CN111835638B

CN111835638B - Policy rule issuing method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN111835638B
Application number: CN201910328745.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 丁辉; 时书锋
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-04-23
Filing date: 2019-04-23
Publication date: 2022-01-21
Anticipated expiration: 2039-04-23
Also published as: CN111835638A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a policy rule issuing method, equipment and a system, and can realize the decision and issuing of URSP rules under a home and country routing roaming architecture. The method comprises the following steps: the visited place strategy control network element receives a first message from the mobile management network element; the visited place strategy control network element learns that the core network of the home place network of the terminal equipment is an evolved packet core network (EPC) network according to the first message or the local configuration information; the visited place strategy control network element acquires a first User Routing Strategy (URSP) rule, wherein the first URSP rule comprises a URSP rule special for a roaming scene or a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal equipment; the visited place strategy control network element sends a first URSP rule to the terminal equipment; or, the visited place policy control network element determines a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message, and sends the second URSP rule to the terminal equipment.

Description

Policy rule issuing method, device and system

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method, a device, and a system for issuing policy rules.

Background

For the fifth generation (5rd generation, 5G) network evolution deployment route, the current third generation partnership project (3 GPP) standard defines not only a 5G network independent networking (SA) architecture but also a 5G network non-independent Networking (NSA) architecture. Wherein, compared with the SA defined terminal device directly accessing to the 5G core network through the 5G base station, the terminal device in the NSA networking mode mainly accesses to the evolved packet core network (EPC) through the evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) device. In addition, in the deployment area of the 5G base station, the E-UTRAN device can decide whether to insert a New Radio (NR) branch of the 5G base station, so as to enjoy the large bandwidth and low latency service supported by the 5G base station.

Based on the evolution scheme, the global operator network has a stage of long-term coexistence of the NSA deployment mode and the SA deployment mode. When a dual-mode terminal user in an NSA network roams to an operator network only supporting an SA mode, if the terminal device is allowed to access a 5G SA network, the terminal device needs to roam to access an EPC core network of a home location through the SA network. This procedure requires that the 5GC core network devices of the SA network support direct interaction with the EPC core network devices in the NSA. Currently, under an SA home routing roaming architecture, after a home policy control function (H-PCF) network element decides to generate a user routing policy (URSP) rule and sends the rule to a visited PCF (visited PCF, V-PCF) network element, the V-PCF network element sends the rule to a terminal device through an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element. However, under the SA-NSA home routing roaming architecture, since a policy decision network element in a home network is a home policy and charging rule function (H-PCRF) network element, and the H-PCRF network element does not support the decision and issue of a URSP rule, how to issue a corresponding URSP rule for a terminal device to perform session association for a specific service is an urgent problem to be solved at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a policy rule issuing method, equipment and a system, and can realize the decision and issuing of URSP rules under a home and country routing roaming architecture.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the embodiment of the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

in a first aspect, a policy rule issuing method is provided, where the method includes: the visited place strategy control network element receives a first message from the mobile management network element; the visited place strategy control network element learns that the core network of the home place network of the terminal equipment is an evolved packet core network (EPC) network according to the first message or the local configuration information; the visited place strategy control network element acquires a first User Routing Strategy (URSP) rule, wherein the first URSP rule comprises a URSP rule special for a roaming scene or a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal equipment; the visited place strategy control network element sends the first URSP rule to the terminal equipment; or, the visited place policy control network element determines a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message, and sends the second URSP rule to the terminal device. Based on the scheme, the decision and issuing of the URSP rule under the home and rural routing roaming architecture can be realized.

In one possible design, the visited place policy control network element learns that the core network of the home network of the terminal device is an EPC network according to the first message, and includes: and under the condition that the visited place strategy control network element determines that the first message does not carry the information of the home place strategy control network element, the visited place strategy control network element knows that the core network of the home place network of the terminal equipment is the EPC network. Based on the scheme, the visited place strategy control network element can know that the core network of the home place network of the terminal equipment is the EPC network.

In one possible design, the first message includes first indication information, second indication information, type information of the terminal device, or capability information of the terminal device; the first indication information is used for indicating that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, and the second indication information is used for indicating the type or capability of the terminal device; correspondingly, the visited place policy control network element learns that the core network of the home network of the terminal device is the EPC network according to the first message, and includes: and the visited place strategy control network element acquires that the core network of the home network of the terminal equipment is an EPC network according to the first indication information, the second indication information, the type information of the terminal equipment or the capability information of the terminal equipment. Based on the scheme, the visited place strategy control network element can know that the core network of the home place network of the terminal equipment is the EPC network.

In one possible design, the first URSP rule comprises a roaming scenario-specific URSP rule; correspondingly, the visited policy control network element obtains the first URSP rule, which includes: the visited place strategy control network element acquires the first URSP rule stored locally; or, the visited place policy control network element acquires the first URSP from the visited place unified database network element. Based on the scheme, the visited policy control network element may obtain the first URSP rule.

In one possible design, the first URSP rule includes a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal device; the first message comprises information for determining a public land mobile network identity, PLMN ID, of a home network of the terminal device; correspondingly, the visited policy control network element obtains the first URSP rule, which includes: the visited place strategy control network element determines the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment according to the information for determining the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment; and the visited place strategy control network element acquires the first URSP rule according to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment. Based on the scheme, the visited policy control network element may obtain the first URSP rule.

In a possible design, the acquiring, by the visited policy control network element, the first URSP rule according to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device includes: the visited place strategy control network element determines the URSP rule corresponding to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment as the first URSP according to the locally stored URSP rule corresponding to the PLMN ID; or the visited place policy control network element sends the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device to the visited place unified database network element, and the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device is used to determine the first URSP; and the visited place policy control network element receives the first URSP from the visited place unified database network element. Based on the scheme, the visited policy control network element may obtain the first URSP rule.

In one possible design, the first message includes filtering information that includes one or more of the following: an Access Point Name (APN) list signed by the terminal equipment, a Data Network Name (DNN) mapped by the APN list signed by the terminal equipment in a visited place network where the visited place policy control network element is located, type information of the terminal equipment, or capability information of the terminal equipment; the visited place policy control network element determining a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message, including: and the visited place policy control network element determines the second URSP rule according to the filtering information and the first URSP rule. Based on the scheme, the visited policy control network element may obtain the second URSP rule.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and the visited place policy control network element sends a second message to the network storage function network element, wherein the second message comprises the information of the visited place policy control network element and third indication information, and the third indication information is used for indicating that the visited place policy control network element supports the execution of URSP rule decision under the roaming scene that the core network system of the home place network is different from the core network system of the visited place network. Based on the scheme, the method can be used for discovering the visited place strategy control network element by the opposite terminal network element through the network storage function network element.

In one possible design, the first message is a policy control creation request message.

