WO2024114766A1

WO2024114766A1 - Data transmission method, apparatus, device and storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2024114766A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/135657
Authority: WO
Inventors: 郑韶雯; 邓平科; 王丹; 陆璐
Original assignee: 中国移动通信有限公司研究院; 中国移动通信集团有限公司
Priority date: 2022-12-02
Filing date: 2023-11-30
Publication date: 2024-06-06
Also published as: CN118139135A

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application are a data transmission method, an apparatus, a device and a storage medium. The method comprises: a first function applied to a space-earth integration network sends, on the basis of the relative position relationship between the first function and a user equipment, a first request to a second function, the first request being used for updating a user plane function. In the space-earth integration network, on the basis of the relative position relationship between the first function and the user equipment, the first function sends to the second function the first request used for updating the user plane function, so that the mobility problem caused by relative movement between user equipments and network functions in the space-earth integration network can be comprehensively considered; and the first function initiating the first request can meet the requirements for service continuity, and can also effectively reduce the burden on SMFs, thereby meeting the requirements for service continuity in space-earth integration network scenarios.

Description

Data transmission method, device, equipment and storage medium

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on the Chinese patent application with application number 202211540232.7 and application date December 02, 2022, and claims the priority of the Chinese patent application. The entire content of the Chinese patent application is hereby introduced into this application as a reference.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a data transmission method, device, equipment and storage medium.

Background technique

In traditional ground networks, the relatively centralized SMF (Session Management function) decides whether to adopt the PSA (PDU Session Anchor) relocation mode, where PDU is the protocol data unit. However, in a space-ground fusion network, mobility issues are often caused by the relative movement between UE (User Equipment) and UPF (User Plane Function). SMF is often unable to monitor the locations of all users, and there are many UPFs under SMF. Different UPFs correspond to more UEs, and UPFs and UEs may move relative to each other. All of these are evaluated and judged by the SMF node, which will impose a heavy burden on SMF and is not conducive to its application in a satellite resource-constrained environment.

Summary of the invention

In view of this, the embodiments of the present application provide a data transmission method, apparatus, device and storage medium, which are intended to meet the needs of business continuity in a space-ground integrated network scenario.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is implemented as follows:

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission method, which is applied to a first function in a space-ground fusion network, and the method includes:

Based on the relative position relationship between the first function and the user equipment, a first request is sent to the second function, where the first request is used to update the user plane function.

In the above solution, the first request carries demand information, and the demand information includes at least one of the following: service quality demand information and computing power demand information.

In the above solution, the first function is a user plane function or a relay user plane function serving as a protocol data unit session anchor, and the second function is a combination of a user plane function and a session management function.

In the above solution, sending the first request to the second function based on the relative position relationship between the first function and the user equipment includes:

Determine a distance value and/or a transmission delay between the first function and the user equipment based on the ephemeris information of the first function and the location information of the user equipment;

If it is determined that the distance value and/or the transmission delay is greater than a corresponding set threshold, a first request is sent to the second function.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission method, which is applied to a second function in a space-ground fusion network, and the method includes:

receiving a first request from a first function, the first request being used to update a user plane function;

In response to the first request, a third function is determined as a target user plane function.

In the above solution, the determining of the third function as the target user plane function includes:

Based on the ephemeris information and/or on-board edge application information of the to-be-selected satellite node, a third function is selected as a target user plane function.

In the above scheme, the first request carries demand information, and the demand information includes at least one of the following: service quality demand information and computing power demand information, and the third function selected as the target user plane function based on the ephemeris information of the selected satellite node and/or the on-board edge application information includes: include:

Determine at least one of a propagation delay and an available duration of each candidate satellite node for the user equipment based on the ephemeris information of the candidate satellite node; and/or,

Determine a target satellite node that meets the edge application requirements based on the onboard edge application information of the selected satellite node and the requirement information carried by the first request;

Based on at least one of the propagation delay, the available propagation time and the target satellite node, a third function is selected from each candidate satellite node as a target user plane function.

