled by the operator, such as the Internet; it can also be a proprietary network jointly deployed by operators, such as an IMS network. The terminal device can access the DN 140 through the established protocol data unit (PDU) session.

AMF redirection means that when an AMF (e.g., the second AMF) receives a registration request, the AMF may need to redirect the registration request to another AMF (e.g., the first AMF). The main application scenario is that the initial AMF is not suitable for providing services to the UE. In the existing communication standards, there is currently no dedicated process for establishing UE policy association for PCF reselection during AMF redirection.

FIG2 shows a flow chart of a method for configuring a user terminal policy according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2 , in this embodiment, the method for configuring a user terminal policy includes:

In step 210, the first access and mobility management function AMF receives information of the user terminal sent by the second AMF.

In this step, the first AMF may be the new AMF during redirection, and the second AMF may be the old AMF during redirection. When the second AMF is not suitable for providing services to the user terminal, the second AMF redirects the service request of the user terminal to the first AMF.

In step 220, when the first AMF does not include a policy container in the information of the user terminal, the first AMF sends a request for providing a policy container to the user terminal.

In this step, when the first AMF does not include a policy container in the information of the user terminal, it sends a request for providing a policy container to the user terminal. In one embodiment, the first AMF sends a request for providing a policy container to the UE through the N1 interface (NAS, Non-Access Stratum). The policy container includes the list of stored PSIs (where PSI stands for policy section identifier), an operating system identifier (OSID, operating system identifier) and an indication of UE support for ANDSP, where ANDSP stands for Access Network Discovery & Selection Policy.

In step 230, the first AMF receives a policy container sent by the user terminal.

In this step, the first AMF receives the policy container sent by the user terminal.

In step 240, the first AMF sends the policy container to the first policy control function PCF, so that the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container.

In this step, the first AMF sends the policy container to the first policy control function PCF so that the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container. In one embodiment, the first AMF receives the policy of the user terminal configured by the first PCF according to the policy container; the first AMF sends the policy of the user terminal to the user terminal so that the user terminal updates the policy configuration.

In one embodiment, the first PCF configures the access network service discovery and selection policy (ANDSP) or the user terminal route selection policy (URSP, UE Route Selection Policy) of the user terminal according to the policy container. In the current 5G network, the policy control related to UE access selection and PDU (protocol data unit) session selection (i.e., UE policy) allows the network (e.g., PCF) to configure two types of operator policies for the UE: (1) Access network discovery and policy selection (ANDSP) for non-3GPP access; (2) UE route selection policy (URSP) related to applications and PDU sessions. The UE will follow the ANDSP or URSP rules provided by the network. In one embodiment, the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container and the local policy of the first PCF.

In one embodiment, the method for configuring a user terminal policy shown in FIG. 2 further includes: the first AMF determines whether the information of the user terminal includes a policy container.

In one embodiment, the method for configuring the user terminal policy shown in Figure 2 also includes: when the first AMF includes a policy container in the information of the user terminal, the policy container is sent to the first PCF, so that the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container.

Figure 2 shows a method for configuring a user terminal policy, in which the first access and mobility management function AMF receives information about the user terminal sent by the second AMF; when the first AMF does not include a policy container in the information about the user terminal, the first AMF sends a request for providing a policy container to the user terminal; the first AMF receives the policy container sent by the user terminal; the first AMF sends the policy container to the first policy control function PCF, so that the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container, thereby configuring the policy of the user terminal when the AMF is redirected.

FIG3 shows an example diagram of a method for configuring a user terminal policy according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method of FIG2 is described below in conjunction with the specific example of FIG3:

Referring to Figure 3, in step S301, the user terminal UE sends an access request or a session establishment request to the base station RAN side, and sends it to the second AMF through the RAN.

Referring to Figure 3, in step S302, the second AMF determines that it is not suitable to provide services for the user terminal UE.

Referring to Figure 3, in step S303, the second AMF sends the information of the user terminal UE to the first AMF.

Referring to Figure 3, in step S304, the first AMF determines whether the information of the user terminal includes a policy container.

Referring to FIG. 3, in step S305, when the first AMF includes a policy container in the information of the user terminal, Send the policy container to the first PCF.

Referring to FIG. 3 , in step S306 , the first PCF configures a policy of the user terminal according to the policy container.

Referring to Figure 3, in step S307, the first PCF sends the policy of the user terminal to the user terminal through the first AMF and the RAN so that the user terminal UE updates the policy configuration.

Referring to Figure 3, in step S308, when the first AMF does not include a policy container in the information of the user terminal, it sends a request for providing a policy container to the user terminal UE through the RAN.

Referring to Figure 3, in step S309, the user terminal UE sends a policy container to the first AMF.

Referring to Figure 3, in step S310, the first AMF sends a policy container to the first PCF.

Referring to FIG. 3 , in step S311 , the first PCF configures a policy of a user terminal according to a policy container.

Referring to FIG. 3 , in step S312 , the first PCF sends the policy of the user terminal to the user terminal through the first AMF and the RAN so that the user terminal UE updates the policy configuration.

