Detailed Description
For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.
In order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, in each embodiment of the present invention, if "first", "second", and the like words are used to distinguish the same item or similar items having substantially the same function and effect, those skilled in the art will understand that the "first", "second", and the like words do not limit the number and execution order.
In the embodiment of the invention, the term "and/or" describes the association relation of the association objects, which means that three relations can exist, for example, A and/or B, and can mean that A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "three kinds generally indicates that the front-rear association object is an or relationship.
The term "plurality" in embodiments of the present invention means two or more, and other adjectives are similar.
Furthermore, it should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
Specifically, the satellite can provide a forward or return deployment. When the satellite is used as a forward transmission, the 5G base station (gNB) is positioned behind the ground gateway station, the satellite link is transparent to the protocol of the mobile communication network, and when the satellite is used as a backward transmission, the gNB and the mobility management functional entity (ACCESS AND Mobility Management Function, AMF) establish the association of the NG interface through the satellite link, and in the mode, the satellite link is still transparent to the protocol of the mobile communication network.
In addition, schemes for QoS parameter adjustment based on the user plane Qos limitation under certain deployments are currently being studied, qos limitation being used to represent the minimum latency of a UPF entity connection, which is related to packet latency allocation in QoS characteristics. The scheme is applicable to the condition that the gNB can be connected with a plurality of UPF entities, wherein certain UPF entities and gNB need to use satellite backhaul before, and the connection using satellite backhaul needs to occupy a specific port of the UPF entity, so that the UPF entities can detect obvious time delay on the port. In this deployment, the QoS limitation of the UPF entity specific ports may be preconfigured or dynamically detected, e.g., to monitor the QoS attributes of the connection, but how the dynamic detection is specific depends on the implementation. When the UPF entity perceives QoS limitation, the UPF entity will report to the session management function entity (Session Management Function, SMF entity) over the N4 interface (see 3gpp TS 23.501). The SMF entity may use QoS limitation of the UPF entity to select the UPF entity, select a QoS profile (profile), or send to a policy control function (Policy Control Function, PCF) for QoS parameter adjustment after PDU session establishment.
QoS limitation is defined as each UPF entity interface and one UPF entity interface may carry multiple internet protocol/user datagram protocol (IP/UDP) paths over it, which may lead to different access network nodes (AN nodes) using different backhaul lines (backhaul). Therefore, qoS limitation employing per-UPF entity interfaces cannot accurately reflect the QoS support capabilities of the IP/UDP path between < AN node, UPF entity >. In addition, when UPF entities are selected, SMF entities have no identification or address information of AN node, and thus cannot consider QoS supporting capability of IP/UDP paths between < AN node, UPF entities >. In addition, even if one interface of the UPF entity is connected to only one AN node, i.e. supports one IP/UDP path, the QoS limitation of the interface of the UPF entity cannot be preconfigured due to dynamic topology changes of satellite backhaul. Based on this, the present invention provides the following examples:
As shown in fig. 1, the method for QoS control applied to a target SMF entity in the embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:
And 101, the target SMF entity transmits the feedback information to the PCF entity.
Specifically, the backhaul information includes unified satellite backhaul indication information, control plane satellite backhaul information, or backhaul information of user plane connection, where the unified satellite backhaul indication information is used to indicate that a serving base station of the terminal is connected to the core network only through satellite backhaul.
Specifically, the target SMF entity may send the backhaul information to the PCF entity by initiating a session management policy association establishment procedure (SM policy association) during the PDU session establishment procedure of the terminal.
At this time, the target SMF entity sends the backhaul information to the PCF entity in the PDU session establishment process, so that the PCF entity can learn the satellite backhaul situation of the serving base station of the terminal, so that the PCF entity can determine the QoS parameter of each PDU session based on the satellite backhaul situation, and further can provide accurate QoS parameters for each PDU session.
And 102, receiving QoS parameter information of the PDU session, which is determined according to the feedback information and sent by the PCF entity.
Specifically, after receiving the backhaul information, the PCF entity may determine QoS parameters of the PDU session according to the backhaul information, and send the QoS parameter information of the PDU session to the target SMF entity, so that the target SMF entity can learn the QoS parameter information of each PDU session.
In this way, the target SMF entity in the embodiment sends the backhaul information to the PCF entity in the PDU session establishment process, and receives the QoS parameter information of the PDU session determined according to the backhaul information sent by the PCF entity, so as to implement QoS control of the PDU session based on the backhaul information, solve the problem that the prior art cannot perform QoS control on the PDU session using satellite backhaul, and in addition, the QoS parameter information is parameter information of the PDU session, so that accurate QoS parameters of the PDU session can be obtained.
Further, in this embodiment, before the target SMF entity sends the backhaul information to the PCF entity, the target SMF entity may further receive the unified satellite backhaul indication information sent by the AMF entity when determining that the serving base station is connected to the core network only through satellite backhaul, or receive the control plane satellite backhaul information sent by the AMF entity when determining that the control plane of the serving base station uses satellite backhaul, or receive backhaul information of the user plane connection sent by the AMF entity when determining that the serving base station has a user plane connection using satellite backhaul.