In the above solution, after determining the third function as the target user plane function, the method further includes:

Sending a first notification to the application function, where the first notification is used to indicate an uplink path change;

Based on a first response returned by the application function to the first notification, it is determined whether the third function should cache the uplink data from the user equipment.

In the above solution, if the uplink data is cached by the third function, the method further includes:

sending a second notification to the application function, where the second notification is used to indicate a change in a data network access identifier of a user plane path;

Based on the second response returned by the application function to the second notification, the first function is released, and the third function is controlled to send the cached uplink data and serve as a target user plane function.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission device, which is applied to a first function in a space-ground fusion network, and the device includes:

The request module is configured to send a first request to the second function based on the relative position relationship between the first function and the user equipment, wherein the first request is used to update the user plane function.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data transmission device, which is applied to the second function in a space-ground fusion network, and the device includes:

A receiving module, configured to receive a first request from a first function, where the first request is used to update a user plane function;

The control module is configured to determine, in response to the first request, a third function as a target user plane function.

In the fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a first function applied in a space-ground fusion network, including: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program that can be run on the processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute the steps of the method described in the first aspect of the embodiment of the present application when running the computer program.

In the above scheme, the first function is deployed on a satellite node in low Earth orbit (LEO).

In the sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a second function applied in a space-ground fusion network, including: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program that can be run on the processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute the steps of the method described in the second aspect of the embodiment of the present application when running the computer program.

In the above scheme, the second function is deployed on a satellite node in medium earth orbit (MEO).

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described in any aspect of the embodiment of the present application are implemented.

The technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application is that, in a space-ground converged network, the first function sends a first request for updating the user plane function to the second function based on the relative position relationship between the first function and the user equipment, thereby comprehensively considering the mobility problem caused by the relative movement between the user equipment and the network function in the space-ground converged network. The first request is initiated by the first function, which can not only meet the requirements of business continuity, but also effectively reduce the burden of the SMF, thereby meeting the needs of business continuity in the space-ground converged network scenario.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a space-ground fusion network according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG3 is a flow chart of a data transmission method according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a PSA relocation method according to an application example of the present application;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data transmission device applied to the first function of the present application;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data transmission device applied to the second function of the present application;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first function of an embodiment of the present application;

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the second function of an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs. The terms used herein in the specification of this application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit this application.

The space-ground integrated network in the embodiment of the present application can be a network architecture that integrates satellites and ground cellular networks. It utilizes the characteristics of satellite access, such as low cost, wide coverage, and less impact from physical attacks and natural disasters, to complement and closely integrate with the ground cellular network to build a three-dimensional layered integrated network architecture, thereby realizing the transmission and interaction of information on a global scale.

In the related art, the space-ground fusion network can be shown in FIG1, where multiple functions are combined and set up, for example, ULCL UPF (uplink Classifier UPF) and SMF are set up in a satellite node on MEO (Middle Earth Orbit), and PSA UPF and EAS (edge application server) are set up in a satellite node on LEO (Low Earth Orbit). Because the EAS located on the satellite node moves, and the satellite node where the source EAS is located and the satellite node where the destination EAS is located are not continuously covered, or when the satellite node where the destination EAS is located is not ready, the context transmission is not completed, etc., which may cause packet loss and/or business discontinuity.

Based on this, in various embodiments of the present application, a method suitable for a ground-ground fusion network is provided. data transmission method to meet the needs of business continuity in the space-ground integrated network scenario.

In an exemplary embodiment, the present application provides a data transmission method, which is applied to a first function in a space-ground fusion network. As shown in FIG2 , the method includes:

Step 201: Send a first request to a second function based on a relative position relationship between the first function and the user equipment, where the first request is used to update the user plane function.

Here, the first function may be a user plane function (e.g., PSA-UPF) or a relay user plane function (e.g., I-UPF) as a protocol data unit session anchor, and the second function may be a user plane function and a session management function. It should be noted that the second function may be a part of the functions of the SMF, for example, at least the user plane selection, control, and configuration functions may be a part of the SMF.

