WO2024188196A1 - Information transmission method and apparatus, related device, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application discloses an information transmission method and apparatus, a first function network element, a third function network element, and a storage medium. The method comprises: a first function network element acquiring first information, the first information representing a service requirement of a virtual network (VN) group; measuring network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, the second information at least comprising network state information associated with the VN group; and adjusting configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, and sending the third information to a second function network element, the third information at least comprising the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information being associated with the first information and the second information.

Description

Information transmission method, device, related equipment and storage medium

Cross-references

This application claims priority to Chinese patent application number 202310263529.1 and filing date March 10, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of core networks, and in particular to an information transmission method, apparatus, related equipment and storage medium.

Background Art

The expansion of the fifth generation of mobile communication technology (5G) covers segmented scenarios in multiple fields such as residences, offices, enterprises and factories. Therefore, 5G needs to provide services with similar functions to local area networks (LAN) and virtual private networks (VPN) for these private network scenarios. That is, 5G needs to provide enhanced capabilities such as high performance, remote access, mobility and security.

Based on this, the relevant technology defines a networking solution in the vertical LAN research - 5G LAN-type services, that is, LAN-type services built on the 5G network. Through this service, 5G can provide Internet Protocol (IP) type or Ethernet type communication services for a specific terminal group (which can be expressed as group in English), that is, a virtual network (VN, Virtual Network) group containing at least one terminal, that is, the communication between terminals that have signed the same VN group (that is, in the same 5G LAN) has the characteristics of traditional LAN communication.

However, in the related art, the management of the VN group may not meet the business needs of the VN group.

Summary of the invention

In order to solve the related technical problems, the embodiments of the present application provide an information transmission method, an apparatus, and related Equipment and storage media.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is implemented as follows:

The embodiment of the present application provides an information transmission method, which is applied to a first functional network element, including:

Acquire first information, where the first information represents a service demand of the VN group;

Measuring the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, wherein the second information at least includes network status information associated with the VN group;

Adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, and send the third information to the second functional network element, wherein the third information at least includes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information is associated with the first information and the second information.

In the above solution, the measurement of the network performance associated with the VN group includes at least one of the following:

Measuring an average number of Quality of Service (QoS) flows associated with the VN group;

Measuring the maximum number of QoS flows associated with the VN group;

Measuring the connection success rate of the protocol data unit (PDU) sessions associated with the VN group;

measuring the number of online users associated with the VN group;

Measuring the size of the uplink bandwidth associated with the VN group;

The size of the downlink bandwidth associated with the VN group is measured.

In the above solution, the configuration information associated with the VN group is adjusted, including at least one of the following:

Adjust relevant information of the network slice associated with the VN group;

Adjust relevant information of the PDU session policy associated with the VN group.

In the above solution, the obtaining of the first information includes:

Receive the first information sent by the third functional network element.

In the above solution, the third functional network element includes an application function (AF), and the receiving the first information sent by the third functional network element includes:

The first information sent by the AF is received through a network exposure function (NEF).

In the above solution, the method further comprises:

The fourth information is obtained from the fourth functional network element, wherein the fourth information at least includes the contract information of the members of the VN group, and the third information is also associated with the fourth information.

In the above scheme, the fourth information is associated with the fifth information, the fifth information is sent by the third functional network element to the fourth functional network element, and the fifth information is used to store or update the contract information of the members of the VN group.

In the above scheme, the first functional network element includes operation administration and maintenance (OAM), and the second functional network element includes session management function (SMF, Session Management Function) and/or user plane function (UPF, User Plane Function).

The embodiment of the present application further provides an information transmission method, which is applied to a third function network element, including:

Sending first information to a first functional network element, wherein the first functional network element measures network performance associated with a VN group in response to the first information and adjusts configuration information associated with the VN group, wherein the first information represents the business requirements of the VN group.

In the above solution, the third functional network element includes AF, and the sending of the first information to the first functional network element includes:

The first information is sent to the first functional network element through the NEF.

In the above solution, the method further comprises:

Send fifth information to the fourth functional network element, and the fifth information is used to store or update the contract information of the members of the VN group.

In the above solution, the third functional network element includes AF, and the sending of the fifth information to the fourth functional network element includes:

The fifth information is sent to the fourth functional network element through the NEF.

In the above solution, the first functional network element includes OAM.

The present application also provides an information transmission device, including:

An acquisition unit, configured to acquire first information, where the first information represents a service demand of the VN group;

A measuring unit, configured to measure the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, wherein the second information at least includes network status information associated with the VN group;

An adjusting unit, configured to adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, wherein the third information at least includes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information is associated with the first information and the second information;

The first sending unit is used to send the third information to the second functional network element.

