CN111698725A - Method for dynamically determining network slice and electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a method for dynamically determining a network slice performed by a terminal device, a method for dynamically switching a network slice performed by a network node, an electronic device and a computer-readable storage medium, and the method performed by the terminal includes: The application running on the terminal device configures a first user routing policy rule and a second user routing policy rule, wherein the first user routing policy rule is associated with the first network slice, and the second user routing policy rule The policy rule is associated with the second network slice; the service information of the application is obtained; based on the service information of the application, the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule, the Network slicing of the application's business.

Description

Method and electronic device for dynamically determining network slice

technical field

The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication, and more particularly, to a method for dynamically determining a network slice performed by a terminal, a method for dynamically determining a network slice performed by a network node, and corresponding electronic devices and computer-readable storage media.

Background technique

Compared with the traditional communication system, the core network architecture of the 5G communication system has undergone major changes. Specifically, the Mobility Management Entity (MME) in the core network of the traditional communication system is replaced by a Control Plane Function (CPF) entity, for example, its functions are decomposed into access and mobility management functions (Access and Mobility management Function, AMF) entity and session management function (Session Management Function, SMF) entity. In addition, the Serving GateWay (SGW) and the PDN Gateway (PDN GateWay, PGW) in the core network of the traditional communication system are replaced by User Plane Function (UPF) entities.

In the current Third Generation Partnership Project Technical Specification (3GPPTS) 23.503, a UE Route Selection Policy (UE Route Selection Policy, URSP) rule is proposed.

The UE uses URSP rules to determine how to route outgoing traffic. The UE may route traffic to an established Protocol Data Unit (Protocol Data Unit, PDU) session, or offload traffic to non-3GPP access outside the protocol data unit session, or trigger establishment of a new protocol data unit session.

Protocol data unit sessions can be carried on various network slices. 5G communication systems already provide the ability to dynamically and statically configure network slicing for applications. However, the current way of assigning network slices to applications is still not flexible enough.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to overcome the defects in the prior art, the present disclosure proposes a method for dynamically determining a network slice performed by a terminal, a method for dynamically determining a network slice performed by a network node, and corresponding electronic equipment, computer-readable storage medium.

According to the method performed by the terminal, the method performed by the network node, the corresponding electronic device, and the computer-readable storage medium of various aspects of the present disclosure, the terminal preconfigures the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy for the application rule. Therefore, when the network side has not dynamically updated the user routing policy rules for the terminal, it is still possible to switch the application service from one network slice to another network slice. In this way, the flexible use of network slicing is realized.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for dynamically determining a network slice performed by a terminal device, comprising: configuring a first user routing policy rule and a second user routing policy for an application running on the terminal device rule, wherein the first user routing policy rule is associated with the first network slice, and the second user routing policy rule is associated with the second network slice; acquiring service information of the application; based on the application The service information, the first user routing policy rules and the second user routing policy rules, dynamically determine the network slice used to carry the service of the application; the first network slice is used as the network slice used to carry the application. In the case of the network slice of the service, the service of the application is associated with the first network slice; in the case that the second network slice is used as the network slice for carrying the service of the application, the service of the application is associated with the network slice. Associated to the second network slice.

For example, configuring the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule for the application running on the terminal device further includes: sending a registration request associated with the application to the network-side device, and sending a registration request associated with the application to the network-side device; the network side device receives the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule, wherein the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule are the network side device generated based on the registration request.

For example, configuring the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule for the application running on the terminal device further includes: determining the first user routing policy based on the application information and the user's local configuration rules and second user routing policy rules; send a message associated with the application to the network side device, the message associated with the application indicates that the service of the application can be generated by the first network slice and/or the second network slice. bear.

For example, the dynamically determining the network slice for carrying the service of the application based on the service information of the application, the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule further includes: in the first network slice In the case of meeting the service requirements of the application, determining the first network slice as a network slice for carrying the application service; and in the case that the first network slice does not meet the application service requirements , determining the second network slice as a network slice for carrying the service of the application, where the service processing capability of the second network slice is higher than the service processing capability of the first network slice.

For example, the dynamically determining the network slice for carrying the service of the application based on the service information of the application, the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule further includes: determining to carry the application the service quality of the network slice of the service of The service quality requirement of the service of the application is included, and the service processing capability of the second network slice is higher than the service processing capability of the first network slice.

For example, the dynamically determining the network slice for carrying the service of the application based on the service information of the application, the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule further includes: determining to carry the application The load amount of the network slice of the service, the load amount indicates the load degree of the network slice; in the case that the load amount does not meet the load amount requirement of the application service for the network slice, the load amount of the application The service is associated with the second network slice, wherein the service information of the application includes the load capacity requirement of the service of the application on the network slice, and the load capacity of the second network slice is lower than the load capacity of the first network slice .

For example, the service parameter of the application includes a service quality requirement of the service of the application, wherein the first network slice is determined as the first network slice when the first network slice meets the requirement of the service of the application. The network slice that carries the service of the application further includes: in the case that the service quality requirement of the service of the application is not higher than the service quality of the first network slice, determining the first network slice as a network slice for carrying the application The network slice of the service of the application; in the case that the first network slice does not meet the requirements of the service of the application, determining the second network slice as the network slice for carrying the service of the application further includes: In the case that the service quality requirement of the service of the application is higher than the service quality of the first network slice, the second network slice is determined as a network slice for carrying the service of the application.

For example, the service parameter of the application includes the priority of the service of the application, wherein the first network slice is determined as the first network slice for carrying The network slicing of the service of the application further includes: in the case where the priority of the service of the application is not higher than the priority of the first network slice, determining the first network slice as the service for carrying the application and determining the second network slice as a network slice for carrying the service of the application in the case that the first network slice does not meet the requirements of the service of the application, further comprising: in the application In the case that the priority of the service is higher than the priority of the first network slice, the second network slice is determined as the network slice for carrying the service of the application.

For example, the associating the service of the application with the first network slice further includes: determining the first single network slice selection auxiliary information based on the first network slice selection policy in the first user routing policy rule; the first single network slice selection assistance information, to determine whether there is a matching protocol data unit session applicable to the application; in the case of a matching protocol data unit session, associating the application to the matching protocol data unit session; In the absence of a matching protocol data unit session, a new protocol data unit session is established.

For example, the associating the service of the application with the second network slice further includes: determining the second single network slice selection auxiliary information based on the second network slice selection policy in the second user routing policy rule; the second single network slice selection assistance information to determine whether there is a matching protocol data unit session applicable to the application; if there is a matching protocol data unit session, associate the application to the matching protocol data unit session ; In the absence of a matching PDU session, establish a new PDU session.

For example, the first user routing policy rule is associated with the first IP triplet; the second user routing policy rule is associated with the second IP triplet; the first IP triplet includes the first IP address, the first port number and protocol identifier; the second IP triplet includes a second IP address, a second port number and a protocol identifier.

For example, the first IP triplet and the second IP triplet satisfy one of the following: the first IP address is the same as the second IP address, the first port number is different from the second port number; the first IP address Different from the second IP address, the first port number is the same as the second port number; the first IP address is different from the second IP address, and the first port number is different from the second port number.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for dynamically switching network slices performed by a network node, comprising: receiving a registration request of an application from a terminal device; Applied first user routing policy rules and second user routing policy rules, wherein the first user routing policy rules are associated with the first network slice, and the second user routing policy rules are associated with the second network Slices are associated; when a protocol data unit session request from the terminal device is received on the first network slice, the first network slice is used to carry the service of the application; in the second network slice In the case of receiving a protocol data unit session request from the terminal device, the second network slice is used to carry the service of the application.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic device, comprising: a processor; and a memory, wherein a computer-executable program is stored in the memory, when the computer-executable program is executed by the processor , execute the above method.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the above-described method.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product or computer program comprising computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The processor of the computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer readable medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions to cause the computer device to perform the methods provided in the various aspects described above or in various optional implementations of the various aspects described above.

