CN112584437B

CN112584437B - Data distribution method and device

Info

Publication number: CN112584437B
Application number: CN201910938987.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孔伟; 王丹; 李永竞
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2019-09-30
Filing date: 2019-09-30
Publication date: 2023-03-28
Anticipated expiration: 2039-09-30
Also published as: WO2021063224A1; CN112584437A

Abstract

A data distribution method and device, when the method is applied to a Session Management Function (SMF), the method comprises the following steps: receiving a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session strategy sent by a strategy control function (PCF), wherein the PDU session strategy carries indication information for indicating whether local distribution of a target PDU session is allowed or not; and determining whether to carry out local shunting on the target PDU session and executing selection of a user plane function UPF according to the session strategy. The embodiment of the invention provides a realization scheme for the SMF to carry out local shunting, which can provide a basis for the SMF to carry out local shunting decision and improve the realization process of local shunting.

Description

Data distribution method and device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of mobile communication, in particular to a data distribution method and device.

Background

In a 5G new air interface (NR) system, a User Plane Function (UPF) supports functions of an Uplink Classifier (UL CL) or a Branch Point (BP), and is configured to logically transfer some Local traffic to match a traffic filter provided by a Session Management Function (SMF), so as to implement Local Breakout (LBO).

Fig. 1 shows a flow of selecting UPF by a 5G system, which mainly includes:

step 101, an Application Function (AF) creates a new AF request (AF request), specifically, the new AF request may be created by calling Nnef _ trafficinfiffice _ Create, and the AF request may include the following information: 1) AF transfer Id; 2) A combination of a generic public user identifier (GPSI) or Data Network Name (DNN), single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), and a Data Network Access Identifier (DNAI) to describe the target UE ID; 3) The combination of AF-Service-Identifier (AF-Service-Identifier) or DNN and S-NSSAI used to describe the target PDU session. 4) DNAI to describe possible deployment locations for applications.

102, AF sends AF request to Network open Function (NEF); the NEF ensures the necessary authorization control including restricting AF requests and mapping the information provided by the AF requests to the information required by the 5G core network (5 GC).

In step 103, the nef calls Npcf _ Policy authorization _ Create service, and sends the AF request after the above information mapping to a Policy Control Function (PCF).

Step 104, the PCF decides whether the PDU session is affected by the AF request, and in addition, the PCF issues a strategy to the SMF for updating the information of the PDU session affected by the AF request to the SMF through the Npcf _ SMPolicyControl _ UpdateNotify.

Step 105, the smf selects a suitable user plane according to the policy issued by the PCF, for example, a UPF may be inserted or deleted in an existing session; it may also be that a new prefix is allocated to the UE (in case the UE supports IPv6 Multi-timing); the UPF in the target DNAI may also be updated according to the new traffic steering rules.

In the prior art, the insertion of the ULCL or BP is determined by the SMF and controlled by the SMF, and the insertion process may be performed during or after the PDU session establishment is completed. For example, after a terminal (UE) establishes a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, an SMF may perform local offloading according to a perceived UE location change (for example, after the UE moves to a specific area, the SMF is triggered to perceive that the UE is in a coverage area of a local application), or an UPF performs local offloading according to trigger information such as occurrence of a detected new service flow, that is, insertion of a BP or a ULCL.

Disclosure of Invention

At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a data offloading method and apparatus, which can provide a decision basis for a decision of local offloading, and improve an implementation process of local offloading.

According to an aspect of the present invention, at least one embodiment provides a data offloading method applied to a session management function SMF, including:

receiving a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session strategy sent by a strategy control function (PCF), wherein the PDU session strategy carries indication information for indicating whether local distribution of a target PDU session is allowed or not;

and determining whether to locally shunt the target PDU session and execute the selection of a User Plane Function (UPF) according to the session strategy.

Optionally, in the foregoing method, determining whether to locally offload the target PDU session and perform selection of a user plane function UPF according to the session policy includes:

when the local distribution indication information indicates that local distribution of the target PDU session is allowed, determining whether local distribution is performed according to at least one of a preset operator strategy, characteristic information of the target PDU session, position information of the target terminal and distribution capability information of the target terminal, and determining a distribution mode adopted by the local distribution when the local distribution is determined, wherein the distribution mode comprises an uplink classifier (UL CL) mode and a Branch Point (BP) mode;

and selecting a target UPF for local distribution according to the distribution mode adopted by the local distribution.