The present application also provides an information transmission device, including:

The second sending unit is used to send first information to the first functional network element, wherein the first functional network element measures the network performance associated with the VN group in response to the first information and adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group, and the first information represents the business needs of the VN group.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a first functional network element, comprising: a first communication interface and a first processor; wherein,

The first processor is configured to:

Acquire first information through the first communication interface, where the first information represents a service demand of the VN group;

Measuring the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, wherein the second information at least includes network status information associated with the VN group;

Adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, and send the third information to the second functional network element through the first communication interface, the third information at least includes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information is associated with the first information and the second information.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a third functional network element, including: a second communication interface and a second processor; wherein,

The second communication interface is used to send first information to the first functional network element, wherein the first functional network element measures the network performance associated with the VN group in response to the first information and adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group, and the first information represents the business needs of the VN group.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a first functional network element, including: a first processor and a first memory for storing a computer program that can be run on the processor,

Among them, when the first processor is used to run the computer program, it executes the steps of any method on the first functional network element side mentioned above.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a third functional network element, including: a second processor and a second memory for storing a computer program that can be run on the processor,

Among them, when the second processor is used to run the computer program, it executes the steps of any method on the third functional network element side mentioned above.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program implements the steps of any method on the first functional network element side mentioned above, or implements the steps of any method on the third functional network element side mentioned above.

The information transmission method, apparatus, related equipment and storage medium provided in the embodiments of the present application, a first functional network element obtains first information, the first information represents the business needs of a VN group; measures the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, the second information at least includes the network status information associated with the VN group; adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, and sends the third information to a second functional network element, the third information at least includes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information is associated with the first information and the second information. The solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is that the first functional network element obtains first information representing the business needs of the VN group, obtains second information at least including network status information associated with the VN group by measuring the network performance associated with the VN group, obtains third information at least including the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group and associated with the first information and the second information by adjusting the configuration information associated with the VN group, and sends the obtained third information to the second functional network element; that is, the first functional network element adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group according to the business needs of the VN group and the network status information associated with the VN group. Since the configuration information associated with the VN group can reflect the network capability requirements of the VN group, the first functional network element can realize the conversion between the business needs and network capability requirements of the VN group according to the network status information associated with the VN group, that is, it can realize accurate analysis and matching between the business needs and network capability requirements of the VN group, so that the configuration information associated with the VN group can accurately meet the business needs of the VN group, that is, after the second functional network element subsequently executes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group can accurately meet the business needs of the VN group, thereby improving the user experience of the VN group members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of an information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of another information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a communication architecture of an application example of the present application;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an information transmission device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another information transmission device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first functional network element according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a third functional network element according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

In the related technology, the management of VN group can include the addition/deletion/modification of VN group members and the configuration of VN group data. The core network can open the management capability of VN group to AF outside the core network through NEF, that is, open the management capability of private network to industry users. Among them, the configuration of VN group data includes the configuration of PDU session policy. The PDU session policy is executed by SMF. SMF can receive the PDU session policy associated with the user equipment (UE, User Equipment) (i.e. VN group member) of the VN group from the policy control function (PCF, Policy Control Function), such as UE route selection policy (USRP, UE Route Selection Policy) and so on. Specifically, PCF can convert AF's request and generate a PDU session policy applicable to the VN group. AF's request can be understood as the industry application requirements proposed by industry users based on the actual business model. After AF obtains the industry application requirements, that is, after PCF obtains AF's request, PCF can generate a new PDU session policy applicable to the VN group and send the generated PDU session policy to SMF, which executes the policy, that is, identifies and forwards the traffic of the VN group according to the PDU session policy to realize 5G LAN-type Services. In addition, the core network can also open the ability to dynamically update the PDU session policy to AF through NEF.

From the above description, it can be seen that the VN group's demand for PDU session policy can be understood as the VN group's network capability requirement (it can also be understood as the demand for 5G LAN capability), that is, the configuration of the VN group data It can reflect the network capability requirements of the VN group, that is, the configuration information associated with the VN group can reflect the network capability requirements of the VN group. Accordingly, the process of generating a PDU session policy suitable for the VN group can be understood as a manifestation of converting industry scenario requirements (that is, industry application requirements, which can also be understood as the business requirements of the VN group) into network capability requirements. How to achieve accurate parsing and matching between the business requirements of the VN group and the network capability requirements is the key point in the specific implementation; in other words, if it is impossible to achieve accurate parsing and matching between the business requirements of the VN group and the network capability requirements, the configuration information associated with the VN group may not be able to accurately meet the business requirements of the VN group.

In actual application, it is also possible to consider managing the VN group through the OAM platform within the core network, but the relevant technology has not yet provided an effective solution for how to manage the VN group through OAM.

Based on this, in various embodiments of the present application, the first functional network element adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group according to the business needs of the VN group and the network status information associated with the VN group. Since the configuration information associated with the VN group can reflect the network capability requirements of the VN group, the first functional network element can realize the conversion between the business needs and network capability requirements of the VN group according to the network status information associated with the VN group, that is, it can realize the accurate parsing and matching between the business needs and network capability requirements of the VN group, so that the configuration information associated with the VN group can accurately meet the business needs of the VN group, that is, after the second functional network element executes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group can accurately meet the business needs of the VN group, thereby improving the user experience of the VN group members. In addition, when the first functional network element includes OAM, the management of the VN group can be realized through OAM.

The embodiment of the present application provides an information transmission method, which is applied to a first functional network element. As shown in FIG1 , the method includes:

Step 101: Acquire first information, where the first information represents a service demand of a VN group;

Step 102: measuring the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, wherein the second information at least includes network status information associated with the VN group;

Step 103: Adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, and send the third information to the second functional network element, wherein the third information at least includes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information is associated with the first information and the second information.