The AMF entity sends unified satellite backhaul indication information to the target SMF entity when determining that the service base station is connected to the core network only through satellite backhaul, sends control plane satellite backhaul information when determining that the control plane of the service base station uses satellite backhaul, and sends backhaul information of user plane connection when determining that the service base station has user plane connection using satellite backhaul.
Optionally, the AMF entity may send unified satellite backhaul indication information, control plane satellite backhaul information, or backhaul information of the user plane connection to the target SMF entity through a PDU session establishment request.
In addition, the unified satellite backhaul indication information may be used to indicate a type of a satellite supporting backhaul, such as a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite, a geostationary Orbit (Geosynchronous Eearth Orbit, GEO) satellite, or a medium high Orbit (Medium Earth Orbit, MEO) satellite, or may be used to indicate transmission characteristics (e.g., delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss rate, etc.) of a backhaul link.
In addition, optionally, the target SMF entity may further determine backhaul information of a user plane connection of a serving base station of the terminal based on a user plane IP address of the serving base station.
Specifically, the SMF entity determines satellite information where the user plane backhaul connection of the serving base station is located based on the user plane IP address of the serving base station of the terminal, and then determines delay, bandwidth, packet loss rate, and the like of the user plane backhaul connection of the serving base station according to the satellite information, for example, the orbit information, so as to determine backhaul information of the user plane connection of the serving base station.
In addition, optionally, the target SMF entity may further receive identification information of the serving base station sent by the AMF entity when determining that the control plane of the serving base station uses satellite backhaul.
Specifically, the identification information of the serving base station may be ID or address information of the serving base station.
It should also be noted that the identification information of the serving base station and the control plane satellite backhaul information may be sent to the target SMF entity together with the PDU session establishment request.
Of course, the control plane satellite backhaul information may also include identification information of the serving base station, that is, the control plane satellite backhaul information indicates the identification information of the serving base station, so that the target SMF entity can learn the identification information of the serving base station, and further, the target SMF entity can consider QoS supporting capability of a user plane path (i.e., GTP-U path) between the serving base station and the UPF entity.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the backhaul information is control plane satellite backhaul information or backhaul information of a user plane connection, after receiving QoS parameter information of a PDU session determined according to the backhaul information sent by the PCF entity, the target SMF entity may further determine at least one candidate UPF entity, and select the target UPF entity from the at least one candidate UPF entity according to the backhaul information and the QoS parameter information.
I.e. the target SMF entity may select a target UPF entity from at least one alternative UPF entity based on the type of backhaul information, according to control plane satellite backhaul information and QoS parameter information, or select a target UPF entity from at least one alternative UPF entity according to backhaul information and QoS parameter information of the user plane connection.
Specifically, the target SMF entity may accurately select the alternative UPF entity according to the selection of the existing UPF entity.
In addition, when the target SMF entity selects a target UPF entity from at least one alternative UPF entity according to the backhaul information and the QoS parameter information, the target SMF entity may send an indication message to the at least one alternative UPF entity, where the indication message is used to instruct the alternative UPF entity to perform QoS monitoring on a user plane transmission path to the serving base station, so that the at least one alternative UPF entity performs QoS monitoring on the user plane transmission path to the serving base station and obtains a first QoS monitoring result, then receive the first QoS monitoring result sent by the at least one alternative UPF entity according to the indication message, and finally select the target UPF entity from the at least one alternative UPF entity according to the first QoS monitoring result.
The process enables the alternative UPF entity to execute QoS monitoring of the user plane transmission path between the service base stations, realizes the QoS monitoring process of the user plane transmission path, enables the network to accurately know the QoS supporting capability of a backhaul link between an access network node using satellite backhaul and the UPF entity, and enables the target SMF entity to select the target UPF entity according to the QoS monitoring result, so that the appropriate UPF entity and UPF entity reselection process can be selected.
In addition, optionally, in this embodiment, when the backhaul information is backhaul information of the user plane connection, before the target SMF entity sends backhaul information to the policy control function PCF entity, the target SMF entity may also receive backhaul information of the user plane connection sent by an intermediate SMF entity when a control plane of the serving base station uses satellite backhaul, where the backhaul information of the user plane connection is backhaul information of the user plane connection where the PDU session is located, and is determined by the intermediate SMF entity, and where the target SMF entity is an anchor SMF entity.
That is, when the backhaul information is backhaul information of the user plane connection, if the control plane of the serving base station of the terminal uses satellite backhaul, the target SMF entity receives backhaul information of the user plane connection sent by the intermediate SMF entity, where the backhaul information of the user plane connection is backhaul information of the user plane connection where the PDU session is located and is determined by the intermediate SMF entity.
Specifically, the intermediate SMF entity may determine backhaul information of a user plane connection of a serving base station of a terminal based on a user plane IP address of the serving base station. The method specifically comprises the steps that an intermediate SMF entity determines satellite information of a user plane backhaul connection of a service base station based on a user plane IP address of the service base station of a terminal, and then determines time delay, bandwidth, packet loss rate and the like of the user plane backhaul connection of the service base station according to the satellite information, such as orbit information, so as to determine backhaul information of the user plane connection of the service base station.