Here, the user equipment is a terminal device, a gateway device, a vehicle-mounted device, a ship-mounted device, etc. with communication functions, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

Exemplarily, the first request may be any one of the following requests: modification, insertion, deletion of I-UPF and redirection of PSA-UPF. Modification, insertion, deletion of I-UPF refers to updating the non-export UPF, and redirection of PAS-UPF is used to update the export UPF.

It can be understood that the first function sends a first request for updating the user plane function to the second function based on the relative position relationship between the first function and the user equipment, thereby comprehensively considering the mobility problem caused by the relative movement between the user equipment and the network function in the earth-ground integrated network. The first request initiated by the first function can not only meet the requirements of business continuity, but also effectively reduce the burden of the SMF, thereby meeting the needs of business continuity in the earth-ground integrated network scenario.

Exemplarily, based on the relative position relationship between the first function and the user equipment, sending the first request to the second function includes:

If it is determined that the distance value and/or the transmission delay is greater than the corresponding set threshold, a first request is sent to the second function.

It can be understood that the ephemeris information is information used to describe the position and speed of the satellite node, for example, including but not limited to at least one of the following: orbital position, orbital altitude, inclination, direction of movement and speed of movement. In this way, after obtaining the location information of the user device, the distance value and/or transmission delay between the two can be determined based on the ephemeris information of the first function and the location information of the user device, and then it can be determined whether the user device exceeds the coverage of the first function. If so, the first function sends a first request for updating the user plane function to the second function. It should be noted that the distance value here can be the current distance value or the predicted distance value. Similarly, the transmission delay can be the current transmission delay or the predicted transmission delay. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

Exemplarily, if the first function determines that the aforementioned distance value is greater than the distance setting threshold, and/or determines that the aforementioned transmission delay is greater than the delay setting threshold, it sends a first request to the second function. In this way, the first function can automatically monitor the relative movement between it and the user equipment and determine whether to start the user plane function update, which can not only meet the scenario requirements of the dynamic network topology in the space-ground integrated network, but also effectively reduce the resource burden of the SMF.

Exemplarily, the first request carries demand information, and the demand information includes at least one of the following: service quality demand information and computing power demand information. In this way, after receiving the first request, the second function can optimize the selection of the target user plane function based on the service quality demand information and/or computing power demand information carried by the first request, so that the updated target user plane function meets the current service demand.

It is understandable that the aforementioned service quality requirement information is used to indicate the service quality requirement of the current service, including but not limited to at least one of the following: transmission delay, bandwidth requirement and access number requirement. The aforementioned computing power requirement information is used to indicate the computing power-related requirements of the current service, including but not limited to at least one of the following: computing power service type, service type and computing power resource requirement.

In an exemplary embodiment, the present application provides a data transmission method, which is applied to the second function in a space-ground fusion network. As shown in FIG3 , the method includes:

Step 301: Receive a first request from a first function, where the first request is used to update a user plane function.

Step 302: In response to the first request, determine a third function as a target user plane function.

It is understandable that after receiving the first request, the second function can determine the third function as the target user plane function in response to the first request, and then automatically complete the update of the user plane function. Since the second function determines the third function as the target user plane function in response to the first request, it can not only meet the scenario requirements of the dynamic network topology in the space-ground fusion network, but also effectively reduce the resource burden of the SMF.

Exemplarily, determining the third function as the target user plane function includes:

Taking into account the dynamic characteristics of network topology in the space-ground integrated network, the second function can select the third function as the target user plane function based on the ephemeris information of the selected satellite node and/or the on-board edge application information. Among them, the on-board edge application information is used to indicate the capabilities of the on-board edge application, such as the capabilities of the on-board edge application server (EAS), and the on-board edge application information includes but is not limited to at least one of the following: edge application type, edge application provider, edge application address (IP address, etc.) and EAS Service KPIs (key indicators of edge application server services, such as response rate, available memory, available computing resources, available graphics computing resources, etc.).