Optionally, in the foregoing method, after selecting a target UPF for local breakout, the method further includes:

and realizing ULCL or BP function at the target UPF, and locally shunting the target PDU session.

According to another aspect of the present invention, at least one embodiment provides a data offloading method applied to an application function AF, including:

creating an application function request message, wherein the application function request message comprises indication information used for indicating whether local distribution of a target PDU session is required;

and sending the application function request message.

Optionally, in the foregoing method, the creating an application function request message includes:

and according to the subscription information of the target terminal, establishing indication information for indicating whether local distribution of the target PDU session is required.

According to another aspect of the present invention, at least one embodiment provides a data offloading method applied to a policy control function PCF, including:

receiving an Application Function (AF) request message, wherein the AF request message carries local distribution indication information for indicating whether local distribution of target PDU sessions is required or not;

generating a PDU session strategy aiming at the target PDU session according to the local distribution indication information and a preset network control strategy, wherein the PDU session strategy carries indication information used for indicating whether local distribution of the target PDU session is allowed or not;

and sending the PDU session policy to the SMF.

Optionally, in the foregoing method, before generating the PDU session policy for the target PDU session, the method further includes:

and receiving a policy request message which is sent by the SMF and aims at the target PDU session.

According to another aspect of the invention, at least one embodiment provides a session management function, SMF, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive a protocol data unit PDU session policy sent by a policy control function PCF, where the PDU session policy carries indication information for indicating whether local distribution of a target PDU session is allowed;

and the UPF selection module is used for determining whether to carry out local shunting on the target PDU session and executing the selection of a user plane function UPF according to the session strategy.

According to another aspect of the invention, at least one embodiment provides a session management function, SMF, comprising a transceiver and a processor, wherein,

the transceiver is used for receiving a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session strategy sent by a strategy control function (PCF), wherein the PDU session strategy carries indication information used for indicating whether local distribution of a target PDU session is allowed or not;

and the processor is used for determining whether to carry out local shunting on the target PDU session and executing selection of a user plane function UPF according to the session strategy.

According to another aspect of the invention, at least one embodiment provides an application function AF comprising:

a request creating module, configured to create an application function request message, where the application function request message includes indication information used to indicate whether local offloading of a target PDU session is required;

a sending module, configured to send the application function request message.

According to another aspect of the invention, at least one embodiment provides an application function, AF, comprising a transceiver and a processor, wherein,

the processor is configured to create an application function request message, where the application function request message includes indication information indicating whether local offloading of a target PDU session is required;

the transceiver is configured to send the application function request message.

According to another aspect of the present invention, at least one embodiment provides a policy control function PCF, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive an application function AF request message, where the AF request message carries local distribution indication information used for indicating whether local distribution of a target PDU session is required;

a policy generation module, configured to generate a PDU session policy for the target PDU session according to the local offload indication information and a preset network control policy, where the PDU session policy carries second indication information for indicating whether to allow local offload of the target PDU session;

and the sending module is used for sending the PDU session strategy to the SMF.

According to another aspect of the present invention, at least one embodiment provides a policy control function PCF comprising a transceiver and a processor, wherein,

the transceiver is configured to receive an Application Function (AF) request message, where the AF request message carries local distribution indication information used for indicating whether local distribution of a target PDU session is required;

the processor is configured to generate a PDU session policy for the target PDU session according to the local offload indication information and a preset network control policy, where the PDU session policy carries second indication information for indicating whether local offload of the target PDU session is allowed;

the transceiver is further configured to send the PDU session policy to the SMF.

According to another aspect of the invention, at least one embodiment provides a computer-readable storage medium having a program stored thereon, which when executed by a processor, performs the steps of the method as described above.

Compared with the prior art, the data offloading method and device provided by the embodiments of the present invention can provide a decision basis for a decision of SMF to perform local offloading by carrying, in the AF request, offloading indication information for indicating whether to perform local offloading, and providing the offloading indication information to the SMF, thereby improving a process of implementing local offloading.