In addition, in this embodiment, when the backhaul information of the user plane connection is backhaul information of the user plane connection, before the target SMF entity sends backhaul information to the PCF entity, the target SMF entity may further receive backhaul information of the user plane connection sent by an intermediate SMF entity when a control plane of the serving base station uses satellite backhaul, where the backhaul information of the user plane connection is backhaul information of the user plane connection where the PDU session is located, and is determined by the intermediate SMF entity based on the second QoS monitoring result, where the target SMF entity is an anchor SMF entity.
And when the intermediate SMF entity activates the QoS monitoring of the user plane transmission path (namely the GTP-U path) between at least one alternative intermediate UPF entity and the service base station, the second QoS monitoring result is reported by the at least one alternative intermediate UPF entity.
Specifically, the intermediate SMF entity may activate QoS monitoring of a user plane transmission path between at least one alternative intermediate UPF entity and the serving base station, and determine backhaul information of the user plane connection based on the QoS monitoring result, and then the target SMF entity receives backhaul information of the user plane connection sent by the intermediate SMF entity, so that the target SMF entity can send backhaul information of the user plane connection to the PCF entity and receive appropriate QoS parameters from the PCF entity, thereby realizing accurate control of QoS parameters of the PDU session.
In addition, in this embodiment, the target SMF entity may also receive the QoS notification control parameter and the alternative QoS parameter determined according to the backhaul information sent by the PCF entity.
Specifically, after receiving the QoS notification control parameter and the alternative QoS parameter sent by the PCF entity, the target SMF entity may send the QoS notification control parameter and the alternative QoS parameter to the serving base station, so that when the serving base station determines that the user plane transmission path between the serving base station and the UPF entity cannot meet the QoS requirement, the serving base station may use the alternative QoS parameter and determine to start the notification control process according to the QoS notification control parameter.
In this way, the embodiment realizes the QoS control of the PDU session based on the backhaul information through the above process, and solves the problem that the prior art cannot perform QoS control on the PDU session using satellite backhaul.
In addition, as shown in fig. 2, a flowchart of steps of a QoS control method applied to a PCF entity in an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the method includes the following steps:
Step 201, receiving the feedback information sent by the target SMF entity.
Specifically, the backhaul information includes unified satellite backhaul indication information, control plane satellite backhaul information, or backhaul information of user plane connection, where the unified satellite backhaul indication information is used to indicate that the serving base station of the terminal is connected to the core network only through satellite backhaul.
In addition, in the PDU session establishment process of the terminal, the PCF entity receives the feedback information sent by the target SMF entity.
And 202, determining QoS parameter information of the PDU session according to the feedback information, and transmitting the QoS parameter information to a target SMF entity.
Specifically, after receiving the backhaul information, the PCF entity can determine QoS parameter information of the PDU session according to the backhaul information and send the QoS parameter information to the target SMF entity, thereby implementing QoS control of the PDU session based on the backhaul information, solving the problem that the prior art cannot perform QoS control on the PDU session using satellite backhaul.
In addition, in this embodiment, the PCF entity may further determine a QoS notification control parameter and an alternative QoS parameter according to the backhaul information, and send the QoS notification control parameter and the alternative QoS parameter to the target SMF entity.
The specific content of the embodiment of the method on the PCF entity side may be referred to the related content of the target SMF entity, and will not be described herein.
In addition, as shown in fig. 3, a flowchart of steps of a QoS control method applied to an AMF entity in an embodiment of the invention is shown, where the method includes the following steps:
step 301, sending back information to the target SMF entity.
Specifically, the backhaul information includes unified satellite backhaul indication information, control plane satellite backhaul information, or backhaul information of user plane connection, where the unified satellite backhaul indication information is used to indicate that a serving base station of the terminal is connected to the core network only through satellite backhaul.
In addition, specifically, in the PDU session establishment process of the terminal, the AMF entity may send backhaul information to the target SMF entity, so that the target SMF entity may forward the backhaul information to the PCF entity, and the PCF entity may determine QoS parameter information of the PDU session according to the backhaul information.
In addition, when the AMF entity sends the backhaul information to the target SMF entity, it may send unified satellite backhaul indication information to the target SMF entity when it is determined that the serving base station is connected to the core network only through satellite backhaul, or send control plane satellite backhaul information to the target SMF entity when it is determined that the control plane of the serving base station uses satellite backhaul, or send backhaul information of the user plane connection to the target SMF entity when it is determined that the serving base station has the user plane connection using satellite backhaul.
In addition, when the AMF entity determines that the control plane of the serving base station uses satellite backhaul, the AMF entity may also send identification information of the serving base station to the target SMF entity.
It should be noted that, for the specific content of this embodiment of the side, reference may be made to the related content of the target SMF entity side, and no further description is given here.
The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following examples.
