CN115190646A

CN115190646A - Session establishing method, communication device and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN115190646A
Application number: CN202110363796.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 包宸曦
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-04-02
Filing date: 2021-04-02
Publication date: 2022-10-14

Abstract

The invention provides a session establishing method, communication equipment and a storage medium, wherein the method comprises the following steps: a control plane function receives a first session establishment request initiated by a terminal; and under the condition that the session is established for the terminal, the control plane function sends a session modification request to a user plane function, wherein the session modification request is used for requesting the user plane function to merge the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, and the target session is the session established for the terminal. The invention can save network resources.

Description

Session establishing method, communication device and storage medium

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a session establishment method, a communication device, and a storage medium.

Background

In the communication system, a terminal may initiate a session establishment request to a network side, and the network side establishes a corresponding session (session) for the terminal after receiving the session establishment request initiated by the terminal. However, in practical applications, a terminal may initiate multiple session establishment requests, and thus, a network side establishes multiple sessions for the terminal based on the multiple session establishment requests, which results in relatively high network resource consumption.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a session establishing method, communication equipment and a storage medium, which aim to solve the problem of high network resource consumption.

The embodiment of the invention provides a session establishing method, which comprises the following steps:

a control plane function receives a first session establishment request initiated by a terminal;

and under the condition that the session is established for the terminal, the control plane function sends a session modification request to a user plane function, wherein the session modification request is used for requesting the user plane function to merge the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, and the target session is the session established for the terminal.

Optionally, the session modification request includes at least one or more of the following:

a session rule corresponding to the first session establishment request and a session parameter corresponding to the first session establishment request;

the session rule is generated based on the session parameter corresponding to the first session establishment request.

Optionally, if the session modification request includes a session rule, the session modification request is used to request that the session rule is newly added in the target session; or

And if the session modification request comprises the session parameters, the session modification request is used for requesting to update the session rules of the target session based on the session parameters.

Optionally, the session modification request includes:

and indication information used for indicating that the same session is established for the terminal.

Optionally, after the control plane function sends a session modification request to the user plane function, the method further includes:

and under the condition that the user plane function is determined to merge the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, the control plane function sends a session establishment response message to the terminal through network side equipment, wherein the session establishment response message is used for informing the terminal that the session corresponding to the first session establishment request is established.

Optionally, before the control plane function sends a session establishment response message to the terminal through the network side device, the method further includes:

and the control plane function receives a session modification response sent by the user plane function, wherein the session modification response is used for indicating that the user plane function merges the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

Optionally, before the control plane function receives the first session establishment request initiated by the terminal, the method further includes:

and the control plane function receives a second session establishment request initiated by the terminal and establishes the target session for the terminal based on the second session establishment request.

Optionally, the control plane function has multiple network side functions, the first session establishment request is a session establishment request for a first network side function of the multiple network side functions, and the second session establishment request is a session establishment request for a second network side function of the multiple network side functions.

Optionally, before the control plane function sends the session modification request to the user plane function, the method further includes:

the control plane function sends a first setting request to the user plane function, wherein the first setting request is used for representing the capability of the control plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal;

and the control plane function receives a first setting response sent by the user plane function, wherein the first setting response is used for indicating the capability of the user plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal.

the control plane function receives a second setting request sent by the user plane function, wherein the second setting request is used for representing the capability of the user plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal;

and the control plane function sends a second setting response to the user plane function, wherein the second setting response is used for expressing the capability of the control plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal.

a user plane function receives a session modification request sent by a control plane function, wherein the session modification request is used for requesting the user plane function to merge a session corresponding to a first session establishment request in a target session, and the target session is a session which is established for a terminal before the terminal initiates the first session establishment request;

and the user plane function combines the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

Optionally, if the session modification request includes a session rule, the session modification request is used to request that the session rule is newly added in the target session, and the user plane function merges the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, including:

the user plane function adds the session rule in the target session;

or,

if the session modification request includes the session parameter, the session modification request is used to request that the session rule of the target session is updated based on the session parameter, and the user plane function merges the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, including:

and the user plane function updates the session parameters to the session rules of the target session.

Optionally, the session modification request includes:

indication information for indicating establishment of the same session for the terminal.

Optionally, after the user plane function merges the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, the method further includes:

and the user plane function sends a session modification response to the user plane function, wherein the session modification response is used for indicating that the user plane function merges the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

Optionally, before the user plane function receives a session modification request sent by the control plane function, the method further includes:

and the user plane function establishes the target session, and the target session corresponds to a second session establishment request initiated by the terminal.