In a second aspect, a policy rule issuing method is provided, where the method includes: the mobile management network element receives a second message from the terminal equipment, wherein the second message is used for requesting to access the current network; the mobile management network element determines that a core network of a home network of the terminal equipment is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network; the mobile management network element determines a visited place strategy control network element, and the visited place strategy control network element supports the execution of a user routing strategy URSP rule decision under the roaming scene that the core network system of a home network is different from the core network system of a visited place network; and the mobile management network element sends a first message to the visited policy control network element, wherein the first message is used for triggering the visited policy control network element to determine the URSP rule. Based on the scheme, the decision and issuing of the URSP rule under the home and rural routing roaming architecture can be realized.

In one possible design, the mobility management element determining a visited policy control element includes: and the mobile management network element determines the visited place strategy control network element according to the local configuration information. Based on the scheme, the mobility management network element can determine the visited place policy control network element.

In one possible design, the mobility management element determining a visited policy control element includes: the mobile management network element sends a third message to the network storage function network element, wherein the third message comprises third indication information and fourth indication information, the third indication information is used for indicating that the core network of the home network of the terminal equipment is an EPC network, and the fourth indication information is used for indicating that the inquired network function type is a policy control network element; and the mobile management network element receives the information of the visited place policy control network element from the network storage function network element, wherein the information of the visited place policy control network element is used for indicating the visited place policy control network element. Based on the scheme, the mobility management network element can determine the visited place policy control network element.

In one possible design, the first message includes first indication information, second indication information, type information of the terminal device, or capability information of the terminal device; the first indication information is used for indicating that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is the EPC network, and the second indication information is used for indicating the type or capability of the terminal device; the first indication information, the second indication information, the type information of the terminal device, or the capability information of the terminal device is used to know that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network.

In one possible design, the first message includes at least one of filtering information or information for determining a public land mobile network identity, PLMN ID, of a home network of the terminal device, the at least one of filtering information or the information for determining a PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device being used to determine the URSP rule; wherein the filtering information comprises one or more of the following information: an Access Point Name (APN) list signed by the terminal device, a Data Network Name (DNN) mapped by the APN list signed by the terminal device in a visited place network where the visited place policy control network element is located, type information of the terminal device, or capability information of the terminal device.

In a third aspect, a communications apparatus is provided for implementing the various methods described above. The communication device may be the visited policy control network element in the first aspect, or a device including the visited policy control network element. Alternatively, the communication device may be the mobility management element in the second aspect, or a device including the mobility management element. The communication device comprises corresponding modules, units or means (means) for implementing the above method, and the modules, units or means can be implemented by hardware, software or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the method of any of the above aspects. The communication device may be the visited policy control network element in the first aspect, or a device including the visited policy control network element. Alternatively, the communication device may be the mobility management element in the second aspect, or a device including the mobility management element.

In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including: a processor; the processor is configured to be coupled to the memory, and to execute the method according to any one of the above aspects after reading the instruction in the memory. The communication device may be the visited policy control network element in the first aspect, or a device including the visited policy control network element. Alternatively, the communication device may be the mobility management element in the second aspect, or a device including the mobility management element.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of the above aspects.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of the above aspects.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device (which may be a chip or a system of chips, for example) is provided, which comprises a processor for implementing the functionality referred to in any of the above aspects. In one possible design, the communication device further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data. When the communication device is a chip system, the communication device may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

For technical effects brought by any one of the design manners in the third aspect to the eighth aspect, reference may be made to the technical effects brought by different design manners in the first aspect or the second aspect, and details are not described here.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a communication method, including: the mobile management network element sends a first message to the visited place strategy control network element; the visited place strategy control network element receives a first message from the mobile management network element; the visited place strategy control network element learns that the core network of the home network of the terminal equipment is an EPC network according to the first message or the local configuration information; the visited place strategy control network element acquires a first User Routing Strategy (URSP) rule, wherein the first URSP rule comprises a URSP rule special for a roaming scene or a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal equipment; the visited place strategy control network element sends the first URSP rule to the terminal equipment; or, the visited place policy control network element determines a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message, and sends the second URSP rule to the terminal device.

In one possible design, the communication method further includes: the mobile management network element receives a second message from the terminal equipment, wherein the second message is used for requesting to access the current network; the mobile management network element determines that a core network of a home network of the terminal equipment is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network; the mobile management network element determines a visited place policy control network element, and the visited place policy control network element supports execution of a user routing policy URSP rule decision under a roaming scene that a core network system of a home network is different from a core network system of a visited place network.

The technical effects of the ninth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the first aspect or the second aspect, and are not described herein again.

In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, where the communication system includes a visited policy control network element and a mobility management network element, and the mobility management network element is configured to send a first message to the visited policy control network element; the visited place policy control network element is used for receiving a first message from the mobility management network element; the visited place policy control network element is further configured to learn that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network according to the first message or the local configuration information; the visited place policy control network element is further configured to acquire a first user routing policy, URSP, rule, where the first URSP rule includes a URSP rule dedicated for a roaming scenario or a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal device; the visited place policy control network element is further configured to send the first URSP rule to the terminal device; or, the visited policy control network element is further configured to determine a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message, and send the second URSP rule to the terminal device.

In a possible design, the mobility management element is further configured to receive a second message from the terminal device, where the second message is used to request access to the current network; the mobility management network element is further configured to determine that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an evolved packet core network EPC network; the mobility management network element is further configured to determine a visited place policy control network element, where the visited place policy control network element supports execution of a user routing policy URSP rule decision in a roaming scenario in which a core network type of the home network is different from a core network type of the visited place network.

In one possible design, the visited policy control network element is further configured to perform any one of the possible design methods of the first aspect described above.

In one possible design, the mobility management element is further configured to perform any one of the possible design methods of the second aspect described above.

The technical effects of the tenth aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by the first aspect or the second aspect, and are not described herein again.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a SA-NSA home routing roaming architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a first schematic flow chart of a policy rule issuing method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a policy rule issuing method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a visited policy control network element according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a mobility management network element according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Where in the description of the present application, "/" indicates a relationship where the objects associated before and after are an "or", unless otherwise stated, for example, a/B may indicate a or B; in the present application, "and/or" is only an association relationship describing an associated object, and means that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. Also, in the description of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more than two unless otherwise specified. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or multiple. In addition, in order to facilitate clear description of technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items having substantially the same functions and actions. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terms "first," "second," etc. do not denote any order or quantity, nor do the terms "first," "second," etc. denote any order or importance. Also, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as examples, illustrations or illustrations. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present relevant concepts in a concrete fashion for ease of understanding.

In addition, the network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation to the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and it can be known by a person skilled in the art that the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario.

As shown in fig. 1, a communication system 10 provided for the embodiment of the present application includes a visited policy control network element 101 and a mobility management network element 102 in the communication system 10. The visited policy control network element 101 and the mobility management network element 102 may communicate directly or may communicate through forwarding of other devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In a possible implementation manner, the mobility management element 102 is configured to send a first message to the visitor policy control element 101. The visited place policy control network element 101 is configured to receive the first message from the mobility management network element, and learn, according to the first message or the local configuration information, that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network; the visited place policy control network element 101 is further configured to acquire a first URSP rule, and send the first URSP rule to the terminal device, where the first URSP rule includes a URSP rule dedicated for a roaming scenario or a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal device.