The configuration method of the user terminal policy in Figure 3 is that the user terminal UE sends an access request or a session establishment request to the base station RAN side, and sends it to the second AMF through the RAN; the second AMF determines that it is not suitable to provide services to the user terminal UE; the second AMF sends the request of the user terminal UE to the first AMF; the first AMF determines whether the request information of the user terminal includes a policy container; when the first AMF includes a policy container in the request information of the user terminal, it sends the policy container to the first PCF; the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container; the first PCF sends the policy of the user terminal to the user terminal through the first AMF and RAN so that the user terminal UE updates the policy configuration; when the first AMF does not include a policy container in the information of the user terminal, it sends a request for providing a policy container to the user terminal UE through the RAN; the policy container sent by the user terminal UE to the first AM; the policy container sent by the first AMF to the first PCF; the first PCF sends the policy of the user terminal to the user terminal through the first AMF and RAN so that the user terminal UE updates the policy configuration, which can realize the configuration of the user terminal policy when the AMF is redirected.

FIG4 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Based on the same inventive concept as the method embodiment, the embodiment of the present application further provides a device 400 for executing the method executed by the terminal device and various network devices (such as RAN, AMF or PCF) in the method embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 3 above. The relevant features can be found in the above method embodiments and will not be repeated here. As an example, as shown in Figure 4, the device 400 includes a transceiver module 401 and a processing module 402.

For the specific functions of the transceiver module 401 and the processing module 402, please refer to the description in the above method embodiment, which will not be described here.

The division of units in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only for a logical function. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into a processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a module. The above-mentioned integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules.

If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions to enable a terminal device (which can be a personal computer, mobile phone, or network device, etc.) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the method in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), disk or optical disk, and other media that can store program codes.

In the embodiments of the present application, both the terminal device and the network device can be presented in the form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. The "module" here can refer to a specific ASIC, circuit, processor and memory that executes one or more software or firmware programs, integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that can provide the above functions.

In a simple embodiment, a communication device 500 as shown in FIG. 5 includes at least one processor 501 , a memory 502 , and optionally, a communication interface 503 .

The memory 502 may be a volatile memory, such as a random access memory; the memory may also be a non-volatile memory, such as a read-only memory, a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), or the memory 502 may be any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 502 may be a combination of the above memories.

The specific connection medium between the processor 501 and the memory 502 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. In the figure, the memory 502 and the processor 501 are connected via a bus 504, and the bus 504 is represented by a bold line in the figure. The connection between other components is only for schematic illustration and is not limited. The bus 504 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one bold line is used in FIG5, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

The processor 501 may have a data transceiver function and may communicate with other devices. In the device shown in FIG. 5 , an independent data transceiver module may also be provided, such as a communication interface 503, for transmitting and receiving data. The processor 501 may be configured to transmit and receive data. When communicating with other devices, data can be transmitted through the communication interface 503 .

In one example, when the terminal device adopts the form shown in Figure 5, the processor in Figure 5 can call the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 502 to enable the terminal device to execute the method executed by the terminal device in any of the above method embodiments.

Specifically, the functions/implementation processes of the processing module and the transceiver module in FIG4 can be implemented by the processor 501 in FIG5 calling the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 502. Alternatively, the functions/implementation processes of the processing module in FIG4 can be implemented by the processor 501 in FIG5 calling the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 502, and the functions/implementation processes of the transceiver module in FIG4 can be implemented by the communication interface 503 in FIG5.

In another example, when the network device adopts the form shown in Figure 5, the processor in Figure 5 can call the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 502, so that the authentication server function executes the method executed by the network device in any of the above method embodiments.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which may include an access and mobility management function network element AMF and a policy control function network element PCF. Optionally, it also includes RAN.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application may adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application may adopt the form of a computer program product implemented in one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

The present application is described with reference to the flowchart and/or block diagram of the method, device (system), and computer program product according to the present application. It should be understood that each process and/or box in the flowchart and/or block diagram, as well as the combination of the process and/or box in the flowchart and/or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one process or multiple processes in the flowchart and/or one box or multiple boxes in the block diagram.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a manufactured product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and/or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded into a computer or other programmable data processing device so that A computer or other programmable device executes a series of operating steps to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and/or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations 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 method for configuring a user terminal policy, wherein the method comprises:

The first access and mobility management function AMF receives the information of the user terminal sent by the second AMF;

When the first AMF does not include a policy container in the information of the user terminal, sending a request to the user terminal to provide the policy container;

The first AMF receives the policy container sent by the user terminal;

The first AMF sends the policy container to a first policy control function PCF, so that the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

The first AMF determines whether the information of the user terminal includes the policy container.
The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

When the first AMF includes the policy container in the information of the user terminal, the policy container is sent to the first PCF, so that the first PCF configures the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container.
The method according to claim 3, wherein

The policy container includes a policy segment identifier list, an operating system identifier, and an indication of an access network service discovery and selection policy supported by the user terminal.
The method according to claim 1, wherein causing the first PCF to configure the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container comprises:

The first AMF receives the policy of the user terminal configured by the first PCF according to the policy container;

The first AMF sends the policy of the user terminal to the user terminal so that the user terminal updates the policy configuration.
The method according to claim 1, wherein causing the first PCF to configure the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container comprises:

The first PCF is enabled to configure the access network service discovery and selection policy or the user terminal routing selection policy of the user terminal according to the policy container.
The method according to claim 1, wherein causing the first PCF to configure the policy of the user terminal according to the policy container comprises:

The first PCF configures the user terminal according to the policy container and the local policy of the first PCF. end strategy.
A communication device, wherein the device comprises a processing module and a transceiver module, and is used for the device to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7.
A communication device comprises: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store programs or instructions, when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program or instruction stored thereon, wherein when the computer program or instruction is executed, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
A chip, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory, and the memory is used to store programs or instructions. When the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the device executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7.