Optionally, the user plane function has multiple network side functions, the first session establishment request is a session establishment request for a first network side function of the multiple network side functions, and the second session establishment request is a session establishment request for a second network side function of the multiple network side functions.

Optionally, before the user plane function receives the session modification request sent by the control plane function, the method further includes:

the user plane function receives a first setting request sent by the control plane function, wherein the first setting request is used for representing the capability of the control plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal;

and the user plane function sends a first setting response to the control plane function, wherein the first setting response is used for indicating the capability of the user plane function for supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal.

the user plane function sends a second setting request to the control plane function, wherein the second setting request is used for representing the capability of the user plane function for supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal;

and the user plane function receives a second setting response sent by the control plane function, wherein the second setting response is used for expressing the capability of the control plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication device, where the communication device is a control plane function, and the communication device includes: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor, wherein:

a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for transceiving data under control of the processor; a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following:

receiving a first session establishment request initiated by a terminal;

and sending a session modification request to a user plane function under the condition that the session is established for the terminal, wherein the session modification request is used for requesting the user plane function to combine the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, and the target session is the session established for the terminal.

Optionally, if the session modification request includes a session rule, the session modification request is used to request that the session rule is newly added to the target session; or

Optionally, the session modification request includes:

Optionally, after the control plane function sends the session modification request to the user plane function, the processor is further configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations:

and under the condition that the user plane function is determined to merge the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, sending a session establishment response message to the terminal through network side equipment, wherein the session establishment response message is used for informing the terminal that the session corresponding to the first session establishment request is established.

Optionally, before the control plane function receives the first session establishment request initiated by the terminal, the processor is further configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations:

and receiving a second session establishment request initiated by the terminal, and establishing the target session for the terminal based on the second session establishment request.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication device, where the communication device is a user plane function, and the communication device includes: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor, wherein:

a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for transceiving data under control of the processor; a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

receiving a session modification request sent by a control plane function, wherein the session modification request is used for requesting the user plane function to merge a session corresponding to a first session establishment request in a target session, and the target session is a session established for a terminal before the first session establishment request is initiated by the terminal;

and merging the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

the user plane function adds the session rule in the target session;

or,

Optionally, the session modification request includes:

Optionally, before the user plane function receives the session modification request sent by the control plane function, the communication device further includes:

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication device, where the communication device has a control plane function, and the communication device includes:

a first receiving unit, configured to receive a first session establishment request initiated by a terminal;

a first sending unit, configured to send a session modification request to a user plane function when a session has been established for the terminal, where the session modification request is used to request the user plane function to merge a session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, and the target session is a session already established for the terminal.

a session rule corresponding to the first session establishment request and session parameters corresponding to the first session establishment request;

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication device, where the communication device is a user plane function, and the communication device includes:

a first receiving unit, configured to receive a session modification request sent by a control plane function, where the session modification request is used to request the user plane function to merge a session corresponding to a first session establishment request in a target session, and the target session is a session that has been established for a terminal before the first session establishment request is initiated for the terminal;

and the merging unit is used for merging the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

the user plane function adds the session rule in the target session;

or,

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a processor-readable storage medium, where the processor-readable storage medium stores a computer program, where the computer program is configured to enable the processor to execute the session establishment method for the control plane function provided in the embodiment of the present invention, or the computer program is configured to enable the processor to execute the session establishment method for the user plane function provided in the embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the invention, a control plane function receives a first session establishment request initiated by a terminal; and under the condition that the session is established for the terminal, the control plane function sends a session modification request to a user plane function, wherein the session modification request is used for requesting the user plane function to merge the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, and the target session is the session established for the terminal. Therefore, the user plane function can be requested to combine the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, so as to save network resources.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture in which the present invention is applicable;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a session establishment method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an association setup provided by an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another association setup provided by embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of another session establishment method provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a session establishment method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 to 19 are structural diagrams of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

To make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the following detailed description is given with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

The term "and/or" in the embodiments of the present invention describes an association relationship of associated objects, and indicates that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may indicate: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

The term "plurality" in the embodiments of the present invention means two or more, and other terms are similar thereto.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