In actual application, the first functional network element may include OAM, and the OAM may also It is called an OAM platform; the VN group may include a 5G VN group.

In actual application, the first functional network element can obtain the first information from the third functional network element.

Based on this, in one embodiment, obtaining the first information may include:

Receive the first information sent by the third functional network element.

In actual application, the third functional network element may include AF.

Based on this, in one embodiment, when the third functional network element includes an AF, the receiving the first information sent by the third functional network element may include:

The first information sent by the AF is received through the NEF.

In actual application, when the first functional network element includes OAM, after the AF obtains the service requirements of the VN group, it can send the first information to the NEF, and the NEF forwards the first information to the OAM.

In actual application, the business needs of the VN group can also be understood as industry scenario needs or industry application needs. The specific way in which the third functional network element obtains (i.e., determines) the business needs of the VN group can be set according to the needs, and accordingly, the specific form of expression of the business needs of the VN group can also be set according to the needs. Exemplarily, the third functional network element can collect real-time user experience information (also understood as business experience information) of the current users of the specified industry application according to the preset strategy, that is, collect the business experience information of the terminals in the specified 5G LAN, that is, collect the business experience information of the members of the specified VN group (i.e., terminals); the business experience information may include one or more of the following information: the number of users who have successfully registered, the number of successful PDU sessions, the number of concurrent users, the uplink bandwidth, the downlink bandwidth, the QoS parameters (such as QoS level, transmission bandwidth, transmission delay, etc.); the first information can at least include the business experience information, that is, the business experience information can reflect (i.e., characterize) the business needs of the VN group. Alternatively, industry users may propose business requirements for the VN group based on a specific business model, that is, the business experience information may not be collected in real time by the third functional network element, but may be parameters specified by industry users (for example, input into the third functional network element), such as one or more of the specified number of successfully registered users, number of successful PDU sessions, number of concurrent users, uplink bandwidth, downlink bandwidth, QoS parameters (such as QoS level, transmission bandwidth, transmission delay, etc.), and other information.

In actual application, the terminal may also be referred to as UE or user. The terminals of a VN group can be understood as members of the VN group.

In actual application, in addition to the service experience information, the first information may also include the identifier of the VN group (such as ID). In addition, it can be understood that when the third functional network element includes AF, in order to ensure communication security, a generic routing encapsulation (Generic Routing Encapsulation) tunnel (which can be expressed as Tunnel in English) can be established between the AF and the NEF, that is, when the AF sends the first information to the NEF, it can send the tunnel IP at the same time; after the NEF receives the first information and the tunnel IP, it can forward the first information to the first functional network element.

In actual application, the network performance associated with the VN group can be understood as the network performance of the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group; the network status information associated with the VN group can be understood as the network status information of the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group. In other words, the measurement of the network performance associated with the VN group can be understood as measuring the network performance of the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group, or can be understood as collecting the network status information of the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the measuring of the network performance associated with the VN group may include at least one of the following:

Measuring an average number of QoS flows associated with the VN group;

Measuring the maximum number of QoS flows associated with the VN group;

Measuring the connection success rate of the PDU sessions associated with the VN group;

measuring the number of online users associated with the VN group;

Measuring the size of the uplink bandwidth associated with the VN group;

The size of the downlink bandwidth associated with the VN group is measured.

Among them, in actual application, the measurement of the network performance associated with the VN group can also be understood as a VN group-level (expressed as 5G VN group level in English) measurement of one or more network status information such as the average number of QoS flows, the maximum number of QoS flows, the connection success rate of PDU sessions, the number of online users, the size of the upstream bandwidth, the size of the downstream bandwidth of the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group, that is, the measurement of the VN group granularity. In addition, the second information at least includes the network status information associated with the VN group, which means that the second information may include the average number of QoS flows, the maximum number of QoS flows, the connection success rate of PDU sessions, the number of online users, One or more VN group-level (ie, VN group granularity) network status information such as the size of the upstream bandwidth and the size of the downstream bandwidth.

In actual application, the average number of QoS flows associated with the VN group can be understood as the average number of QoS flows of the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group, which can specifically include the average number of QoS flows of one or more functions such as access and mobility management function (AMF), SMF, UPF, etc.; in other words, the first functional network element can achieve measurement (also understood as collection) of the average number of QoS flows with VN group as the granularity by information interaction with one or more functional network elements such as AMF, SMF, UPF, etc. Exemplarily, when OAM measures the network performance associated with the VN group for UPF, the measurement can provide the average number of QoS flows of UPF (which can be expressed in English as This measurement provides the mean number of QoS flows of UPF), which is obtained by sampling the number of QoS flows at a pre-defined interval and then taking the arithmetic mean (which can be expressed in English as This measurement is obtained by sampling at a pre-defined interval, the number of QoS flows is obtained by taking the arithmetic mean). The measurement is optionally split into subcounters per 5G VN group. The result of the measurement can be expressed as UPF.MeanQosFlows.5GVNgroup, where 5GVNgroup identifies the 5GVNgroup ID.