In another possible implementation manner, the mobility management element 102 is configured to send the first message to the visited policy control element 101. The visited place policy control network element 101 is configured to receive the first message from the mobility management network element, and learn, according to the first message or the local configuration information, that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network; the visited place policy control network element 101 is further configured to obtain the first URSP rule, and after determining the second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message, send the second URSP rule to the terminal device.

The specific implementation of the above scheme will be described in detail in the following method embodiments, and will not be described herein again. Based on the scheme, the decision and issuing of the URSP rule under the home and rural routing roaming architecture can be realized.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the mobility management network element 102 is further configured to receive a second message from the terminal device, where the second message is used to request to access the current network; the mobility management network element 102 is further configured to determine that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network; the mobility management network element 102 is further configured to determine a visited policy control network element 101, where the visited policy control network element 101 supports that a URSP rule decision is executed in a roaming scenario where a core network type of the home network is different from a core network type of the visited network.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the home network may be, for example, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, and correspondingly, a core network type of the home network may be, for example, an EPC; the visited network may be, for example, an NR network, and correspondingly, the core network type of the visited network may be, for example, a 5G core (5G core, 5 GC). That is, the communication system 10 shown in fig. 1 may be applied to the SA-NSA home routing roaming architecture currently under discussion. Of course, the communication system shown in fig. 1 may also be applied to other networks in the future, and the embodiment of the present application is not particularly limited to this.

For example, assuming that the communication system 10 shown in fig. 1 can be applied to the SA-NSA home routing roaming architecture currently in question, as shown in fig. 2, the network element or entity corresponding to the visited policy control network element 101 may be a V-PCF network element in the SA-NSA home routing roaming architecture, and the network element or entity corresponding to the mobility management network element 102 may be an AMF network element in the SA-NSA home routing roaming architecture.

In addition, as shown in fig. 2, the SA-NSA home routing roaming architecture may further include a visited session management function (V-PCF) network element, a visited user plane function (V-UPF) network element, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), an H-PCRF network element, an Application Function (AF) network element, a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (PDN gateway, PDN GW), and the like. The AMF network element, the V-SMF network element, the V-PCF network element, the V-UPF network element, and the like are deployed on a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN) -SA side, and the HSS, the PGW, the H-PCRF network element, the AF network element, and the like are deployed on a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) -NSA side. Of course, although not shown, the SA-NSA home routing roaming architecture may further include other network elements, for example, the VPLMN-SA side may further include a Network Repository Function (NRF) network element or a visited unified database (V-UDR) network element, and the like, which is not limited herein. In addition, the HPLMN-NSA side may not deploy the AF network element, and fig. 2 is only an example of deploying the AF network element on the HPLMN-NSA side, and is described in a unified manner here, and details are not described below.

As shown in fig. 2, the terminal device communicates with the AMF network element through a next generation network (N) 1 interface (abbreviated as N1), the access device communicates with the AMF network element through an N2 interface (abbreviated as N2), the access device communicates with the V-UPF network element through an N3 interface (abbreviated as N3), the AMF network element communicates with the V-SMF network element through an N11 interface (abbreviated as N11), the AMF network element communicates with the V-PCF network element through an N15 interface (abbreviated as N15), the AMF network element communicates with the HSS through an S6a interface (abbreviated as S6a), the V-SMF network element communicates with the V-UPF network element through an N4 interface (abbreviated as N4), the V-SMF network element communicates with the PGW through an S8-C interface (abbreviated as S8-C), the V-UPF network element communicates with the PGW through an S8-U interface (abbreviated as S8-U), and the PGW communicates with the sgword data through an S8-U interface (abbreviated as sgk) data network interface (abbreviated as sgdata), DN), the PGW communicates with the H-PCRF network element through a Gx interface (Gx for short), and the H-PCRF network element communicates with the AF network element through an Rx interface (Rx for short).

Optionally, the terminal device in this embodiment may be a device for implementing a wireless communication function, for example, a terminal or a chip that can be used in the terminal. The terminal may be a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a terminal unit, a terminal station, a mobile station, a distant station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a wireless communication device, a terminal agent or a terminal device, etc. in a 5G network or a PLMN which is evolved in the future. An access terminal may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wearable device, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), and the like. The terminal may be mobile or stationary.

In addition, since the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application supports simultaneous access to the operator core network through two air interface access technologies (i.e., LTE and NR), the terminal device may also be referred to as a dual-mode terminal device, which is described in a unified manner herein and will not be described in detail below.

Optionally, the access device in this embodiment refers to a device accessing a core network, and may be, for example, a base station, a broadband network service gateway (BNG), a convergence switch, a non-third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project, 3GPP) access device, and the like. The base stations may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also referred to as small stations), relay stations, access points, etc.

Optionally, the session management network element in this embodiment may also be referred to as a communication device, which may be a general device or a special device, and this is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the relevant function of the visited policy control network element or the mobility management network element in the embodiment of the present application may be implemented by one device, or may be implemented by multiple devices together, or may be implemented by one or more functional modules in one device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. It is understood that the above functions may be network elements in a hardware device, or software functions running on dedicated hardware, or a combination of hardware and software, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

For example, the functions related to the visited policy control network element or the mobility management network element in the embodiment of the present application may be implemented by the communication device 300 in fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 300 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 300 includes one or more processors 301, a communication line 302, and at least one communication interface (illustrated in fig. 3 as including the communication interface 304 and one processor 301 for example only), and optionally may also include a memory 303.

The processor 301 may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the present disclosure.

The communication line 302 may include a path for connecting different components.

The communication interface 304, which may be a transceiver module, is used to communicate with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, Radio Access Network (RAN), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), etc. For example, the transceiver module may be a transceiver, or the like. Optionally, the communication interface 304 may also be a transceiver circuit located in the processor 301, so as to implement signal input and signal output of the processor.

The memory 303 may be a device having a storage function. Such as, but not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that may store static information and instructions, Random Access Memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that may store information and instructions, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disk, laser disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk, blu-ray disk, etc.), magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory may be separate and coupled to the processor via a communication line 302. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 303 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for executing the present invention, and is controlled by the processor 301. The processor 301 is configured to execute the computer execution instruction stored in the memory 303, so as to implement the policy rule issuing method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

Alternatively, in this embodiment of the present application, the processor 301 may also execute a function related to processing in a policy rule issuing method provided in the following embodiments of the present application, and the communication interface 304 is responsible for communicating with other devices or a communication network, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application program codes, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In particular implementations, processor 301 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 3, for example, as an example.

In particular implementations, communication device 300 may include multiple processors, such as processor 301 and processor 308 in fig. 3, for example, as an example. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

In particular implementations, communication device 300 may also include an output device 305 and an input device 306, as one embodiment. The output device 305 is in communication with the processor 301 and may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 305 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a projector (projector), or the like. The input device 306 is in communication with the processor 301 and may receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 306 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, among others.

The communication device 300 may also be sometimes referred to as a communication apparatus, which may be a general-purpose device or a special-purpose device. For example, the communication device 300 may be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a network server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal device, an embedded device, the terminal device, the network device, or a device with a similar structure as in fig. 3. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the communication device 300.