The method and the device are based on the same application concept, and because the principles of solving the problems of the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be mutually referred, and repeated parts are not repeated.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention can be suitable for various systems, particularly 6G systems. For example, suitable systems may be global system for mobile communications (GSM) systems, code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) systems, long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, long term evolution (long term evolution) systems, LTE-a systems, universal mobile systems (universal mobile telecommunications systems, UMTS), universal internet Access (world interoperability for microwave Access (WiMAX) systems, new G6 Radio systems, etc. These various systems include terminal devices and network devices. The System may further include a core network portion, such as an Evolved Packet System (EPS), a 5G System (5 GS), and the like.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a network architecture in which the present invention is applicable, and as shown in fig. 1, includes a terminal 11, a control plane function 12 and a user plane function 13;

the terminal according to the embodiments of the present invention may be a device providing voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device having a wireless connection function, or another processing device connected to a wireless modem. In different systems, the names of the terminal devices may be different, for example, in a 5G system, the terminal device may be called a User Equipment (UE). A wireless terminal device, which may be a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone (or called a "cellular" phone) and a computer having a mobile terminal device, for example, a portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included or vehicle-mounted mobile device, may communicate with one or more Core Networks (CNs) via a Radio Access Network (RAN), and may exchange languages and/or data with the RAN. Examples of the Wireless Communication devices include Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and Redcap terminals. The wireless terminal device may also be referred to as a system, a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a subscriber station (subscriber station), a mobile station (mobile), a remote station (remote station), an access point (access point), a remote terminal device (remote terminal), an access terminal device (access terminal), a user terminal device (user terminal), a user agent (user agent), and a user device (user device), which are not limited in the embodiments of the present invention.

The Control Plane Function (CP Function) according to the embodiment of the present invention implements a related Function of a Control Plane service for a network side, for example: control plane functions such as a Serving gateway Control plane Function (SGW-C), a packet data network gateway Control plane Function (PDN Gate Way-Control, PGW-C), or a Session Management Function (SMF); or, the control plane function is a fusion function plane function, that is, a plurality of control plane functions are fused, such as a fusion function plane function of the SGW-C and the PGW-C or a fusion function plane function of the PGW-C and the SMF.

The User Plane Function (UP Function) related to the embodiment of the present invention is a Function related to a User Plane service implemented by a network side, for example: user Plane functions such as Serving gateway User Plane Function (SGW-U), packet data network gateway User Plane Function (PDN gateway User, PGW-U) or User Plane Function (User Plane Function, UPF); or, the user plane function is a converged user plane function, that is, a plurality of user plane functions are merged, such as a converged function plane function of the SGW-U and the PGW-U or a converged function plane function of the PGW-U and the UPF.

Further, as shown in fig. 1, the method may further include: a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 14 and/or an Access Management Function (AMF) 15.

The device and the terminal on the network side may each use one or more antennas to perform Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmission, and the MIMO transmission may be Single User MIMO (SU-MIMO) or Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO). The MIMO transmission may be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO, or massive-MIMO, or may be diversity transmission, precoding transmission, beamforming transmission, or the like, depending on the form and number of root antenna combinations.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a flowchart of a session establishment method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 2, the method includes the following steps:

step 201, a control plane function receives a first session establishment request initiated by a terminal;

step 202, in a case that a session has been established for the terminal, the control plane function sends a session modification request to a user plane function, where the session modification request is used to request the user plane function to merge a session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, and the target session is a session already established for the terminal.

The first session establishment request initiated by the control plane function receiving terminal may be a session establishment request initiated by the control plane function receiving terminal through network elements such as an AMF or an MME. For example: an initiated Packet Forwarding Control Protocol (PFCP) session establishment request.

And the first session establishment request may be initiated when the terminal has a service requirement.

After the control plane function receives the first session establishment request, whether the terminal has established a session is identified, and if the terminal has established a session, a session modification request is sent to the user plane function. The session established for the terminal may be a session established for the terminal by a core network.

The terminal established session refers to a session that the network side has established for the terminal before the terminal initiates the first session establishment request.

After receiving the session modification request, the user plane function merges the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the session established by the terminal, where the merging may be adding the session content corresponding to the first session establishment request to the session.

In the embodiment of the invention, the session corresponding to the session establishment request initiated by the terminal can be merged in the established session of the terminal through the steps, and the session established for the terminal is reduced so as to save network resources. And the first session establishment request may be a first session establishment request, a second session establishment request, and an nth session establishment request sent after the session is established, so that a single session may be established for the same terminal, and network resources may be further saved.

As an optional implementation, the session modification request at least one or more of the following:

The session rule may be a rule related to a service of the first session establishment request, for example: the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the session Rule may further include other rules defined in the protocol for establishing a session, such as a Packet Detection Rule (PDR), a Forwarding Action Rule (FAR) and so on. The session rule corresponding to the first session establishment request may be a session rule required to establish a session corresponding to the first session establishment request or a session rule in a session corresponding to the first session establishment request.