In actual application, the maximum number of QoS flows associated with the VN group can be understood as the maximum number of QoS flows of the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group, which can specifically include the maximum number of QoS flows of one or more functional network elements such as AMF, SMF, and UPF; in other words, the first functional network element can interact with one or more functions such as AMF, SMF, and UPF to achieve measurement (also understood as collection) of the maximum number of QoS flows with VN groups as the granularity. Exemplarily, when OAM measures the network performance associated with the VN group for UPF, the measurement can provide the maximum number of QoS flows of UPF (which can be expressed in English as This measurement provides the max number of QoS flows of UPF), which is obtained by sampling at a pre-defined interval, the number of QoS flows and then selecting the maximum value), the measurement is optionally split into subcounters per 5G VN group, and the result of the measurement can be expressed as UPF.MeanQosFlows.5GVNgroup, where 5GVNgroup can identify the ID of the 5G VN group (expressed in English as where 5GVNgroup identifies the 5GVNgroup ID).

In actual application, the connection success rate of the PDU sessions associated with the VN group can be understood as the connection success rate of the PDU sessions of the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group, which may specifically include the connection success rate of the PDU sessions of one or more functional network elements such as AMF, SMF, and UPF; in other words, the first functional network element can achieve the measurement (which can also be understood as collection) of the connection success rate of the PDU sessions with VN group as the granularity by exchanging information with one or more functional network elements such as AMF, SMF, and UPF.

In actual application, the number of online users associated with the VN group can be understood as the number of online users of the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group, which may specifically include the number of online users of one or more functional network elements such as AMF, SMF, and UPF; in other words, the first functional network element can achieve measurement (which can also be understood as collection) of the number of online users with VN group as the granularity by interacting with one or more functional network elements such as AMF, SMF, and UPF.

In actual application, the size of the uplink bandwidth and/or downlink bandwidth associated with the VN group can be understood as the size of the uplink bandwidth and/or downlink bandwidth of the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group, and can specifically include the size of the uplink bandwidth and/or downlink bandwidth of one or more functional network elements such as AMF, SMF, UPF, etc.; in other words, the first functional network element can achieve measurement (which can also be understood as collection) of the size of the uplink bandwidth and/or downlink bandwidth with VN group as the granularity by exchanging information with one or more functional network elements such as AMF, SMF, UPF, etc.

In actual application, the configuration information associated with the VN group can reflect (i.e., characterize) the network capability requirements of the VN group, and the specific content of the configuration information associated with the VN group can be set according to the requirements. Exemplarily, the configuration information associated with the VN group may include relevant information about the network slice associated with the VN group, such as the network slice identifier—Single Network Slice Selection Assistance information (S-NSSAI) and other information; it may also include relevant information about the PDU session policy associated with the VN group, such as USRP, QoS parameters (such as QoS level, transmission bandwidth, transmission delay, etc.), etc.

Based on this, in one embodiment, the configuration information for adjusting the VN group association may include at least one of the following:

Adjust relevant information of the network slice associated with the VN group;

Adjust relevant information of the PDU session policy associated with the VN group.

In actual application, the third information is associated with the first information and the second information, which means that the third information is determined based on the first information and the second information; in other words, the first functional network element can adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group based on the first information and the second information, that is, the first functional network element can adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group based on the business needs of the VN group and the network status information associated with the VN group to obtain the third information that at least contains the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group. The specific method in which the first functional network element adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group based on the first information and the second information can be set according to the needs. Exemplarily, assuming that the first information includes the service experience information, and the service experience information includes the downlink bandwidth of at least one terminal, such as 30 megabits per second (Mbps), 60Mbps, etc., and assuming that the second information includes the measured size of the downlink bandwidth associated with the VN group is 50Mbps; then the first functional network element can adjust the size of the downlink bandwidth associated with the VN group from 50Mbps to the average value of the downlink bandwidth of at least one terminal included in the service experience information (such as 45Mbps) based on the first information and the second information, so that the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group can accurately meet the service needs of the VN group.

In actual application, in order to make the adjustment of the configuration information associated with the VN group by the first functional network element effective, the first function needs to send the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group to the second functional network element, that is, send the third information; after receiving the third information, the second functional network element can execute the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, so that the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group can accurately meet the business needs of the VN group.

In actual application, the second functional network element may include SMF and/or UPF. After receiving the third information, the SMF and/or UPF may execute the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, that is, make the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group effective, such as marking and forwarding the traffic of the VN group according to the adjusted USRP, and implementing the VN group using the adjusted QoS parameters. QoS guarantee, etc.

In actual application, the members of the VN group may change, such as adding/deleting/modifying members of the VN group; that is, the user data associated with the VN group (that is, the contract information of the members of the VN group) may change. Therefore, when the first functional network element adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group according to the first information and the second information, it is also necessary to obtain the contract information of the members of the VN group, and adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group in combination with the first information, the second information, and the contract information of the members of the VN group.

Based on this, in one embodiment, the method may further include:

The fourth information is obtained from the fourth functional network element, wherein the fourth information at least includes the contract information of the members of the VN group, and the third information is also associated with the fourth information.