The following describes the policy rule issuing method provided in the embodiment of the present application in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 3.

It should be noted that, in the following embodiments of the present application, names of messages between network elements or names of parameters in messages are only an example, and other names may also be used in a specific implementation, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

First, taking the communication system 10 shown in fig. 1 applied to the currently discussed SA-NSA home routing roaming architecture as an example, as shown in fig. 4, a policy rule issuing method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

s401, the terminal equipment sends a message 1 to the AMF network element through the access equipment. The AMF network element receives message 1 from the terminal device. This message 1 is used to request access to the current network.

In this embodiment, the message 1 may include information for determining a PLMN ID of a home network of the terminal device. The information for determining the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device may include, for example, a subscriber hidden identifier (sui), a subscriber permanent identifier (SUPI), or a 5G globally unique temporary subscriber identifier (5G globally unique temporary UE identity, 5G-GUTI). The SUCI, SUPI, or 5G-GUTI includes a Mobile Country Code (MCC) and a Mobile Network Code (MNC). The MCC and MNC can uniquely determine the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device, and the related mapping manner may refer to the prior art, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, the message 1 in the embodiment of the present application may further include one or more of type information of the terminal device or capability information of the terminal device. Illustratively, the type information of the terminal device may include, for example, a mobile broadband (MBB) terminal type, a vehicle networking (vehicle to X, V2X) terminal type, or a related industry vertical terminal type; the capability information of the terminal device may include, for example, the terminal supports the MBB service, or supports the V2X capability, or supports the capability of accessing the vertical industry service, and the like.

Optionally, the message 1 in the embodiment of the present application may be, for example, a registration request message, a handover request message, or a location update request message. Fig. 4 is only an exemplary description taking the message 1 as a registration request message, and the description is unified here, which is not repeated herein.

Optionally, the message 1 in the embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as a second message, which is described in a unified manner herein and is not described in detail below.

S402, the AMF network element determines that the core network of the home network of the terminal equipment is the EPC network.

In this embodiment of the present application, the AMF network element may determine, according to a roaming protocol, that the home network of the terminal only supports the NSA capability in combination with the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device, that is, a core network of the home network of the terminal is an EPC network.

S403, the AMF network element sends message 2 to the HSS. The HSS receives message 2 from the AMF network element. This message 2 is used to request subscription data of the terminal device.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 4, the message 2 may be, for example, a location update request message.

S404, the HSS sends message 3 to the AMF network element. The AMF network element receives message 3 from the HSS. This message 3 comprises subscription data of the terminal device.

In this embodiment, the subscription data of the terminal device may include an Access Point Name (APN) list subscribed by the terminal device.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the subscription data of the terminal device may further include one or more of type information of the terminal device or capability information of the terminal device. For the description of the type information of the terminal device or the capability information of the terminal device, reference may be made to step S401, which is not described herein again.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 4, the message 3 may be, for example, a location update response message.

S405, the AMF network element determines a V-PCF network element, and the V-PCF network element supports URSP rule decision execution under the roaming scene that the core network system of the home network is different from the core network system of the visited network.

In a possible implementation manner, in an embodiment of the present application, the determining, by an AMF network element, a V-PCF network element includes: and the AMF network element determines the V-PCF network element according to the local configuration information. For example, the AMF network element determines the V-PCF network element according to the information of the port office function V-PCF network element configured by the operator in the AMF network element.

Or, in another possible implementation manner, after the V-PCF network element is deployed and configured online, a service registration process may be initiated to the NRF, where the service registration request may carry, in addition to the cell such as self address information or service information, capability information (also referred to as indication information for supporting NSA roaming capability) that supports the execution of the URSP rule decision in the roaming scenario where the core network type of the home network is different from the core network type of the visited network, and is used for the peer network element to perform network element discovery through the NRF network element. For example, in this embodiment of the present application, the determining, by the AMF network element, a V-PCF network element includes: the method comprises the steps that an AMF network element sends a NF discovery request (NF discovery request) to an NRF network element, wherein the NF discovery request comprises indication information 1 and indication information 2, the indication information 1 is used for indicating that a core network of a home network of a terminal device is an EPC network, and the indication information 2 is used for indicating that an inquired NF type is a PCF network element, namely the NF discovery request is used for requesting to support the PCF network element which executes URSP rule decision under a roaming scene that the core network type of the home network is different from the core network type of a visited network. Further, the NRF network element may send a NF discovery response (NF discovery response) to the AMF network element, where the NF discovery response includes information of the V-PCF network element (such as an identifier or an address of the V-PCF network element), and the information of the V-PCF network element is used to indicate a corresponding V-PCF network element. Accordingly, after the AMF network element receives the NF discovery response from the NRF network element, the corresponding V-PCF network element may be determined.

Optionally, the indication information 1 in the embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as NSA roaming capability support indication information, where the NSA roaming capability support indication information may be that a specific cell is used to identify a network element capability, such as a URSP decision capability; alternatively, the NSA roaming capability support indication information may be specific indication information, which is used to indicate a roaming scenario (e.g., an NSA roaming scenario) or a home network core network (e.g., EPC) supported by the NSA roaming capability support indication information, and is not limited in this respect.

S406, the AMF network element sends a message 4 to the V-PCF network element. The V-PCF network element receives the message 4 from the AMF network element. This message 4 is used to trigger the V-PCF network element to determine the URSP rule.

Optionally, the message 4 may include type information of the terminal device, capability information of the terminal device, the indication information 3, or one or more of the above indication information 1. The indication information 3 is used to indicate the type or capability of the terminal device. For the description of the type information of the terminal device or the capability information of the terminal device, reference may be made to step S401, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the message 4 may further include one or more items of an APN list subscribed by the terminal device or a Data Network Name (DNN) list mapped by a VPLMN where the V-PCF network element is located in the APN list subscribed by the terminal device.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the message 4 may further include information for determining a PLMN ID of a home network of the terminal device. For example, if the message 1 includes the SUPI, the message 4 may further include the SUPI carried in the message 1; or, if the message 1 includes sui or 5G-GUTI, the AMF network element may obtain the corresponding SUPI from the HSS or another network element, and further, the message 4 may include the SUPI, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the message 4 in this embodiment may be, for example, a policy control creation request (policy control request) message or a UE policy control association establishment request message. Fig. 4 is only an exemplary description taking the message 4 as the policy control creation request message, and the description is unified here, which is not repeated below.

Optionally, the message 4 in the embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as a first message, which is described in a unified manner herein and is not described in detail below.

S407, the V-PCF network element learns that the core network of the home network of the terminal equipment is the EPC network according to the message 4 or the local configuration information.

In a possible implementation manner, the V-PCF network element, according to the message 4, learns that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, including: and under the condition that the V-PCF network element determines that the message 4 does not carry the information (such as the H-PCF ID) of the H-PCF network element, the V-PCF network element knows that the core network of the home network of the terminal equipment is the EPC network. That is, if the message 4 does not carry the information of the H-PCF network element, the V-PCF network element may know that the core network of the home network of the terminal device is the EPC network.