Description of drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the more detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and constitute a part of the specification, and are used to explain the present disclosure together with the embodiments of the present disclosure, and do not limit the present disclosure. In the drawings, the same reference numbers generally refer to the same components or steps.

FIG. 1A illustrates an architecture in the case of a non-roaming reference of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied.

FIG. 1B illustrates another architecture in the case of a roaming reference of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method performed by a terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

3A and 3B are message flow diagrams for configuring a first user routing policy rule and a second user routing policy rule for an application running on the terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

4A is a flowchart of dynamically determining a network slice for carrying traffic of the application according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

4B and 4C are message flow diagrams for dynamically determining network slices performed by a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which illustrate the interaction between the UE and the network side equipment when the UE switches the network slices carrying the application service.

Figure 5A is a flowchart of a method performed by a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5B is a message interaction diagram between a network node and a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows the architecture of a device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed ways

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure more apparent, exemplary embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numbers refer to the same elements throughout. It should be understood that the embodiments described herein are illustrative only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

The architecture of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied is described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B . The communication system may include a 5G system, and may also include any other type of wireless communication system, such as a 6G communication system. Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure are described by taking a 5G system as an example, but it should be appreciated that the following description can also be applied to other types of wireless communication systems.

FIG. 1A illustrates an architecture 100A in the case of a non-roaming reference of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied.

FIG. 1B illustrates another architecture 100B in the case of a roaming reference of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied.

The various entities in FIGS. 1A and 1B are briefly described below.

The UE 101 (ie, a terminal device), which may be referred to as user equipment (User Equipment, UE), may be a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user. The terminal may communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio Access Network (RAN), and the UE 101 may be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone) and a computer with a mobile terminal, For example, it may be a portable, pocket-sized, hand-held, computer built-in or vehicle mounted mobile device. For example, Subscriber Unit, Subscriber Station, Mobile Station, Mobile Station, Remote Station, Access Point, Remote Terminal, An access terminal (Access Terminal), a user device (User Terminal), a user agent (User Agent), a user equipment (User Device), or a UE.

The UE 101 and the (Radio) Access Network ((R)AN) 102 (hereinafter referred to as (R)AN 102) establish a wireless connection through a wireless air interface. Optionally, the wireless air interface is a wireless air interface based on a 5G standard, for example, the wireless air interface is NR; or, the wireless air interface can also be a wireless air interface based on a next-generation mobile communication network technology standard (eg, 6G) based on 5G.

(R)AN 102 may be a base station. For example, the base station may be a base station (gNB) that adopts a centralized or distributed architecture in a 5G system. When the access network device 120 adopts a centralized distributed architecture, it usually includes a centralized unit (Central Unit, CU) and at least two distributed units (Distributed Unit, DU). CU and DU are provided with Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control Protocol (Radio Link Control, RLC) layer, Physical (Physical) , PHY) layer protocol stack, media access control (Media Access Control, MAC) layer protocol stack, wherein, the arrangement mode of each protocol stack in CU and DU is determined according to the logical function division mode of CU and DU. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation manner of the (R)AN 102 .

The (R)AN 102 and the core network elements are connected by wired or wireless connections. Wired connections can be fiber optic cables or cables.

For example, in the case of a non-roaming reference (Non-roaming reference), the core network element may include: an access and mobility management function entity 103 (Access and Mobility Function, AMF), a network exposure function (Network Exposure Function, NEF) ) entity, Network Repository Function (NRF) entity, Policy Control Function (PCF) entity 104, Unified Data Management (UDM) entity, Application Function (Application Function, AF) entity 105, Authentication Server Function (AUSF) entity, Session Management Function (Session Management Function, SMF) entity, Service Communication Proxy (Service Communication Proxy, SCP) entity, User Plane Function (User Plane Function, UPF) entity, data network ( Data Network) entity, network slice selection function (Network Slice Selection Function, NSSF) entity 106 and so on.

For example, in the case of roaming, the core network element may also include other entities other than the above-mentioned entities to assist the implementation of the roaming function, for example, an intermediate network open function (Intermediate NEF, I-NEF) entity, VPLMN security edge Protection proxy (VPLMN Security Edge Protection Proxy, vSEPP) entity, HPLMN Security Edge Protection Proxy (HPLMN Security Edge Protection Proxy, hSEPP) entity, V-PCF (VPLMNPolicyControl Function, VPLMN Policy Control Function) entity 104A, and H-PCF (HPLMN PolicyControlFunction, HPLMN Policy Control Function) entity 104B and so on.

Optionally, the AMF 103 is connected to the non-access stratum (Non-Access Stratum, NAS) of the UE 101 through the N1 interface, and the AMF 103 is also connected to the (R)AN 102 through the N2 interface. AMF 103 is connected to other core network elements such as PCF 104, NSSF 106, AF 105, etc. The present disclosure is not limited thereto, and embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to communication systems including more and fewer functional entities. Additionally, the various entities described above may be one or more servers. In this disclosure, an "entity" may also be referred to as a node. For convenience, entity and node are sometimes used interchangeably below.

Optionally, the AMF entity 103 may support UE access authentication, mobility management, registration management, connection management, legal answering, and the like. PCF 104 may support a unified policy framework to manage network behavior, provide policy rules to control the control plane, and the like. The AF 105 may support application impact on traffic paths, interaction with measurement frameworks for policy control, and the like. The NSSF 106 may implement at least one of the following functions: selecting a network slice instance serving the UE 101, determining allowed network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI), determining a configured NSSAI, and the like.

In a 5G Core Network (5G Core Network, 5GC), PCF 104 can provide UE1 01 with at least one of the following policy information:

1) Access Network Discovery & Selection Policy (ANDDSP): UE uses it to select non-3GPP access and select N3IWF (Non-3GPP InterWorkingFunction) in PLMN.

2) UE Route Selection Policy (UE Route Selection Policy, URSP).

In the case of roaming, the V-PCF (VPLMN Policy Control Function, VPLMN Policy Control Function) entity 104A may retrieve the URSP in the H-PCF (HPLMN Policy Control Function, HPLMN Policy Control Function) entity 104B.

For example, referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B , the URSP may be provided by the PCF to the AMF 103 and then provided by the AMF 103 to the UE. Optionally, AMF 103 does not alter the URSP provided by PCF 104 .

URSP is used by the UE to determine whether an application running on it can be associated with an established PDU (Protocol Data Unit, protocol data unit) session, and whether it can be offloaded to a non-3GPP connection outside the protocol data unit session. A policy that enters or may trigger the establishment of a new PDU session.

The URSP may include a Network Slice Selection Policy (NSSP). The NSSP can offload specified services to corresponding network slices. The UE 101 uses the network slice corresponding to the service descriptor when activating a service, and notifies the AMF 103 when the protocol data unit session is created.

The above-mentioned network slicing refers to an on-demand networking method, which allows operators to segment multiple virtual end-to-end networks on a unified infrastructure. It is logically isolated from the core network and adapts to various types of business applications. A network slice includes at least wireless sub-slice, bearer sub-slice and core network sub-slice.