Exemplarily, the first request carries demand information, where the demand information includes at least one of the following: service quality demand information and computing power demand information. Based on the ephemeris information and/or on-board edge application information of the selected satellite node, the third function selected as the target user plane function includes:

Determine at least one of a propagation delay and an available duration of each candidate satellite node for a user equipment based on the ephemeris information of the candidate satellite node; and/or,

Determine a target satellite node that meets the edge application requirements based on the onboard edge application information of the candidate satellite node and the requirement information carried in the first request;

Based on at least one of a propagation delay, an available propagation time and a target satellite node, a third function is selected from each candidate satellite node as a target user plane function.

It can be understood that based on the above-mentioned propagation delay, available propagation time and at least one of the target satellite nodes that meet the edge application requirements, the third function can be automatically selected from the selected satellite nodes as the target user plane function, thereby automatically realizing the update of the user plane function.

It should be noted that the second function can determine the propagation delay and/or available duration of each satellite node to be selected for the user equipment based on the ephemeris information of the satellite node to be selected and the location information of the user equipment. For example, the distance between the two can be determined based on the ephemeris information of the satellite node to be selected and the location information of the user equipment, and the propagation delay can be calculated based on the distance and the electromagnetic wave propagation speed, and then the third function can be selected based on the ranking result of the propagation delay of each satellite node to be selected; for another example, the available duration of the satellite node to be selected (i.e., the service duration covering the user equipment) can be calculated based on the ephemeris information of the satellite node to be selected and the location information of the user equipment, and then the third function can be selected based on the ranking result of the available duration of each satellite node to be selected.

In an application example, the satellite nodes to be selected can be weighted and sorted based on the above-mentioned propagation delay and available time, and the target satellite nodes that meet the edge application requirements can be determined in combination with the on-board edge application information of the selected satellite nodes and the demand information carried by the first request. That is, the selected satellite nodes are screened based on the demand information, and the satellite nodes that meet the service quality demand information and/or computing power demand information are selected as the target satellite nodes. Then, based on the result of the weighted sorting, the third function is selected, which is the network function deployed on the best satellite node.

Exemplarily, after determining the third function as the target user plane function, the method further includes:

Based on a first response returned by the application function to the first notification, it is determined whether the uplink data from the user equipment is buffered by the third function.

Here, the application function may return a first response to the third function to indicate whether the third function needs to cache uplink data during the user plane function update process, thereby reducing the loss of data packets.

Exemplarily, if the uplink data is cached by the third function, the method further includes:

Based on the second response returned by the application function to the second notification, the first function is released, and the third function is controlled to send the cached uplink data and serve as the target user plane function.

It is understandable that the third function can determine that the service migration is completed based on the second response of the application function, and then release the first function, control the third function to send the cached uplink data and serve as the target user plane function. In this way, the service continuity requirements can be met and the loss of data packets during the service migration process can be effectively avoided.

The present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with an application example.

In this application embodiment, through PSA relocation and uplink data caching mechanism, when the destination EAS can perform context transmission, the uplink data from the UE is sent to the destination EAS, thereby meeting the service continuity requirements and effectively reducing the loss of data packets.

It should be noted that each satellite node has the function of RAN (Radio Access Network); the handover operation required each time the satellite node is changed can be referred to 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) TS (Technical Specification) 23502 Chapter 4.9.2.

In order to implement uplink caching, the application function (AF) needs to subscribe to Early Notifications (corresponding to the first notification mentioned above) and Late Notifications (second notification).

In this application embodiment, the aforementioned first function is the UPF as PSA1, i.e., the UPF (PSA1) shown in FIG4, the aforementioned second function is the UL CL UPF with SMF, i.e., the UPF (UL CL)/SMF shown in FIG4, and the aforementioned third function is the UPF as PSA2, i.e., the UPF (PSA2) shown in FIG4. The first function and the third function can be deployed on the satellite node of LEO, and the second function can be deployed on the satellite node of MEO, thereby forming a double-layer networking structure.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the PSA relocation method of this application embodiment includes:

Step 1, UPF (PSA1) sends a request for PSA relocation (ie, the first request mentioned above).

Exemplarily, due to the relative movement of satellite nodes and/or user equipment (UE), the original PAS and/or EAS cannot meet the service requirements, and UPF (PSA1) sends a request to the onboard UPF (UL CL)/SMF, indicating that the PSA needs to be replaced for PDU Session with UL CL (PDU session based on uplink classification) or SSC mode 3 (session and service continuity mode 3).