In the first embodiment, the serving base station is connected to the 5G core network completely through satellite backhaul:
as shown in fig. 4, which is a schematic topology diagram in the scenario, a schematic QoS parameter determining process of a PDU session in the network topology is shown in fig. 5, and the QoS parameter determining process includes the following steps:
0, when a service base station (gNB) uses satellite backhaul, in the NG association establishment process, the service base station can inform an AMF entity, and a control plane and a user plane of the service base station are both connected to a 5G core network through the same satellite;
1, a terminal (UE) initiates a PDU session establishment procedure by sending a PDU session establishment request to an AMF;
And 2, when the AMF determines that the service base station of the terminal only uses satellite backhaul, providing unified satellite backhaul indication for indicating that the service base station is connected to the core network only through satellite backhaul when forwarding the PDU session establishment request to the SMF entity.
In particular, the unified satellite backhaul indication may also be used to indicate a satellite type. The satellite type may be LEO, MEO or GEO, which is not specifically limited herein.
And 3, the SMF entity provides a unified satellite backhaul indication to the PCF by sending a policy association establishment request to the PCF when establishing the session management policy association.
4, The PCF determines the proper QoS parameter of the PDU session according to the unified satellite backhaul indication, and sends the QoS parameter to the SMF entity through Policy and charging Control Rule (Policy AND CHARGING Control Rule-PCC Rule).
Of course, the PCC Rule may be fed back to the SMF entity through a policy association setup response.
And 5, then, the SMF selects UPF and generates QoS file according to PCC Rule.
And 6, finally, completing the subsequent steps according to the existing PDU session establishment procedure.
In this way, the QoS parameters of each PDU session are determined through the above steps, thereby realizing precise control of the QoS parameters for each PDU session.
In the second embodiment, there are multiple user plane backhaul in the serving base station:
as shown in fig. 6, which is a schematic diagram of a topology structure in the scenario, a schematic diagram of a QoS parameter determining process of a PDU session in the network topology is shown in fig. 7, and the QoS parameter determining process includes the following steps:
0, in the NG association establishing process, the service base station can inform AMF, and the control surface of the service base station uses satellite backhaul or has user surface connection using satellite backhaul;
1, a terminal initiates a PDU session establishment process by sending a PDU session establishment request to an AMF;
And 2, when the AMF determines that the control plane of the service base station of the terminal uses satellite backhaul or that the user plane connection using satellite backhaul exists, providing control plane satellite backhaul information or user plane connection backhaul information when forwarding the PDU session establishment request to the SMF entity, and providing service base station identification information, such as service base station ID.
And 3, when establishing the session management policy association, the SMF entity provides control plane satellite backhaul information or backhaul information of the user plane connection to the PCF by sending a policy association establishment request to the PCF.
4, Then, the PCF determines an alternative QoS parameter of the PDU session according to the control plane satellite backhaul information or the backhaul information of the user plane connection, considering that the PDU session of the terminal may use satellite backhaul, where the parameter corresponds to the satellite backhaul situation and is sent to the SMF entity through the PCC Rule.
5, Then, the SMF entity determines an alternative UPF entity according to the location of the terminal, the single network slice selection auxiliary information (S-NSSAI), the Data Network Name (DNN) and other information, and determines to perform QoS monitoring of the user plane transmission path (GTP-U path) between the serving base station and the alternative UPF entity (CANDIDATE UPF entity) according to the control plane backhaul information provided by the AMF or the backhaul information of the user plane connection. At this point the SMF entity may inform each alternative UPF entity to perform GTP-U path monitoring to the serving base station through an N4 association update request (N4 association update) procedure.
Specifically, the QoS monitoring content may include delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss, and the like.
Each alternative UPF entity then confirms that GTP-U path monitoring is performed and notifies the SMF entity via an N4 association update response.
Optionally, each alternative UPF entity sends an ECHO Request message (ECHO Request) to the serving base station.
Optionally, the serving base station returns an ECHO request Response (ECHO Response), in which the serving base station may provide satellite backhaul information, e.g., satellite type, for the GTP-U path.
9, Each alternative UPF entity then reports the monitoring result to the SMF entity through N4 reporting or ACK.
The SMF entity then selects the appropriate target UPF entity, e.g., an intermediate UPF entity (I-UPF entity) and a PDU Session Anchor (PSA), based on the QoS monitoring results reported by the alternative UPF entities, thereby enabling the selection of the target UPF entity. The SMF entity determines the QoS file for the PDU session based on the selected target UPF entity and the QoS parameters provided by the PCF.
Finally, the subsequent steps may be completed according to the existing PDU session establishment procedure.
In this way, the above steps enable selection of an appropriate UPF entity and a user plane path QoS monitoring procedure between the selected UPF entity and the serving base station, thereby enabling accurate QoS parameters to be provided.
In a third embodiment, there are multiple user plane backhaul for the serving base station:
as shown in fig. 8, which is a schematic diagram of a topology structure in the scenario, a schematic diagram of a QoS parameter determining process of a PDU session in the network topology is shown in fig. 9, and the QoS parameter determining process includes the following steps:
0, in the NG association establishing process, the service base station can inform AMF, and the control plane of the service base station uses satellite backhaul;
1, a terminal initiates a PDU session establishment process by sending a PDU session establishment request to an AMF;
And 2, the AMF selects an intermediate SMF entity (I-SMF entity) and an anchor SMF entity (A-SMF entity), and provides control plane satellite backhaul information when determining that the satellite backhaul is used by the serving base station control plane of the terminal and forwarding the PDU session establishment request to the I-SMF entity, wherein, of course, the serving base station identification information, such as the serving base station ID, is also provided.