Or, in another possible implementation manner, the V-PCF network element, according to the message 4, learns that the core network of the home network of the terminal device is the EPC network, and includes: and the V-PCF network element acquires that the core network of the home network of the terminal equipment is an EPC network according to the type information of the terminal equipment, the capability information of the terminal equipment, the indication information 3 or the indication information 1. For example, if the message 4 includes the type information of the terminal device, the capability information of the terminal device, the indication information 3, or the indication information 1, the V-PCF network element may learn that the core network of the home network of the terminal device is the EPC network. Or, for example, if the message 4 includes the type information of the terminal device or the capability information of the terminal device or the indication information 3, the V-PCF network element may learn that the core network of the home network of the terminal device is the EPC network by combining the locally stored type information of the terminal device or the capability information of the terminal device, which supports that the core network of the home network is the EPC network, and this is not limited specifically here.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the obtaining, by the V-PCF network element, that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network according to the local configuration information may include: and the V-PCF network element learns that the core network of the home network of the terminal equipment is the EPC network according to the locally configured port office function.

Of course, in this embodiment of the present application, it may also be that, when the V-PCF network element determination message 4 does not carry information (e.g., an H-PCF ID) of an H-PCF network element, it cannot be directly known that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, but further, according to type information of the terminal device, capability information of the terminal device, indication information 3, or indication information 1, it is known that the core network of the home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

And S408, the V-PCF network element sends a message 5 to the AMF network element. The AMF network element receives the message 5 from the V-PCF network element.

Optionally, the message 5 in this embodiment may be, for example, a policy control creation response (policy control request) message or a UE policy control association establishment response message. Fig. 4 is only an exemplary description taking the message 5 as a policy control creation response message as an example, and the description is unified here, which is not repeated below.

S409, the V-PCF network element acquires a first URSP rule, wherein the first URSP rule comprises a URSP rule special for a roaming scene or a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal equipment.

In one possible implementation, the first URSP rule comprises a roaming scenario-specific URSP rule. At this time, the obtaining, by the V-PCF network element, the first URSP rule may include: the method comprises the steps that a V-PCF network element obtains a first URSP rule stored locally; or the V-PCF network element acquires the first URSP from the V-UDR network element.

Or, in another possible implementation manner, the first URSP rule includes a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal device. At this time, the obtaining, by the V-PCF network element, the first URSP rule may include: and the V-PCF network element acquires the first URSP rule according to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment. The PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device may be determined by the MNC and MCC in the SUPI carried in the message 4, which is herein collectively described and will not be described any further.

Optionally, the obtaining, by the V-PCF network element, the first URSP rule according to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device may include: and the V-PCF network element determines the URSP rule corresponding to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment as a first URSP according to the URSP rule corresponding to the PLMN ID stored locally.

Or, optionally, the V-UDR network element locally stores the URSP rule corresponding to the PLMN ID. Correspondingly, the obtaining, by the V-PCF network element, the first URSP rule according to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device may include: the method comprises the steps that a V-PCF network element sends a PLMN ID of a home network of a terminal device to a V-UDR network element, wherein the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device is used for determining a first URSP; further, the V-PCF network element receives a first URSP from the V-UDR network element.

S410, the V-PCF network element sends a message 6 to the terminal equipment through the AMF network element. The terminal device receives a message 6 from the V-PCF network element. Wherein the message 6 comprises the first URSP rule.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the V-PCF network element may further determine an Access Network Discovery and Selection Policy (ANDSP) rule, and further send the ANDSP rule to the terminal device.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 4, the message 6 may be, for example, an N1N2 transfer message.

S411, the terminal device performs session association for the specific service according to the first URSP rule, which may specifically refer to the existing implementation manner and is not described herein again.

Based on the strategy issuing method provided by the embodiment of the application, the decision and issuing of the URSP rule under the SA-NSA home routing roaming architecture can be realized.

The actions of the V-PCF network element or the AMF network element in steps S401 to S411 may be executed by the processor 301 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 calling the application program code stored in the memory 303, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Optionally, taking the communication system 10 shown in fig. 1 applied to the currently discussed SA-NSA home routing roaming architecture as an example, as shown in fig. 5, another policy rule issuing method provided in the embodiment of the present application is provided, where the policy rule issuing method includes the following steps:

s501 to S509, similar to steps S401 to S409 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the related description may refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and will not be repeated herein.

And S510, the V-PCF network element determines a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the message 4.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, determining, by the V-PCF network element, the second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the message 4 may include: and the V-PCF network element determines a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the filtering information in the message 4, wherein the filtering information comprises one or more of the following information: the method comprises the steps of obtaining an APN list signed by the terminal equipment, a DNN list mapped by a VPLMN where the APN list signed by the terminal equipment is located in a V-PCF network element, type information of the terminal equipment or capability information of the terminal equipment.

Exemplarily, taking the filter information as an APN list as an example, the V-PCF network element may remove, from the first URSP rule, a URSP rule corresponding to an APN that includes a flow description information/route description information and is not signed by the terminal device according to the APN list, and use the remaining URSP rule as a second URSP rule; or, the V-PCF network element may select, from the first URSP rule, a URSP rule corresponding to an APN whose flow description information/route description information includes a terminal device that has signed up, as the second URSP rule.

Or, for example, taking the filtering information as a DNN list as an example, the V-PCF network element may eliminate, from the first URSP rule, a URSP rule corresponding to a DNN mapped by an APN that includes a terminal device that is not subscribed in the flow description information/route description information according to the DNN list, and use the remaining URSP rule as a second URSP rule; or, the V-PCF network element may select, from the first URSP rule, a URSP rule corresponding to a DNN mapped by an APN to which the terminal device has subscribed, included in the flow description information/route description information, as the second URSP rule.

Or, exemplarily, taking the filtering information as the type information of the terminal device or the capability information of the terminal device as an example, the V-PCF network element may filter the corresponding URSP rule from the first URSP rule as the second URSP rule according to the type information of the terminal device or the capability information of the terminal device.

Or, for example, the terminal device may determine, according to the first URSP rule, the second URSP rule by combining multiple items of an APN list subscribed to by the terminal device, a DNN list mapped by a VPLMN where the APN list subscribed to by the terminal device is located in the V-PCF network element, type information of the terminal device, or capability information of the terminal device, which is not illustrated herein one by one.

Of course, in this embodiment of the present application, when determining the second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the message 4, the V-PCF network element may also consider other filtering information in addition to the above listed filtering information, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S511, the V-PCF network element sends message 6 to the terminal equipment through the AMF network element. The terminal device receives a message 6 from the V-PCF network element. Wherein the message 6 comprises the second URSP rule.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the V-PCF network element may further determine an andsdsp rule, and then send the andsdsp rule to the terminal device.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 5, the message 6 may be, for example, an N1N2 transfer message.

S512, the terminal device performs session association for the specific service according to the second URSP rule, which may refer to the existing implementation manner specifically and is not described herein again.