It should be noted that, unlike the ground, which often considers the mobility of user equipment, the PSA relocation on the satellite requires the change of the relative position between the user equipment and the PSA. Therefore, the PSA on the satellite needs to detect the relative position relationship between the network function and the UE to make a judgment.

Exemplarily, the onboard PSA can calculate the relative position relationship between the network function and the UE based on the detected network status, and/or ephemeris information, and/or predicted network topology change information, and/or user mobility information, so as to determine whether repositioning is required.

Step 2.1, request on-board edge application information.

Here, after receiving the request for PSA relocation, UPF (UL CL) / SMF can query EASDF (edge application server discovery function) or ECS (edge configuration server) for information such as the functions of the EAS on it, that is, request the on-board edge application information, and then obtain the on-board edge application information of the satellite node. It should be noted that in order to support the query of on-board edge application information, ECS can add the EAS exposure function or reuse the existing service provisioning service.

In step 2.2, select PSA2.

Here, UPF (UL CL) / SMF selects PSA2 based on the ephemeris information and the EAS information of the selected satellite node (i.e. the aforementioned on-board edge application information). The EAS information can be found in TS 23558 section 8.2.4, including information on EAS application, location, address, computing resource requirements, available computing resources and other attributes.

Exemplarily, selecting PSA2 includes:

Determine the transmission direction of each candidate satellite node for the user equipment based on the ephemeris information of the candidate satellite node At least one of a broadcast delay and an available duration; and/or,

Determine a target satellite node that meets the edge application requirements based on the EAS information of the candidate satellite node and the requirement information carried in the first request;

Based on at least one of the propagation delay, the available propagation time and the target satellite node, PSA2 (ie, the third function as the target user plane function) is selected from each candidate satellite node.

In an application example, the process of selecting PSA2 includes:

Determine the propagation delay and available duration of each candidate satellite node for the user equipment based on the ephemeris information of the candidate satellite node;

The satellite nodes to be selected are weighted and sorted based on the propagation delay and the available time;

Based on the EAS information and demand information, the candidate satellite nodes are screened, and then the best satellite node is selected as PSA2.

Step 2.3, send Early Notifications (corresponding to the first notification mentioned above) to AF.

Here, after PSA2 is selected, UPF (UL CL)/SMF sends Early Notifications to AF, that is, informs AF of the change notification of DNAI (Data Network Access Identifier), and AF replies with the first response of whether UL data (uplink data) needs to be cached. AF may be on the ground or on the satellite, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

Step 3: Configure PSA2.

For the type of PDU Session with UL CL, configure PSA2 (see step 2 of section 4.3.5.6 and step 2 of section 4.3.5.7 of TS 23.502), provide the tunnel ID, configure packet inspection, filtering execution, reporting rules. And instruct to cache downlink data. PSA1 receives and sends downlink data received from EAS1 until the connection is released in step 7.

For SSC mode 3 types, UPF (UL CL)/SMF configures PSA2 (see step 4 of section 4.3.5.2 and steps 5 and 6 of section 4.3.5.4 of TS 23.502).

Step 4: N4 session adjustment.

For PDU Session with UL CL type, UPF (UL CL)/SMF initiates N4 Session Modification Request (traffic filter that needs to be updated and the tunnel ID of PSA2) is used to update the UL CL rules to direct the traffic to PSA2. For details, please refer to step 3 of Figure 4.3.5.7-1 of TS 23.502.

Step 5, send Late Notifications to AF (corresponding to the second notification mentioned above).

UPF (UL CL)/SMF sends Late Notifications to AF to inform AF of changes in DNAI, etc. of the user plane path. For details, please refer to steps 4a-c of Figure 4.3.6.3-1 and step 9 of Figure 4.3.5.7-1 of TS 23.502.

Step 6a-1, EAS rediscovery.

