JP6403824B2 - Customizable mobile broadband network system and method for customizing mobile broadband network - Google Patents

Description

  Aspects of the invention relate to the field of mobile communications, and in particular, to a customizable mobile broadband network system and method for customizing a mobile broadband network.

The evolution of mobile networks, wireless access bandwidth continues to increase, the conventional circuit domain disappeared, all services are transported uniformly in the packet switched domain, the mobile network Mobile Broadband (Mobile Brand band, MBB) The period has started. The high bandwidth provided by MBB networks, in combination with intelligent terminal innovation, causes the transfer of large amounts of Internet applications from fixed access networks to mobile networks, the so-called mobile Internet. Currently, MBB networks do not carry only traditional telecommunications services such as voice and short message services. A variety of rich Internet applications such as instant messaging, online shopping, online banking, search, information, and video are already mobile. Currently, most data traffic in the mobile Internet comes from these applications.

  The consumption of all information in the mobile Internet era is performed using a terminal-pipe-cloud architecture. Access at any time and in any place between Internet application server based on Information Technology (IT) cloud platform and application client on intelligent terminal by using mobile broadband network pipe service And the data is exchanged to meet the mobile user's demand for being always online. Benefiting from the division between mobile services and mobile pipes, most services for mobile users come from Internet application providers rather than telecommunications operators. As Internet applications develop rapidly, innovation continues to emerge. In addition to the large volume of IT applications mentioned above, emerging companies or the Internet of Things (Machine to Machine (M2M)) industry are increasingly running services based on MBB networks.

  After the application and bearer network are decoupled, in current mobile applications, data is generally transmitted by using the mobile pipe as a transparent dam pipe. Since the application and the network are not aware of each other, inevitably, the optimal user experience of the application cannot be achieved, and the optimal utilization of network resources cannot be achieved. This is undesirable for application service providers, mobile network pipe providers, or operators.

  Currently, mobile broadband networks, defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), are dedicated to relatively closed and fixed telecommunications networks, primarily with policy and billing rules (Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) network elements make pipe billing and quality of service (QoS) control capabilities open to the outside. The types of open capabilities are limited, fast dynamic changes are not supported, causing a lack of fault tolerance. In addition, the PCRF network element of the mobile network currently provides only the service flow-oriented policy control and charging control Rx interface to the outside, and the Rx interface is currently only used for operator's proprietary services This effectively prevents support for requirements for industrial applications or customized mobile networks for virtual operations.

  For example, enterprise or M2M industrial applications based on cloud platforms often impose specific requirements for bearer networks, including specifications for network functions, features, or capacity. In addition, for example, some industries impose more stringent security or reliability requirements for the network, and some companies require high bandwidth and low latency guarantees. Some enterprise applications do not require complex billing or QoS guarantees, do not require high capacity, but require lower costs. Current network architectures can hardly meet such customization requirements.

  Embodiments of the present invention provide a customizable mobile broadband network system and a method for customizing a mobile broadband network so that the network can be customized according to user requirements.

  According to a first aspect, a customizable mobile broadband network system is provided comprising a transport layer, a control layer, and a capability opening layer. The transport layer connects to the control layer via the first open interface and is configured to provide the transport capability of the mobile broadband network system, and the first open interface is configured to open the transport capability to the control layer The control layer is connected to the capability opening layer via the second open interface and is configured to provide the control capability of the mobile broadband network system, the second open interface is configured to control capability and transfer capability to the capability opening layer. The capability opening layer is configured to open the network customization from the user via the third open interface. Receiving a down request to manage a customized network instance, configured to combine the control capabilities and / or transfer capability according to the network customization request.

  With respect to the first aspect, in one implementation, the control layer includes a transfer control / resource management sublayer configured to interact with the transfer layer via the first open interface to control the transfer operation of the transfer layer. In addition.

  With respect to the first aspect and the above implementation techniques, in another implementation technique, the transport layer further includes a transport capability abstraction / resource agent sublayer configured to manage the transport layer access resources and transport resources.

  With respect to the first aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the transfer capability abstraction / resource agent sublayer abstracts the transfer capability of the transfer layer and sends information about the abstracted transfer capability via the first open interface. And is further configured to provide to the control layer forwarding control / resource management sublayer.

  With respect to the first aspect and the implementation techniques described above, in another implementation technique, the control layer further includes a control resource agent configured to manage the control resources of the control layer.

With respect to the first aspect and the above-described implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the transfer capability abstraction / resource agent sublayer is further configured and provided to provide information about access resources and transfer resources to the transfer control / resource management sublayer. resource Agents TMG, information about control resources is further configured to provide to the transfer control / resource management sublayer, transfers control / resource management sublayer, according to the information about the information and control resources of the access resource and transfer resources, Further configured to manage network resources of the customized network system .

  Regarding the first aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the control layer further includes a network application sublayer, the network application sublayer includes one or more network applications, and each of the network applications has a specific control capability. To realize.

  With respect to the first aspect and the above implementation method, in another implementation method, the control layer abstracts the transfer layer transfer capability and the control layer control capability to obtain an atomic level transfer capability and control capability, and transfers the atomic level transfer capability. It further includes a capability abstraction sublayer configured to open the capability and control capability to the capability opening layer via a second open interface.

  With respect to the first aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the capability abstraction sublayer opens the atomic level transfer capability and control capability with the capability plug-in method.

  With respect to the first aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the capability opening layer obtains atomic level forwarding and control capabilities from the capability abstraction sublayer and creates, modifies, or deletes customized network instances. To include an on-demand mobile network enabler configured to combine atomic level transfer and control capabilities in accordance with network customization requirements.

  Regarding the first aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the on-demand mobile network enabler selects the requested atomic level control capability and transfer capability according to the network customization request, and requests a resource allocation request to the capability abstraction sublayer. Based on the network resource allocation result to create, modify, or delete a customized network instance, receiving the result of the network resource allocation performed by the capability abstraction sublayer according to the resource allocation request, Further configured to combine selected atomic level control and transfer capabilities.

  With respect to the first aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the on-demand mobile network enabler is a monitoring unit or customized network configured to perform status monitoring and failure detection of a customized network instance. It further includes a configuration unit configured to perform configuration management of the instance.

  With respect to the first aspect and the above implementation technique, another implementation technique further includes an access control unit, a subscription database, and a policy database. The subscription database is configured to store and manage user authentication information, the policy database is configured to store and manage capability opening and user customized policy information, and the access control unit is a subscription Configured to authenticate users according to authentication information stored in the database, determine user access policies according to policy information stored in the policy database, and provide user authentication results and access policies to the on-demand mobile network enabler The

  With respect to the first aspect and the above implementation techniques, in another implementation technique, the access control unit, the subscription database, and / or the policy database are integrated into the capability opening layer.

  With respect to the first aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the third open interface includes a web interface and / or an application programming interface.

  With respect to the first aspect and the above-described implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the capability opening layer is further configured to provide a customized network instance operational interface to the user via the third open interface.

  With respect to the first aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the capability opening layer is further configured and customized to receive a user action request for a customized network instance via a third open interface. The network instance calls the corresponding transfer capability and / or control capability and the corresponding network resource according to the operation request to complete the requested operation, and the capability opening layer notifies the user via the third open interface. Returns the operation result.

  With respect to the first aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the capability opening layer is further configured to provide the user with a customized network instance operation handle, wherein the customized network instance is the requested operation. Is further configured to invoke a corresponding transfer capability and / or control capability and corresponding network resource according to an operation handle included in the operation request.

  Regarding the first aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the forwarding layer is realized by a network forwarding node or a network switching node of the mobile broadband network system, and the control layer is realized by a network control node of the mobile broadband network system. The capability opening layer is realized by a capability opening node or a capability opening gateway of the mobile broadband network system.

  According to a second aspect, there is provided a method for customizing a mobile broadband network, the method opening the transfer capability of the mobile broadband network system to a control layer via a first open interface by a transfer layer; The control layer opens the mobile broadband network system's control and transfer capabilities to the capability opening layer via the second open interface, and the capability opening layer requests network customization requests from the user via the third open interface. Network customization to receive and manage customized network instances Combining control capabilities and / or transfer capabilities according to the application requirements.

  With respect to the second aspect, in one implementation, the method receives, by the capability opening layer, a user operation request for a customized network instance via a third open interface, and the customized network instance, Invoking the corresponding transfer capability and / or control capability and the corresponding network resource according to the operation request to complete the requested operation, and returning the operation result to the user through the third open interface by the capability opening layer. And further including.

  With respect to the second aspect and the above implementation method, in another implementation method, the step of opening the transfer capability of the mobile broadband network system to the control layer via the first open interface by the transfer layer is performed by the transfer layer by the transfer layer. Abstracting the transfer capability and providing information about the abstracted transfer capability to the transfer control / resource management sublayer of the control layer via the first open interface.

  With respect to the second aspect and the above implementation method, in another implementation method, the step of opening the control capability and the transfer capability of the mobile broadband network system to the capability opening layer via the second open interface by the control layer is performed by the control layer. Abstract transfer layer transfer capability and control layer control capability to get atomic level transfer capability and control capability, open atomic level transfer capability and control capability to capability opening layer via second open interface Including the steps of:

  Regarding the second aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the step of combining the control capability and / or the transfer capability according to the network customization request to manage the customized network instance by the capability opening layer is the capability opening layer. To obtain atomic level transfer and control capabilities from the control layer and combine atomic level transfer and control capabilities in accordance with network customization requirements to create, modify, or delete customized network instances.

According to a third aspect, a transport layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system is provided, the transport layer device comprising: a transport unit configured to provide a transport capability of the mobile broadband network system ; and A first open interface connected to the control layer device and configured to open the transfer capability of the transfer unit to the control layer device.