Different network slices have different network transmission qualities. According to different network traffic packages formulated by operators, application-specific traffic requirements, user identity/role (VIP/normal user), etc., even for the same application, different network slices may be used. Network slicing technology is one of the key technologies of 5G. It enables users to access the most suitable network on demand through the end-to-end configuration of the network, increasing the flexibility of network resources.

However, during the use of the application, there is a need to switch network slices, or to use network slices with better network transmission quality.

The UE 101 may associate a network slice with a better quality network transmission for the application running on it in the following manner. The UE 101 is also referred to as network slice acceleration for the application associated network with better transmission quality. Network slicing with better network transmission quality is also called accelerated slicing in the industry. Network slices with normal network transmission quality are also called normal slices or default slices in the industry.

Mode 1: Regardless of the current network environment, the application transmits services on the designated network slice with high network transmission quality according to the URSP preconfigured by the user or the URSP obtained during the registration process. Mode 1 is also known as static slice acceleration in the industry. In such a case, even if the service quality can be guaranteed by using network slices with ordinary network transmission quality or low network transmission quality, the service uses network slices with high network transmission quality by default (that is, using network slices to accelerate services), This will increase the cost for businesses to use slice acceleration services. The first method will cause the UE 101 to be inflexible in using the slice acceleration service. And because the resources of network slices with high network transmission quality are limited, the number of users that these network slices can carry is also limited. Mode 1 cannot give full play to the use value of slices with high network transmission quality.

Method 2: The application migrates the relevant application from the default network slice or the currently used network slice to another network slice with better transmission quality only when it needs to use a network slice with better network transmission quality. The second method is also called dynamic slice acceleration in the industry.

It is worth noting that in the current 5G communication system, the implementation of dynamic slice acceleration is as follows:

1) The user terminal carries the service on the default network slice or the network slice with normal network transmission quality according to the pre-configured URSP (or the user's local configuration) or the previously received URSP rule.

2) The user terminal or application determines whether it is necessary to migrate the default or currently used network slice of the service to another network slice with better transmission quality according to factors such as network environment and location changes.

3) The user terminal or application requests the network side (including bearer network and core network, eg, (R)AN 102, AMF 103, or PCF 104) to carry the service on another network slice with better transmission quality.

4) The network side (eg, (R)AN 102, AMF 103 or PCF 104) generates URSP rules according to the request information, and dynamically issues/updates the URSP.

5) The user terminal associates the service of the application with another network slice with better transmission quality according to the received and updated URSP.

In the current 5G communication system, the network side equipment dynamically issues/updates the URSP, which puts forward higher requirements for both the 5G network side and the terminal equipment. This requires both 5G network side equipment and terminal equipment to support the URSP dynamic delivery/update process and function. At present, in the early stage of 5G commercial use, most network-side devices and terminal devices may not be able to support the dynamic delivery/update process and function of URSP, so the dynamic slice acceleration function cannot be realized. At the same time, if the acceleration of dynamic slicing is to be realized in the industry, the 5G network side also needs to open the API interface for third-party applications to call another network slicing with better transmission quality. Function.

It can be seen that in the current 5G communication system, there is still a need for improvement in switching services from one network slice to another network slice with better transmission quality. Especially when the network side device does not support dynamic slice acceleration or cannot deliver an updated URSP, the terminal device still hopes to switch the application service from one network slice to another network slice with better transmission quality.

In the present disclosure, the terminal may pre-configure the first URSP and the second URSP for the application. Therefore, when the network side has not dynamically updated the URSP for the terminal, it is still possible to switch the application service from one network slice to another network slice. This enables flexible use and configuration of network slices.

Hereinafter, a method for dynamically determining a network slice performed by a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method 200 performed by a terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 2, in step S201, the UE 101 configures a first user routing policy rule (hereinafter referred to as the first URSP) and a second user routing policy rule (hereinafter referred to as the first URSP) for an application (for example, application A) running on it is a second URSP), wherein the first URSP is associated with a first network slice, and the second URSP is associated with a second network slice.

Optionally, the first URSP and the second URSP may contain the following two parts of information:

1. Traffic Descriptor: used for UE to identify the service type, including these methods: OSId+OSAppId, IP triple (IP address or IPv6 network prefix, port number, protocol ID), FQDN (domain name) , DNN (Data Network Name).

2. Route Selection Descriptor: Indicates the control strategy for matching services. Several items in the routing descriptor are briefly described below. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the routing descriptor may also include more or less control/selection strategies for matching services.

The following information can be included in the routing descriptor:

2a) SSC mode selection policy (SSC Mode Selection Policy, SSCMSP): The UE uses this policy to associate the matched application with the SSC mode. SSC (Session and Service Continuity) indicates the continuity of sessions and services.

2b) Network Slice Selection Policy (NSSP): The UE uses this policy to associate the matched application with the S-NSSAI.

2c) DNN Selection Policy: The UE uses this policy to associate matching applications with the DNN. DNN (Data Network Name) represents the data network name.

2d) Protocol Data Unit Session Type Policy (PDU Session Type Policy): The UE uses this policy to associate the matching application with the PDU Session Type.

2e) Non-Seamless Offload Policy: The UE uses this policy to determine that the matching application should be non-seamlessly offloaded to non-3GPP access (ie, outside the protocol data unit session).

2f) Access Type preference: If the UE needs to establish a protocol data unit session for a matching application, the access type preference indicates the preferred access type (3GPP or non-3GPP).

The UE 101 uses the Network Slice Selection (Network SliceSelection) parameter in the Network Slice Selection Policy (NSSP) to complete offloading the specified service to the corresponding network slice. When the UE 101 activates a certain service, the network slice corresponding to the service descriptor will be used, and the AMF 103 will be notified when the protocol data unit session is created. The network slice selection (Network Slice Selection) parameter is, for example, single network slice selection assistance information (Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information, S-NASSI). S-NASSI is used to uniquely identify a network slice.

Optionally, the NSSP includes the correspondence between the specified application and the single network slice selection assistance information (Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information, S-NASSI). Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NASSI) is a set of S-NSSAI, identifying a group of network slices.

When establishing a protocol data unit session, the UE 101 will select corresponding network slices for different applications according to the NSSP in the URSP. The UE 101 may include multiple NSSPs to correspond to different access modes. That is, the UE 101 can configure corresponding NSSPs for various access modes.

Optionally, an NSSP may include one or more NSSP rules, each NSSP rule containing a rule that applies an association with a corresponding S-NSSAI. The NSSP can also contain a default NSSP rule, and applications that fail to match will use the default NSSP rule. Optionally, an application may correspond to multiple NSSP rules in the NSSP. The UE 101 will sequentially match the NSSP rules with the applied services according to the priority of each NSSP rule in the NSSP. The network slice indicated by the S-NSSAI in the NSSP rule that is successfully matched for the first time can be used as the candidate network slice. The UE 101 will check that the S-NSSAI belongs to the NSSAI currently allowed by the UE (Allowed NSSAI). If it is, the NSSP rule is the successfully matched NSSP rule. If not, the UE 101 will continue to look for NSSP rules until it finds an NSSP rule that matches both the applied service, and the S-NSSAI in the NSSP rule belongs to the allowed NASAI. The S-NSSAI in the successfully matched NSSP rule is the selected S-NSSAI.

For example, it is assumed that there is a service that needs to interact with the network side in the application A running in the UE 101 . UE 101 will configure application A with the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule. The first URSP is associated with the first network slice, and the second URSP is associated with the second network slice. The first network slice has single network slice selection assistance information S-NSSAI_0, and the second network slice has single network slice selection assistance information S-NSSAI_1. The following is an example of a first URSP and a second URSP.