The actions of the V-PCF network element or the AMF network element in steps S501 to S512 may be executed by the processor 301 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 calling the application program code stored in the memory 303, which is not limited in this embodiment.

It is to be understood that, in the above embodiments, the method and/or the steps implemented by the visited policy control network element may also be implemented by a component that is available for the visited policy control network element; the methods and/or steps implemented by the mobility management element may also be implemented by components available to the mobility management element.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced mainly from the perspective of interaction between network elements. Correspondingly, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, where the communication device may be a visited place policy control network element in the foregoing method embodiment, or a device including the visited place policy control network element, or a component that can be used for the visited place policy control network element; alternatively, the communication device may be a mobility management element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the above mobility management element, or a component that can be used for the mobility management element. It is to be understood that the communication device comprises corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions in order to realize the above-mentioned functions. Those of skill in the art would readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the communication apparatus may be divided into functional modules according to the method embodiments, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

For example, taking the communication device as the charging triggering function network element in the foregoing method embodiment as an example, fig. 6 shows a schematic structural diagram of a visited policy control network element 60. The visited policy control network element 60 comprises a transceiver module 601 and a processing module 602. The transceiver module 601, which may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, is used to implement a transceiving function, and may be, for example, a transceiving circuit, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

The transceiver module 601 is configured to receive a first message from a mobility management network element; a processing module 602, configured to learn, according to the first message or the local configuration information, that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network; the processing module 602 is further configured to acquire a first URSP rule, where the first URSP rule includes a URSP rule dedicated for a roaming scenario or a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of a terminal device; the transceiving module 601 is further configured to send a first URSP rule to the terminal device; or, the processing module 602 is further configured to determine a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message; the transceiver module 601 is further configured to send a second URSP rule to the terminal device.

Optionally, the processing module 602 is configured to learn, according to the first message, that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, and includes: and the core network is used for knowing that the home network of the terminal equipment is the EPC network under the condition that the first message is determined not to carry the information of the home policy control network element.

Optionally, the first message includes first indication information, second indication information, type information of the terminal device, or capability information of the terminal device; the first indication information is used for indicating that a core network of a home network of the terminal equipment is an EPC network, and the second indication information is used for indicating the type or the capability of the terminal equipment; correspondingly, the processing module 602 is configured to learn, according to the first message, that the core network of the home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, and includes: and the core network is used for knowing that the home network of the terminal equipment is the EPC network according to the first indication information, the second indication information, the type information of the terminal equipment or the capability information of the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the first URSP rule includes a URSP rule specific to a roaming scenario; accordingly, the processing module 602 is configured to obtain a first URSP rule, including: the first URSP rule is used for acquiring a local storage; or, obtaining the first URSP from the visited unified database network element.

Optionally, the first URSP rule includes a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal device; the first message comprises information for determining a public land mobile network identity, PLMN ID, of a home network of the terminal device; accordingly, the processing module 602 is configured to obtain a first URSP rule, including: the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment is determined according to the information for determining the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment; and acquiring a first URSP rule according to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the processing module 602 is configured to obtain the first URSP rule according to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device, and includes: and the URSP rule corresponding to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment is determined as a first URSP according to the URSP rule corresponding to the PLMN ID stored locally.

Optionally, the processing module 602 is configured to obtain the first URSP rule according to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device, and includes: the system comprises a receiving module 601, a sending module 601, a receiving module 601, a sending module and a sending module, wherein the receiving module is used for sending the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment to the network element of the unified database of the visited place, and the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment is used for determining a first URSP; a first URSP is received from a visited unified database network element via the transceiver module 601.

Optionally, the first message includes filtering information, and the filtering information includes one or more of the following information: the method comprises the steps that an APN list signed by the terminal equipment, a DNN mapped by an APN list signed by the terminal equipment in a visited place network where a visited place strategy control network element is located, type information of the terminal equipment or capability information of the terminal equipment are obtained; the processing module 602 is configured to determine a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message, and includes: for determining a second URSP rule based on the filtering information and the first URSP rule.

Optionally, the transceiver module 601 is further configured to send a second message to the network storage function network element, where the second message includes information of the visited location policy control network element and third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate that the visited location policy control network element supports execution of the URSP rule decision in a roaming scenario in which a core network type of the home location network is different from a core network type of the visited location network.

All relevant contents of each step related to the above method embodiment may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and are not described herein again.

In the present embodiment, the visited policy control network element 60 is presented in a form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. A "module" herein may refer to a particular ASIC, a circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other device that provides the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, it is conceivable for those skilled in the art that the visitor policy control network element 60 may take the form of the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3.

For example, the processor 301 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 may invoke the computer execution instruction stored in the memory 303 to make the communication device 300 execute the policy rule issuing method in the above method embodiment.

In particular, the functions/implementation procedures of the transceiver module 601 and the processing module 602 in fig. 6 can be implemented by the processor 301 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 calling the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 303. Alternatively, the function/implementation procedure of the processing module 602 in fig. 6 may be implemented by the processor 301 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 calling a computer executing instruction stored in the memory 303, and the function/implementation procedure of the transceiver module 601 in fig. 6 may be implemented by the communication interface 304 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3.

Since the visited policy control network element 60 provided in this embodiment can execute the policy rule issuing method, the technical effect obtained by the visited policy control network element can refer to the method embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Or, for example, taking the communication device as the mobility management element in the foregoing method embodiment as an example, fig. 7 shows a schematic structural diagram of a mobility management element 70. The mobility management element 70 comprises a transceiver module 701 and a processing module 702. The transceiver module 701, which may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, may be, for example, a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

The transceiver module 701 is configured to receive a second message from the terminal device, where the second message is used to request to access the current network; a processing module 702, configured to determine that a core network of a home network of a terminal device is an EPC network; the processing module 702 is further configured to determine a visited place policy control network element, where the visited place policy control network element supports execution of a URSP rule decision in a roaming scenario in which a core network standard of a home network is different from a core network standard of a visited place network; a transceiver module 701, configured to send a first message to the visited policy control network element, where the first message is used to trigger the visited policy control network element to determine the URSP rule.

Optionally, the processing module 702 is configured to determine a visited policy control network element, and includes: and the access point policy control network element is determined according to the local configuration information.

Optionally, the processing module 702 is configured to determine a visited policy control network element, and includes: the network storage function network element is used for sending a third message to the network storage function network element through the transceiver module 701, the third message includes third indication information and fourth indication information, the third indication information is used for indicating that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, and the fourth indication information is used for indicating that a queried network function type is a policy control network element; the information of the visited place policy control network element from the network storage function network element is received through the transceiver module 701, and the information of the visited place policy control network element is used for indicating the visited place policy control network element.

Optionally, the first message includes first indication information, second indication information, type information of the terminal device, or capability information of the terminal device; the first indication information is used for indicating that a core network of a home network of the terminal equipment is an EPC network, and the second indication information is used for indicating the type or the capability of the terminal equipment; the first indication information, the second indication information, the type information of the terminal device, or the capability information of the terminal device are used for knowing that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network.