Drawings

Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating the preferred embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Also, like reference numerals are used to refer to like parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a UPF selection process in the prior art;

fig. 2 is an interaction diagram of a data offloading method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a data offloading method according to an embodiment of the present invention applied to an AF side;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of a data offloading method provided in an embodiment of the present invention applied to a PCF side;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of a data offloading method provided in the embodiment of the present invention when applied to an SMF side;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an AF structure provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an AF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a PCF provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is another schematic structural diagram of a PCF provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of an SMF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is another schematic structural diagram of an SMF according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the invention may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims of the present application are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used is interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the application described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. In the description and in the claims "and/or" means at least one of the connected objects.

The following description provides examples and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configuration set forth in the claims. Changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the described methods may be performed in an order different than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Additionally, features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

In the scenario shown in fig. 1, information carried in an Application Function (AF) request may affect service selection UPF, but the prior art does not make it clear what way to route the service to a specified UPF, that is, an indication that SMF determines whether to perform local offloading is not clear enough. For example, in the information carried in the process of creating the AF request shown in fig. 1, explicit local offload indication information is not sent to the PCF to formulate a corresponding PDU session policy, so that the SMF cannot determine whether the third-party application needs to perform local data forwarding in a local offload manner. It can be seen how the mechanism of how the prior art SMF decides whether to offload locally is imperfect.

In order to solve at least one of the above problems, embodiments of the present invention provide a data offloading method, which provides a decision basis for a local offloading decision, and improves a local offloading implementation process. Referring to fig. 2, a data offloading method provided in an embodiment of the present invention includes:

in step 201, the AF creates a new AF request message (assumed to be a first AF request message), specifically, the AF may be created by calling Nnef _ trafficinfiffice _ Create, and the first AF request message may include the following information: 0) First distribution indication information used for indicating local distribution of the target PDU conversation; 1) AF transfer Id; 2) GPSI or a combination of DNN, S-NSSAI and DNAI to describe the target UE ID; 3) The combination of AF-Service-Identifier (AF-Service-Identifier) or DNN and S-NSSAI used to describe the target PDU session. 4) DNAI to describe possible deployment locations for applications.

It can be seen that, compared with fig. 1, when the AF according to the embodiment of the present invention creates an AF request, the AF request includes a new addition information, that is, the first offloading indication information whether local offloading of the target PDU session is required. Specifically, the AF may create, according to the subscription information of the target terminal, when the target terminal has a capability authorization for local offloading, a first offload indication information that requires local offloading of a target PDU session.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first offloading Indication information may be represented by adding a field (field) to the AF request, for example, an LBO Indication Identifier field, where the length of the field is at least one bit, and for example, when the field is 1 bit, it may respectively indicate that local offloading is required for the target PDU session and local offloading is not required by taking a value of 1 and a value of 0. The embodiment of the present invention may also extend an existing field (e.g., reserved bits in the existing field) in the AF request, so as to carry the first offload indication information, for example, some or some bits in DNAI in a combination of DNN, S-NSSAI, and DNAI for describing the target UE ID are used to carry the first offload indication information, and this carrying manner may be regarded as an implicit indication.

Step 202, the AF sends the first AF request message to the PCF, and specifically, the AF may forward the first AF request message to the PCF through the NEF, where the AF sends the first AF request message to the NEF; the NEF ensures the necessary authorization control including restricting AF requests and mapping the information provided by the first AF request message to the information required by the 5G core network (5 GC).

Here, the information mapping may include: the information in the AF request is converted into information that can be understood by the 5G core network (e.g., by format conversion processing, etc.), and the specific conversion manner may refer to the prior art, which is not described in detail herein.

In step 203, the nef invokes Npcf _ Policy authorization _ Create service, and sends the second AF request message obtained by mapping the information to a Policy Control Function (PCF), where the second AF request message includes the first offload indication information. Here, the first offloading indication information may have undergone information mapping processing, so as to be converted into indication information understandable by the network, so that the subsequent network function can understand the meaning of its offloading indication.