The first URSP rule associates the application whose IP triplet is (IP_1, Port_1, Protocol_1) to the first network slice with the single network slice selection assistance information S-NSSAI_0. In addition, the SSC mode of the first network slice is selected as SSC mode 3, the access type is 3GPP access, and its data network name is "internet". Wherein, the IP triplet includes: IP address/IPv6 network prefix (IP) (eg, first IP address IP_1), port number (Port) (eg, first port number Port_1) and protocol identifier (eg, Protocol_1) ).

The routing policy of the first URSP rule indicates that if the service information of a certain application matches the service descriptor in the first URSP rule, the first network slice can be used to transmit the service of the application. For example, when the service information of the application indicates that the IP triplet that the application can use is (IP_1, Port_1, Protocol_1), the access type is 3GPP access type, and the name of the data network to be accessed is "internet", the The application matches the first network slice.

Thus, the first user routing policy rule is associated with the first IP triplet, and the first IP triplet includes the first IP address, the first port number, and the protocol identifier.

The second URSP rule associates the application whose IP triplet is (IP_1, Port_2, Protocol_1) to the second network slice with the single network slice selection assistance information S-NSSAI_1. In addition, the SSC mode of the second network slice is selected as SSC mode 3, the access type is 3GPP access, and its data network name is "internet".

The routing policy of the second URSP rule indicates that if the service information of a certain application matches the service descriptor in the second URSP rule, the second network slice can be used to transmit the service of the application. For example, when the service information of the application indicates that the IP triplet that the application can use is (IP_1, Port_2, Protocol_1), the access type is 3GPP access type, and the name of the data network to be accessed is "internet", the application Match the second network slice.

Thus, the second user routing policy rule is associated with the second IP triplet, and the second IP triplet includes the second IP address, the second port number, and the protocol identifier.

Since both the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule match application A, the first URSP and the second URSP have the same protocol identifier.

Optionally, the first IP triplet and the second IP triplet satisfy any one of the following conditions:

The first IP address is the same as the second IP address, and the first port number is different from the second port number;

The first IP address is different from the second IP address, and the first port number is the same as the second port number;

The first IP address is different from the second IP address, and the first port number is different from the second port number.

Thereby, the first IP triplet and the second IP triplet can be distinguished by the IP address and the port number, and then the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule can be distinguished.

For convenience of description below, it is assumed that the second network slice has better network service quality than the first network slice. In the following, the second network slice with better network service quality is also referred to as an accelerated slice, and the first network slice is also referred to as a normal slice or a default slice.

At this time, both the network side device and the UE 101 know the first IP triplet and the second IP triplet capable of carrying the service of application A, which correspond to the first network slice and the second network slice, respectively. At this time, no matter which IP triplet UE 101 initiates to access the service of application A, the network side device can receive, parse and feed back the corresponding service of application A. Likewise, no matter which IP triplet is used by the network side device to transmit the service of application A to UE 101 (eg, sending video stream to UE 101 ), UE 101 can receive and parse the corresponding service.

In step S202, the UE 101 acquires the service information of the application A.

For example, the service information of application A may indicate that the access type that the application expects to use is 3GPP access, and the data network name that the application expects to access is "internet".

The service information of the application A may indicate that the service of the application A can be carried through network slices corresponding to multiple groups of IP triples. Specifically, the service information of application A may indicate that the service of application A is expected to be carried through the network slice with the protocol identifier Protocol_1.

Below, an example of an IP triplet of a network slice capable of carrying the service of application A is given:

Example 1: IP_1, Port_1, Protocol_1

Example 2: IP_1, Port_2, Protocol_1

Example 3: IP_2, Port_1, Protocol_1

Example 4: IP_2, Port_2, Protocol_1

Those skilled in the art should understand that more network slices corresponding to IP triples can also be used to carry the services of application A. For example, the IP triples are IP_2, Port_3, Protocol_1, as long as the corresponding IP triples of the network slices The protocol identifier of the tuple is Protocol_1.

Optionally, the service information of application A may indicate that the service of application A has a service quality requirement for the network slice. For example, application A's service information may indicate the quality of service requirements for carrying the service.

Next, in step S203, the UE 101 dynamically determines a network slice for carrying the service of application A based on the service information of application A, the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule.

As described above, the first URSP rule indicates that the first network slice (ordinary slice) can be used to carry the service of application A. The second URSP rule indicates that the second network slice (accelerated slice) can be used to carry the service of application A.

For example, the UE 101 determines the quality of service of the first network slice according to the first URSP rule. If the quality of service of the first network slice can already meet the current service quality of service requirements of application A (that is, the ordinary slice has been able to meet the service quality of service requirements of application A), the UE may determine the first network slice as the first network slice for carrying application A. business network slices.

For example, the UE 101 determines the quality of service of the first network slice according to the first URSP rule. If the quality of service of the first network slice cannot meet the current service quality requirements of application A (that is, ordinary slices cannot meet the service quality requirements of application A), the UE may determine the second network slice according to the second URSP rule. It is the network slice used to carry the service of application A.

It is worth noting that the UE 101 can not only obtain the service information of the application A when initiating the service of the application A, the UE 101 can also obtain the application information of the application A in real time in the process of using a certain network slice to carry the service of the application A .

For example, assume that application A is a real-time video playback application. When using application A, users may feel that the current video picture is not clear and smooth enough, so they hope to pay for a network slice with better service quality to carry the services of application A. At this time, the UE 101 acquires the change of the service information of the application A in real time, which indicates that the service quality requirement of the application A changes. At this time, according to the first URSP rule, ordinary slices can no longer meet the current service quality requirements of application A. The UE 101 will determine that the second network slice will be used to carry the service of application A according to the second URSP rule.

For another example, when a user uses application A, he may no longer pay for accelerated slices, so he wants to use ordinary slices to carry services of application A. At this time, the UE 101 acquires the change of the service information of the application A in real time, which indicates that the service quality requirement of the application A changes. At this time, according to the first URSP rule, the common slice can already meet the current service quality requirement of application A. The UE 101 will migrate the service of application A from the accelerated slice to the normal slice. At this time, the UE 101 will determine that the first network slice will be used to carry the service of application A according to the first URSP rule.

Finally, according to the network slice determined by the UE 101 for carrying the service of the application A, the UE 101 associates the service of the application A with the first network slice or the second network slice.

In step S204, when the first network slice is used as a network slice for carrying the service of the application, the UE 101 associates the service of the application with the first network slice, and the second network slice When the slice is used as a network slice for carrying the service of the application, the service of the application is associated with the second network slice.

Optionally, step S204 further includes: in the case that the UE 101 determines to associate the service of application A with the first network slice (ordinary slice), determining the S-NSSAI based on the first NSSP in the first URSP rule . For example, according to the above-mentioned example of the first URSP rule, the UE 101 finds that the value of S-NSSAI in the NSSP in the first URSP rule is S-NSSAI_0. Next, the UE 101 locates the network slice marked with S-NSSAI_0 (ie, the first network slice), and determines whether there is a matching protocol data unit session applicable to session A on the network slice. In the presence of a matching protocol data unit session, application A is associated to the matching protocol data unit session. In the absence of a matching protocol data unit session, the UE 101 will establish a new protocol data unit session on the network slice (eg, the first network slice).

Similarly, step S204 further includes: in the case that the UE 101 determines to associate the service of application A with the second network slice (accelerated slice), determining the S-NSSAI based on the second NSSP in the second URSP. For example, according to the above example of the second URSP, the UE 101 finds that the value of the S-NSSAI in the NSSP in the second URSP is S-NSSAI_1. Next, the UE 101 locates the network slice marked with S-NSSAI_1 (ie, the second network slice), and determines whether there is a matching protocol data unit session on the network slice that can be applied to session A. In the presence of a matching protocol data unit session, application A is associated to the matching protocol data unit session. In the absence of a matching protocol data unit session, the UE 101 will establish a new protocol data unit session on that network slice (eg, an accelerated slice).