Optionally, the first message includes at least one of filtering information or information for determining a public land mobile network identity, PLMN ID, of a home network of the terminal device, and at least one of filtering information or information for determining a PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device is used for determining the URSP rule; wherein the filtering information comprises one or more of the following information: the method comprises the steps of obtaining an APN list signed by the terminal equipment, a DNN mapped by the APN list signed by the terminal equipment in a visited network where a mobile management network element is located, type information of the terminal equipment or capability information of the terminal equipment.

In the present embodiment, the mobility management element 70 is presented in the form of dividing the various functional modules in an integrated manner. A "module" herein may refer to a particular ASIC, a circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other device that provides the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, the mobility management element 70 may take the form of the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

In particular, the functions/implementation procedures of the transceiver module 701 and the processing module 702 in fig. 7 can be implemented by the processor 301 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 calling a computer stored in the memory 303 to execute instructions. Alternatively, the function/implementation procedure of the processing module 702 in fig. 7 may be implemented by the processor 301 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 calling a computer executing instruction stored in the memory 303, and the function/implementation procedure of the transceiver module 701 in fig. 7 may be implemented by the communication interface 304 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3.

Since the mobility management element 70 provided in this embodiment can execute the policy rule issuing method, the technical effect obtained by the mobility management element 70 can refer to the method embodiment described above, and will not be described herein again.

It should be noted that one or more of the above modules or units may be implemented in software, hardware or a combination of both. When any of the above modules or units are implemented in software, which is present as computer program instructions and stored in a memory, a processor may be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flows. The processor may be built in a SoC (system on chip) or ASIC, or may be a separate semiconductor chip. The processor may further include a necessary hardware accelerator such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a PLD (programmable logic device), or a logic circuit for implementing a dedicated logic operation, in addition to a core for executing software instructions to perform an operation or a process.

When the above modules or units are implemented in hardware, the hardware may be any one or any combination of a CPU, a microprocessor, a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip, a Micro Controller Unit (MCU), an artificial intelligence processor, an ASIC, an SoC, an FPGA, a PLD, a dedicated digital circuit, a hardware accelerator, or a non-integrated discrete device, which may run necessary software or is independent of software to perform the above method flow.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device (for example, the communication device may be a chip or a system-on-chip), where the communication device includes a processor, and is configured to implement the method in any of the above method embodiments. In one possible design, the communication device further includes a memory. The memory for storing the necessary program instructions and data, the processor may call the program code stored in the memory to instruct the communication device to perform the method of any of the above-described method embodiments. Of course, the memory may not be in the communication device. When the communication device is a chip system, the communication device may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. The procedures or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are all or partially generated upon loading and execution of computer program instructions on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or can comprise one or more data storage devices, such as a server, a data center, etc., that can be integrated with the medium. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

While the present application has been described in connection with various embodiments, other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed application, from a review of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the word "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Although the present application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, the specification and figures are merely exemplary of the present application as defined in the appended claims and are intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present application. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A method for issuing policy rules is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the visited place strategy control network element receives a first message from the mobile management network element;

the visited place strategy control network element learns that the core network of the home place network of the terminal equipment is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network according to the first message or the local configuration information;

the visited place policy control network element acquires a first URSP rule, wherein the first URSP rule comprises a URSP rule special for a roaming scene or a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal equipment;

the visited place strategy control network element determines a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message, and sends the second URSP rule to the terminal equipment;

or, the visited policy control network element sends the first URSP rule to the terminal device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the visited policy control network element learns that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network according to the first message, and the method comprises:

and under the condition that the visited place strategy control network element determines that the first message does not carry the information of the home place strategy control network element, the visited place strategy control network element knows that the core network of the home place network of the terminal equipment is the EPC network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message comprises first indication information, second indication information, type information of the terminal device, or capability information of the terminal device; the first indication information is used for indicating that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, and the second indication information is used for indicating the type or capability of the terminal device; correspondingly, the step of obtaining, by the visited policy control network element according to the first message, that the core network of the home network of the terminal device is the EPC network includes:

and the visited place strategy control network element learns that the core network of the home network of the terminal equipment is an EPC network according to the first indication information, the second indication information, the type information of the terminal equipment or the capability information of the terminal equipment.

4. The method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the first URSP rule comprises a roaming scenario specific URSP rule; correspondingly, the acquiring, by the visited policy control network element, the first URSP rule includes:

the visited place strategy control network element acquires the first URSP rule stored locally; or,

and the visited place policy control network element acquires the first URSP from a visited place unified database network element.

5. The method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the first URSP rule comprises a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal device; the first message comprises information for determining a public land mobile network identity, PLMN, ID of a home network of the terminal device; correspondingly, the acquiring, by the visited policy control network element, the first URSP rule includes:

the visited place strategy control network element determines the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment according to the information for determining the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment;

and the visited place strategy control network element acquires the first URSP rule according to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the visited policy control network element obtaining the first URSP rule according to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device comprises:

the visited place strategy control network element determines the URSP rule corresponding to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment as the first URSP according to the locally stored URSP rule corresponding to the PLMN ID;

or, the visited place policy control network element sends the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device to a visited place unified database network element, where the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device is used to determine the first URSP; and the visited place policy control network element receives the first URSP from the visited place unified database network element.

7. The method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the first message comprises filtering information, wherein the filtering information comprises one or more of the following information: an Access Point Name (APN) list signed by the terminal equipment, a Data Network Name (DNN) mapped by the APN list signed by the terminal equipment in a visited place network where the visited place policy control network element is located, type information of the terminal equipment, or capability information of the terminal equipment;

the visited place policy control network element determining a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message, including:

and the visited place policy control network element determines the second URSP rule according to the filtering information and the first URSP rule.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, further comprising:

the visited place policy control network element sends a second message to a network storage function network element, the second message includes information of the visited place policy control network element and third indication information, and the third indication information is used for indicating that the visited place policy control network element supports URSP rule decision execution under a roaming scene that a core network system of a home place network is different from a core network system of a visited place network.

9. A method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the first message is a policy control creation request message.

10. A method for issuing policy rules is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the mobile management network element receives a second message from the terminal equipment, wherein the second message is used for requesting to access the current network;

the mobile management network element determines that a core network of a home network of the terminal equipment is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network;

the mobile management network element determines a visited place policy control network element, and the visited place policy control network element supports execution of a user routing policy URSP rule decision under a roaming scene that a core network system of a home network is different from a core network system of a visited place network;

and the mobile management network element sends a first message to the visited place policy control network element, wherein the first message is used for triggering the visited place policy control network element to determine the URSP rule.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the determining, by the mobility management element, the visitor policy control element comprises:

and the mobile management network element determines the visited place strategy control network element according to the local configuration information.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the determining, by the mobility management element, the visitor policy control element comprises:

the mobility management network element sends a third message to a network storage function network element, where the third message includes third indication information and fourth indication information, the third indication information is used to indicate that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate that an inquired network function type is a policy control network element;

and the mobility management network element receives the information of the visited place policy control network element from the network storage function network element, wherein the information of the visited place policy control network element is used for indicating the visited place policy control network element.