In step 204, the pcf receives a second AF request message sent by the NEF, where the second AF request message carries first offload indication information whether to require local offload of a target PDU session, and the first offload indication information is obtained from the first AF request message sent by the AF. Then, PCF generates PDU conversation strategy aiming at the target PDU conversation according to the first shunt indication information and the preset network control strategy, wherein the PDU conversation strategy carries second shunt indication information used for indicating whether the target PDU conversation is allowed to be shunted locally. Then, the PCF sends the PDU conversation strategy to the SMF, and the PDU conversation strategy carries second distribution indication information indicating whether the local distribution of the target PDU conversation is allowed or not.

That is, the PCF of the embodiment of the present invention may autonomously decide whether to locally offload the target PDU session according to various factors. For example, when the first offloading indication information indicates local offloading of the target PDU session, the second offloading indication information may indicate that local offloading of the target PDU session is allowed or not allowed.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, the PCF may send the PDU session policy to the SMF after receiving the policy request message for the target PDU session sent by the SMF.

Specifically, the PCF may issue a PDU session policy to the SMF for the PDU session update information affected by the AF request through the Npcf _ SMPolicyControl _ UpdateNotify.

Step 205, the smf receives a PDU session policy sent by the PCF, where the PDU session policy carries second offload indication information for indicating whether to allow local offload of a target PDU session, and then determines whether to locally offload the target PDU session and performs selection of a user plane function UPF according to the session policy. For example, it may be to insert or delete a UPF in an existing session; it may also be that a new prefix is allocated to the UE (in case the UE supports IPv6 Multi-timing); the UPF in the target DNAI may also be updated according to the new traffic steering rules.

In addition, in step 205, in the embodiment of the present invention, the SMF may send a policy request message for a target PDU session to the PCF in the process of establishing the target PDU session of the target traffic of the target terminal; then, receiving the PDU session policy returned by the PCF in response to the policy request message.

In addition, when determining whether to locally offload the target PDU session and perform selection of a user plane function UPF, the SMF may determine whether to locally offload the target PDU session according to at least one of a preset operator policy, feature information of the target PDU session (such as target traffic), location information of the target terminal, and offload capability information of the target terminal when the second offload indication information indicates that local offload of the target PDU session is allowed, and further determine an offload manner used for local offload when local offload is performed, where the offload manner includes an uplink classifier UL CL manner and a branch point BP manner; then, according to the shunting mode adopted by local shunting, selecting a target UPF for local shunting, inserting UL CL or BP into the target UPF, realizing the function of the UL CL or BP in the target UPF, and locally shunting the target PDU session.

Specifically, the specific implementation of inserting UL CL or BP can refer to the related description of the prior art, and is not described herein for brevity.

It should be noted that the UPF, SMF, PCF, NEF, and AF shown in fig. 2 may be entities or function modules for implementing related functions, and specifically may be UPF entities, SMF entities, PCF entities, NEF entities, and AF entities, or UPF function modules, SMF function modules, PCF function modules, NEF function modules, and AF function modules, or UPF units, SMF units, PCF units, NEF units, and AF units.

Through the above steps, the embodiment of the present invention carries the offloading indication information for indicating whether to perform local offloading in the AF request, and provides the offloading indication information to the SMF, so as to provide a decision basis for the SMF to make a decision on local offloading, thereby improving the implementation process of local offloading.

The data offloading method according to the embodiments of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 3, the data offloading method provided in the embodiment of the present invention, when applied to an AF side, includes:

step 301, creating a first application function request message, where the first application function request message includes first offloading indication information used for indicating whether local offloading of a target PDU session is required.

Here, the AF may create, according to the subscription information of the target terminal, when the target terminal has a capability authorization for local breakout, a first breakout indication information including a request for local breakout of the target PDU session.

Step 302, sending the first application function request message.

Here, the AF may send the first application function request message to the PCF through the NEF, and specifically, after receiving the first application function request message, the NEF may perform processing such as authorization control and information mapping, convert the first application function request message, and send the converted first application function request message to the PCF. For convenience of description, the converted first application function request message may be referred to as a second application function request message.