The session parameters corresponding to the first session establishment request may be parameters related to the service of the first session request, for example: service Data Flow (SDF) filtering parameters (Filter), application identification (Application ID), and quality of service Flow identification (QoS Flow ID, QFI). It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the session parameter is not limited, and the session parameter may also include other parameters for establishing a session defined by a protocol. The session parameter corresponding to the first session establishment request may be a session parameter required to establish a session corresponding to the first session establishment request or a session parameter in a session corresponding to the first session establishment request.

In addition, the session rule and the session parameter may be configured for the terminal by the network side, or may be reported by the terminal, and the like, which is not limited thereto.

In this embodiment, since the session modification request includes at least one of a session rule corresponding to the first session establishment request and a session parameter corresponding to the first session establishment request, the control plane function may quickly merge the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the above session.

In this embodiment, the session merging may be implemented by adding a new session rule or updating a session rule.

As an optional implementation, the session modification request includes:

The indication information may be referred to as a Single Session establishment identifier, such as an SS (Single Session).

And establishing a single session for the terminal through the indication information. In some embodiments, the session modification request may not include the above indication information, for example: and after receiving the session modification request sent by the control plane function, the user plane function defaults to carry out session merging.

As an optional implementation manner, after the control plane function sends the session modification request to the user plane function, the method further includes:

The session establishment response message may be sent to the terminal through the AMF or the MME. The notifying the terminal that the session corresponding to the first session establishment request is established may be that the session establishment response message carries related information of a new session (i.e., a session corresponding to the first session establishment request) to notify that the session corresponding to the first session establishment request is established, where the carried related information may be information agreed by a protocol.

In this embodiment, the session establishment response message is used to notify the terminal that the session corresponding to the first session establishment request is established, so that for the terminal, multiple sessions, that is, the session established by the terminal, are established, and the session corresponding to the first session establishment request is established, so that the terminal realizes the complexity of session merging.

And the session modification response is sent to the control plane function after the user plane function merges the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

It should be noted that, the present disclosure does not limit the control plane function to receive the session modification response sent by the user plane function, for example: in some embodiments, the control plane function may be to default to session merge completion at a preset time after the session modification request is sent.

As an optional implementation manner, before the control plane function receives the first session establishment request initiated by the terminal, the method further includes:

The second session establishment request is a session establishment request initiated before the terminal initiates the first session establishment request.

The above-mentioned establishment method for establishing the target session for the terminal based on the second session establishment request may refer to a session establishment method defined in a protocol, which is not described in detail herein.

In the embodiment, only one session needs to be maintained on the network side aiming at a plurality of session establishment requests, so that network resources are saved.

Wherein, the above-mentioned control plane function possesses multiple network side functions to understand that the above-mentioned control plane function is a converged control plane function, for example: such as the fusion function of SGW-C and PGW-C or the fusion function of PGW-C and SMF.

The first network-side function and the second network-side function may be different control plane functions. And the first network side function and the second network side function may be selected by the network element such as the AMF or the MME for the session establishment request.

In this embodiment, the session corresponding to the session establishment request of different network side functions in the same control plane function can be performed, so as to save network resources.

In addition, in this embodiment, the user plane function may be a converged user plane function, such as a converged function plane function of an SGW-U and a PGW-U or a converged function plane function of a PGW-U and a UPF, and the first session establishment request and the second session establishment request may correspond to different network side functions in the user plane function.

As an optional implementation manner, before the control plane function sends the session modification request to the user plane function, the method further includes:

The first setting request is used to inform a user plane function of the capability of the control plane control supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal, and the first setting response is used to inform a control plane function of the capability of the user plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal.

For example: as shown in fig. 3, a control plane Function (e.g., converged CP Function) sends a PFCP Association Setup Request (PFCP Association Setup Request) message to a user plane Function (e.g., converged UP Function), where the message carries features supported by the control plane Function, where a new feature, such as SS (Single Session), is defined to indicate that the control plane Function supports the capability of establishing only a Single Session for a terminal.

A user plane Function (e.g., converged UP Function) sets a Response (PFCP Association Setup Response) message to a control plane Function (e.g., converged CP Function) PFCP Association, which carries features supported by itself, where a new feature, such as SS (Single Session), is defined, indicating that the user plane Function also supports the capability of establishing only a Single Session for a terminal.