Among them, in actual application, the fourth functional network element may include unified data management (UDM). Specifically, when the third functional network element includes AF and the first functional network element includes OAM, the AF can plan at least one corresponding terminal to update user data information to the UDM when there is a change in user data, that is, when the members of the VN group change, that is, when the addition/deletion/modification of VN group members occurs, that is, store or update user data information to the UDM through NEF, that is, store or update the contract information of the members of the VN group to the UDM; in this way, the OAM can obtain the correct contract information of the members of the VN group from the UDM, so that after adjusting the configuration information associated with the VN group according to the first information, the second information and the fourth information, the configuration information associated with the VN group can accurately meet the business needs of the VN group; the terminal that has signed the VN group can send a message carrying the VN group identifier (such as the VN group ID) to the network side to establish a PDU session. In addition, the NEF may directly send the fifth information for instructing to store or update the contract information of the members of the VN group to the UDM, or may send the fifth information to the OAM, and the OAM may send the fifth information to the UDM.

Based on this, in one embodiment, the fourth information may be associated with the fifth information, the fifth information is sent by the third functional network element to the fourth function, and the fifth information is used to store or update the contract information of the members of the VN group.

Accordingly, the embodiment of the present application further provides an information transmission method, which is applied to a third functional network element. As shown in FIG. 2 , the method includes:

Step 201: Send first information to a first functional network element, wherein the first network element measures the network performance associated with the VN group in response to the first information and adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group, wherein the first information represents the business requirements of the VN group.

In one embodiment, when the third functional network element includes an AF, the sending the first information to the first functional network element may include:

The first information is sent to the first functional network element through the NEF.

In one embodiment, the method may further include:

Send fifth information to the fourth functional network element, and the fifth information is used to store or update the contract information of the members of the VN group.

In one embodiment, when the third functional network element includes an AF, the sending the fifth information to the fourth functional network element may include:

The fifth information is sent to the fourth functional network element through the NEF.

Here, the NEF can directly send the fifth information to the fourth functional network element; or it can send the fifth information to the fourth functional network element through the first functional network element, that is, first send the fifth information to the first functional network element, and then the first function sends the fifth information to the fourth functional network element.

The information transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application is as follows: a first functional network element obtains first information representing the business needs of a VN group; measures the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, the second information at least including the network status information associated with the VN group; adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, and sends the third information to the second functional network element, the third information at least including the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information is associated with the first information and the second information. In the scheme provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first function obtains first information representing the business needs of a VN group, measures the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information at least including the network status information associated with the VN group, adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information associated with the first information and the second information, and sends the obtained third information to the second functional network element; that is, the first functional network element obtains the first information representing the business needs of a VN group according to the following conditions: The business needs of the VN group and the network status information associated with the VN group adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group. Since the configuration information associated with the VN group can reflect the network capability needs of the VN group, the first functional network element can realize the conversion between the business needs and network capability needs of the VN group according to the network status information associated with the VN group, that is, it can realize accurate analysis and matching between the business needs and network capability needs of the VN group, so that the configuration information associated with the VN group can accurately meet the business needs of the VN group, that is, after the subsequent second functional network element executes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, the 5G LAN corresponding to the VN group can accurately meet the business needs of the VN group, thereby improving the user experience of the VN group members.

In addition, the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement the management of the VN group through OAM when the first functional network element includes OAM.

The present application is described in further detail below in conjunction with application examples.

In this application example, the first functional network element includes OAM; the second functional network element includes SMF and UPF; the third functional network element includes AF; and the fourth functional network element includes UDM. When AF obtains the industry application requirements, it can store or update the user's contract information to UDM through NEF, that is, send the fifth information to UDM; and report the current user's real-time user experience (that is, the service experience information) to OAM, that is, send the first information containing at least the service experience information to OAM. After receiving the service experience information sent by AF, OAM can re-collect the network status information of 5G LAN at the 5G VN group granularity, that is, perform performance measurement on the 5G VN group-level network status such as the PDU session connection success rate, number of online users, uplink/downlink bandwidth, QoS flow, etc. of 5G LAN (that is, associated with the VN group); and can adjust the configuration of the VN group, such as adjusting the associated S-NSSAI or the user's PDU session policy (such as adjusting QoS parameters, etc.).

Specifically, in this application example, as shown in FIG3 , AF can send the service experience information of 5G LAN (i.e., the first information at least including the service experience information) to OAM through NEF; OAM can re-collect the network status information at the 5G VN group granularity, i.e., perform performance measurement on the 5G VN group-level network status such as the PDU session connection success rate, number of online users, uplink/downlink bandwidth, QoS flow, etc. of AMF/SMF/UPF in 5G LAN (i.e., associated with the VN group); OAM can configure the VN group according to the service experience information of 5G LAN and the results of performance measurement (i.e., the second information). Make adjustments, such as adjusting the associated S-NSSAI or the user's PDU session policy (such as adjusting QoS parameters, etc.), and send the adjusted VN group configuration (i.e., the third information mentioned above) to SMF and UPF. As shown in Figure 3-①, AF can communicate with NEF based on VN group ID and tunnel IP; as shown in Figure 3-②, NEF can communicate with OAM based on VN group ID; as shown in Figure 3-③, OAM can communicate with SMF based on VN group ID and 5G LAN IP address pool; as shown in Figure 3-④, OAM can communicate with UPF based on access point name (APN, Access Point Name)/VN group ID, and tunnel IP.