Compared with the static slicing acceleration scheme in the existing 5G communication system (in this scheme, the static slicing acceleration always uses the accelerated slicing to carry the service of application A), the UE 101 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can dynamically determine the The network slicing that carries the service of the application avoids using the accelerated slicing/normal slicing to carry the service of the application A all the time, so that the network slicing can be flexibly configured and selected.

Compared with the dynamic slice acceleration scheme in the existing 5G communication system (in this scheme, the URSP must be dynamically issued/updated through the PCF 104 to migrate the services of application A to the accelerated slice/normal slice), according to this The UE 101 of the disclosed embodiment can configure the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule for the application A in advance, so that when the network side has not dynamically updated the URSP for the terminal, the service of the application can still be switched from one network slice to another. A network slice. This enables flexible use and configuration of network slices.

Hereinafter, the method 200 for dynamically determining a network slice performed by a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be further described with reference to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B . 3A and 3B are message flow diagrams for configuring a first user routing policy rule and a second user routing policy rule for an application running on the terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Alternatively, the URSP rules may be pre-configured in the UE 101, or may be provided to the UE 101 from a network-side device (eg, PCF 104). Alternatively, the UE 101 may apply the pre-configured URSP when it has not yet received the URSP from the PCF 104 .

FIG. 3A shows an example in which the network side device provides the URSP rule to the UE 101, and the UE 101 dynamically associates the applied service to the first network slice or the second network slice according to the URSP rule provided by the network side device.

For example, in the above step S201, the UE may send a registration request associated with application A to the network side device, and then receive the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule from the network side device, wherein the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule The URSP rule is generated by the network side device based on the registration request.

The network side device may formulate the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule for the application A of the UE 101 based on various information. For example, the network service quality requirements of the service of application A, whether the user is a VIP user of application A, whether the user pays, the type of network traffic package purchased by the user, the access type of application A, and so on. The present disclosure does not limit the manner and input parameters for the network side device to determine the URSP rule for the UE 101 .

After the network side device formulates the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule for the application A of the UE 101, the network side device will send a message including the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule to the UE 101.

FIG. 3B shows an example in which the UE 101 determines the URSP rule according to the UE Local Configure. The UE 101 dynamically associates the applied service with the first network slice or the second network slice according to the locally configured URSP rule.

For example, in the above-mentioned step S201, the UE 101 may determine the first user routing policy rule (first URSP rule) and the second user routing policy rule (second URSP rule) based on the information of application A and the local configuration of the user .

The UE 101 may integrate various information to formulate the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule for the application A of the UE 101 . For example, the network service quality requirements of the service of application A, whether the user is a VIP user of application A, whether the user pays, the type of network traffic package purchased by the user, the access type of application A, the protocol data unit session currently available to the UE 101, Historical usage of individual network slices on UE 101, etc. The present disclosure does not limit the manner in which the UE 101 determines the URSP rules and the parameters that facilitate the determination of the URSP rules.

Next, the UE 101 may send a message associated with the application A to the network side device, where the message associated with the application indicates that the service of the application A may be carried by the first network slice and/or the second network slice. For example, the UE 101 may send the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule formulated for application A by the UE 101 to the network side device. The UE 101 may also send the service of the application A to the network side through the existing PDU session on the first network slice to inform the network side device that the service of the application A will be carried by the first network slice. The UE 101 may also send the service of application A to the network side through the existing PDU session on the second network slice to inform the network side device that the service of application A will be carried by the second network slice. Alternatively, the UE 101 may also send a PUD session request for establishing a PDU session on the first network slice/second network slice to inform the network side device that the service of application A will be carried by the first network slice/second network slice. The present disclosure does not limit the message indicating that the service of application A can be carried by the first network slice and/or the second network slice, as long as the network side device can know the IP triplet that can carry the service of application A.

At this time, both the network side device and the UE 101 know the first IP triplet and the second IP triplet capable of carrying the service of application A, which correspond to the first network slice and the second network slice, respectively. At this time, no matter which IP triplet UE 101 initiates to access the service of application A, the network side device can receive, parse and feed back the corresponding service of application A. Likewise, no matter which IP triplet is used by the network side device to transmit the service of application A to UE 101 (eg, sending video stream to UE 101 ), UE 101 can receive and parse the corresponding service.

Compared with the static slicing acceleration scheme in the existing 5G communication system (in this scheme, the static slicing acceleration always uses the accelerated slicing to carry the service of application A), the UE 101 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can configure multiple URSPs in advance The rules are used to carry the services of application A, so as to avoid using accelerated slices/normal slices to carry the services of application A all the time, so that network slices can be flexibly configured and selected.

Compared with the dynamic slice acceleration scheme in the existing 5G communication system (in this scheme, the URSP must be dynamically issued/updated through the PCF 104 to migrate the services of application A to the accelerated slice/normal slice), according to this The UE 101 of the disclosed embodiment can configure the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule for the application A in advance, so that when the network side has not yet dynamically delivered the URSP that can use the accelerated slice to the terminal, it can still dynamically determine the URSP for the application A. A network slice that carries services of the application. This enables flexible use and configuration of network slices.

Hereinafter, the method 200 for dynamically determining a network slice performed by a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be further described with reference to FIG. 4A , FIG. 4B and FIG. 4C . 4A is a flowchart of dynamically determining a network slice for carrying traffic of the application according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 4B and 4C are message flow diagrams for dynamically determining network slices performed by a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which illustrate UE 101 and the network side device when UE 101 switches the network slice carrying the service of application A interaction.

After the UE 101 determines the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule and obtains the service information of the application A, the UE 101 can perform the above-mentioned step S203, that is, according to the service information of the application A, the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule, dynamically determine whether to carry the service of application A on the first network slice or on the second network slice.

As shown in FIG. 4A , step S203 may include step S401 and step S402.

In step S401, in the case that the first network slice meets the requirements of the service of the application, the UE 101 determines the first network slice as the network slice for carrying the service of the application.

In step S402, if the first network slice does not meet the requirements of the service of the application, the UE 101 determines the second network slice as the network slice for carrying the service of the application. The service information of the application includes service requirements of the application, and the service processing capability of the second network slice is higher than the service processing capability of the first network slice.

The UE 101 may acquire various service information of the application when initiating the service of the application A.

For example, the service information of the application may include the service quality requirements of the service of application A. For example, application A may be network conferencing software that requires high security and service transmission speed. Therefore, application A may have high quality of service requirements. The service quality requirement of the service of application A may be expressed by parameters such as packet loss rate (packet loss rate), packet delay budget (packet delay budget). For example, the service of application A may require the packet loss rate to be lower than a certain threshold or the delay of packet arrival to be lower than a certain time window.

At this time, the UE 101 determines the first network slice as the network slice for carrying the service of the application under the condition that the service quality requirement of the service of the application A is not higher than the service quality of the first network slice. In the case that the service quality requirement of the service of the application A is higher than the service quality of the first network slice, the second network slice is determined as the network slice for carrying the service of the application. For example, suppose that the service of application A requires that the packet loss rate cannot be higher than 10%. At this time, it is assumed that the packet loss rate of the first network slice can be guaranteed to be within 8%. At this time, the UE will determine to use the first network slice to carry the service of application A. Alternatively, the UE 101 may also directly indicate that the services requiring a packet loss rate lower than 5% are all carried on the accelerated slice (ie, the second network slice) according to the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule, while a high packet loss rate is allowed. More than 5% of the services (for example, the packet loss rate cannot be higher than 10%, but can be higher than 5%) are carried on ordinary slices.