For example, if the ULCL UPF does not select EAS in the aforementioned step 2, the UE can discover the new EAS based on the new DNAI information according to TS 23.548 section 6.2.3.3 (DNS resolves the new EAS IP address) or TS 23.558 EAS discovery. Before the new EAS is available or reachable, all traffic sent to the new EAS is cached in PSA2. Specifically, when the target EAS is not ready, the uplink data is cached; when the target EAS is ready but the UE is unreachable, the downlink data is cached.

Step 6a-2, EAS relocation.

When the AF/EES (edge enabler server) receives the Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Notify message or the Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify message, the AF/EES checks whether it can serve the target DNAI. If the EAS instance needs to be changed, the AF/EES determines the appropriate target EAS for the target DNAI and performs EAS migration (see TS 23.502 Figure 4.3.6.3-1 step 4d for details). The UE context is relocated from the old EAS to the new EAS. The old EAS stops serving the UE.

Exemplarily, when the service is such as edge CDN (Content Delivery Network), when PSA2 determines that the node does not cache the requested content, the EAS on PSA2 requests the response content from other on-board nodes, returns the request to the UE, and decides whether to cache it at the node based on the algorithm.

Step 7: AF sends a second response.

After the EAS relocation is completed, the AF sends a notification response to the UPF (UL CL)/SMF (corresponding to the second response mentioned above), and indicates that PSA2 no longer needs to buffer the uplink traffic to the target DNAI.

Step 8a-1, update PSA2 and release PSA1.

UPF (UL CL)/SMF updates PSA2 as the current user plane function and releases the original PAS1.

Step 8a-2: Transmit the cached uplink data.

UPF(UL CL)/SMF instructs PSA2 to send the cached uplink data and stop caching.

Step 8b, request forwarding.

Optionally, if the destination EAS2 cannot process the service request due to load or other reasons, EAS2 forwards the request.

It can be understood that the method of this application embodiment, through PSA relocation and uplink data caching mechanism, enables the uplink data from the UE to be sent to the destination EAS when the destination EAS can perform context transmission, thereby meeting the service continuity requirements and effectively reducing the loss of data packets.

It should be noted that the user plane function update based on the modification, insertion and deletion of I-UPF is similar to the user plane function update based on PSA relocation mentioned above, which will not be repeated here.

In order to implement the method of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides a data transmission device, which corresponds to the above-mentioned data transmission method, and each step in the above-mentioned data transmission method embodiment is also fully applicable to the present data transmission device embodiment.

Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a data transmission device applied to a first function, the data transmission device comprising: a request module 501, configured to send a first request to a second function based on a relative position relationship between the first function and a user device, the first request being used to update a user plane function.

Exemplarily, the first request carries demand information, and the demand information includes at least one of the following: service quality demand information and computing power demand information.

Exemplarily, the first function is a user plane function or a relay user plane function serving as a protocol data unit session anchor, and the second function combines a user plane function and a session management function.

Exemplarily, the request module 501 is specifically configured as follows:

In actual application, the request module 501 can be implemented by a processor in a data processing device. Of course, the processor needs to run the computer program in the memory to implement its function.

Figure 6 shows a structural schematic diagram of a data transmission device applied to a second function, the data transmission device comprising: a receiving module 601 and a control module 602, the receiving module 601 is configured to receive a first request from a first function, the first request is used to update a user plane function; the control module 602 is configured to determine a third function as a target user plane function in response to the first request.

Exemplarily, the control module 602 is specifically configured to select the third function as the target user plane function based on the ephemeris information and/or on-board edge application information of the to-be-selected satellite node.

Exemplarily, the first request carries demand information, and the demand information includes at least one of the following: service quality demand information and computing power demand information. The control module 602 selects the third function as the target user plane function based on the ephemeris information and/or on-board edge application information of the selected satellite node, including:

Exemplarily, after determining the third function as the target user plane function, the control module 602 Also configured as:

In the above solution, if the uplink data is cached by the third function, the control module 602 is further configured as follows:

In actual application, the receiving module 601 and the control module 602 can be implemented by a processor in a data processing device. Of course, the processor needs to run the computer program in the memory to implement its function.