In addition, in this application example, as shown in Figures 3-⑤ and ⑥, in the 5G LAN service, when there is a change in user data, that is, when VN group members are added/deleted/modified, AF can plan at least one corresponding UE (that is, the UE added/deleted/modified to the VN group) to the UDM to store or update user data information (that is, contract information) based on the VN group ID (VN Group ID) and the data network name (DNN, Data Network Name)/S-NSSAI. That is, the UDM can modify the contract information of the UE added/deleted/modified to the VN group, such as modifying the VN group ID (VN Group ID) corresponding to the UE added/deleted/modified to the VN group.

Finally, in this application example, as shown in Figure 3-⑦, in the 5G LAN service, when there is a change in user data, such as the addition of a VN group member, after AF stores the user data information (i.e., contract information) to UDM, the added UE can carry the VN group ID (VN Group ID) to communicate with the network side to establish a PDU session.

The solution provided in this application example implements OAM management of 5G LAN performance measurement. Based on the results of performance measurement, OAM can accurately parse and match the industry scenario requirements (i.e., business requirements) of the VN group with the network capability requirements, thereby improving the user experience of VN group members.

In order to implement the method on the first functional network element side of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application further provides an information transmission device, which is arranged on the first functional network element. As shown in FIG. 4 , the device includes:

An acquisition unit 401 is configured to acquire first information, where the first information represents a service requirement of a VN group;

A measuring unit 402 is used to measure the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, where the second information at least includes network status information associated with the VN group;

An adjusting unit 403 is used to adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, wherein the third information at least includes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information is associated with the first information and the second information;

The first sending unit 404 is used to send the third information to the second functional network element.

In one embodiment, the measuring unit 402 is specifically configured to perform at least one of the following:

Measuring an average number of QoS flows associated with the VN group;

Measuring the maximum number of QoS flows associated with the VN group;

Measuring the connection success rate of the PDU sessions associated with the VN group;

measuring the number of online users associated with the VN group;

Measuring the size of the uplink bandwidth associated with the VN group;

The size of the downlink bandwidth associated with the VN group is measured.

In one embodiment, the adjusting unit 403 is specifically configured to perform at least one of the following:

Adjust relevant information of the network slice associated with the VN group;

Adjust relevant information of the PDU session policy associated with the VN group.

In one embodiment, the acquiring unit 401 is specifically configured to receive the first information sent by a third functional network element.

In one embodiment, when the third functional network element includes an AF, the acquiring unit 401 is further configured to receive the first information sent by the AF through the NEF.

In one embodiment, the acquisition unit 401 is further used to acquire fourth information from a fourth functional network element, where the fourth information at least includes the contract information of the members of the VN group, and the third information is also associated with the fourth information.

In actual application, the acquisition unit 401 and the measurement unit 402 can be implemented by a processor in the information transmission device in combination with a communication interface; the adjustment unit 403 can be implemented by a processor in the information transmission device; and the first sending unit 404 can be implemented by a communication interface in the information transmission device.

In order to implement the method on the third functional network element side of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application further provides an information transmission device, which is arranged on the third functional network element. As shown in FIG5 , the device includes:

The second sending unit 501 is used to send the first information to the first functional network element to perform VN group closing. The method further comprises measuring the performance of the network connected thereto and adjusting the configuration information associated with the VN group, wherein the first information represents the business needs of the VN group.

In one embodiment, when the third functional network element includes an AF, the second sending unit 501 is specifically configured to send the first information to the first functional network element through the NEF.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG5 , the method may further include:

The third sending unit 502 is used to send fifth information to the fourth functional network element, and the fifth information is used to store or update the contract information of the members of the VN group.

In one embodiment, when the third functional network element includes an AF, the third sending unit 502 is specifically configured to send the fifth information to the fourth functional network element through the NEF.

In actual application, the second sending unit 501 and the third sending unit 502 can be implemented by a communication interface in the information transmission device.

It should be noted that: the information transmission device provided in the above embodiment only uses the division of the above program modules as an example when performing information transmission. In actual applications, the above processing can be assigned to different program modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device is divided into different program modules to complete all or part of the processing described above. In addition, the information transmission device provided in the above embodiment and the information transmission method embodiment belong to the same concept, and the specific implementation process is detailed in the method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

Based on the hardware implementation of the above program module, and in order to implement the method on the first functional network element side of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application further provides a first functional network element, as shown in FIG6 , the first functional network element 600 includes:

The first communication interface 601 is capable of exchanging information with a terminal and/or other functional network elements;

A first processor 602 is connected to the first communication interface 601 to implement information interaction with the terminal and/or other functional network elements, and is used to execute the method provided by one or more technical solutions on the first functional network element side when running a computer program;

A first memory 603 , in which the computer program is stored.

Specifically, the first processor 602 is configured to:

The first information is obtained through the first communication interface 601, and the first information represents the business of the VN group Service needs;

Measuring the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, wherein the second information at least includes network status information associated with the VN group;

Adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, and send the third information to the second functional network element through the first communication interface 601, the third information at least includes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information is associated with the first information and the second information.

In one embodiment, the first processor 602 is further configured to perform at least one of the following:

Measuring an average number of QoS flows associated with the VN group;

Measuring the maximum number of QoS flows associated with the VN group;

Measuring the connection success rate of the PDU sessions associated with the VN group;

measuring the number of online users associated with the VN group;

Measuring the size of the uplink bandwidth associated with the VN group;

The size of the downlink bandwidth associated with the VN group is measured.