Referring to fig. 4, a data offloading method provided in an embodiment of the present invention, when applied to a PCF side, includes:

step 401, receiving a second application function, AF, request message sent by the NEF, where the second AF request message carries first offload indication information for indicating whether local offload is required for a target PDU session, and the first offload indication information is obtained from a first AF request message sent by an AF.

Step 402, generating a PDU session policy for the target PDU session according to the first offloading indication information and a preset network control policy, where the PDU session policy carries second offloading indication information for indicating whether local offloading of the target PDU session is allowed.

Here, the generating of the PDU session policy for the target traffic of the target terminal may be based on a trigger of a policy request message sent by the SMF, and in this case, the PCF may further receive the policy request message for the target PDU session sent by the SMF before generating the PDU session policy.

In general, the first offloading indication information requires local offloading of the target PDU session, and the second offloading indication information in the PDU session policy may indicate whether local offloading of the target PDU session is allowed or not allowed.

And step 403, sending the PDU session policy to the SMF.

Referring to fig. 5, the data offloading method provided in the embodiment of the present invention, when applied to the SMF side, includes:

step 501, receiving a PDU session policy sent by a PCF, where the PDU session policy carries second distribution indication information for indicating whether to allow local distribution of a target PDU session.

Here, the PDU session policy may also be that during the process of establishing the PDU session, the SMF actively requests the PCF, and at this time, in step 501, the SMF may send a policy request message for the PDU session to the PCF, and then receive the PDU session policy.

Step 502, according to the session policy, determining whether to locally shunt the target PDU session and execute the selection of the user plane function UPF.

Here, when the second offloading indication information indicates that local offloading of the target PDU session is allowed, the SMF may determine whether to perform local offloading according to at least one of a preset operator policy, feature information of the target PDU session, location information of the target terminal, and offloading capability information of the target terminal, and further determine an offloading manner adopted by local offloading when determining to perform local offloading, where the offloading manner includes an uplink classifier UL CL manner and a branch point BP manner; and then, selecting a target UPF for local distribution according to the distribution mode adopted by the local distribution.

After the above step 502, the UL CL or BP function may also be implemented in the target UPF, and the target PDU session is shunted locally, for example, the UL CL or BP is inserted into the target UPF.

Based on the method, the embodiment of the invention also provides equipment for implementing the method.

Referring to fig. 6, an embodiment of the present invention provides an AF 60, including:

a request creating module 61, configured to create an application function request message, where the application function request message includes indication information indicating whether local offloading of a target PDU session is required;

a sending module 62, configured to send the application function request message.

Optionally, the request creating module 61 is further configured to create, according to the subscription information of the target terminal, when the target terminal has a capability authorization of local offloading, instruction information that requires local offloading of a target PDU session.

Referring to fig. 7, in another structure of the AF according to the embodiment of the present invention, the AF 700 includes: a processor 701, a transceiver 702, a memory 703, a user interface 704 and a bus interface, wherein:

in an embodiment of the present invention, the AF 700 further comprises: a program stored on the memory 703 and executable on the processor 701, which when executed by the processor 701, performs the steps of:

creating an application function request message, wherein the application function request message comprises indication information indicating whether local shunting is required to be carried out on a target PDU session;

and sending the application function request message. It can be understood that, in the embodiment of the present invention, when being executed by the processor 701, the computer program can implement each process of the data offloading method embodiment shown in fig. 3, and can achieve the same technical effect, and is not described herein again to avoid repetition.

In fig. 7, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors, represented by processor 701, and various circuits, represented by memory 703, being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 702 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium.

The processor 701 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 703 may store data used by the processor 701 in performing operations.

Referring to fig. 8, an embodiment of the present invention provides a schematic structural diagram of PCF 80, where PCF 80 includes:

a receiving module 81, configured to receive an application function AF request message, where the AF request message carries first indication information used for indicating whether local distribution of a target PDU session is required;

a policy generation module 82, configured to generate a PDU session policy for the target PDU session according to the first indication information and a preset network control policy, where the PDU session policy carries second indication information for indicating whether to allow local offloading of the target PDU session;

a sending module 83, configured to send the PDU session policy to the SMF.