  With respect to the third aspect, in one implementation, a forwarding layer device is configured to manage access resources and forwarding resources of the forwarding layer device and to provide information about the access resources and forwarding resources to the control layer device. It further includes an agent unit.

With respect to the third aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the transfer unit abstracts the transfer capability of the transfer layer device , and sends information about the abstracted transfer capability to the control layer device via the first open interface. Further configured to provide.

  With respect to the third aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the transport layer device includes a network forwarding node or a network switching node of a mobile broadband network system.

  According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a control layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system, wherein the control layer device receives information about the transfer capability of the transfer layer device from the transfer layer device of the mobile broadband network system, and the mobile broadband Connected to the control opening unit of the mobile broadband network system and the capability opening layer device configured to provide the control capability of the network system, and configured to open the control capability and the transfer capability to the capability opening layer device. And a second open interface.

It relates fourth aspect, in one implementation approach, the control unit, for controlling the transfer operation of the transfer layer devices further configured to interact with the transfer layer devices.

  Regarding the fourth aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the control layer device is configured to manage a control resource of the control layer device and to provide information about the control resource to the capability opening layer device. It further includes a resource agent unit.

  With respect to the fourth aspect and the implementation techniques described above, in another implementation technique, the control unit includes one or more network applications, and each of the network applications implements a specific control capability.

  Regarding the fourth aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the control unit is configured to abstract the transfer capability of the transfer layer device and the control capability of the control layer device to obtain an atomic level transfer capability and control capability. Further configured, the second open interface is further configured to open atomic level transfer capabilities and control capabilities to the capability opening layer device.

  With respect to the fourth aspect and the implementation technique described above, in another implementation technique, the control layer device includes a network control node of a mobile broadband network system.

  According to a fifth aspect, a capability opening layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system is provided, the capability opening layer device configured with a third open interface configured to receive a network customization request from a user, and a customized A customization unit configured to combine control capabilities and / or forwarding capabilities in accordance with network customization requirements to manage network instances.

  Regarding the fifth aspect, in one implementation, the customization unit receives information about the network resources of the mobile broadband network system from the control layer device of the mobile broadband network system, and the network of the customized network according to the information about the network resources Further configured to manage resources.

  Regarding the fifth aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the customization unit obtains atomic level control capabilities and transfer capabilities from the control layer device, and creates, modifies, or deletes customized network instances. Further configured to combine atomic level control and forwarding capabilities according to network customization requirements.

  Regarding the fifth aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the customization unit performs status monitoring and failure detection of the customized network instance, or performs configuration management of the customized network instance. Further configured.

  With respect to the fifth aspect and the above implementation technique, another implementation technique further includes an access control unit, a subscription database, and a policy database, wherein the subscription database is configured to store and manage user authentication information. Configured, the policy database is configured to store and manage capability opening and user customized policy information, and the access control unit authenticates the user according to the authentication information stored in the subscription database and stores it in the policy database. A user access policy is determined according to the stored policy information, and the user authentication result and access policy are provided to the customization unit.

  With respect to the fifth aspect and the implementation approach described above, in another implementation approach, the third open interface includes a web interface and / or an application programming interface.

  Regarding the fifth aspect and the above implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the third open interface is further configured to receive a user action request for a customized network instance, wherein the customized network instance is a request In order to complete the performed operation, the corresponding open capability and / or control capability and the corresponding network resource are invoked according to the operation request, and the third open interface is further configured to return the operation result to the user.

  With respect to the fifth aspect and the above implementation approach, in another implementation approach, the third open interface is further configured to provide the user with a customized network instance action handle, wherein the customized network instance is requested In order to complete the operation, it is further configured to invoke the corresponding transfer capability and / or control capability and the corresponding network resource according to the operation handle included in the operation request.

  With respect to the fifth aspect and the above-described implementation technique, in another implementation technique, the capability opening layer device includes a capability opening node or a capability opening gateway of the mobile broadband network system.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the transfer capability and control capability of the mobile broadband network system are separated from each other, provided by the transfer layer and the control layer, respectively, and opened to the capability opening layer. The capability opening layer combines the requested capabilities according to the network customization request to manage the corresponding customized network instance. Therefore, according to the mobile broadband network system in the embodiment of the present invention, the mobile network can be customized according to the user's requirements, thereby realizing a comprehensive and flexible mobile network architecture.

  To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments or the prior art. Of course, the accompanying drawings in the following description are merely illustrative of some embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts. it can.

1 is a schematic block diagram of a customizable mobile broadband network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an example of the flow for comprising (creating / modifying) the IP data connection between GW-C and GW-U. FIG. 3 is a schematic architecture diagram of another example of the MBB network system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic architecture diagram of another example of the MBB network system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a process for customizing a mobile broadband network on demand according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a process for customizing a mobile broadband network on demand according to another embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart of a method for customizing a mobile broadband network according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram of a transport layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a capability opening layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a transport layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a capability opening layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The following describes the technical solution to clarify the embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Of course, the described embodiments are only a part rather than all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The technical solution of the present invention includes a global system for mobile communication (Global System of Mobile communication, GSM (registered trademark)), a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a wideband code division multiple access ( It is applied to various communication systems such as Wideband Code Division Multiple Access , WCDMA (registered trademark) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) system, and Long Term Evolution (LTE) system. obtain.

  User equipment (UE), also called mobile terminal, mobile user equipment, etc., may communicate with one or more core networks across a radio access network (eg, RAN (Radio Access Network)). The user equipment may be a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone (or called a “cellular” phone) or a computer equipped with a mobile terminal. For example, the user equipment can be a portable, pocket-sized, hand-held, computer-embedded, or in-vehicle mobile device that exchanges voice and / or data with a radio access network.

The base station can be a base transceiver station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in GSM (registered trademark) or CDMA, Node B (NodeB) in WCDMA (registered trademark), or evolved node B (eNB or e-NodeB ( evolved in LTE)) Node B)), but these do not limit the invention.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a customizable mobile broadband network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The mobile broadband network system 100 in FIG. 1 includes a transport layer 101, a control layer 102, and a capability opening layer 103.

  The transfer layer 101 is connected to the control layer 102 via the first open interface 104. The transfer layer 101 is configured to provide the transfer capability of the mobile broadband network system 100. The first open interface 104 is configured to open the transfer capability to the control layer 102.

  The control layer 102 is connected to the capability opening layer 103 via the second open interface 105. The control layer 102 is configured to provide control capabilities of the mobile broadband network system 100. The second open interface 105 is configured to open the control capability and the transfer capability to the capability opening layer 103.

  The capability opening layer 103 is configured to receive a network customization request from a user via the third open interface 106 and combine control capabilities and / or forwarding capabilities according to the network customization request to manage the customized network instance. Is done.

  In this embodiment of the present invention, the transfer capability and control capability of the mobile broadband network system are separated from each other, provided by the transfer layer and the control layer, respectively, and opened to the capability opening layer. The capability opening layer combines the requested capabilities according to the network customization request to manage the corresponding customized network instance. Therefore, according to the mobile broadband network system in this embodiment of the present invention, the mobile network can be customized according to user requirements, thereby realizing a comprehensive and flexible mobile network architecture.

  The user submitting the network customization request may be an enterprise application, a personal application, another form of user application, or the equivalent of an operator or third party partner. The specific form of the user is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment of the present invention, the mobile broadband network system 100 can manage customized network instances according to the network customization request submitted by the user, i.e. whether to create or delete customized network instances. Or may be modified.

  For example, realizing network customization by building a company's dedicated network is an uneconomic option for the company. According to this embodiment of the present invention, the operator can provide a virtual or customized network that meets the needs of the enterprise so as to achieve a more favorable and close collaboration. Because of these network customization requirements, the network needs to have more efficient and flexible customizable capabilities to achieve on-demand resource allocation and on-demand network capability customization.

  The transport layer 101 may also be called a data layer or a user layer. The transfer layer 101 is realized by a network transfer node or a network switching node of the mobile broadband network system 100. Examples of network forwarding nodes or network switching nodes include wireless base stations, core network gateway forwarding functions, and the like. Basic transport capabilities include base station data plane functions such as physical layer encoding and decoding, and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) packet encapsulation and decapsulation, and GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GPRS Tunneling Protocol). Protocol, GTP) or Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) tunnel encapsulation and decapsulation, and forwarding and routing of Internet Protocol (IP) packets or Media Access Control (MAC) packets Such as, but not limited to, gateway forwarding capabilities. After being abstracted or normalized, the basic forwarding capability of the forwarding layer 101 is opened via the first open interface 104. The first open interface 104 may be a programmable interface, such as GTP protocol or H.264. It can be extended by using another protocol such as 248. Optionally, transfer layer 101 retains only basic data transfer functions, and all other control functions are scraped off by control layer 102.

  The control layer 102 is realized by a network control node of the mobile broadband network system 100. Examples of network control nodes include control function units such as mobility management network elements, base station controllers, and gateways. Basic control capabilities may include, but are not limited to, mobility management, bearer management, policy control functions, GTPC protocol processing, and the like.

  The capability opening layer 103 is realized by a capability opening node or a capability opening gateway of the mobile broadband network system 100. A capability opening node or capability opening gateway may be a separately located node device or may be integrated into any network element, eg, integrated into a gateway.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the capability opening layer 103 may provide the user with an operational interface for the customized network instance via the third open interface 106, so that the user By using an instance, a specific service operation such as video download or Internet call can be performed. In this case, the capability opening layer 103 may receive a user action request for the customized network instance via the third open interface 106, so that the customized network instance completes the requested action. Then, according to the operation request, the corresponding transfer capability and / or control capability and the corresponding network resource are called, and the capability opening layer 103 returns the operation result to the user via the third open interface 106.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, capability opening layer 103 may provide the user with a customized network instance action handle so that the user can execute a specific service on the customized network. . For example, capability opening layer 103 may send an action handle to the user after a customized network instance has been created. The action request sent by the user to the capability opening layer 103 may include a specific action handle to represent the service action that the user wishes to execute. The customized network instance may invoke corresponding transfer capabilities and / or control capabilities and corresponding network resources according to the operation handle included in the operation request to complete the requested operation.