In one embodiment, the first processor 602 is further configured to perform at least one of the following:

Adjust relevant information of the network slice associated with the VN group;

Adjust relevant information of the PDU session policy associated with the VN group.

In one embodiment, the first processor 602 is further configured to receive, through the first communication interface 601, the first information sent by the third functional network element.

In one embodiment, when the third functional network element includes an AF, the first communication interface 601 is used to receive the first information sent by the AF through the NEF.

In one embodiment, the first processor 602 is further used to obtain fourth information from a fourth functional network element through the first communication interface 601, wherein the fourth information at least includes the contract information of the members of the VN group, and the third information is also associated with the fourth information.

It should be noted that the specific processing process of the first processor 602 can be understood by referring to the above method, which will not be repeated here.

Of course, in actual application, the various components in the first functional network element 600 are coupled together through the bus system 604. It can be understood that the bus system 604 is used to realize the connection and communication between these components. In addition to the data bus, the bus system 604 also includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus. However, for the sake of clarity, various buses are labeled as the bus system 604 in FIG.

The first memory 603 in the embodiment of the present application is used to store various types of data to support the operation of the first functional network element 600. Examples of such data include: any computer program used to operate on the first functional network element 600.

The method disclosed in the above embodiment of the present application can be applied to the first processor 602, or implemented by the first processor 602. The first processor 602 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by the hardware integrated logic circuit in the first processor 602 or the instruction in the form of software. The first processor 602 may be a general processor, a digital signal processor (DSP, Digital Signal Processor), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The first processor 602 can implement or execute the various methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiment of the present application. The general processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or being executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in a storage medium, which is located in the first memory 603. The first processor 602 reads the information in the first memory 603 and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

In an exemplary embodiment, the first functional network element 600 can be implemented by one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), DSP, programmable logic device (PLD), complex programmable logic device (CPLD), field programmable gate array (FPGA), general processor, controller, microcontroller (MCU), microprocessor (Microprocessor), or other electronic components to execute the aforementioned method.

Based on the hardware implementation of the above program module, and in order to implement the method on the third function network element side of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application further provides a third function network element, as shown in FIG. 7, the third function network element 700 includes:

The second communication interface 701 is capable of exchanging information with the terminal and/or other functional network elements;

The second processor 702 is connected to the second communication interface 701 to implement information interaction with the terminal and/or other functional network elements, and is used to execute the method provided by one or more technical solutions on the third functional network element side when running the computer program;

A second memory 703 , on which the computer program is stored.

Specifically, the second communication interface 701 is used to send first information to the first functional network element to measure the network performance associated with the VN group and adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group, and the first information represents the business needs of the VN group.

In one embodiment, when the third functional network element 700 includes an AF, the second communication interface 701 is further used to send the first information to the first functional network element through the NEF.

In one embodiment, the second communication interface 701 is also used to send fifth information to the fourth functional network element, and the fifth information is used to store or update the contract information of the members of the VN group.

In one embodiment, when the third functional network element 700 includes an AF, the second communication interface 701 is further used to send the fifth information to the fourth functional network element through the NEF.

It should be noted that the specific processing process of the second communication interface 701 can be understood by referring to the above method, which will not be repeated here.

Of course, in actual application, the various components in the third functional network element 700 are coupled together through the bus system 704. It can be understood that the bus system 704 is used to realize the connection and communication between these components. In addition to the data bus, the bus system 704 also includes a power bus, a control bus and a status signal bus. However, for the sake of clarity, various buses are marked as bus system 704 in FIG. 7.

The second memory 703 in the embodiment of the present application is used to store various types of data to support the operation of the third function network element 700. Examples of such data include: any computer program used to operate on the third function network element 700.

The method disclosed in the above embodiment of the present application can be applied to the second processor 702, or implemented by the second processor 702. The second processor 702 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the second processor 702 or an instruction in the form of software. The second processor 702 may be a general-purpose processor, a DSP, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices. The second processor 702 can implement or execute the methods, steps and logic diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. In combination with the steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application, it can be directly embodied as a hardware decoding processor to be executed, or a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor to be executed. The software module can be located in a storage medium, which is located in the second memory 703. The second processor 702 reads the information in the second memory 703 and completes the steps of the aforementioned method in combination with its hardware.

In an exemplary embodiment, the third functional network element 700 may be implemented by one or more ASICs, DSPs, PLDs, CPLDs, FPGAs, general-purpose processors, controllers, MCUs, Microprocessors, or other electronic components to perform the aforementioned method.

It can be understood that the memory (first memory 603, second memory 703) of the embodiment of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, and can also include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic random access memory (FRAM), a ferromagnetic random access memory, a flash memory, a magnetic surface memory, an optical disc, or a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM); the magnetic surface memory can be a disk memory or a tape memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), synchronous static random access memory (SSRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDRSDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and the like. The memory described in the embodiments of the present application is intended to include but is not limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

In order to implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides an information transmission system, as shown in FIG. 8 , the system includes: a first functional network element 801 and a third functional network element 802 .

Here, it should be noted that the specific processing procedures of the first functional network element 801 and the third functional network element 802 have been described in detail above and will not be repeated here.