Optionally, the receiving module 81 is further configured to receive a policy request message for the target PDU session sent by the SMF.

Optionally, when the first offloading indication information indicates that local offloading of the target PDU session is required, the second offloading indication information may indicate that local offloading of the target PDU session is allowed or local offloading is not allowed.

Referring to fig. 9, another structural diagram of PCF 900 is provided in the embodiment of the present invention, including: a processor 901, a transceiver 902, a memory 903, and a bus interface, wherein:

in an embodiment of the present invention, PCF 900 further comprises: a program stored on a memory 903 and executable on a processor 901, the program when executed by the processor 901 performing the steps of:

receiving an Application Function (AF) request message, wherein the AF request message carries first indication information used for indicating whether local distribution of a target PDU session is required or not;

generating a PDU session strategy aiming at the target PDU session according to the first indication information and a preset network control strategy, wherein the PDU session strategy carries second indication information used for indicating whether local shunting is allowed to be carried out on the target PDU session or not;

and sending the PDU session policy to the SMF.

It can be understood that, in the embodiment of the present invention, when being executed by the processor 901, the computer program can implement each process of the data offloading method embodiment shown in fig. 4, and can achieve the same technical effect, and for avoiding repetition, details are not described here again.

In fig. 9, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors represented by processor 901 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 903 being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 902 may be a plurality of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium.

The processor 901 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 903 may store data used by the processor 901 in performing operations.

Referring to fig. 10, an embodiment of the present invention provides a structural schematic diagram of an SMF 100, where the SMF 100 includes:

a receiving module 101, configured to receive a protocol data unit PDU session policy sent by a policy control function PCF, where the PDU session policy carries indication information used to indicate whether to allow local offloading of a target PDU session;

and a UPF selection module 102, configured to determine whether to locally offload the target PDU session and perform selection of a user plane function UPF according to the session policy.

Optionally, the SMF 100 further includes:

a sending module, configured to send a policy request message for the PDU session to a PCF in a process of establishing the target PDU session;

the receiving module is further configured to receive the PDU session policy returned by the PCF in response to the policy request message.

Optionally, the UPF selecting module 102 is further configured to, when the local offloading indication information indicates that local offloading of the target PDU session is allowed, determine whether to perform local offloading according to at least one of a preset operator policy, feature information of the target PDU session, location information of the target terminal, and offloading capability information of the target terminal, and further determine an offloading mode used for local offloading when performing local offloading, where the offloading mode includes an uplink classifier UL CL mode and a branch point BP mode; and selecting a target UPF for local distribution according to the distribution mode adopted by the local distribution.

Optionally, the SMF 100 further includes:

and the shunting processing unit is used for realizing the ULCL or BP function on the target UPF and carrying out local shunting on the target PDU session.

Referring to fig. 11, another structural schematic diagram of an SMF 1100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a processor 1101, a transceiver 1102, a memory 1103, and a bus interface, wherein:

in the embodiment of the present invention, the SMF 1100 further includes: a program stored on the memory 1103 and executable on the processor 1101, the program when executed by the processor 1101 performing the steps of:

It can be understood that, in the embodiment of the present invention, when being executed by the processor 1101, the computer program can implement each process of the data offloading method embodiment shown in fig. 5, and can achieve the same technical effect, and is not described herein again to avoid repetition.

In fig. 11, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors, represented by processor 1101, and various circuits, represented by memory 1103, linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1102 may be a plurality of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium.

The processor 1101 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1103 may store data used by the processor 1101 in performing operations.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program implements each process of the data offloading method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect, and in order to avoid repetition, details are not repeated here.