And 3, after the I-SMF entity selects an alternative intermediate UPF entity (CANDIDATE I-UPF entity) according to the selection criteria of the existing UPF entity, determining to execute QoS monitoring of a GTP-U path between the service base station and the alternative I-UPF entity according to control plane satellite backhaul information provided by the AMF. At this time, the I-SMF entity may notify each alternative I-UPF entity to perform GTP-U path monitoring to the serving base station through an N4 association update request procedure. QoS monitoring content may include latency, bandwidth, and the like.
4, Each alternative I-UPF entity confirms to execute GTP-U path monitoring and notifies the I-SMF entity through N4 association update response.
5, Optionally, each alternative I-UPF entity sends a response request message to the serving base station.
Optionally, the serving base station returns a response to the response request, and the serving base station may provide satellite backhaul information, such as a satellite type, of the GTP-U path in the response to the response request.
7, Each alternative I-UPF entity reports the monitoring result to the I-SMF entity through N4 report or ACK.
The I-SMF entity then selects the appropriate I-UPF entity based on the QoS monitoring results reported by the alternative I-UPF entities.
The I-SMF entity then completes the configuration of the I-UPF entity through an N4 session setup procedure (N4 Session Establishment).
The I-SMF entity sends PDU session establishment Request (NSMF entity_ PDUSession _Create Request) to the A-SMF entity, and carries feedback information of the user plane connection where the PDU session is located, which is determined according to the QoS monitoring result, and the feedback information may include time delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss and the like.
When establishing session management policy association, the A-SMF entity provides satellite backhaul information of user plane connection to PCF by sending policy association establishment request to PCF.
And 12, the PCF determines the QoS parameters of the PDU session according to the satellite backhaul information of the user plane connection and feeds the QoS parameters back to the A-SMF entity. Of course, the PCF may also determine to enable the notification control (Notification Control) mechanism based on the satellite backhaul information for the user plane connection.
Of course, if the PCF considers that the satellite backhaul information of the user plane connection cannot meet the QoS requirement, the SMF entity is requested to release the PDU session.
13, Finally, the subsequent steps may be completed according to the existing PDU session establishment procedure.
In this way, the above steps enable the selection of an appropriate I-UPF entity and the user plane path QoS monitoring procedure between the selected I-UPF entity and the serving base station, thereby enabling the provision of accurate QoS parameters.
The fourth embodiment uses a QoS notification control (QoS notification control, QNC) mechanism based on alternative QoS configuration when there are multiple user plane backhauls by the serving base station:
as shown in fig. 10, a schematic diagram of a QoS parameter determining process of a PDU session in this scenario is shown, where the QoS parameter determining process includes the following steps:
0, in the NG association establishing process, the service base station can inform AMF, and the control plane of the service base station uses satellite backhaul;
1, a terminal initiates a PDU session establishment process by sending a PDU session establishment request to an AMF;
And 2, when the AMF determines that the satellite backhaul is used by the control plane of the service base station of the terminal, providing control plane satellite backhaul information when forwarding the PDU session establishment request to the SMF entity, and providing service base station identification information, such as service base station ID.
And 3, when establishing the session management policy association, the SMF entity provides control plane satellite backhaul information to the PCF by sending a policy association establishment request to the PCF.
4, The PCF then determines, based on the control plane satellite backhaul information, to enable the QNC mechanism (QoS notification control WITH ALTERNATIVE QoS profiles) based on the alternative QoS configuration, thus providing the QNC indication and the alternative QoS parameters for the Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) QoS flow in the PCC Rule.
And 5, then, the SMF entity determines an alternative UPF entity according to the position of the terminal, the single network slice selection auxiliary information (S-NSSAI), the Data Network Name (DNN) and other information, and determines to execute QoS monitoring of the GTP-U path between the service base station and the alternative UPF entity according to the control plane feedback information provided by the AMF. At this time, the SMF entity may notify each alternative UPF entity to perform GTP-U path monitoring to the serving base station through an N4 association update request procedure.
In particular, qoS monitoring content may include latency, bandwidth, and the like.
Each alternative UPF entity then confirms that GTP-U path monitoring is performed and notifies the SMF entity via an N4 association update response.
Optionally, each alternative UPF entity sends an ECHO Request message (ECHO Request) to the serving base station.
Optionally, the serving base station returns an ECHO request Response (ECHO Response), in which the serving base station may provide satellite backhaul information, e.g., satellite type, for the GTP-U path.
9, Each alternative UPF entity then reports the monitoring result to the SMF entity through N4 reporting or ACK.
The SMF entity then selects the appropriate target UPF entity, e.g., I-UPF entity and PSA, based on the QoS monitoring results reported by the alternative UPF entities, thereby enabling selection of the target UPF entity. The SMF entity determines the QoS file for the PDU session based on the selected target UPF entity and the QoS parameters provided by the PCF.