  In this embodiment of the present invention, the network control capabilities and forwarding capabilities are completely decoupled, and the network functionality can be completely dependent on the control layer 102 service software, and is independent of the transport layer 101, True support for more flexible network instances defined by software.

  As an example, using 4G evolved node B, eNode B, eNode B is a control plane evolved Node B, eNode BC, which provides control capabilities, and a user plane evolved Node B, which provides forwarding capabilities. Can be divided into e-nodes BU.

  Using a gateway as an example, the gateway may be divided into a control plane gateway GW-C that provides control capability and a user plane gateway GW-U that provides forwarding capability. In particular, if the gateway is a packet data network gateway (PGW), GW-C can be represented as PGW-C, GW-U can be represented as PGW-U, and the gateway is a service gateway. (Service Gateway, SGW), GW-C can be expressed as SGW-C, GW-U can be expressed as SGW-U, and the gateway is a GPRS Support Node (Gateway GPRS Support Node, GGSN) GW-C can be represented as GGSN-C and GW-U can be represented as GGSN-U.

In particular, for example, GW-U does not need to consider the specific functional application scenario of the gateway, for example, whether the gateway is a gateway that supports 3G access or a gateway that supports 4G (ie, LTE) access. Responsible for packet transfer, tunnel encapsulation and decapsulation of user packets, execution of QoS guarantees, execution of charging (duration statistics, traffic statistics, and event reporting), execution of monitoring, etc. Alternatively, GW-U, the cache, encryption compression, virus protection, network address translation (Network Address Translation, NAT), deep packet inspection (Deep Packet Inspection, DPI) and the like may further responsible for.

  Application scenarios can be completely defined by the control layer software. For example, GW-C is responsible for policy control, charging control, monitoring control, IP routing control, L2 access, mobility management, bearer management, and the like. Optionally, the GW-C may be further responsible for DPI control and the like.

  FIG. 2 is an example of a flow for configuring (creating / modifying) an IP data connection between GW-C and GW-U.

  Step 201: The GW-C receives a connection establishment request message such as a session creation, bearer creation, or packet data protocol (PDP) message. The connection establishment request message may include the IP address type (IPv4, IPv6, or IPv4 + IPv6) and the access point name (Access Point Name, APN) of the connection. Optionally, the connection establishment request message may further include information about the peer network element and data connection identifier information.

  Step 202: GW-C assigns an IP address to the UE. In addition, the IP address assigned by GW-C can be obtained from GW-C's internal address pool, or it can be external Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server or authentication / authorization / accounting (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting, AAA) It can also be an IP address acquired from a server. When the IP address type of the UE is IPv4, the GW-C assigns an IPv4 address to the UE. When the IP address type (PDN type) of the UE is IPv6, the GW-C assigns an IPv6 address prefix to the UE. When the IP address type (PDN type) of the UE is IPv4v6, the GW-C needs to assign both an IPv4 address and an IPv6 address prefix to the UE. Further, the APN IP address type (PDN type) may be configured on the GW-C, and according to the configured IP address type and the UE IP address type, an IPv4 address and / or an IPv6 address should be assigned to the UE Is determined.

  In addition, if the requested APN is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service, the GW-C completes the VPN access authentication process and information about the peer VPN network element (eg, IP address and port number). ) And data path information (eg, data path protocol and data path identifier) need to interact with the server in the VPN (which is a RADIUS / DIAMETER / DHCP server).

  Step 203: GW-C sends a data flow transfer rule configuration (establishment) message to GW-U. In the general case, the data flow transfer rule configuration (establishment) message carries channel configuration information for at least one data flow. The data flow channel configuration information includes information about the local network element (GW-U) (optional), information about the peer network element (optional), channel identifier, data flow information, and information associated with the data flow (IP Address). In general, the data flow transfer rule configuration (establishment) message carries data channel configuration information for at least one data connection to the access network.

  Furthermore, in scenarios where the requested connection is a VPN service, the data flow transfer rule configuration (establishment) message may further carry configuration information of at least one data channel between the GW-U and the PDN, and the data channel The configuration information includes information about the local network element (GW-U), information about the peer network element, channel identifier, data flow information, and information associated with the data flow. Information about peer network elements includes VPN network element information. The channel identifier includes a tunneling protocol and a tunnel identifier for connecting the VPN. Examples of the tunnel identifier include an L2TP tunnel identifier, a session identifier, a GRE key, and the like.

  Step 204: The GW-U establishes a data channel used for transmitting data and configures a corresponding data flow rule.

  Step 205: GW-U returns a data flow transfer rule configuration (establishment) response message to GW-C. If the GW-C does not carry information about the local network element (GW-U) in the data flow transfer rule configuration (establishment) message, the GW-U may carry information about the local network element in the response message.

  Step 206: GW-C returns a connection establishment response message. The connection establishment response message includes information on the local network element (GW-U) and the IP address information of the UE.

  If the connection establishment request message does not include information about the peer network element, steps 207 to 210 may be further performed.

  Step 207: The GW-C receives a connection modification request message (eg, bearer change request or PDP update request). The connection modification request message carries information about the peer network element.

  Step 208: The GW-C sends a data flow transfer rule configuration (modification) request message, and the data flow transfer rule configuration (modification) request message includes information about the peer network element.

  Step 209: The GW-U updates the information about the peer network element in the configuration information of the established data connection. GW-U returns a data flow transfer rule configuration (modification) response message.

  Step 210: GW-C returns a connection correction response message.

  In this way, the gateway control plane is separated from the gateway user plane. In this embodiment of the present invention, the GW-C implementation is part of the control layer, and the GW-U implementation is part of the forwarding layer.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic architecture diagram of another example of the MBB network system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The MBB network system 300 shown in FIG. 3 is a specific example of the mobile broadband network system 100 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows the sub-layer structure of the MBB network system 300.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the MBB network system 300 includes a forwarding layer 310, a control layer 320, and a capability opening layer 330.

  The control layer 320 includes a transfer control / resource management sublayer 321 configured to interact with the transfer layer 310 via the first open interface 340 to control the transfer operation of the transfer layer 310.

  The forwarding layer 310 further includes a forwarding capability abstraction / resource agent sublayer 311 configured to manage forwarding layer 310 access and forwarding resources. Optionally, as another embodiment, the forwarding capability abstraction / resource agent sublayer 311 abstracts the forwarding capability of the forwarding layer 310 and controls information about the abstracted forwarding capability via the first open interface 340. Further configured to provide to the layer 320 forwarding control / resource management sublayer 321.

  However, in this embodiment of the present invention, the transfer capability abstraction / resource agent sublayer 311 may also not perform an abstraction process on the transfer capability; instead, the capability abstraction sublayer 323 of the control layer 320 is abstracted. Process. For example, if the forwarding capability of the forwarding layer 310 is configured locally by the control layer 320 and does not need to be communicated to the control layer 320 by the forwarding layer 310, the capability abstraction sublayer 323 directly abstracts the forwarding capability. Can be done.

  In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, the forwarding capability abstraction / resource agent sub-layer 311 may be implemented in the network forwarding node 312 or the network switching node 313 to increase the forwarding capability of the network forwarding node 312 or the network switching node 313. Can be abstracted. Capability abstraction refers to shielding a particular platform and technology from higher layers by normalizing, classifying, and aggregating different capabilities of different platforms or technologies to achieve atomic level capabilities. For example, in different communication standards, the specific definition and implementation of QoS (eg, software or hardware) may be different, but the same, such as throughput, transmission delay, or error rate that needs to be guaranteed Or parameters of similar nature. During the abstraction of QoS-related capabilities, such parameters are extracted for classification and aggregation to obtain atomic level QoS capabilities. In addition, different applications require different billing methods, and different billing methods can be classified into online billing and offline billing according to real-time characteristics, and can be classified as linear billing, package billing, etc. according to fees. However, all of these can be abstracted into time-based, traffic-based, or event-based charging. As long as the forwarding layer provides time-based and traffic-based statistics and reporting and supports event-based subscription and reporting, all relevant charging requirements can be met. For another example, tunneling protocol because tunnel encapsulation and decapsulation of packet header can be uniformly abstracted as encapsulation or decapsulation according to packet header of specified offset, specified packet length All encapsulation and decapsulation operations required by can be supported.

  In FIG. 3, for simplicity, only one network forwarding node 312 and one network switching node 313 are shown. However, in this embodiment of the present invention, the number of network forwarding nodes 312 or network switching nodes 313 included in the forwarding layer 310 is not limited.

  The control layer 320 further includes a network application sublayer 322. The network application sublayer 322 includes one or more network applications, each network application implementing a specific control capability, such as mobile access control, mobility management, policy and charging functions, or end user subscription information management. The functionality of the network application is related to a specific platform and technology.

  The control layer 320 abstracts the transfer capability of the transfer layer 310 and the control capability of the control layer 320 to obtain the atomic level transfer capability and control capability, and transfers the atomic level transfer capability and control capability via the second open interface 350. And a capability abstraction sub-layer 323 configured to open to the capability opening layer 330.

  Optionally, as one embodiment, capability abstraction sublayer 323 may open atomic level control and forwarding capabilities with a capability plug-in approach, such as capability plug-in 324 shown in FIG. The capability plug-in approach makes it easier to combine the capabilities of the capability opening layer 330 better. For brevity, FIG. 3 shows two capability plug-ins 324. However, in the present embodiment of the present invention, the number of capability plug-ins is not limited.