Computer-readable media, which include both non-transitory and non-transitory, removable and non-removable media, may implement the information storage by any method or technology. The information may be computer readable instructions, data structures, modules of a program, or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase change memory (PRAM), static Random Access Memory (SRAM), dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), other types of Random Access Memory (RAM), read Only Memory (ROM), electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), digital Versatile Discs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information that can be accessed by a computing device. As defined herein, a computer readable medium does not include a transitory computer readable medium such as a modulated data signal and a carrier wave.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment of the present invention.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention or a part of the technical solution that substantially contributes to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a base station) to execute all or part of the steps of the data offloading method according to the embodiments of the present invention.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A data distribution method is applied to a Session Management Function (SMF), and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

determining whether to locally shunt the target PDU session and execute the selection of a User Plane Function (UPF) according to the session strategy;

determining whether to locally shunt the target PDU session and execute the selection of a User Plane Function (UPF) according to the session strategy, wherein the step of determining whether to locally shunt the target PDU session and the selection of the UPF comprises the following steps:

when the local distribution indication information indicates that local distribution of the target PDU session is allowed, determining whether local distribution is performed according to at least one of a preset operator strategy, characteristic information of the target PDU session, position information of a target terminal and distribution capability information of the target terminal, and determining a distribution mode adopted by the local distribution when the local distribution is determined, wherein the distribution mode comprises an uplink classifier (UL CL) mode and a Branch Point (BP) mode;

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein after selecting a target UPF for local breakout, the method further comprises:

3. A data distribution method is applied to a policy control function PCF, and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

receiving an Application Function (AF) request message, wherein the AF request message carries first shunt indication information used for indicating whether local shunt is required to be carried out on a target PDU session;

when the first shunt indication information indicates local shunt of a target PDU session, generating a PDU session strategy aiming at the target PDU session according to a preset network control strategy, wherein the PDU session strategy carries second shunt indication information used for indicating whether the local shunt of the target PDU session is allowed or not;

and sending the PDU session policy to the SMF.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein prior to generating the PDU session policy for the target PDU session, the method further comprises:

5. A session management function, SMF, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive a protocol data unit PDU session policy sent by a policy control function PCF, where the PDU session policy carries indication information for indicating whether to allow local offloading of a target PDU session;

a UPF selection module, which is used for determining whether to carry out local shunt on the target PDU session and executing the selection of a user plane function UPF according to the session strategy;

the UPF selection module is further configured to, when the local offload indication information indicates that local offload is allowed for the target PDU session, determine whether to perform local offload according to at least one of a preset operator policy, feature information of the target PDU session, location information of a target terminal, and offload capability information of the target terminal, and further determine an offload mode used for local offload when performing local offload, where the offload mode includes an uplink classifier UL CL mode and a branch point BP mode; and selecting a target UPF for local distribution according to the distribution mode adopted by the local distribution.

6. A session management function, SMF, comprising a transceiver and a processor, wherein,

the processor is used for determining whether to locally shunt the target PDU session and executing the selection of a user plane function UPF according to the session strategy;

the processor is further configured to determine whether to perform local offloading according to at least one of a preset operator policy, feature information of the target PDU session, location information of a target terminal, and offloading capability information of the target terminal when the local offloading indication information indicates that local offloading of the target PDU session is allowed, and further determine an offloading mode adopted by local offloading when the local offloading is performed, where the offloading mode includes an uplink classifier UL CL mode and a branch point BP mode; and selecting a target UPF for local distribution according to the distribution mode adopted by the local distribution.

7. A policy control function PCF, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive an application function AF request message, where the AF request message carries first offloading indication information used for indicating whether local offloading of a target PDU session is required;

the device comprises a strategy generation module and a target PDU session distribution module, wherein the strategy generation module is used for generating a PDU session strategy aiming at a target PDU session according to a preset network control strategy when the first distribution indication information indicates that the target PDU session is locally distributed, and the PDU session strategy carries second distribution indication information used for indicating whether the target PDU session is allowed to be locally distributed or not;

and the sending module is used for sending the PDU session strategy to the SMF.

8. A policy control function PCF comprising a transceiver and a processor, wherein,

the transceiver is configured to receive an Application Function (AF) request message, where the AF request message carries first shunt indication information used for indicating whether local shunt is required for a target PDU session;

the processor is configured to generate a PDU session policy for a target PDU session according to a preset network control policy when the first offloading indication information indicates local offloading of the target PDU session, where the PDU session policy carries second offloading indication information used for indicating whether local offloading of the target PDU session is allowed;

9. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which, when being executed by a processor, implements the steps of the data offloading method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.