The smf entity sends the QoS file to the base station via an N2 message.
The subsequent steps are completed according to the existing PDU session establishment procedure 12.
13, When the serving base station monitors that the GTP-U path of the serving base station cannot meet the QoS requirement according to an ECHO Request/Response mechanism between the serving base station and the UPF entity, the serving base station adopts alternative QoS configuration and sends a notification to the SMF entity according to the QNC parameter.
At 14, finally, an existing notification control process may be initiated.
In this way, by the above steps, it is achieved that an appropriate UPF entity can be selected, and a user plane path QoS monitoring procedure and a notification control procedure between the selected UPF entity and the serving base station are achieved, thereby enabling accurate QoS parameters to be provided.
As shown in fig. 11, in an embodiment of the present invention, a block diagram of a QoS control apparatus applied to a target SMF entity, where the apparatus includes:
A sending module 1101, configured to send backhaul information to a policy control function PCF entity by using a target SMF entity, where the backhaul information includes unified satellite backhaul indication information, control plane satellite backhaul information, or backhaul information connected to a user plane, where the unified satellite backhaul indication information is used to instruct a serving base station of a terminal to connect to a core network only through satellite backhaul;
and a receiving module 1102, configured to receive quality of service QoS parameter information of the PDU session determined according to the backhaul information sent by the PCF entity.
It should be noted that, the device provided in this embodiment can implement all the method steps that can be implemented by the method embodiment on the target SMF entity side, and can achieve the same technical effects, which are not described herein again.
As shown in fig. 12, a block diagram of a QoS control apparatus applied to a PCF entity in an embodiment of the present invention, where the apparatus includes:
The receiving module 1201 is configured to receive backhaul information sent by the SMF entity, where the backhaul information includes unified satellite backhaul indication information, control plane satellite backhaul information, or backhaul information of a user plane connection, where the unified satellite backhaul indication information is used to indicate that a serving base station of a terminal is connected to a core network only through satellite backhaul;
A sending module 1202, configured to determine QoS parameter information of a PDU session according to the backhaul information, and send the QoS parameter information to a target SMF entity.
It should be noted here that, the apparatus provided in this embodiment can implement all the method steps that can be implemented by the PCF side method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effects, and will not be described here again.
As shown in fig. 13, a block diagram of a QoS control apparatus applied to an AMF entity in an embodiment of the invention, the apparatus includes:
A sending module 1301, configured to send backhaul information to a target session management function SMF entity, so that the target SMF entity forwards the backhaul information to a policy control function PCF entity and the PCF entity determines QoS parameter information of the PDU session according to the backhaul information, where,
The return information comprises unified satellite return indication information, control plane satellite return information or user plane connection return information, wherein the unified satellite return indication information is used for indicating a service base station of the terminal to be connected to the core network only through satellite return.
It should be noted that, the device provided in this embodiment can implement all the method steps that can be implemented by the above embodiment of the AMF side method, and can achieve the same technical effects, which are not described herein again.
Fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a target SMF entity according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 14, the target SMF entity 1400 may include at least one processor 1401, a memory 1402, at least one other user interface 1403, and a transceiver 1404. Individual components in target SMF entity 1400 are coupled together by bus system 1405. It is appreciated that bus system 1405 is used to enable connected communications between these components. Bus system 1405 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus. The various buses are labeled as bus system 1405 in fig. 14 for clarity of illustration, however, the bus system may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, and in particular one or more processors, as represented by processor 1401, and the various circuits of the memory, as represented by memory 1402. The bus system may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., all as are well known in the art and, therefore, further description of embodiments of the present invention will not be provided. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1404 may be a number of elements, i.e. include a transmitter and a receiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The user interface 1403 may also be an interface capable of interfacing with an inscribed desired device for different user devices, including but not limited to a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc.
It is to be appreciated that memory 1402 in embodiments of the present invention can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile Memory may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash Memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (STATIC RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DYNAMIC RAM, DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate Synchronous dynamic random access memory (Double DATA RATE SDRAM, DDRSDRAM), enhanced Synchronous dynamic random access memory (ENHANCED SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SYNCHLINK DRAM, SLDRAM), and Direct memory bus random access memory (DRRAM). The memory 1402 of the systems and methods described in the various embodiments of the present invention is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.
The processor 1401 is responsible for managing the bus system and general processing, and the memory 1402 may store computer programs or instructions that the processor 1401 uses in performing the operations, and in particular the processor 1401 may be used to:
The target SMF entity sends feedback information to the policy control function PCF entity, wherein the feedback information comprises unified satellite feedback indication information, control plane satellite feedback information or user plane connected feedback information, and the unified satellite feedback indication information is used for indicating a service base station of the terminal to be connected to a core network only through satellite feedback;
And receiving the QoS parameter information of the PDU session, which is sent by the PCF entity and is determined according to the feedback information.