It should be noted that: the data transmission device provided in the above embodiment only uses the division of the above program modules as an example when performing data transmission. In actual applications, the above processing can be assigned to different program modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device is divided into different program modules to complete all or part of the processing described above. In addition, the data transmission device provided in the above embodiment and the data transmission method embodiment belong to the same concept, and the specific implementation process is detailed in the method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

Based on the hardware implementation of the above program modules, and in order to implement the method of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides a first function. FIG7 only shows an exemplary structure of the first function instead of the entire structure, and part or all of the structure shown in FIG7 can be implemented as needed.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the first function 700 provided in the embodiment of the present application includes: at least one processor 701, a memory 702, a user interface 703, and at least one network interface 704. The various components in the first function 700 are coupled together through a bus system 705. It can be understood that the bus system 705 is used to realize the connection and communication between these components. In addition to the data bus, the bus system 705 also includes Including power bus, control bus and status signal bus. However, for the sake of clarity, various buses are labeled as bus system 705 in FIG. 7 .

The user interface 703 may include a display, a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, a click wheel, keys, buttons, a touch pad or a touch screen.

The memory 702 in the embodiment of the present application is used to store various types of data to support the operation of the first function. Examples of such data include: any computer program used to operate on the first function.

The data transmission method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the processor 701, or implemented by the processor 701. The processor 701 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the data transmission method can be completed by the hardware integrated logic circuit in the processor 701 or the instructions in the form of software. The above-mentioned processor 701 can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP, Digital Signal Processor), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The processor 701 can implement or execute the various methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiment of the present application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. In combination with the steps of the method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application, it can be directly embodied as a hardware decoding processor to execute, or it can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium, which is located in the memory 702. The processor 701 reads the information in the memory 702 and completes the steps of the data transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application in combination with its hardware.

In an exemplary embodiment, the first function may be implemented by one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), DSPs, programmable logic devices (PLDs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), general purpose processors, controllers, microcontrollers (MCUs), microprocessors, or other electronic components. To execute the aforementioned method.

Exemplarily, the first function is deployed on a satellite node of LEO.

Based on the hardware implementation of the above program modules, and in order to implement the method of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides a second function. Figure 8 only shows an exemplary structure of the second function instead of the entire structure. Part or all of the structures shown in Figure 8 can be implemented as needed.

As shown in Figure 8, the second function 800 provided in the embodiment of the present application includes: at least one processor 801, a memory 802, a user interface 803 and at least one network interface 804. The various components in the second function 800 are coupled together through a bus system 805. It can be understood that the bus system 805 is used to realize the connection communication between these components. In addition to including a data bus, the bus system 805 also includes a power bus, a control bus and a status signal bus. However, for the sake of clarity, various buses are marked as bus system 805 in Figure 8.

The user interface 803 may include a display, a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, a click wheel, keys, buttons, a touch pad or a touch screen.

The memory 802 in the embodiment of the present application is used to store various types of data to support the operation of the second function. Examples of such data include: any computer program used to operate on the second function.

The data transmission method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the processor 801, or implemented by the processor 801. The processor 801 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the data transmission method can be completed by the hardware integrated logic circuit in the processor 801 or the instructions in the form of software. The above-mentioned processor 801 can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP, Digital Signal Processor), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The processor 801 can implement or execute the various methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. In combination with the steps of the method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application, it can be directly embodied as a hardware decoding processor to execute, or a hardware decoding processor can be used to decode. The hardware and software modules in the code processor are combined and executed. The software module can be located in a storage medium, and the storage medium is located in the memory 802. The processor 801 reads the information in the memory 802 and completes the steps of the data transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application in combination with its hardware.

In an exemplary embodiment, the second function 800 may be implemented by one or more ASICs, DSPs, PLDs, CPLDs, FPGAs, general purpose processors, controllers, MCUs, Microprocessors, or other electronic components to perform the aforementioned method.

Exemplarily, the second function is deployed on a satellite node of the MEO.