In an exemplary embodiment, the embodiment of the present application further provides a storage medium, namely a computer storage medium, specifically a computer-readable storage medium, for example, including a first memory 603 storing a computer program, and the above-mentioned computer program can be executed by the first processor 602 of the first functional network element 600 to complete the steps described in the aforementioned first functional network element side method. For another example, including a second memory 703 storing a computer program, the above-mentioned computer program can be executed by the second processor 702 of the third functional network element 700 to complete the steps described in the aforementioned third functional network element side method. The computer-readable storage medium can be a memory such as FRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash Memory, magnetic surface storage, optical disk, or CD-ROM.

It should be noted that: "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence.

In addition, the technical solutions described in the embodiments of the present application can be combined arbitrarily without conflict.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application.

Claims (20)

1. An information transmission method, characterized in that it is applied to a first functional network element, comprising:

   Acquire first information, where the first information represents a service demand of a virtual network VN group;

   Measuring the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, wherein the second information at least includes network status information associated with the VN group;

   Adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, and send the third information to the second functional network element, wherein the third information at least includes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information is associated with the first information and the second information.
2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the measuring of the network performance associated with the VN group comprises at least one of the following:

   Measuring an average number of Quality of Service (QoS) flows associated with the VN group;

   Measuring the maximum number of QoS flows associated with the VN group;

   Measuring the connection success rate of the protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the VN group;

   measuring the number of online users associated with the VN group;

   Measuring the size of the uplink bandwidth associated with the VN group;

   The size of the downlink bandwidth associated with the VN group is measured.
3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the adjusting the configuration information associated with the VN group comprises at least one of the following:

   Adjust relevant information of the network slice associated with the VN group;

   Adjust relevant information of the PDU session policy associated with the VN group.
4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the obtaining of the first information comprises:

   Receive the first information sent by the third functional network element.
5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the third functional network element includes an application function AF, and the receiving the first information sent by the third functional network element comprises:

   The first information sent by the AF is received through a network open function NEF.
6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the method further comprises include:

   The fourth information is obtained from the fourth functional network element, wherein the fourth information at least includes the contract information of the members of the VN group, and the third information is also associated with the fourth information.
7. The method according to claim 6 is characterized in that the fourth information is associated with the fifth information, the fifth information is sent by the third functional network element to the fourth functional network element, and the fifth information is used to store or update the contract information of the members of the VN group.
8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is characterized in that the first functional network element includes operation management and maintenance OAM, and the second functional network element includes a session management function SMF and/or a user plane function UPF.
9. An information transmission method, characterized in that it is applied to a third function network element, comprising:

   Sending first information to a first functional network element, wherein the first functional network element measures network performance associated with a VN group in response to the first information and adjusts configuration information associated with the VN group, wherein the first information represents the business requirements of the VN group.
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the third functional network element includes an AF, and the sending the first information to the first functional network element includes:

    The first information is sent to the first functional network element through the NEF.
11. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the method further comprises:

    Send fifth information to the fourth functional network element, and the fifth information is used to store or update the contract information of the members of the VN group.
12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the third functional network element includes an AF, and the sending the fifth information to the fourth functional network element comprises:

    The fifth information is sent to the fourth functional network element through the NEF.
13. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12 is characterized in that the first functional network element includes OAM.
14. An information transmission device, characterized in that it comprises:

    An acquisition unit, configured to acquire first information, where the first information represents a service demand of the VN group;

    a measuring unit, configured to measure the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, The second information includes at least network status information associated with the VN group;

    An adjusting unit, configured to adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, wherein the third information at least includes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information is associated with the first information and the second information;

    The first sending unit is used to send the third information to the second functional network element.
15. An information transmission device, characterized in that it comprises:

    The second sending unit is used to send first information to the first functional network element, wherein the first functional network element measures the network performance associated with the VN group in response to the first information and adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group, and the first information represents the business needs of the VN group.
16. A first functional network element, characterized in that it comprises: a first communication interface and a first processor; wherein,

    The first processor is configured to:

    Acquire first information through the first communication interface, where the first information represents a service demand of the VN group;

    Measuring the network performance associated with the VN group to obtain second information, wherein the second information at least includes network status information associated with the VN group;

    Adjust the configuration information associated with the VN group to obtain third information, and send the third information to the second functional network element through the first communication interface, the third information at least includes the adjusted configuration information associated with the VN group, and the third information is associated with the first information and the second information.
17. A third functional network element, characterized in that it comprises: a second communication interface and a second processor; wherein,

    The second communication interface is used to send first information to the first functional network element, wherein the first functional network element measures the network performance associated with the VN group in response to the first information and adjusts the configuration information associated with the VN group, and the first information represents the business needs of the VN group.
18. A first functional network element, characterized in that it comprises: a first processor and a first memory for storing a computer program that can be run on the processor,

    Wherein, when the first processor is used to run the computer program, the computer program executes claims 1 to 8 Any step of the method described above.
19. A third functional network element, characterized in that it comprises: a second processor and a second memory for storing a computer program that can be run on the processor,

    Wherein, when the second processor is used to run the computer program, the steps of the method described in any one of claims 9 to 13 are executed.
20. A storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1 to 8 are implemented, or the steps of the method described in any one of claims 9 to 13 are implemented.