For example, the service information of the application may also include the priority of the service of application A. For example, application A may be the basic application software with higher priority requirements. The quality of service requirement of the service of application A may be represented by a priority sequence number value parameter. It is assumed that the larger the sequence number of the priority is, the higher the priority level is. For example, the service of application A may require the use of network slices with a priority number greater than 5. For example, under the condition that the priority of the service of the application A is not higher than the priority of the first network slice, the first network slice can be determined as the network slice for carrying the service of the application. In the case where the priority of the service of the application A is higher than the priority of the first network slice, the second network slice is determined as the network slice for carrying the service of the application. For example, suppose that the service requirements of application A require the use of network slices with a priority number greater than 5. At this time, it is assumed that the priority of the first network slice is 4, and the priority of the second network slice is 6. At this time, the UE will determine to use the second network slice to carry the service of application A. Alternatively, the UE 101 may also set the priority threshold according to the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule. Suppose the set priority threshold is 7. Then the UE 101 can directly indicate that the services with the priority greater than 7 are required to be carried on the accelerated slice (that is, the second network slice), and the services with the priority less than 7 are allowed to be carried on the ordinary slice (that is, the first network slice). .

Therefore, compared with the static slicing acceleration scheme in the existing 5G communication system (in this scheme, the static slicing acceleration always uses the accelerated slicing to carry the service of the application A), the UE 101 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can When applying A's services, it can dynamically determine which network slice is used to carry application A's services, thus avoiding the need to always use accelerated slices/normal slices to carry application A's services, so that network slices can be flexibly configured and selected. .

Compared with the dynamic slice acceleration scheme in the existing 5G communication system (in this scheme, the URSP must be dynamically issued/updated through the PCF 104 to migrate the services of application A to the accelerated slice/normal slice), according to this The UE 101 of the disclosed embodiment can configure the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule for the application A in advance, so that when the network side has not dynamically delivered the URSP that can use the accelerated slice to the terminal, it can still implement the service initiating the application. The network slice used to carry the traffic of the application is dynamically determined from time to time. This enables flexible use and configuration of network slices.

Optionally, the UE 101 can not only dynamically determine the network slice at the moment when the service of the application A is initiated, but also can dynamically determine the network slice in the process of transmitting the service of the application A with the network side device.

The UE 101 can switch the service bearer from the normal slice to the accelerated slice according to the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule, or the UE 101 switches the service bearer from the accelerated slice to the normal slice.

FIG. 4B shows an example of switching the bearer of the service from the normal slice to the accelerated slice.

It is assumed that the service information of application A includes service quality requirements of the service of application A, and the service processing capability of the second network slice is higher than the service processing capability of the first network slice. That is, the second network slice is an accelerated network slice, and the first network slice is an ordinary network slice.

In step S203, the UE 101 may determine the quality of service of the network slice carrying the service of application A. It is assumed that the application A is carried on the common slice - the first network slice at this time. At this time, many applications may be carried by using the first network slice, and the service quality of the first network slice may be degraded. At this time, when the service quality of the first network slice is lower than the service quality requirement of the service of application A, the UE 101 may associate the service of application A with the second network slice according to the second USRP rule.

Of course, the UE 101 may also determine whether to switch the network slice carrying the service of application A from the normal slice to the accelerated slice according to other parameters.

For example, the service information of application A may include the load capacity requirement of the service of application A, and the load capacity of the second network slice is lower than the load capacity of the first network slice. Suppose application A requires that the load of the network slice carrying its services cannot exceed 75% of the maximum load of the network slice.

At this time, in step S203, the UE 101 may determine the load amount of the network slice carrying the service of the application A, the load amount indicates the load degree of the network slice, and when the load amount does not satisfy the service of the application When the load of the network slice is required, the service of the application is associated with the second network slice. It is assumed that the current application A is carried on the normal slice - the first network slice. At this time, many applications may be carried by the first network slice, and the load of the first network slice may exceed 75% of its maximum load. In the case that the load of the common slice is higher than 75% of the load threshold that can meet the load requirement of the service of the application A, the UE 101 may associate the service of the application A with the second network slice (acceleration) according to the second URSP rule. slice).

Alternatively, the user using UE 101 may also change its network traffic package or purchase a VIP membership of application A, so that the operator/service server allows more services to be carried on the second network slice. At this time, the UE 101 may also determine to use the accelerated slice according to the change of the service quality requirement of the service of the application A. For example, for a video application, after a user purchases a VIP, the quality requirement (SLA) of the service corresponding to the video application also changes, which may require the network slice carrying the service of the application to have higher service quality. At this time, the UE 101 can dynamically migrate the service of the application from the first network slice to the second network slice without re-delivering the URSP rule from the network side.

Those skilled in the art can understand that, in other cases, the UE 101 may switch network slices as needed according to changes in application services or communication quality of the network slices. The present disclosure does not limit these situations.

FIG. 4C shows an example of switching the bearer of the service from the accelerated slice to the normal slice.

In the process of using the application service, the UE 101 currently uses the second network slice (acceleration slice) for service transmission. At this time, due to reasons such as slice admission control, UE 101 determines that slice acceleration needs to be canceled. According to the first URSP rule, the UE 101 may determine to carry the service of the application on the first network slice (ordinary slice). For example, the user using UE 101 may also change its network traffic plan or cancel the VIP membership of application A, so that the operator/service server no longer allows the application's services to be carried on the second network slice. At this time, the UE 101 may also determine that the accelerated slice is no longer used according to the change of the service quality requirement of the service of the application A. For example, for a video application, after the user cancels the VIP, the quality requirement (SLA) of the service corresponding to the video application also changes, which may require that the network slice carrying the service of the application may be of lower quality of service Ordinary slices. At this time, the UE 101 can dynamically migrate the service of the application from the second network slice to the first network slice without re-delivering the URSP rule from the network side.

Therefore, compared with the static slice acceleration scheme in the existing 5G communication system (in this scheme, the static slice acceleration always uses the accelerated slice to carry the service of the application A), the UE 101 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can transmit The network slice for carrying the service of the application is dynamically determined during the application service, so as to avoid using the accelerated slice/normal slice to carry the service of the application A all the time, so that the network slice can be flexibly configured and selected.

Compared with the dynamic slice acceleration scheme in the existing 5G communication system (in this scheme, the URSP must be dynamically issued/updated through the PCF 104 to migrate the services of application A to the accelerated slice/normal slice), according to this The UE 101 of the disclosed embodiment can configure the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule for the application A in advance, so that when the network side has not dynamically issued/updated the URSP capable of using the accelerated slice for the terminal, it can still realize the transmission of the application. The network slice used to carry the service of the application is dynamically determined when the service is used. This enables flexible use and configuration of network slices.

Hereinafter, a method 500 of dynamically switching network slices performed by a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be further described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B . Figure 5A is a flowchart of a method 500 performed by a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5B is a message interaction diagram between a network node and the UE 101 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 5A , in step S501 , a network node (eg, PCF 104 , AMF 103 , etc.) receives a registration request for application A from UE 101 . The registration request includes the relevant information of the application A to assist the network node in determining the URSP corresponding to the application.

In step S502, in response to the registration request, the network node sends the UE 101 a first user routing policy rule and a second user routing policy rule for the application, wherein the first user routing policy rule Associated with the first network slice, the second user routing policy rule is associated with the second network slice.