In this embodiment, the control plane function and the user plane function protocol implement the capability of establishing a session for the same terminal through the first setting request and the first setting response.

For example: as shown in fig. 4:

the user plane Function (e.g., converged UP Function) sends a PFCP Association Setup Request message to the control plane Function (e.g., converged CP Function), which carries features supported by itself, where a new feature, such as SS (Single Session), is defined, indicating that the user plane Function supports the capability of establishing only a Single Session for a terminal.

The control plane Function (e.g., converged CP Function) sends a PFCP Association Setup Response message to the user plane Function (e.g., converged UP Function), carrying features supported by itself, where a new feature, such as SS (Single Session), is defined, indicating that the control plane Function supports the capability of establishing only a Single Session for one terminal.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a flowchart of another session establishment method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 5, the method includes the following steps:

step 501, a user plane function receives a session modification request sent by a control plane function, where the session modification request is used to request the user plane function to merge a session corresponding to a first session establishment request in a target session, and the target session is a session already established for a terminal before the terminal initiates the first session establishment request;

step 502, the user plane function merges the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

the user plane function adds the session rule in the target session;

or,

Optionally, the session modification request includes:

and the user plane function sends a session modification response to the user plane function, wherein the session modification response is used for indicating that the user plane function combines the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

and the user plane function sends a first setting response to the control plane function, wherein the first setting response is used for indicating the capability of the user plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal.

the user plane function sends a second setting request to the control plane function, wherein the second setting request is used for representing the capability of the user plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal;

It should be noted that, this embodiment is used as an implementation of the user plane function corresponding to the embodiment shown in fig. 2, and specific implementation thereof may refer to the relevant description of the embodiment shown in fig. 2, so that, in order to avoid repeated description, the embodiment is not described again, and the same beneficial effects may also be achieved.

The method provided by the embodiment of the invention is illustrated by the following embodiment:

examples

In this embodiment, the control plane function is a converged control plane function, the user plane function is a converged user plane function, the network side only reserves a session established by a terminal for the first time, and combines a new session establishment request of the terminal with an existing session for example by modifying rules and parameters of the existing session, as shown in fig. 6, the method includes the following steps:

step 601, when the terminal has a service requirement, sending a PFCP Session Establishment Request (PFCP Session Establishment Request) message to a control plane Function (CP Function) through network elements such as an AMF/MME and the like.

Step 602, the AMF/MME selects a control plane Function (CP Function), and selects a converged control plane Function (CP Function), which may also be referred to as a converged control plane Function network element, for the terminal according to a configuration or a network policy.

Step 603, the AMF/MME forwards a PFCP Session Establishment Request (PFCP Session Establishment Request) message to the selected converged control plane function.

Step 604, the selected convergence control plane Function performs user plane Function (UP Function) selection, and selects a convergence user plane Function (UP Function) network element, which may also be referred to as a convergence user plane Function network element, for the terminal according to configuration or a network policy.

Step 605, the converged user plane function first establishes a PFCP session for the terminal according to a protocol agreed manner, including requiring the converged user plane function to establish a related session for the terminal, and configuring related FAR, PDR, and other contents.

Step 606, after the PFCP Session Establishment is completed, the convergence control plane function returns a PFCP Session Establishment Response (PFCP Session Establishment Response) message to the terminal through the AMF/MME, informing the terminal that the Session Establishment is successful, and performing subsequent services.

Step 607, when the terminal subsequently needs to establish a session request for another part of functions of the converged network element (for example, the SGW-C and the SGW-U in the converged network element that were used before, and the PGW-C and the PGW-U in the converged network element that need to be used after that), the terminal re-requests to establish a session according to the method in step 601, and performs flows such as control plane Function selection through the above-mentioned method.

Step 608, if the selected CP Function and UP Function are still the previously selected convergence control plane Function and convergence user plane Function, and the convergence control plane Function and convergence user plane Function have been previously associated and negotiated for a single session establishment capability, after the convergence control plane Function receives the session establishment request of the terminal, it identifies that the MSISDN of the terminal has been previously established by a terminal ID, such as a Subscriber Permanent Identifier (SUPI) of the terminal, an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) or a Mobile Subscriber number (Mobile Subscriber International ISDN/PSTN number, etc.), and then grants the new session establishment request of the terminal, but in its network element, merges the new session with the existing session of the terminal.