  In particular, the capability abstraction sublayer 323 abstracts, classifies, and aggregates network capabilities (including control capabilities and forwarding capabilities) of the entire MBB network system 300, as well as specific implementation platforms and technologies of lower layers from higher layers. Responsible to shield.

  The capability opening layer 330 is responsible for combining a single interspersed atomic level network capability to form different customized network instances to meet the user's customization requirements. The capability opening layer 330 opens the network capability of the MBB network system 300 to the user via the third open interface 360. Optionally, the third open interface 360 may include a web interface and / or an application programming interface (API) to form an API that can be opened to the outside, and an entrance for capability customization requests. Service to the upper layer service application.

  In particular, capability opening layer 330 may receive a network customization request from a user via third open interface 360 to create, delete, or modify a customized network instance in accordance with the network customization request.

  In addition, capability opening layer 330 may receive a user action request for a customized network instance via third open interface 360, and the customized network instance may complete the requested action. Invoking the corresponding forwarding and / or control capabilities and corresponding network resources according to the operation request. Subsequently, the capability opening layer 330 returns an operation result to the user via the third open interface 360.

  Thus, by using the forwarding layer, control layer, and capability layer hierarchical architecture, network customization and operations for customized networks can be flexibly implemented in this embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic architecture diagram of another example of the MBB network system according to the embodiment of the present invention. MBB network system 400 in FIG. 4 is a specific example of MBB network system 300 in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 shows some specific functional units of MBB network system 400.

  The MBB network system 400 includes a forwarding layer 410, a control layer 420, and a capability opening layer 430. For simplicity, FIG. 4 does not show the interface between layers.

  The transfer layer 410 includes a transfer capability abstraction unit 411, a wireless access agent 412, and a transfer agent 413. Transfer capability abstraction unit 411, wireless access agent 412 and transfer agent 413 together implement transfer capability abstraction / resource agent sublayer 311 in FIG.

  The transfer capability abstraction unit 411 is responsible for abstracting the transfer capability of the transfer layer and opens the abstracted transfer capability to the transfer control and network resource management unit 421 of the control layer 420 via the programmable interface. The transfer control and network resource management unit 421 implements the transfer control / resource management sublayer 321 in FIG.

  According to another aspect, the transfer control and network resource management unit 421 may control the transfer operation of the transfer layer 410 downward via a programmable interface.

  The wireless access agent 412 is responsible for local management of access resources, such as wireless base station air interface resource management. Transfer agent 413 is responsible for local management of network data transfer resources, such as gateway and base station data transfer resources. The access resource and the transfer resource form a network resource of the transfer layer 410.

  The control layer 420 further includes a control resource agent 424 configured to manage the control resources of the control layer 420. Control resources can include computing resources, storage resources, and the like. The access resource, transfer resource, and control resource form a network resource of the MBB network system 400.

  Wireless access agent 412 provides information about access resources to transfer control and network resource management unit 421, and transfer agent 413 provides information about transfer resources to transfer control and network resource management unit 421. According to another aspect, the control resource agent 424 provides information about the control resource to the transfer control and network resource management unit 421.

  The transfer control and network resource management unit 421 may manage the network resources of the customized network according to the information about the access resource and the transfer resource and the information about the control resource, for example, the network resource during the creation of the customized network. Can be requested and assigned, and corresponding resources can be invoked in the customized network operation process.

  The control layer 420 includes N network applications 422-1 through 422-N, each of which has specific control capabilities such as mobile access control, mobility management, policy and billing functions, or end-user subscription information management. Realize. These functions are relevant to specific platforms and technologies. The network applications 422-1 to 422-N implement the network application sublayer 322 shown in FIG. In the following description, the network applications 422-1 to 422-N are collectively referred to as the network application 422.

The control layer 420 further includes an atomic network capability management unit 423. The atomic network capability management unit 423 implements the capability abstraction sublayer 323 shown in FIG. 3 to classify and aggregate the network capabilities of the MBB network system 400 (including control capabilities and forwarding capabilities), the MBB network system 400 Open various atomic level network capabilities to the capability opening layer 430 with the capability plugin (indicated by the circle shown in Figure 4) and shield specific implementation platforms and technologies in lower layers Take responsibility to do. Examples of atomic level network capabilities include flow forwarding capabilities (QoS), user perceptual capabilities (identifiers, locations, subscription attributes, packages, and interests), pipe resource definition capabilities (topology, performance, capacity, reliability, and time) (Effectiveness) and the like, but not limited thereto.

  The same atomic network capability can be invoked simultaneously by multiple network instances, causing contention and collision of the same category of resources. In order to avoid such a case and achieve the independence and quality of service of resource invocations made by different instances, the atomic network capability management unit 423 of the control layer 420 implements the atomic network capability virtualization function, That is, each type of atomic network capability can be virtualized into multiple identical instances, and each virtual atomic network capability is invoked separately by different mobile network instances. SLA parameters such as interface bandwidth, transfer rate, and call priority determine the quality of service for the use of network resources corresponding to virtual atomic network capabilities. Methods for realizing atomic network capability virtualization include resource fragmentation methods or resource virtualization instance methods. In so-called resource fragmentation methods, all virtual atomic network capabilities share the same network application and forwarding resources, and each virtual instance occupies a different resource space, eg, IP address segment, flow entry range, or port range However, in the so-called resource virtualization instance method, for each virtual atomic network capability, the atomic network capability management unit creates independent network applications and forwarding instances, eg, logically completely isolated virtual machines . The virtual machine resource management unit may manage global virtual machines on the control plane.

  The capability opening layer 430 includes an On Demand Mobile Network (ODMN) web portal 431, which is an open interface based on web services for access by operators and third party partners. I will provide a. The ODMN web portal 431 is an implementation form of the third open interface 360 shown in FIG.

  The capability opening layer 430 further includes an access control unit 432, a subscription database 433, and a policy database 434. Subscription database 433 contains user credentials such as user identifiers and user classes for mobile customizable network owners, as well as service level agreements (SLAs) for the use of network resources or features. Store and manage. Policy database 434 stores and manages capability opening and user customized policy information, including single user policies and global system policies in the process of creating, operating, modifying, or deleting mobile customizable networks, for example. Contains policy information, including Single user policies define limits, charges, etc. for different classes of users for resource and feature usage, and global system policies are rules for resource allocation between multiple mobile customizable networks, for example including.

  The access control unit 432 authenticates the user according to the authentication information stored in the subscription database, determines the user's access policy according to the policy information stored in the policy database, and sets the user's authentication result and access policy to the ODMN enabler (enabler ) Provide to 435.

  The access control unit 432 may perform the authentication and policy determination process when a network customization request or an operation request is received from a user. For example, the access control unit 432 authenticates the identity of the user who submitted the access request and checks whether the access request is within a permitted and allowed service range. In another example, the access control unit 432 may determine whether the user submitting the request is an authorized partner that has signed an agreement with the owner of the MBB network system 400 and the virtual network in which the user is included in the request. Or authenticate whether you have a corresponding permission for the customized network instance.

  In FIG. 4, the access control unit 432, the subscription database 433, and the policy database 434 are integrated into the capability opening layer 430. However, this embodiment of the invention is not limited herein. The access control unit 432, the subscription database 433, and / or the policy database 434 may also function as an independent part from the capability opening layer 430.

  The ODMN enabler 435 is responsible for applying available network resources according to network customization requirements after authentication and authorization. ODMN Enabler 435 obtains atomic level control and transfer capabilities from atomic network capability management unit 423, and atomic level control capabilities and transfers according to network customization requirements to create, modify, or delete customized network instances. Combine capabilities. The created customized network instance can be stored in a set 436 of customized network instances. Each customized network instance records information about the corresponding control capabilities and / or forwarding capabilities and records the interrelationships between these capabilities.

  In particular, the ODMN enabler 435 selects the requested atomic level control capability and transfer capability according to the network customization request, sends a resource allocation request to the atomic network capability management unit 423, and according to the resource allocation request, the atomic network capability management unit. Control and transfer capabilities at selected atomic levels based on the results of network resource assignments to receive the results of network resource assignments made by 423 and create, modify, or delete customized network instances Combine. The network resource allocation process may further require participation of transfer control and network resource management unit 421, network application 422, control resource agent 424, and wireless access agent 412 or transfer agent 413.

  In addition, the ODMN enabler 435 may include a monitoring unit 4351 or a configuration unit 4352. The monitoring unit 4351 is configured to perform customized network instance status monitoring and fault detection. Configuration unit 4352 is configured to perform customized network instance configuration management, for example, but not limited to, automatic management of communication links and virtual machines.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the mobile broadband network system improves its user experience and service innovation for further mobile applications by opening its own network capabilities to the mobile application for applications to call. The overall efficiency of the mobile network can also be improved, new business models can be developed for high-value applications, and much higher added value, for example, Call services that benefit from open APIs can be obtained over service traffic.

  In addition, due to the lack of wireless spectrum, sites, and licenses, and due to the ever-increasing costs, operators have a strong demand for sharing wireless spectrum, sites, and operational licenses. Virtual operating scenarios and network demands are becoming more common. It can be anticipated that the roles of operators will be differentiated in the future and their work will be segmented to yield dedicated infrastructure providers, virtual network providers, and virtual network operators. Infrastructure providers are specifically responsible for building physical network equipment, virtual network providers customize resources from infrastructure providers, build virtual networks for virtual network operators to use, virtual network operators Focus on network operation and provide mobile communication services to meet the requirements of higher layer mobile applications for mobile networks. In response to demands for virtual network operation, mobile networks must also have greater flexibility to meet on-demand customization requirements.

  The mobile broadband network system provided in this embodiment of the present invention can realize on-demand customization, provides a programmable interface to the outside based on a network architecture in which control and transfer are separated, and is provided on-demand. Support external application requirements to customize the network with. The mobile broadband network system according to the present embodiment of the present invention has higher flexibility and fulfills the above network customization requirements, thereby promoting innovation of higher layer mobile applications and allowing operators to find high-value applications. Can help improve network pipe profitability and gain competitiveness.