The network node may formulate the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule for Application A of the UE 101 based on various information. For example, the network service quality requirements of the service of application A, whether the user is a VIP user of application A, whether the user pays, the type of network traffic package purchased by the user, the access type of application A, and so on. The present disclosure does not limit the manner and input parameters for the network side device to determine the URSP rule for the UE 101 .

As shown in FIG. 5B , the first URSP rule indicates that the first network slice (ordinary slice) can be used to carry the service of application A. The second URSP rule indicates that the second network slice (accelerated slice) can be used to carry the service of application A.

The routing policy of the first URSP rule indicates that if the service information of a certain application matches the service descriptor, the first network slice can be used to transmit the service of the application. For example, when the service information of the application indicates that the IP triplet that can be used by the application is the first IP triplet and the name of the data network to be accessed is "DNN1", the application matches the first network slice.

The routing policy of the second URSP rule indicates that if the service information of a certain application matches the service descriptor, the second network slice can be used to transmit the service of the application. For example, when the service information of the application indicates that the IP triplet that can be used by the application is the second IP triplet and the name of the data network to be accessed is "DNN1", the application matches the second network slice.

The UE 101 may perform the following steps after receiving the first URSP rule and the second URSP rule.

For example, the UE 101 may determine, according to the foregoing information, that the service of the application A can be carried on either the first network slice or the second network slice. Next, the UE 101 can dynamically determine which network slice to carry the service of the application A on according to the above-mentioned manner. For example, the UE 101 determines the quality of service of the first network slice according to the first URSP rule. If the quality of service of the first network slice can already meet the current service quality of service requirements of application A (that is, the ordinary slice has been able to meet the service quality of service requirements of application A), the UE may determine the first network slice as the first network slice for carrying application A. business network slices.

For example, the UE 101 determines the quality of service of the first network slice according to the first URSP rule. If the quality of service of the first network slice cannot meet the current service quality requirements of application A (that is, ordinary slices cannot meet the service quality requirements of application A), the UE may determine the second network slice according to the second URSP rule. It is the network slice used to carry the service of application A.

It is worth noting that the UE 101 can not only obtain the service information of the application A when initiating the service of the application A, the UE 101 can also obtain the application information of the application A in real time in the process of using a certain network slice to carry the service of the application A .

For example, assume that application A is a real-time video playback application. When using application A, users may feel that the current video picture is not clear and smooth enough, so they hope to pay for a network slice with better service quality to carry the services of application A. At this time, the UE 101 acquires the change of the service information of the application A in real time, which indicates that the service quality requirement of the application A changes. At this time, according to the first URSP rule, ordinary slices can no longer meet the current service quality requirements of application A. The UE 101 will determine that the second network slice will be used to carry the service of application A according to the second URSP rule.

For another example, when a user uses application A, he may no longer pay for accelerated slices, so he wants to use ordinary slices to carry services of application A. At this time, the UE 101 acquires the change of the service information of the application A in real time, which indicates that the service quality requirement of the application A changes. At this time, according to the first URSP rule, the common slice can already meet the current service quality requirement of application A. The UE 101 will migrate the service of application A from the accelerated slice to the normal slice. At this time, the UE 101 will determine that the first network slice will be used to carry the service of application A according to the first URSP rule.

According to the network slice determined by the UE 101 for carrying the service of the application A, the UE 101 associates the service of the application A with the first network slice or the second network slice.

When the UE 101 determines to associate the service of the application A with the first network slice (ordinary slice), the UE 101 determines the S-NSSAI based on the first NSSP in the first URSP rule. For example, according to the above-mentioned example of the first URSP rule, the UE 101 finds that the value of S-NSSAI in the NSSP in the first URSP rule is S-NSSAI_0. Next, the UE 101 locates the network slice marked with S-NSSAI_0 (ie, the first network slice), and determines whether there is a matching protocol data unit session applicable to session A on the network slice. In the presence of a matching protocol data unit session, application A is associated to the matching protocol data unit session. In the absence of a matching protocol data unit session, the UE 101 will establish a new protocol data unit session on the network slice (eg, the first network slice). At this point, the UE 101 will send a protocol data unit session request to the network node using the first network slice.

In the case where the UE 101 determines to associate the service of the application A with the second network slice (accelerated slice), the S-NSSAI is determined based on the second NSSP in the second URSP. For example, according to the above example of the second URSP, the UE 101 finds that the value of the S-NSSAI in the NSSP in the second URSP is S-NSSAI_1. Next, the UE 101 locates the network slice marked with S-NSSAI_1 (ie, the second network slice), and determines whether there is a matching protocol data unit session on the network slice that can be applied to session A. In the presence of a matching protocol data unit session, application A is associated to the matching protocol data unit session. In the absence of a matching protocol data unit session, the UE 101 will establish a new protocol data unit session on that network slice (eg, an accelerated slice). At this point, the UE 101 will send a protocol data unit session request to the network node using the second network slice.

In step S503, when the network node receives the protocol data unit session request from the UE 101 on the first network slice, the network node uses the first network slice to carry the service of the application. However, when the network node receives the protocol data unit session request from the UE 101 on the second network slice, the second network slice is used to carry the service of the application.

Referring to FIG. 5B , when the service of the application is associated with the first network slice, the network node uses port 1 to transceive the service of the application A on the UE 101 . When the traffic of the application is associated with the second network slice, the network node uses port 2 to transceive the traffic of the application A on the UE 101 .

Therefore, for the same service, the UE 101 and the network node use multiple sets of different IP triples to match different URSP rules, which can meet the requirements of transmitting the same service on different slices. At the same time, in the case where the 5G network and the terminal do not support the dynamic issuance/update of URSP, and the operator's 5G network does not support the capability open interface to support dynamic slice acceleration, through the embodiments of the present disclosure, the terminal application and the background application service are implemented, which can satisfy the Apply on-demand, dynamic slicing acceleration capabilities.

Therefore, compared with the static slicing acceleration scheme in the existing 5G communication system (in this scheme, the static slicing acceleration always uses the accelerated slicing to carry the services of application A) and the dynamic slicing acceleration scheme (in this scheme, it is necessary to The service of application A can be migrated to the accelerated slice/normal slice only by dynamically issuing/updating the URSP by the PCF 104), the network node according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can still dynamically issue or update the URSP to the UE 101. It can dynamically switch and determine the network slice carrying the service of the application when transmitting and initiating the service of the application. In this way, the flexible use and configuration of network slicing (especially accelerated slicing) is realized, the cost of using slicing acceleration is reduced, and the use value of slicing acceleration is better utilized.

In addition, a device (eg, a terminal, a network node, etc.) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure can also be implemented by means of the architecture of the electronic device shown in FIG. 6 . Figure 6 shows the architecture of the computing device. As shown in FIG. 6, computing device 600 may include a bus 610, one or more CPUs 620, read only memory (ROM) 630, random access memory (RAM) 640, a communication port 650 connected to a network, input/output components 660, hard disk 670, etc. A storage device in computing device 600, such as ROM 630 or hard disk 660, may store various data or files used for computer processing and/or communication and program instructions executed by the CPU. Computing device 600 may also include user interface 680 . Of course, the architecture shown in FIG. 6 is only exemplary, and when implementing different devices, one or more components in the computing device shown in FIG. 6 may be omitted according to actual needs.