Step 609, the convergence control plane function sends a PFCP Session Modification Request (PFCP Session Modification Request) message to the convergence user plane function, and the PFCP Session Modification Request message carries a Single Session establishment identifier, such as an SS (Single Session), indicating that the message is for establishing a Single Session. Parameters and/or addresses and the like required for the new session establishment request are added or updated in rules such as the PDR and/or the FAR (the PDR and/or the FAR are merely examples, and actually may include more parameters). One mode is that a set of new PDR and/or FAR rules are established for a new session and sent to the converged user plane function; in another way, parameters in the existing rules, such as PDR and/or FAR, are updated, and new parameters are added to the existing rules, such as new SDF Filter, application ID, QFI, etc. The two modes can meet the requirement that the integration control function carries out multiple rule matching on the same session.

Step 610, the function of the convergence control plane receives the PFCP Session Modification Request, and adds or updates the current PDR, FAR, and other rules to implement merging new sessions in the established sessions.

Step 611, the converged user plane function returns a PFCP Session Modification Response (PFCP Session Modification Response) message to the converged control plane function, and confirms that the Session rule has been added or updated.

Step 612, after completing the PFCP Session Establishment, the convergence control plane function returns a PFCP Session Establishment Response (PFCP Session Establishment Response) message to the terminal through the AMF/MME, which carries the relevant information of the new Session, and informs the terminal that the new Session is successfully established, so that the subsequent service can be performed. I.e. it is considered at the terminal that two sessions are established but merged at the convergence device.

Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the communication device is a control plane, and as shown in fig. 7, the communication device includes a memory 720, a transceiver 700, and a processor 710:

a memory 720 for storing a computer program; a transceiver 700 for transceiving data under the control of the processor 710; a processor 710 for reading the computer program in the memory 720 and performing the following operations:

receiving a first session establishment request initiated by a terminal;

and under the condition that the session is established for the terminal, sending a session modification request to a user plane function, wherein the session modification request is used for requesting the user plane function to combine the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, and the target session is the session established for the terminal.

Wherein in fig. 7, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors, represented by processor 710, and various circuits, represented by memory 720, being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 700 may be a plurality of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over transmission media including wireless channels, wired channels, fiber optic cables, and the like. The user interface 730 may also be an interface capable of interfacing with a desired device for different user devices, including but not limited to a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc.

The processor 710 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 720 may store data used by the processor 700 in performing operations.

Alternatively, the processor 710 may be a CPU (central processing unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), and the processor may also have a multi-core architecture.

The processor is used for executing any method provided by the embodiment of the invention according to the obtained executable instructions by calling the computer program stored in the memory. The processor and memory may also be physically separated.

Optionally, the session modification request includes:

Optionally, after the control plane function sends a session modification request to the user plane function, the processor 710 is further configured to read the computer program in the memory 720 and perform the following operations:

Optionally, before the control plane function sends a session establishment response message to the terminal through the network side device, the processor 710 is further configured to read the computer program in the memory 720 and perform the following operations:

and receiving a session modification response sent by the user plane function, wherein the session modification response is used for indicating that the user plane function merges the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

Optionally, before the control plane function receives the first session establishment request initiated by the terminal, the processor 710 is further configured to read the computer program in the memory 720 and perform the following operations:

Optionally, before the control plane function sends the session modification request to the user plane function, the processor 710 is further configured to read the computer program in the memory 720 and perform the following operations:

sending a first setting request to the user plane function, wherein the first setting request is used for indicating the capability of the control plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal;

and receiving a first setting response sent by the user plane function, wherein the first setting response is used for indicating the capability of the user plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal.

receiving a second setting request sent by the user plane function, wherein the second setting request is used for indicating the capability of the user plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal;

and sending a second setting response to the user plane function, wherein the second setting response is used for expressing the capability of the control plane function for supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal.

It should be noted that, the communication device provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted here.

Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the communication device is a user plane function, and as shown in fig. 8, the communication device includes a memory 820, a transceiver 800, and a processor 810:

a memory 820 for storing a computer program; a transceiver 800 for transceiving data under the control of the processor 810; a processor 810 for reading the computer program in the memory 820 and performing the following operations:

Where in fig. 8, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors, represented by processor 810, and various circuits, represented by memory 820, being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 800 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over transmission media including wireless channels, wired channels, fiber optic cables, and the like. The user interface 830 may also be an interface capable of interfacing with a desired device for different user devices, including but not limited to a keypad, a display, a speaker, a microphone, a joystick, etc.

The processor 810 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 820 may store data used by the processor 800 in performing operations.