  The following describes an application example of the MBB network system in FIGS. The embodiments in FIGS. 5 and 6 do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present invention, but merely those skilled in the art will more clearly understand the application techniques of the MBB network system provided in the embodiments of the present invention. Note that it is intended to help.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of processing for customizing a mobile broadband network on demand according to an embodiment of the present invention. For ease of understanding, the exemplary process in FIG. 5 is described in connection with the particular unit of FIG.

  Step 501: The atomic network capability management unit registers a new basic network capability with the ODMN enabler, including the forwarding layer's forwarding capability and the control layer's control capability.

  The atomic network capability management unit manages all network applications in the control layer (eg mobility management functions, user subscription information management functions, policy and billing management functions, and network topology resource management functions), and various types of functions Abstracts into basic atomic capabilities and provides an API or message interface that can be called for local application programs or remote modules to access. Since all new abstracted atomic capabilities need to be registered with the ODMN enabler, the ODMN enabler will select the atomic capability based on all existing atomic capabilities and select the selected atomic capability as required. To make complex and complete network service capabilities.

  Step 502: Enter a mobile network customization request on a web portal page to create a customized network instance. The mobile network customization request includes parameters required to customize the mobile broadband network, such as access type, coverage range, maximum number of users, and QoS parameters. This step can also be used to modify or delete an existing customized mobile network instance, in which case the request message also needs to carry the handle of the mobile network instance.

  Step 503: Submit a mobile network customization request to the access control unit.

  Step 504: The access control unit completes authentication and authorization of the mobile network customization request according to the subscription information and policy database information.

  Step 505: Send a mobile network customization request that has passed authentication and authorization to the ODMN enabler.

  Step 506: The ODMN enabler selects the set of atomic network capabilities required to create a network instance according to the entered network customization parameters and combines the selected network capabilities into the requested network capability. To do.

  For example, when a 4G network is created, Mobility Management Entity (MME) Mobility Management Atomic Capabilities, PCRF Policy and Billing Atomic Capabilities, PGW-C Gateway Control Atomic Capabilities, SGW-C Gateway Control Atomics Capabilities as well as eNode BC access control atomic capabilities need to be selected.

  For another example, when a 3G network is created, SGSN mobility management atomic capability, GGSN-C gateway control atomic capability, and RNC control atomic capability may be selected.

  In addition, in the present embodiment of the present invention, since the control function and the transfer function for the gateway are divided, the gateway control function such as the GTP-C processing unit can be configured as PGW-C, SGW-C, or GGSN. It can be abstracted into gateway control atomic capabilities such as -C, and the packet processing and forwarding of the gateway uses the same GTP-U packet processing mechanism. Thus, instead of customizing the transport layer that can be implemented by the hardware, whether the user customizes the 3G network or the 4G network, different atomic capabilities of the control layer work together with the exact same transport layer. Need only be customized, thereby significantly improving customization efficiency.

The above is a request to create a mobile network instance. The request to modify the mobile network instance, operation adds an atomic network capabilities to an existing set of atomic network capabilities, or, the operation to remove the atomic network capabilities from an existing set of atomic network capabilities is further included. For a request to delete a mobile network instance, step 510 is performed directly to delete the requested mobile network instance.

  Step 507: The ODMN enabler sends a resource allocation request for the atomic network capability requested by the customized mobile network to the control layer atomic network capability management unit. The resource allocation request may include a network instance identifier, information about the associated user's service level agreement, and the like. If a particular atomic network capability needs to be deleted from step 502 to step 506, this step sends a resource release request to the control layer atomic network capability management unit.

  Step 508: The atomic network capability management unit receives a resource allocation request for atomic network capability and allocates a resource satisfying the SLA request to the mobile network instance according to the SLA information. If the resource allocation request is a request for deleting an atomic network capability resource, the occupied network resource is released.

  The same atomic network capability can be invoked simultaneously by multiple network instances, causing contention and collision of the same category of resources. In order to avoid such cases and achieve independence and quality of service for resource invocations made by different instances, the atomic network capability management unit implements atomic network capability virtualization functions, i.e. each type of Atomic network capabilities are virtualized to multiple identical instances, and each virtual atomic network capability is invoked separately by a different mobile network instance. SLA parameters such as interface bandwidth, transfer rate, and call priority determine the quality of service for the use of network resources corresponding to virtual atomic network capabilities. Methods for realizing atomic network capability virtualization include resource fragmentation methods or resource virtualization instance methods. In so-called resource fragmentation methods, all virtual atomic network capabilities share the same network application and forwarding resources, and each virtual instance occupies a different resource space, eg, IP address segment, flow entry range, or port range However, in the so-called resource virtualization instance method, for each virtual atomic network capability, the atomic network capability management unit creates independent network applications and forwarding instances, eg, logically completely isolated virtual machines .

For example, if two 4G mobile network instances are created, in the resource fragmentation method, MME atomic capabilities and GW-C atomic capabilities in the two network instances share the same MME network application and GW-C network application. In order to distinguish between the two networks, different resource spaces such as different TEID allocation space or different IP address segment allocation space are allocated to different networks in the MME network application and the GW-C network application. Transfer control and network resource management unit, by using a wireless access agent and transfer agent, the resource space of the network application in the control layer is further simultaneously mapped to different flow table spaces transfer and access resources. In the resource virtualization instance method, the control layer creates a corresponding virtual MME network application and a corresponding virtual GW-C network application for MME atomic capability and GW-C atomic capability in two network instances, respectively. , The atomic capabilities in each network instance correspond to independent virtual network applications. The requested virtual network application can be created by the virtual machine. Transfer control and network resource management unit, in order to realize the virtual access resources and transfer resources, further creating a virtual wireless access agent and transfer agent corresponding to the virtual GW-C network applications.

  Step 509: The atomic network capability management unit returns an atomic network capability resource allocation result to the ODMN enabler.

  Step 510: If all requested atomic network capability resources in the requested mobile network instance have been successfully allocated, the ODMN enabler obtains the requested customized network obtained by combining the set of requested atomic network capabilities. Create a mobile network instance. When an existing mobile network instance is modified, the set of atomic network capabilities in the mobile network instance is updated according to the add or delete operation. When an existing mobile network instance is deleted, the network resources occupied by all atomic network functions included in the instance are released, and the mobile network instance is deleted.

  Step 511: The ODMN enabler returns a mobile network instance handle to the access control unit to facilitate indexing for later operation of the mobile network instance.

  Step 512: The access control unit returns to the web portal and displays a result indicating that the mobile network instance has been created.

  Step 513: The user performs various resource or service operations for the customized network instance on the web portal page, such as querying, modifying, or deleting end user information or network resources.

  Step 514: The web portal page submits a user action request to the access control unit, and the action request includes a handle for the mobile network instance. The access control unit forwards the operation request to the corresponding mobile network instance according to the handle of the mobile network instance.

  Step 515: The mobile network instance calls the associated virtual atomic network capability from the atomic network capability management unit according to the action item.

  Step 516: The atomic network capability management unit calls a network application corresponding to the virtual atomic network capability according to the received request.

Step 517: If the operation comprises an operation for transferring the access resources, network application, the corresponding network resource operation request is sent to the transfer control and network resource management unit.

Step 518: the transfer control and network resource management unit, in order to realize the operation for accessing and transferring resources, to interact with a wireless access agent or transfer agent in accordance with the request.

Step 519: the transfer control and network resource management unit returns a network resource operation result to the network application.

  Step 520: The network application returns the network application execution result to the atomic network capability management unit.

  Step 521: The atomic network capability management unit returns the execution result of the virtual atomic network capability to the mobile network instance.

  Step 522: The mobile network instance returns the execution result of the operation of the network instance to the web portal by using the access control unit.

  In this way, on-demand customization of the mobile broadband network can be realized. According to the embodiment in FIG. 5, virtual mobile broadband networks with different characteristics and specifications can be customized, and with this basic method, services are also required by these important customers for industrial applications or enterprises. May be provided to customize a dedicated mobile broadband network.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a process for customizing a mobile broadband network on demand according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 is an example of a specific scenario where the content delivery network (Content Delivery Network, CDN) service provider to customize the mobile broadband network. This embodiment is based on the realization method in FIG.

  Assume that a particular CDN service provider needs to build a mobile broadband network that is dedicated to the CDN and supports service acceleration. Service acceleration means that the mobile broadband network has the highest transfer priority as well as the current usage to the service flow specified by the CDN service provider to ensure an optimal service experience for high priority users. It means that the maximum possible bandwidth service can be provided, i.e. the maximum bandwidth service supported by the network and the terminal.

  For simplicity, the interaction process in FIG. 6 does not show the specific internal unit objects included in each layer. However, those skilled in the art can understand that the interaction process in FIG. 6 can be based on the process in FIG. 5 and can be realized by the MBB network system in FIGS.

  Step 601: The network control node (control layer) abstracts the cache capability of the forwarding layer, and registers the cache capability with the capability opening gateway (capability opening layer). A cache capability is an atomic level network capability of an MBB network.

  The network control node may be configured with a forwarding layer cache capability. In this case, since the data transfer node does not need to notify the network control node of the cache capability, step 601 in FIG. 6 indicated by the dotted line need not be executed. Alternatively, the data transfer node of the network sends a cache capability notification to the network control node in order to notify the network control node that the transfer layer has the cache capability, in this case shown in FIG. Step 601 in FIG.

  Step 602: The network control node abstracts the service acceleration capability and registers the service acceleration capability with the capability opening gateway (capability opening layer). The service acceleration capability is an atomic level network capability of the MBB network.