The method disclosed in the above embodiment of the present invention may be applied to the processor 1401 or implemented by the processor 1401. The processor 1401 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuitry of hardware in the processor 1401 or instructions in the form of software. The Processor 1401 may be a general purpose Processor, a digital signal Processor (DIGITAL SIGNAL Processor, DSP), an Application SPECIFIC INTEGRATED Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf programmable gate array (Field Programmable GATE ARRAY, FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components. The disclosed methods, steps, and logic blocks in the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present invention may be embodied directly in the execution of a hardware decoding processor, or in the execution of a combination of hardware and software modules in a decoding processor. The software modules may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. as well known in the art. The storage medium is located in memory 1402 and processor 1401 reads information in memory 1402 and performs the steps of the method described above in conjunction with its hardware.
It is to be understood that the embodiments described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or a combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the Processing units may be implemented within one or more Application SPECIFIC INTEGRATED Circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DIGITAL SIGNAL Processing, DSPs), digital signal Processing devices (DSP DEVICE, DSPD), programmable logic devices (Programmable Logic Device, PLDs), field-Programmable gate arrays (Field-Programmable GATE ARRAY, FPGA), general purpose processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units for performing the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.
For a software implementation, the techniques described may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described in embodiments of the invention. The software codes may be stored in a memory and executed by a processor. The memory may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor.
Optionally, as another embodiment, the processor 1401 is further configured to receive the unified satellite backhaul indication information sent by the AMF entity when determining that the serving base station is connected to the core network only through satellite backhaul, or receive the control plane satellite backhaul information sent by the AMF entity when determining that the control plane of the serving base station uses satellite backhaul, or receive backhaul information of the user plane connection sent by the AMF entity when determining that the serving base station has a user plane connection using satellite backhaul.
Optionally, as another embodiment, the processor 1401 is further configured to determine backhaul information of a user plane connection of a serving base station of the terminal based on a user plane IP address of the serving base station by the target SMF entity.
Optionally, as another embodiment, the processor 1401 is further configured to receive identification information of the serving base station, which is sent by the AMF entity when determining that the control plane of the serving base station uses satellite backhaul.
Optionally, as another embodiment, when the backhaul information is control plane satellite backhaul information or backhaul information of a user plane connection, the processor 1401 is further configured to determine at least one alternative user plane function UPF entity, and select a target UPF entity from the at least one alternative UPF entity according to the backhaul information and the QoS parameter information.
Optionally, as another embodiment, the processor 1401 is further configured to send an indication message to the at least one alternative UPF entity, where the indication message is configured to instruct the alternative UPF entity to perform QoS monitoring on a user plane transmission path to the serving base station, so that the at least one alternative UPF entity performs QoS monitoring on the user plane transmission path to the serving base station and obtains a first QoS monitoring result, receive the first QoS monitoring result sent by the at least one alternative UPF entity according to the indication message, and select a target UPF entity from the at least one alternative UPF entity according to the first QoS monitoring result.
Optionally, as another embodiment, before the target SMF entity sends the backhaul information to the policy control function PCF entity when the backhaul information is backhaul information of the user plane connection, the processor 1401 is further configured to receive, when a control plane of the serving base station uses satellite backhaul, backhaul information of the user plane connection sent by an intermediate SMF entity, where the backhaul information of the user plane connection is backhaul information of the user plane connection where the PDU session is located, determined by the intermediate SMF entity, and where the target SMF entity is an anchor SMF entity.
Optionally, as another embodiment, when the backhaul information is backhaul information of the user plane connection, the processor 1401 is further configured to, when a control plane of the serving base station uses satellite backhaul, receive backhaul information of the user plane connection sent by an intermediate SMF entity, where the backhaul information of the user plane connection is backhaul information of the user plane connection where the PDU session is located, determined by the intermediate SMF entity based on a second QoS monitoring result, where the target SMF entity is an anchor SMF entity.
Optionally, as another embodiment, the second QoS monitoring result is reported by at least one alternative intermediate UPF entity when the intermediate SMF entity activates QoS monitoring of a user plane transmission path between the at least one alternative intermediate UPF entity to the serving base station.
Optionally, as another embodiment, the processor 1401 is further configured to receive a QoS notification control parameter and an alternative QoS parameter that are determined according to the backhaul information and sent by the PCF entity.
The target SMF entity provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement each process implemented by the target SMF entity in the foregoing embodiment, and in order to avoid repetition, details are not repeated here.
Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a PCF entity according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 15, the PCF entity 1500 may include at least one processor 1501, a memory 1502, at least one other user interface 1503, and a transceiver 1504. The various components in PCF entity 1500 are coupled together by bus system 1505. It is appreciated that bus system 1505 is used to implement the connected communication between these components. Bus system 1505 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to the data bus. The various buses are labeled in fig. 15 as a bus system 1505, which may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with the one or more processors, typically represented by the processor 1501, and the various circuits of the memory, typically memory 1502, being linked together for clarity. The bus system may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., all as are well known in the art and, therefore, further description of embodiments of the present invention will not be provided. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1504 may be a number of elements, i.e. include a transmitter and a receiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The user interface 1503 may also be an interface capable of interfacing with an inscribed desired device for a different user device, including but not limited to a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc.