Embodiments of the present disclosure can also be implemented as computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable instructions are stored on a computer-readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. When the computer readable instructions are executed by a processor, methods according to embodiments of the present disclosure described with reference to the above figures may be performed. The computer-readable storage medium includes, but is not limited to, for example, volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. The volatile memory may include, for example, random access memory (RAM) and/or cache memory, or the like. The non-volatile memory may include, for example, read only memory (ROM), hard disk, flash memory, and the like.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented as a computer program product or computer program comprising computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The processor of the computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer readable medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions to cause the computer device to perform the methods provided in the various aspects described above or in various optional implementations of the various aspects described above.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can occur to what is disclosed in this disclosure. For example, the various devices or components described above may be implemented by hardware, or by software, firmware, or a combination of some or all of the three.

Furthermore, as shown in this disclosure and the claims, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the words "a," "an," "an," and/or "the" are not intended to specifically refer to the singular and may include the plural. As used in this disclosure, "first," "second," and similar terms do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but are merely used to distinguish the various components. Likewise, words like "comprising" or "comprising" mean that the elements or things appearing before the word encompass the elements or things recited after the word and their equivalents, but do not exclude other elements or things. Words like "connected" or "connected" are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect.

Furthermore, flowcharts are used in this disclosure to illustrate operations performed by a system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the preceding or following operations are not necessarily performed in exact order. Rather, the various steps may be processed in reverse order or concurrently. At the same time, other actions can be added to these procedures, or a step or steps can be removed from these procedures.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It should also be understood that terms such as those defined in ordinary dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with their meanings in the context of the related art, and should not be construed in an idealized or highly formalized sense unless explicitly stated herein defined as such.

The present disclosure has been described in detail above, but it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described in this specification. The present disclosure can be implemented as a modified and changed form without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure defined by the description of the claims. Therefore, what is described in this specification is for the purpose of illustration and does not have any limiting meaning to the present disclosure.

Claims (15)

1. A method performed by a terminal device for dynamically determining a network slice, comprising:

configuring a first user routing strategy rule and a second user routing strategy rule for an application running on the terminal equipment, wherein the first user routing strategy rule is associated with a first network slice, and the second user routing strategy rule is associated with a second network slice;

acquiring the service information of the application;

dynamically determining a network slice for carrying the applied service based on the applied service information, the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule;

associating traffic of the application to a first network slice if the first network slice is a network slice for carrying traffic of the application;

associating traffic of the application to a second network slice if the second network slice is a network slice for carrying traffic of the application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring first and second subscriber routing policy rules for an application running on the terminal device further comprises:

sending a registration request associated with the application to a network side device, an

Receiving, from the network-side device, the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule, where the first user routing policy rule and the second user routing policy rule are generated by the network-side device based on the registration request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring first and second subscriber routing policy rules for an application running on the terminal device further comprises:

determining a first user routing strategy rule and a second user routing strategy rule based on the applied information and the user local configuration;

sending a message associated with the application to a network side device, wherein the message associated with the application indicates that the traffic of the application can be carried by the first network slice and/or the second network slice.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamically determining a network slice for carrying traffic of the application based on the traffic information of the application, a first user routing policy rule, and a second user routing policy rule comprises:

determining a first network slice as a network slice for carrying the service of the application under the condition that the first network slice meets the requirement of the service of the application; and

determining the second network slice as a network slice for carrying traffic of the application in case the first network slice does not satisfy requirements of the traffic of the application,

the service information of the application comprises the service requirement of the application, and the service processing capacity of the second network slice is higher than that of the first network slice.

5. The method of claim 1 or 4, wherein the dynamically determining a network slice for carrying traffic of the application based on the traffic information of the application, a first user routing policy rule, and a second user routing policy rule further comprises:

determining the service quality of a network slice bearing the service of the application;

associating traffic of the application to a second network slice if the quality of service is below a quality of service requirement of the traffic of the application,

the service information of the application comprises the service quality requirement of the service of the application, and the service processing capacity of the second network slice is higher than that of the first network slice.

6. The method of claim 1 or 4, wherein the dynamically determining a network slice for carrying traffic of the application based on the traffic information of the application, a first user routing policy rule, and a second user routing policy rule further comprises:

determining the load capacity of a network slice for bearing the service of the application, wherein the load capacity indicates the load degree of the network slice;

associating the traffic of the application to a second network slice if the load amount does not satisfy a load amount requirement of the traffic of the application on the network slice,

the service information of the application comprises the load requirement of the service of the application on the network slice, and the load of the second network slice is lower than the load of the first network slice.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the traffic information for the application includes quality of service requirements for traffic for the application, wherein,

the determining the first network slice as the network slice for carrying the traffic of the application further comprises, in case that the first network slice satisfies the requirement of the traffic of the application:

determining the first network slice as a network slice for carrying the traffic of the application under the condition that the service quality requirement of the traffic of the application is not higher than the service quality of the first network slice; the determining the second network slice as the network slice for carrying the traffic of the application further comprises, in case that the first network slice does not satisfy the requirement of the traffic of the application:

determining the second network slice as the network slice for carrying the traffic of the application in case that the quality of service requirement of the traffic of the application is higher than the quality of service of the first network slice.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the service information of the application includes a priority of the service of the application, wherein,

the determining the first network slice as the network slice for carrying the traffic of the application further comprises, in case that the first network slice satisfies the requirement of the traffic of the application:

determining the first network slice as a network slice for carrying the traffic of the application in the case that the priority of the traffic of the application is not higher than the priority of the first network slice;

the determining the second network slice as the network slice for carrying the traffic of the application further comprises, in case that the first network slice does not satisfy the requirement of the traffic of the application:

determining the second network slice as a network slice for carrying traffic of the application if the priority of the traffic of the application is higher than the priority of the first network slice.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the associating traffic of the application to a first network slice further comprises:

determining first single network slice selection assistance information based on a first network slice selection policy in the first user routing policy rule;

determining whether there is a matching protocol data unit session applicable to the application based on the first single network slice selection assistance information;

associating the application to a matching protocol data unit session if there is one;

in case there is no matching protocol data unit session, a new protocol data unit session is established.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the associating traffic of the application to a second network slice further comprises:

determining a second single network slice selection assistance information based on a second network slice selection policy in the second user routing policy rule;

determining whether there is a matching protocol data unit session applicable to the application based on the second single network slice selection assistance information;

associating the application to a matching protocol data unit session if there is one;

in case there is no matching protocol data unit session, a new protocol data unit session is established.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein,

the first user routing strategy rule is associated with the first IP triple;

the second user routing policy rule is associated with the second IP triplet;

wherein the first IP triplet comprises a first IP address, a first port number, and a protocol identifier; the second IP triplet includes a second IP address, a second port number, and a protocol identifier.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first and second IP triples satisfy one of:

the first IP address is the same as the second IP address, and the first port number is different from the second port number;

the first IP address is different from the second IP address, and the first port number is the same as the second port number;

the first IP address is different from the second IP address and the first port number is different from the second port number.

13. A method performed by a network node of dynamically switching network slices, comprising:

receiving a registration request of an application from a terminal device;

in response to the registration request, sending a first user routing policy rule and a second user routing policy rule for the application to the terminal device, wherein the first user routing policy rule is associated with a first network slice and the second user routing policy rule is associated with a second network slice;

under the condition that a protocol data unit session request from the terminal equipment is received on the first network slice, the first network slice is utilized to bear the service of the application;

and under the condition that a protocol data unit session request from the terminal equipment is received on the second network slice, the second network slice is utilized to bear the service of the application.

14. An electronic device, comprising:

a processor; and

memory, wherein the memory has stored therein a computer-executable program that, when executed by the processor, performs the method of any of claims 1-13.

15. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-13.

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