13. The method according to any of claims 10-12, wherein the first message comprises first indication information, second indication information, type information of the terminal device, or capability information of the terminal device; the first indication information is used for indicating that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is the EPC network, and the second indication information is used for indicating the type or capability of the terminal device; the first indication information, the second indication information, the type information of the terminal device, or the capability information of the terminal device is used to know that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network.

14. The method according to any of claims 10-12, wherein the first message comprises at least one of filtering information or information for determining a public land mobile network identity, PLMN ID, of a home network of the terminal device, wherein at least one of the filtering information or the information for determining a PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device is used for determining the URSP rule;

wherein the filtering information comprises one or more of the following information:

the access point name list signed by the terminal device, the data network name DNN mapped by the access point network where the access point policy control network element is located in the access point list signed by the terminal device, the type information of the terminal device, or the capability information of the terminal device.

15. A visitor policy control network element, wherein the visitor policy control network element comprises: the device comprises a processing module and a transmitting-receiving module;

the transceiver module is configured to receive a first message from a mobility management network element;

the processing module is configured to learn, according to the first message or the local configuration information, that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an evolved packet core network EPC network;

the processing module is further configured to acquire a first URSP rule, where the first URSP rule includes a URSP rule dedicated for a roaming scenario or a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal device;

the processing module is further configured to determine a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message; the transceiver module is further configured to send the second URSP rule to the terminal device;

or, the transceiver module is further configured to send the first URSP rule to the terminal device.

16. The visitor location policy control network element of claim 15, wherein the processing module is configured to learn, according to the first message, that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, and includes:

and the core network of the home network of the terminal device is known to be an EPC network when it is determined that the first message does not carry information of the home policy control network element.

17. The visitor location policy control network element of claim 16 wherein the first message includes first indication information, second indication information, type information of the terminal device, or capability information of the terminal device; the first indication information is used for indicating that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, and the second indication information is used for indicating the type or capability of the terminal device; correspondingly, the processing module is configured to learn, according to the first message, that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, and includes:

and the core network is configured to acquire that the core network of the home network of the terminal device is an EPC network according to the first indication information, the second indication information, the type information of the terminal device, or the capability information of the terminal device.

18. A visitor location policy control network element according to any of claims 15-17, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the first URSP rule comprises a roaming scenario specific URSP rule; correspondingly, the processing module is configured to obtain a first URSP rule, and includes:

the first URSP rule is used for obtaining the locally stored first URSP rule; or,

for obtaining said first URSP from a visitor unified database network element.

19. A visitor location policy control network element according to any of claims 15-17, characterized in that said first URSP rule comprises a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of said terminal equipment; the first message comprises information for determining a public land mobile network identity, PLMN, ID of a home network of the terminal device; correspondingly, the processing module is configured to obtain a first URSP rule, and includes:

the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment is determined according to the information for determining the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment; and acquiring the first URSP rule according to the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal equipment.

20. The visitor location policy control network element of claim 19 wherein the processing module is configured to obtain the first URSP rule according to a PLMN ID of a home network of the terminal device, and comprises:

the system comprises a first URSP and a second URSP, wherein the first URSP is used for determining a URSP rule corresponding to a PLMN ID of a home network of the terminal equipment as the first URSP according to a URSP rule corresponding to a PLMN ID stored locally;

or, the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device is used to determine the first URSP, and the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device is used to send the PLMN ID of the home network of the terminal device to the visitor location unified database network element through the transceiver module; receiving, by the transceiver module, the first URSP from the visitor unified database network element.

21. A visitor location policy control network element according to any of claims 15-17, wherein said first message includes filtering information, said filtering information including one or more of the following information: an Access Point Name (APN) list signed by the terminal equipment, a Data Network Name (DNN) mapped by the APN list signed by the terminal equipment in a visited place network where the visited place policy control network element is located, type information of the terminal equipment, or capability information of the terminal equipment;

the processing module is configured to determine a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message, and includes:

for determining the second URSP rule based on the filtering information and the first URSP rule.

22. Visitor location policy control network element according to any of the claims 15-17,

the transceiver module is further configured to send a second message to a network storage function network element, where the second message includes information of the visited place policy control network element and third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate that the visited place policy control network element supports execution of a URSP rule decision in a roaming scenario in which a core network type of a home place network is different from a core network type of a visited place network.

23. A mobility management element, wherein the mobility management element comprises: the device comprises a processing module and a transmitting-receiving module;

the transceiver module is configured to receive a second message from the terminal device, where the second message is used to request access to a current network;

the processing module is configured to determine that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an evolved packet core network EPC network;

the processing module is further configured to determine a visited place policy control network element, where the visited place policy control network element supports execution of a user routing policy URSP rule decision in a roaming scenario in which a core network type of a home network is different from a core network type of a visited place network;

the transceiver module is configured to send a first message to the visitor policy control network element, where the first message is used to trigger the visitor policy control network element to determine the URSP rule.

24. The mobility management element of claim 23, wherein the processing module is configured to determine a visited policy control element, and comprises:

and the visited place policy control network element is determined according to the local configuration information.

25. The mobility management element of claim 23, wherein the processing module is configured to determine a visited policy control element, and comprises:

the network storage function network element is configured to send a third message to the network storage function network element through the transceiver module, where the third message includes third indication information and fourth indication information, the third indication information is used to indicate that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate that a queried network function type is a policy control network element; and receiving the information of the visitor location policy control network element from the network storage function network element through the transceiver module, wherein the information of the visitor location policy control network element is used for indicating the visitor location policy control network element.

26. The mobility management element according to any of claims 23-25, characterized in that the first message comprises first indication information, second indication information, type information of the terminal device, or capability information of the terminal device; the first indication information is used for indicating that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is the EPC network, and the second indication information is used for indicating the type or capability of the terminal device; the first indication information, the second indication information, the type information of the terminal device, or the capability information of the terminal device is used to know that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network.

27. A communication system, characterized in that the communication system comprises a visitor policy control network element and a mobility management network element;

the mobility management network element is configured to send a first message to the visited policy control network element;

the visited place policy control network element is configured to receive the first message from the mobility management network element;

the visited place policy control network element is further configured to learn that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network according to the first message or the local configuration information;

the visited place policy control network element is further configured to acquire a first URSP rule, where the first URSP rule includes a URSP rule dedicated for a roaming scenario or a URSP rule corresponding to a home network of the terminal device;

the visited place policy control network element is further configured to send the first URSP rule to the terminal device;

or, the visited policy control network element is further configured to determine a second URSP rule according to the first URSP rule and the first message, and send the second URSP rule to the terminal device.

28. The system according to claim 27, wherein said mobility management element is further configured to receive a second message from said terminal device, said second message requesting access to a current network;

the mobile management network element is further configured to determine that a core network of a home network of the terminal device is an EPC network;

the mobility management network element is further configured to determine a visited place policy control network element, where the visited place policy control network element supports URSP rule decision execution in a roaming scenario in which a core network type of the home network is different from a core network type of the visited place network.