  Similarly, the network control node may be configured with forwarding layer service acceleration capabilities. In this case, since the data forwarding node does not need to notify the network control node of the service acceleration capability, step 602 in FIG. 6 indicated by the dotted line need not be performed. Alternatively, the data transfer node of the network sends a service acceleration capability notification to the network control node to notify the network control node that the transfer layer has service acceleration capability, which in this case is indicated by a dotted line Step 602 in FIG. 6 needs to be executed.

Step 603: The CDN service provider requests a customized network from the mobile operator, and the capability opening gateway includes the cache capacity (eg, applying 1000 GB cache hard disk capacity) and the required service acceleration function. Send a customization request.

  Step 604: The capability opening gateway authenticates the network customization request from the CDN service provider and applies the corresponding resource and atomic capability customization for service acceleration to the network control node according to the request.

  Step 605: The network control node interacts and negotiates with the data transfer node to cause the data transfer node to allocate the requested cache hard disk space and load and execute a capability plug-in that supports service acceleration.

  Step 606: The network control node responds to the capability opening gateway with a network customization response.

  Step 607: The capability opening gateway responds to the CDN service provider with a network customization response.

  The following steps 611 to 625 are processes in which the CDN service provider provides acceleration of service to the customers of the CDN service provider by using the on-demand customized dedicated mobile broadband network described above.

  Step 611: The CDN service provider requests the mobile operator to cache the video content on the cache hard disk allocated by the data transfer node.

  Step 612: The video content is cached on the cache hard disk allocated by the data transfer node.

  Step 613: The user equipment UE sends a video download request to the CDN service provider in order to request a video content download.

  Step 614: The CDN service provider finds that acceleration processing is required for the video download requested by the UE, and then the CDN service provider contacts the capability opening gateway to request video service acceleration processing. Send a service acceleration request.

  Step 615: The capability opening gateway sends a service acceleration request to the network control node to request video service acceleration processing.

  Step 616: The network control node interacts with the data transfer node to perform the video service acceleration process. The network control node improves the QoS parameters of the user bearer, such as forwarding priority or maximum bandwidth, according to the available bandwidth resources of the network, terminal capabilities, and received service acceleration requests. The data transfer node executes the QoS parameter.

  Step 617: The network control node returns a service acceleration response to the capability opening gateway.

  Step 618: The capability opening gateway returns a service acceleration response to the CDN service provider.

  Step 619: If the CDN service provider finds that the video content requested by the UE is already cached in the cache hard disk allocated by the data transfer node, the CDN service provider caches the video cached in the cache hard disk In order to request that content be pushed to the UE, a push request is sent to the capability opening gateway.

  Step 620: The capability opening gateway sends a push request to the network control node to request that the video content cached in the cache hard disk is pushed to the UE.

  Step 621: The network control node sends a push request to the data transfer node to request that the video content cached in the cache hard disk be pushed to the UE.

  Step 622: The network control node returns a push response to the capability opening gateway.

  Step 623: The capability opening gateway returns a push response to the CDN service provider.

  Step 624: The CDN service provider responds to the UE with a video download response.

  Step 625: The data transfer node performs adaptive processing (eg, encoding and decoding) on the video content cached in the cache hard disk, and then pushes the processed video content to the UE.

  In this embodiment of the invention, a customizable mobile broadband network system is provided to truly support software defined networks. Since control and forwarding is decoupled, operators can define the required network functions and features simply by modifying the software functions of the centralized control plane, combining virtualization and resource fragmentation techniques Enables rapid customization of a requested mobile broadband network including requested network capabilities and requested capacity specifications across a shared network infrastructure.

  In accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, an industrial user or virtual network operator can obtain business network support in a more economical and efficient manner without having to consider the basic structure or management of the mobile network. Create customized networks quickly and flexibly according to development requirements, modify or release customized networks, focus more on business operations, and create high value applications and innovations It can be used to the fullest. In addition, operators who offer customizable mobile broadband networks can also attract higher value customers and gain more powerful competitive advantages and earn from mobile broadband networks in the mobile internet era You can maintain the ability to earn.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for customizing a mobile broadband network according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method in FIG. 7 may be performed by the MBB broadband network system 100, 300, or 400.

  Step 701: The transfer layer opens the transfer capability of the MBB network system to the control layer via the first open interface.

  For example, the transfer layer can abstract the transfer capability and inform the control layer of information about the abstracted transfer capability so that the control layer can invoke the transfer capability. Optionally, as another embodiment, for example, in the case where the control layer is configured with a transfer capability, the transfer layer may not abstract the transfer capability; instead, the control layer abstracts the transfer capability.

  Step 702: The control layer opens the control capability and transfer capability of the MBB network system to the capability opening layer via the second open interface.

  The control layer abstracts the control capabilities. In addition, the control layer may receive information about the forwarding capabilities abstracted by the forwarding layer from the forwarding layer, or the control layer may abstract the forwarding capabilities locally. Subsequently, the control layer may register the abstracted control capability and the abstracted transfer capability with the capability opening layer, so that the MBB network system (including control capability and transfer capability) to the capability opening layer. Realize the opening of network capabilities. Optionally, the control layer may realize the opening of the network capability to the capability opening layer in a capability plug-in approach.

  Step 703: The capability opening layer receives the network customization request from the user via the third open interface and combines the control capability and / or forwarding capability according to the network customization request to manage the customized network instance.

  Management of customized network instances includes creation, deletion, and / or modification of customized network instances. Optionally, the network customization request may include customized network instance parameters entered by the user, and the capability opening layer selects the appropriate control capabilities and / or transfer capabilities according to these parameters and is customized. Apply corresponding network resources (eg, access resources, forwarding resources, or control resources) to create, delete, or modify network instances.

  In this embodiment of the present invention, the transfer capability and control capability of the mobile broadband network system are separated from each other, provided by the transfer layer and the control layer, respectively, and opened to the capability opening layer. The capability opening layer combines the requested capabilities according to the network customization request to manage the corresponding customized network instance. Therefore, according to the mobile broadband network system in this embodiment of the present invention, the mobile network can be customized according to user requirements, thereby realizing a comprehensive and flexible mobile network architecture.

  The method for customizing a mobile broadband network according to this embodiment of the present invention may be implemented by the modules of the MBB network system in FIGS. 1 to 4 and according to the specific examples in FIGS. In order to avoid repetition, no further details are provided herein.

  For example, reference may be made to steps 501 to 512 in FIG. 5 and steps 601 to 607 in FIG. 6 for the process of creating a customized network instance.

  For example, as another embodiment, the capability opening layer may receive a user action request for a customized network instance via a third open interface, and the customized network instance completes the requested action. In response to the operation request, the corresponding transfer capability and / or control capability and the corresponding network resource may be called, and the capability opening layer may return the operation result to the user via the third open interface. For example, steps 513 to 522 in FIG. 5 and steps 611 to 625 in FIG. 6 may be referred to for the process of operating the customized network instance. In this way, the user can perform service operations by using the created customized network instance.

  Optionally, in one embodiment, in step 701, the forwarding layer abstracts the forwarding capability of the forwarding layer and sends information about the abstracted forwarding capability via the first open interface to the forwarding control / resource of the control layer. Can be provided to the management sublayer.

  Optionally, in another embodiment, in step 702, the control layer abstracts the forwarding layer control capability and control layer control capability to obtain an atomic level control capability and control capability, and the atomic level control capability. And forwarding capabilities may be opened to the capability opening layer via the second open interface.

  Optionally, in another embodiment, in step 703, the capability opening layer obtains an atomic level control capability and transfer capability from the control layer and creates a network instance to create, modify, or delete a customized network instance. Atomic level control capabilities and transfer capabilities may be combined according to customization requirements.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a transport layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A transfer layer device 800 in FIG. 8 is an entity that implements the transfer layer 101 in FIG. 1, and includes a transfer unit 801 and a first open interface 802.

  The transfer unit 801 provides the transfer capability of the mobile broadband network system. The first open interface 802 connects to the control layer device of the mobile broadband network system, and opens the transfer capability of the transfer unit 801 to the control layer device.

  In this embodiment of the present invention, the transfer capability and control capability of the mobile broadband network system are separated from each other, and the transfer layer makes the transfer capability comprehensively open. Therefore, according to the mobile broadband network system in this embodiment of the present invention, the mobile network can be customized according to user requirements, thereby realizing a comprehensive and flexible mobile network architecture.

  The forwarding layer device 800 can perform various operations related to the forwarding layer in the above-described embodiments. In order to avoid repetition, no further details are provided herein.

  Optionally, as one embodiment, the forwarding layer device 800 is configured to manage the access resources and forwarding resources of the forwarding layer device 800 and provide information about the access resources and forwarding resources to the control layer device, A resource agent unit 803 is further included.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the transfer unit 801 may abstract the transfer capability and provide information about the abstracted transfer capability to the control layer device via the first open interface.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, transport layer device 800 may include a network forwarding node or a network switching node of a mobile broadband network system. Examples of network forwarding nodes or network switching nodes include wireless base station forwarding functions, core network gateway forwarding functions, and the like.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a control layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control layer device 900 in FIG. 9 is an entity that implements the control layer 102 in FIG. 1, and includes a control unit 901 and a second open interface 902.

  The control unit 901 receives information about the transfer capability of the transfer layer device from the transfer layer device of the mobile broadband network system via the first open interface, and provides the control capability of the mobile broadband network system.

  The second open interface 902 connects to the capability opening layer device of the mobile broadband network system, and opens the control capability and the transfer capability to the capability opening layer device.

  In this embodiment of the present invention, the transfer capability and the control capability of the mobile broadband network system are separated from each other, and the control layer comprehensively opens the control capability. Therefore, according to the mobile broadband network system in this embodiment of the present invention, the mobile network can be customized according to user requirements, thereby realizing a comprehensive and flexible mobile network architecture.