It will be appreciated that the memory 1502 in embodiments of the invention can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile Memory may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash Memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (STATIC RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DYNAMIC RAM, DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate Synchronous dynamic random access memory (Double DATA RATE SDRAM, DDRSDRAM), enhanced Synchronous dynamic random access memory (ENHANCED SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SYNCHLINK DRAM, SLDRAM), and Direct memory bus random access memory (DRRAM). The memory 1502 of the systems and methods described in the various embodiments of the present invention is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.
The processor 1501 is responsible for managing the bus system and general processing, and the memory 1502 may store computer programs or instructions that the processor 1501 uses in performing the operations, and in particular, the processor 1501 may be used to:
And receiving the feedback information sent by the target session management function SMF entity, wherein the feedback information comprises unified satellite feedback indication information, control plane satellite feedback information or user plane connection feedback information, the unified satellite feedback indication information is used for indicating a service base station of a terminal to be connected to a core network only through satellite feedback, determining service quality QoS parameter information of PDU session according to the feedback information, and sending the QoS parameter information to the target SMF entity.
The PCF entity provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement each process implemented by the PCF entity in the foregoing embodiment, and in order to avoid repetition, details are not repeated here.
Fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of an AMF entity according to an embodiment of the invention, as shown in fig. 16, the AMF entity 1600 may include at least one processor 1601, a memory 1602, at least one other user interface 1603, and a transceiver 1604. The various components in the AMF entity 1600 are coupled together by a bus system 1605. It is appreciated that the bus system 1605 is used to enable connected communications between these components. The bus system 1605 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus. The various buses are labeled in fig. 16 as a bus system 1605, which may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, and in particular one or more processors, represented by processor 1601, and various circuits of the memory, represented by memory 1602, coupled together for clarity of illustration. The bus system may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., all as are well known in the art and, therefore, further description of embodiments of the present invention will not be provided. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1604 may be a plurality of elements, i.e., comprising a transmitter and a receiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The user interface 1603 may also be an interface capable of interfacing with an inscribed desired device for a different user device, including but not limited to a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc.
It is to be appreciated that memory 1602 in embodiments of the present invention may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile Memory may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash Memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (STATIC RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DYNAMIC RAM, DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate Synchronous dynamic random access memory (Double DATA RATE SDRAM, DDRSDRAM), enhanced Synchronous dynamic random access memory (ENHANCED SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SYNCHLINK DRAM, SLDRAM), and Direct memory bus random access memory (DRRAM). The memory 1602 of the systems and methods described in the various embodiments of the present invention is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.
The processor 1601 is responsible for managing the bus system and general processing, and the memory 1602 may store computer programs or instructions that the processor 1601 uses in performing operations, and in particular the processor 1601 may be configured to:
And sending feedback information to the target session management function SMF entity so that the target SMF entity forwards the feedback information to the policy control function PCF entity and the PCF entity determines service quality QoS parameter information of the PDU session according to the feedback information, wherein the feedback information comprises unified satellite feedback indication information, control plane satellite feedback information or feedback information of user plane connection, and the unified satellite feedback indication information is used for indicating a service base station of the terminal to be connected to a core network only through satellite feedback.
The AMF entity provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement each process implemented by the AMF entity in the foregoing embodiment, and in order to avoid repetition, a description thereof is omitted herein.
The scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention is mainly described from the perspective of the electronic equipment. It may be understood that, in order to implement the above-mentioned functions, the electronic device provided in the embodiment of the present invention includes corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for executing each function. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software.
Whether a function is implemented as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.
The embodiment of the invention can divide the functional modules of the electronic equipment and the like according to the method example, for example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, and two or more functions can be integrated in one processing module. The integrated modules may be implemented in hardware or in software functional modules.
It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the division of the modules is schematic, which is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be implemented in actual implementation.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, only the above-described division of the functional modules is illustrated, and in practical application, the above-described functional allocation may be performed by different functional modules according to needs, i.e. the internal structure of the apparatus is divided into different functional modules to perform all or part of the functions described above. The specific working processes of the above-described systems, devices and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which are not described herein.
In the several embodiments provided by the present invention, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the modules or units is merely a logical functional division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices, or units.
The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.
In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The integrated units described above may be implemented in the form of software functional units.
The integrated units, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as stand-alone products, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. With such understanding, all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, comprising instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the invention. The computer storage medium is a non-transitory (English: nontransitory) medium, including flash memory, mobile hard disk, ROM, RAM, magnetic disk or optical disk, etc.
In another aspect, embodiments of the present invention also provide a computer program product comprising a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the computer program comprising program instructions which, when executed by a computer, are capable of performing the methods provided by the above-described method embodiments.
On the other hand, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program when executed by a processor implements the method steps provided in the foregoing embodiments and can achieve the same technical effects, and no further description is given here.
It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments are merely for illustrating the technical solution of the present invention, and not for limiting the same, and although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above-mentioned embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the technical solution described in the above-mentioned embodiments may be modified or some technical features may be equivalently replaced, and these modifications or substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solution deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the embodiments of the present invention.