Alternatively, the processor 810 may be a CPU (central processing unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), and the processor may also have a multi-core architecture.

the user plane function adds the session rule in the target session;

or,

Optionally, the session modification request includes:

Optionally, after the user plane function merges the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, the processor 810 is further configured to read the computer program in the memory 820 and perform the following operations:

Optionally, before the user plane function receives the session modification request sent by the control plane function, the processor 810 is further configured to read the computer program in the memory 820 and perform the following operations:

and establishing the target session, wherein the target session corresponds to a second session establishment request initiated by the terminal.

receiving a first setting request sent by the control plane function, wherein the first setting request is used for indicating the capability of the control plane function for supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal;

and sending a first setting response to the control plane function, wherein the first setting response is used for indicating the capability of the user plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal.

sending a second setting request to the control plane function, wherein the second setting request is used for indicating the capability of the user plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal;

and receiving a second setting response sent by the control plane function, wherein the second setting response is used for indicating the capability of the control plane function supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal.

Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a block diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the communication device is a control plane function, and as shown in fig. 9, the communication device 900 includes:

a first receiving unit 901, configured to receive a first session establishment request initiated by a terminal;

a first sending unit 902, configured to send a session modification request to a user plane function when a session has been established for the terminal, where the session modification request is used to request the user plane function to merge a session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, and the target session is a session already established for the terminal.

Optionally, the session modification request includes:

Optionally, as shown in fig. 10, the communication device further includes:

a second sending unit 903, configured to send, by a network side device, a session establishment response message to the terminal when it is determined that the user plane function merges the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, where the session establishment response message is used to notify the terminal that the session corresponding to the first session establishment request is established.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 11, the communication device further includes:

a second receiving unit 904, configured to receive a session modification response sent by the user plane function, where the session modification response is used to indicate that the user plane function has merged the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 12, the communication device further includes:

a third receiving unit 905, configured to receive a second session establishment request initiated by the terminal, and establish the target session for the terminal based on the second session establishment request.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 13, the communication device further includes:

a third sending unit 906, configured to send a first setting request to the user plane function, where the first setting request is used to indicate that the control plane function supports a capability of establishing a same session for a same terminal;

a fourth receiving unit 907, configured to receive a first setting response sent by the user plane function, where the first setting response is used to indicate that the user plane function supports the capability of establishing the same session for the same terminal.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 14, the communication device further includes:

a fifth receiving unit 908, configured to receive a second setting request sent by the user plane function, where the second setting request is used to indicate that the user plane function supports the capability of establishing the same session for the same terminal;

a fourth sending unit 909, configured to send a second setting response to the user plane function, where the second setting response is used to indicate that the control plane function supports the capability of establishing the same session for the same terminal.

It should be noted that, the terminal provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted here.

Referring to fig. 15, fig. 15 is a structural diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the communication device is a user plane function, and as shown in fig. 15, a network device 1500 includes:

a first receiving unit 1501, configured to receive a session modification request sent by a control plane function, where the session modification request is used to request the user plane function to merge a session corresponding to a first session establishment request in a target session, and the target session is a session that has been established for a terminal before the first session establishment request is initiated for the terminal;

a merging unit 1502, configured to merge the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

the user plane function adds the session rule in the target session;

or,

Optionally, the session modification request includes:

Optionally, as shown in fig. 16, the communication device further includes:

a first sending unit 1503, configured to send a session modification response to the user plane function, where the session modification response is used to indicate that the user plane function has merged the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 17, the communication device further includes:

an establishing unit 1504, configured to establish the target session, where the target session corresponds to a second session establishment request initiated by the terminal.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 18, the communication device further includes:

a second receiving unit 1505, configured to receive a first setting request sent by the control plane function, where the first setting request is used to indicate that the control plane function supports the capability of establishing the same session for the same terminal;

a second sending unit 1506, configured to send a first setting response to the control plane function, where the first setting response is used to indicate that the user plane function supports the capability of establishing the same session for the same terminal.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 19, the communication device further includes:

a third sending unit 1507, configured to send a second setting request to the control plane function, where the second setting request is used to indicate a capability that the user plane function supports establishment of a same session for a same terminal;

a third receiving unit 1508, configured to receive a second setup response sent by the control plane function, where the second setup response is used to indicate that the control plane function supports the capability of establishing the same session for the same terminal.

It should be noted that, the network device provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the method embodiment in this embodiment are not repeated herein.