  The control layer device 900 can perform various operations related to the control layer in the above-described embodiments. In order to avoid repetition, no further details are provided herein.

  Optionally, as one embodiment, the control unit 901 is further configured to interact with the forwarding layer device via the first open interface to control the forwarding operation of the forwarding layer device.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the control layer device 900 is configured to manage the control resources of the control layer device 900 and to provide information about the control resources to the capability opening layer device. 903 is further included.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, control unit 901 includes one or more network applications, each network application implementing a particular control capability.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the control unit 901 abstracts the transfer capability of the transfer layer device and the control capability of the control layer device to obtain an atomic level transfer capability and control capability, and the second open interface 902 Open up atomic level control capabilities and transfer capabilities to capability opening layer devices.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, control layer device 900 includes a network control node of a mobile broadband network system. Examples of network control nodes include a control function part of a mobility management network element, a control function part of a base station controller, a control function part of a gateway, and the like.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a capability opening layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A capability opening layer device 1000 in FIG. 10 is an entity that implements the capability opening layer 103 in FIG. 1, and includes a third open interface 1001 and a customization unit 1002.

  The third open interface 1001 receives a network customization request from the user. The customization unit 1002 combines control capabilities and / or transfer capabilities according to network customization requirements to manage customized network instances.

  In this embodiment of the present invention, the transfer capability and control capability of the mobile broadband network system are separated from each other, provided by the transfer layer and the control layer, respectively, and opened to the capability opening layer. The capability opening layer combines the requested capabilities according to the network customization request to manage the corresponding customized network instance. Therefore, according to the mobile broadband network system in this embodiment of the present invention, the mobile network can be customized according to user requirements, thereby realizing a comprehensive and flexible mobile network architecture.

  The capability opening layer device 1000 may perform various operations related to the capability opening layer in the above-described embodiments. In order to avoid repetition, no further details are provided herein.

  Optionally, as one embodiment, the customization unit 1002 receives information about the network resource of the mobile broadband network system from the control layer device of the mobile broadband network system via the second open interface, and according to the information about the network resource Further configured to manage network resources of the customized network. The network resources may include control layer device control resources, transfer layer device access resources, transfer resources, and the like.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the customization unit 1002 obtains atomic level control and transfer capabilities from the control layer device via a second open interface and creates, modifies, or deletes customized network instances. In order to do so, atomic level control and forwarding capabilities can be combined according to network customization requirements.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the customization unit 1002 may perform customized network instance status monitoring and failure detection, or may be further configured to perform customized network instance configuration management. The

  Optionally, as another embodiment, capability opening layer device 1000 further includes an access control unit 1003, a subscription database 1004, and a policy database 1005. The subscription database 1004 is configured to store and manage user authentication information, the policy database 1005 is configured to store and manage capability opening and user customized policy information, and the access control unit 1003 Authenticate the user according to the authentication information stored in the subscription database 1004, determine the user's access policy according to the policy information stored in the policy database 1005, and provide the user's authentication result and access policy to the customization unit Composed.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the third open interface 1001 includes a web interface and / or an application programming interface.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the third open interface 1001 may further receive a user action request for a customized network instance, wherein the customized network instance completes the requested action. Then, according to the operation request, the corresponding transfer capability and / or control capability and the corresponding network resource are called, and the third open interface 1001 returns the operation result to the user.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the third open interface 1001 may further provide the user with a customized network instance action handle, the customized network instance may complete the requested action According to the operation handle included in the operation request, the corresponding transfer capability and / or control capability and the corresponding network resource are invoked.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, capability opening layer device 1000 includes a capability opening node or capability opening gateway of a mobile broadband network system. A capability opening node or capability opening gateway may be a separately located node device or may be integrated into any network element, eg, integrated into a gateway.

  FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a transport layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to another embodiment of the present invention. A forwarding layer device 1100 in FIG. 11 is an entity that implements the forwarding layer 101 in FIG. 1, and includes a processor 1101 and an interface 1102.

  The processor 1101 provides the transfer capability of the mobile broadband network system. The interface 1102 connects to the control layer device of the mobile broadband network system and opens the transfer capability to the control layer device. An example of the interface 1102 is a first open interface.

  In this embodiment of the present invention, the transfer capability and control capability of the mobile broadband network system are separated from each other, and the transfer layer makes the transfer capability comprehensively open. Therefore, according to the mobile broadband network system in this embodiment of the present invention, the mobile network can be customized according to user requirements, thereby realizing a comprehensive and flexible mobile network architecture.

  The transfer layer device 1100 further includes a memory 1103. The various components of transfer layer device 1100 are connected together by using bus system 1109. Bus system 1109 further includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to the data bus. However, for the sake of clarity, all buses in the figure are shown as bus system 1109.

  The methods disclosed in the above-described embodiments of the present invention can be applied to the processor 1101 or can be realized by the processor 1101. The processor 1101 can be an integrated circuit chip and has signal processing capabilities. During the implementation process, the various steps in the method described above may be completed by hardware integrated logic in processor 1101 or by instructions in the form of software. Processor 1101 is a general purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gateway (FPGA) or another programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component As a result, the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented or executed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The method steps disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention may be directly embodied as being performed by a hardware decoding processor or by a combination of decoding processor hardware and software modules. obtain. A software module may be located in a fully developed storage medium in the art, for example, random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, or registers . A storage medium may be located in memory 1103. The processor 1101 reads the information in the memory 1103 and combines the processor hardware to complete the method steps. For example, the memory 1103 may cache data that needs to be transferred, or may store program instructions associated with the transfer, and so on.

  The transfer layer device 1100 can implement various operations performed by the transfer layer in the above-described embodiments. In order to avoid repetition, no further details are provided herein.

  Optionally, as one embodiment, the processor 1101 may be further configured to manage access resources and forwarding resources of the forwarding layer device 1100 and provide information about the access resources and forwarding resources to the control layer device.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the processor 1101 may abstract the transfer capability and provide information about the abstracted transfer capability to the control layer device via the interface 1102.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, transport layer device 1100 can be implemented as a network forwarding node or network switching node of a mobile broadband network system. Examples of network forwarding nodes or network switching nodes include wireless base station forwarding functions, core network gateway forwarding functions, and the like.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a control layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A control layer device 1200 in FIG. 12 is an entity that implements the control layer 102 in FIG. 1, and includes a processor 1201 and an interface 1202.

  The processor 1201 provides the control capability of the mobile broadband network system. The interface 1202 receives information about the transfer capability of the transfer layer device from the transfer layer device of the mobile broadband network system. The interface 1202 further connects to the capability opening layer device of the mobile broadband network system and opens control capabilities and forwarding capabilities to the capability opening layer device.

  The example of the interface 1202 includes an interface corresponding to the first open interface and a second open interface.

  In this embodiment of the present invention, the transfer capability and the control capability of the mobile broadband network system are separated from each other, and the control layer comprehensively opens the control capability. Therefore, according to the mobile broadband network system in this embodiment of the present invention, the mobile network can be customized according to user requirements, thereby realizing a comprehensive and flexible mobile network architecture.

  The control layer device 1200 further includes a memory 1203. The various components of the control layer device 1200 are connected together by using the bus system 1209. Bus system 1209 further includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to the data bus. However, for the sake of clarity, all buses in the figure are shown as bus system 1209.

  The methods disclosed in the above-described embodiments of the present invention may be applied to the processor 1201 or may be realized by the processor 1201. The processor 1201 can be an integrated circuit chip and has signal processing capabilities. During the implementation process, the various steps in the method described above may be completed by hardware integrated logic in processor 1201 or by instructions in the form of software. The processor 1201 is a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gateway (FPGA) or another programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component As a result, the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented or executed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The method steps disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention may be directly embodied as being performed by a hardware decoding processor or by a combination of decoding processor hardware and software modules. obtain. A software module may be located in a fully developed storage medium in the art, for example, random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, or registers . A storage medium may be located in memory 1203. The processor 1201 reads the information in the memory 1203 and completes the method steps by combining the hardware of the processor. For example, the memory 1203 may store control-related signaling or data.

  The control layer device 1200 can implement various operations executed by the control layer in the above-described embodiments. In order to avoid repetition, no further details are provided herein.

  Optionally, as one embodiment, processor 1201 may further interact with the forwarding layer device to control the forwarding operation of the forwarding layer device.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the processor 1201 may further manage the control resources of the control layer device 1200 and provide information about the control resources to the capability opening layer device.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, processor 1201 may further support one or more network applications, each network application implementing a particular control capability.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the processor 1201 may further abstract the forwarding capability of the forwarding layer device and the control capability of the control layer device to obtain an atomic level forwarding capability and control capability, and the interface 1202 may be Open level control capabilities and transfer capabilities to capability opening layer devices.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the control layer device 1200 can be implemented as a network control node of a mobile broadband network system. Examples of network control nodes include a control function part of a mobility management network element, a control function part of a base station controller, a control function part of a gateway, and the like.

  FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a capability opening layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system according to another embodiment of the present invention. The capability opening layer device 1300 in FIG. 13 is an entity that implements the capability opening layer 103 in FIG. 1, and includes an interface 1301 and a processor 1302.

  The interface 1301 receives a network customization request from the user. The processor 1302 combines control capabilities and / or forwarding capabilities according to network customization requirements to manage customized network instances.

  The example of the interface 1301 includes an interface corresponding to the second open interface and a third open interface.

  In this embodiment of the present invention, the transfer capability and control capability of the mobile broadband network system are separated from each other, provided by the transfer layer and the control layer, respectively, and opened to the capability opening layer. The capability opening layer combines the requested capabilities according to the network customization request to manage the corresponding customized network instance. Therefore, according to the mobile broadband network system in this embodiment of the present invention, the mobile network can be customized according to user requirements, thereby realizing a comprehensive and flexible mobile network architecture.