It can be understood that the memory 702, 802 can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, and can also include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic random access memory (FRAM), a flash memory, a magnetic surface memory, an optical disk, or a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM); the magnetic surface memory can be a disk memory or a tape memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), synchronous static random access memory (SSRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDRSDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), and the like. The memory described in the embodiments of the present application is intended to include but is not limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

In an exemplary embodiment, the present application also provides a computer storage medium, which may be a computer-readable storage medium, for example, a memory 702 storing a computer program, which may be executed by a processor 701 with a first function to complete the steps described in the method of the present application; for another example, a memory 802 storing a computer program, which may be executed by a processor 801 with a second function to complete the steps described in the method of the present application. The computer-readable storage medium may be a memory such as a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM, a Flash Memory, a magnetic surface memory, an optical disk, or a CD-ROM.

It should be noted that: "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence.

In addition, the technical solutions described in the embodiments of the present application can be combined arbitrarily without conflict.

The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A data transmission method, applied to a first function in a space-ground fusion network, the method comprising:

Based on the relative position relationship between the first function and the user equipment, a first request is sent to the second function, where the first request is used to update the user plane function.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the first request carries demand information, and the demand information includes at least one of the following: service quality demand information and computing power demand information.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the first function is a user plane function or a relay user plane function serving as a protocol data unit session anchor, and the second function combines a user plane function and a session management function.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the sending the first request to the second function based on the relative position relationship between the first function and the user equipment comprises:

Determine a distance value and/or a transmission delay between the first function and the user equipment based on the ephemeris information of the first function and the location information of the user equipment;

If it is determined that the distance value and/or the transmission delay is greater than a corresponding set threshold, a first request is sent to the second function.
A data transmission method, applied to the second function in a space-ground fusion network, the method comprising:

receiving a first request from a first function, the first request being used to update a user plane function;

In response to the first request, a third function is determined as a target user plane function.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the determining the third function as the target user plane function comprises:

Based on the ephemeris information and/or on-board edge application information of the to-be-selected satellite node, a third function is selected as a target user plane function.
The method according to claim 6, wherein the first request carries demand information, the demand information includes at least one of the following: service quality demand information and computing power demand information, and the third function selected as the target user plane function based on the ephemeris information and/or on-board edge application information of the selected satellite node comprises:

Determine at least one of a propagation delay and an available duration of each candidate satellite node for the user equipment based on the ephemeris information of the candidate satellite node; and/or,

Determine a target satellite node that meets the edge application requirements based on the onboard edge application information of the candidate satellite node and the requirement information carried by the first request;

Based on at least one of the propagation delay, the available propagation time and the target satellite node, a third function is selected from each candidate satellite node as a target user plane function.
The method according to claim 5, wherein after determining the third function as the target user plane function, the method further comprises:

Sending a first notification to the application function, where the first notification is used to indicate an uplink path change;

Based on a first response returned by the application function to the first notification, it is determined whether the third function should cache the uplink data from the user equipment.
The method according to claim 8, wherein if the uplink data is buffered by the third function, the method further comprises:

sending a second notification to the application function, where the second notification is used to indicate a change in a data network access identifier of a user plane path;

Based on the second response returned by the application function to the second notification, the first function is released, and the third function is controlled to send the cached uplink data and serve as a target user plane function.
A data transmission device, applied to a first function in a space-ground fusion network, comprising:

The request module is configured to send a first request to the second function based on the relative position relationship between the first function and the user equipment, wherein the first request is used to update the user plane function.
A data transmission device, applied to the second function in a space-ground fusion network, comprising:

A receiving module, configured to receive a first request from a first function, where the first request is used to update a user plane function;

The control module is configured to determine, in response to the first request, a third function as a target user plane function.
A first function applied to a space-ground fusion network includes: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program that can be run on the processor, wherein:

The processor is configured to execute the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 when running a computer program.
The first function according to claim 12, wherein:

The first function is deployed on a satellite node in a low earth orbit LEO.
A second function applied to a space-ground fusion network includes: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program that can be run on the processor, wherein:

When the processor is configured to run the computer program, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 5 to 9 are performed.
The second function according to claim 14, wherein:

The second function is deployed on a satellite node in a medium earth orbit MEO.
A computer storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 are implemented.