It should be noted that the division of the unit in the embodiment of the present invention is schematic, and is only a logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation. In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a processor readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be substantially implemented or contributed by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The processor-readable storage medium can be any available medium or data storage device that can be accessed by a processor, including, but not limited to, magnetic memory (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disks (MOs), etc.), optical memory (e.g., CDs, DVDs, BDs, HVDs, etc.), and semiconductor memory (e.g., ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, non-volatile memory (NAND FLASH), solid State Disks (SSDs)), etc.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These processor-executable instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A session establishment method, comprising:

and under the condition that the session is established for the terminal, the control plane function sends a session modification request to a user plane function, wherein the session modification request is used for requesting the user plane function to merge the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in a target session, and the target session is the session established for the terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the session modification request comprises at least one or more of:

3. The method of claim 2, wherein if the session modification request includes a session rule, the session modification request is used to request that the session rule be added in the target session; or

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the session modification request comprises:

5. The method of claim 1, wherein after the control plane function sends the session modification request to the user plane function, the method further comprises:

6. The method of claim 5, wherein before the control plane function sends a session establishment response message to the terminal through a network side device, the method further comprises:

7. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the control plane function receiving a terminal-initiated first session establishment request, the method further comprises:

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the control plane function is capable of multiple network-side functions, the first session establishment request is a session establishment request for a first network-side function of the multiple network-side functions, and the second session establishment request is a session establishment request for a second network-side function of the multiple network-side functions.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein before the control plane function sends a session modification request to a user plane function, the method further comprises:

and the control plane function receives a first setting response sent by the user plane function, wherein the first setting response is used for indicating the capability of the user plane function for supporting the establishment of the same session for the same terminal.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein before the control plane function sends a session modification request to a user plane function, the method further comprises:

11. A session establishment method, comprising:

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the session modification request comprises at least one or more of:

13. The method of claim 12, wherein if the session modification request includes a session rule, the session modification request is used to request that the session rule is newly added in the target session, and the user plane function merges a session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, including:

the user plane function adds the session rule in the target session;

or,

14. The method of claim 11, wherein prior to the user plane function receiving the session modification request sent by the control plane function, the method further comprises:

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the user plane function comprises a plurality of network-side functions, the first session establishment request is a session establishment request for a first network-side function of the plurality of network-side functions, and the second session establishment request is a session establishment request for a second network-side function of the plurality of network-side functions.

16. A communications device, the communications device being a control plane function, comprising: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor, wherein:

receiving a first session establishment request initiated by a terminal;

17. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the session modification request includes at least one or more of:

18. The communications device of claim 17, wherein if a session rule is included in the session modification request, the session modification request is for requesting that the session rule be newly added in the target session; or

19. The communications device of claim 16, wherein said session modification request comprises:

20. The communications device of claim 16, wherein after the control plane function sends a session modification request to a user plane function, the processor is further configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following:

and sending a session establishment response message to the terminal through network side equipment under the condition that the user plane function is determined to merge the session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, wherein the session establishment response message is used for informing the terminal that the session corresponding to the first session establishment request is established.

21. The communications device of claim 16, wherein prior to the control plane function receiving a terminal initiated first session establishment request, the processor is further configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following:

22. A communication device, the communication device being a user plane function, comprising: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor, wherein:

receiving a session modification request sent by a control plane function, wherein the session modification request is used for requesting the user plane function to merge a session corresponding to a first session establishment request in a session, and the target session is a session established for a terminal before the first session establishment request is initiated by the terminal;

23. The communications device of claim 22, wherein said session modification request includes at least one or more of:

24. The communications device of claim 23, wherein if a session rule is included in the session modification request, the session modification request is used to request that the session rule be added in the target session, and the user plane function merges a session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session, including:

the user plane function adds the session rule in the target session;

or,

25. The communications device of claim 22, wherein before the user plane function receives the session modification request sent by the control plane function, the communications device further comprises:

26. A communication device, the communication device being a control plane function, comprising:

a first sending unit, configured to send a session modification request to a user plane function when the terminal has established a session, where the session modification request is used to request the user plane function to merge a session corresponding to the first session establishment request in the target session.

27. A communication device, the communication device being a user plane function, comprising:

a first receiving unit, configured to receive a session modification request sent by a control plane function, where the session modification request is used to request the user plane function to merge a session corresponding to a first session establishment request in a target session, and the target session is a session that has been established for a terminal before the terminal initiates the first session establishment request;

28. A processor-readable storage medium, characterized in that the processor-readable storage medium stores a computer program for causing the processor to execute the session establishment method of any one of claims 1 to 10, or the computer program for causing the processor to execute the session establishment method of any one of claims 11 to 15.