  The capability opening layer device 1300 further includes a memory 1303. The various components of the capability opening layer device 1300 are connected together by using the bus system 1309. Bus system 1309 further includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to the data bus. However, for the sake of clarity, all buses in the figure are shown as bus system 1309.

  The methods disclosed in the above-described embodiments of the present invention may be applied to the processor 1302 or may be implemented by the processor 1302. The processor 1302 can be an integrated circuit chip and has signal processing capabilities. During the implementation process, the various steps in the method described above may be completed by hardware integrated logic in processor 1302 or by instructions in the form of software. The processor 1302 is a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gateway (FPGA) or another programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component As a result, the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented or executed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The method steps disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention may be directly embodied as being performed by a hardware decoding processor or by a combination of decoding processor hardware and software modules. obtain. A software module may be located in a fully developed storage medium in the art, for example, random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, or registers . A storage medium may be located in memory 1303. The processor 1302 reads the information in the memory 1303 and completes the method steps by combining the hardware of the processor. For example, the memory 1303 may store information related to the customized network instance.

  The capability opening layer device 1300 may implement various operations performed by the capability opening layer in the above-described embodiments. In order to avoid repetition, no further details are provided herein.

  Optionally, as one embodiment, the processor 1302 receives information about the network resource of the mobile broadband network system from the control layer device of the mobile broadband network system via the second open interface, and according to the information about the network resource, Further configured to manage network resources of the customized network. The network resources may include control layer device control resources, transfer layer device access resources, transfer resources, and the like.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, processor 1302 obtains atomic level control and transfer capabilities from the control layer device via interface 1301 to create, modify, or delete a customized network instance. Atomic level control and forwarding capabilities may be combined according to network customization requirements.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the processor 1302 may perform customized network instance status monitoring and failure detection, or is further configured to perform customized network instance configuration management .

  Optionally, as another embodiment, memory 1303 may further store a subscription database and a policy database. The subscription database is configured to store and manage user authentication information. The policy database is configured to store and manage capability opening and user customized policy information. The processor 1302 may authenticate the user according to the authentication information stored in the subscription database, determine the user's access policy according to the policy information stored in the policy database, and provide the user's authentication result and access policy to the customization unit .

  Optionally, as another embodiment, interface 1301 may include a web interface and / or an application programming interface.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the interface 1301 may further receive a user action request for a customized network instance, wherein the customized network instance operates to complete the requested action. In response to the request, the corresponding transfer capability and / or control capability and the corresponding network resource are invoked, and the interface 1301 returns an operation result to the user.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, the interface 1301 may further provide the user with a customized network instance action handle, and the customized network instance may request an action request to complete the requested action. Call the corresponding transfer and / or control capabilities and the corresponding network resources according to the included action handle.

  Optionally, as another embodiment, capability opening layer device 1300 may be implemented as a capability opening node or capability opening gateway of a mobile broadband network system. A capability opening node or capability opening gateway may be a separately located node device or may be integrated into any network element, eg, integrated into a gateway.

  Those skilled in the art will recognize that in the combination according to the examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the units and algorithm steps may be implemented by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Can do. Whether the function is performed by hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the functions described for each particular application, but that implementation should not be considered as departing from the scope of the present invention.

  Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that for a simple and concise description, for the detailed work process of the system, apparatus and unit described above, the corresponding process in the method embodiments described above may be referred to. The details will not be described again here.

  It should be understood that in some embodiments provided herein, the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the described apparatus embodiment is merely exemplary. For example, the unit division is merely logical function division, and other division methods may exist in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not performed. In addition, the interconnections, direct connections, or communication connections shown or described may be implemented via several interfaces. Indirect or communication connections between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

  Units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separated, and parts shown as units may or may not be physical units, i.e. located in one position. Or may be distributed over multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to the actual needs to achieve the solution objectives of the embodiments.

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

  If the functionality is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, the functionality may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, or a part that contributes to the prior art, or a part of the technical solution can be realized in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and a computing device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device) to perform all or part of the method steps described in the embodiments of the present invention. Contains several instructions for commanding. The above-described storage medium can be any medium that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), a random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), and a magnetic disk. Or an optical disc.

  The above descriptions are merely specific implementation manners of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention is determined by the protection scope of the claims.

100 Mobile broadband network system
101 transport layer
102 Control layer
103 Capability opening layer
104 1st open interface
105 2nd open interface
106 3rd open interface
300 MBB network system
310 Transport layer
311 Transfer Capability Abstraction / Resource Agent Sublayer
312 Network forwarding node
313 Network switching node
320 Control layer
321 Transfer Control / Resource Management Sublayer
322 Network Application Sublayer
323 Capability Abstraction Sublayer
324 Capability plug-ins
330 Capability Opening Layer
340 1st open interface
350 2nd open interface
360 3rd open interface
400 MBB network system
410 Transport layer
411 Transfer Capability Abstraction Unit
412 Wireless Access Agent
413 Transfer Agent
420 Control layer
421 Transfer Control and Network Resource Management Unit
422 Network Application
422-1, 422-2, 422-3, 422-N Network application
423 Atomic Network Capability Management Unit
424 Control Resource Agent
430 Capability opening layer
431 On Demand Mobile Network (ODMN) web portal
432 Access control unit
433 Subscription Database
434 Policy database
435 ODMN Enabler
4351 Monitoring unit
4352 component units
436 set of customized network instances
800 transport layer devices
801 transfer unit
802 1st open interface
803 Resource Agent Unit
900 Control layer device
901 Control unit
902 2nd open interface
903 Control resource agent unit
1000 capability opening layer device
1001 3rd open interface
1002 Customized unit
1003 Access control unit
1004 Subscription database
1005 Policy database
1100 transport layer device
1101 processor
1102 interface
1103 memory
1109 Bus system
1200 Control layer device
1201 processor
1202 interface
1203 memory
1209 Bus system
1300 Capability Opening Layer Device
1301 interface
1302 processor
1303 memory
1309 Bus system

Claims (15)

A method for customizing a mobile broadband network,
Opening the transfer capability of the mobile broadband network system to the control layer via the first open interface by the transfer layer;
Opening the control capability of the mobile broadband network system and the transfer capability to the capability opening layer via a second open interface by the control layer;
Combining the control capability and / or the forwarding capability according to the network customization request to receive a network customization request from a user via a third open interface and manage a customized network instance by the capability opening layer. A method comprising :
The network customization request includes parameters entered by the user that are necessary to customize a mobile broadband network.
Way . Receiving, by the capability opening layer, the user's operation request for the customized network instance via the third open interface;
Invoking a corresponding transfer capability and / or control capability and corresponding network resource according to the operation request to complete the requested operation by the customized network instance;
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: returning an operation result to the user via the third open interface by the capability opening layer. The step of opening the transfer capability of the mobile broadband network system to the control layer via the first open interface by the transfer layer;
Abstracting the forwarding capability of the forwarding layer by the forwarding layer and providing information about the abstracted forwarding capability to the forwarding control / resource management sublayer of the control layer via the first open interface. The method according to claim 1 or 2. The step of opening the control capability and the transfer capability of the mobile broadband network system to the capability opening layer via a second open interface by the control layer,
The control layer abstracts the transfer capability of the transfer layer and the control capability of the control layer to obtain an atomic level transfer capability and control capability, and the second open the atomic level transfer capability and control capability. 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, comprising the step of opening to the capability opening layer via an interface. Combining the control capability and / or the forwarding capability according to the network customization request to manage a customized network instance by the capability opening layer;
The capability opening layer obtains the atomic level transfer capability and control capability from the control layer and the atomic level transfer capability according to the network customization request to create, modify, or delete the customized network instance. 5. The method of claim 4, comprising combining and control capabilities. A transport layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system,
A transfer unit configured to provide transfer capabilities of the mobile broadband network system;
A transfer layer device comprising: a first open interface configured to connect to a control layer device of the mobile broadband network system and to open the transfer capability of the transfer unit to the control layer device ;
The transfer operation of the transfer layer device is controlled by a control unit of the control layer device.
Transport layer device .   7. The resource agent unit of claim 6, further comprising a resource agent unit configured to manage a transfer layer device access resource and a transfer resource and to provide information about the access resource and the transfer resource to the control layer device. Transport layer device.   8. The transfer unit according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the transfer unit is further configured to abstract the transfer capability and provide information about the abstracted transfer capability to the control layer device via the first open interface. The described forwarding layer device.   The transport layer device according to any one of claims 6 to 7, comprising a network forwarding node or a network switching node of the mobile broadband network system. A control layer device in a customizable mobile broadband network system,
A control unit configured to receive information about a transfer capability of the transfer layer device from a transfer layer device of the mobile broadband network system and to provide a control capability of the mobile broadband network system;
Connected to the capability opening layer device of the mobile broadband network system , configured to open the control capability and the transfer capability to the capability opening layer device, and transmit information about network resources of the mobile broadband network system The network resource includes a control resource of the control layer device, an access resource and a transfer resource of the transfer layer device, and a second open interface ;
A control layer device comprising:   The control layer device of claim 10, wherein the control unit is further configured to interact with the transport layer device to control forwarding operations of the transport layer device.   12. The control layer device of claim 10 or 11, further comprising a control resource agent unit configured to manage control resources of the control layer device and to provide information about the control resource to the capability opening layer device. . The control unit includes one or more network applications;
13. The control layer device according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein each of the one or more network applications implements a specific control capability. The control unit is further configured to abstract the transfer capability of the transfer layer device and the control capability of the control layer device to obtain an atomic level transfer capability and control capability;
14. A control layer device according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the second open interface is further configured to open the atomic level transfer capability and control capability to the capability opening layer device.   15. A control layer device according to any one of claims 10 to 14, comprising a network control node of the mobile broadband network system.

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