CN106982458B

CN106982458B - Network slice selection method and device

Info

Publication number: CN106982458B
Application number: CN201710137404.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 武绍芸
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-03-09
Filing date: 2017-03-09
Publication date: 2019-12-17
Anticipated expiration: 2037-03-09
Also published as: WO2018161803A1; CN106982458A

Abstract

The application discloses a method and a device for selecting a network slice, which are used for solving the problem that the prior art can not ensure that a user obtains the same experience with a home location at a visiting location. The method comprises the following steps: a first SSF of a VPLMN receives a slice selection request, wherein the slice selection request is used for requesting the first SSF to select a network slice for roaming terminal equipment, and the slice selection request comprises condition information which should be met by the requested network slice; the first SSF sends the condition information to a second SSF of the HPLMN; the first SSF receives slice information of a first network slice which is sent by the second SSF and meets the condition information; the first SSF selects a second network slice for the terminal device based on slice information of the first network slice.

Description

Network slice selection method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for selecting a network slice.

Background

The fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G) system proposes a network slice concept, where one network slice satisfies a certain class or one use case of connection communication service requirements, and the entire 5G system is composed of a large number of network slices satisfying different connection capabilities. The network slice is end-to-end and comprises a wireless access network, a core network, a transmission network and the like, and the wireless access network, the core network, the transmission network and the like are all subjected to slicing processing, so that a plurality of partial network slices are connected together to form an integral network slice which can provide a complete service for a user. The network slices of different parts are logically isolated from each other.

And after 5G network slicing processing, user equipment is subjected to selection of network slices when attaching or requesting services. Currently, when network Slice Selection is performed, an independent Slice Selection Function (SSF) of a logical network element is generally added on a network side, and is responsible for selecting a network Slice accessible to the UE. The radio access network Node (RAN Node) requests the SSF to allocate a network slice to the UE based on the request of the UE, so that the SSF selects the network slice for the UE after receiving the request of the UE.

Under the same Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), a User Equipment (UE) may access only one Network slice, or may access multiple Network slices, and simultaneously use different services provided by the multiple Network slices.

the roaming access network for the UE comprises two scenes: home routed (home routed) roaming and Local breakout (Local breakout) roaming. In a home routing roaming scenario, when a UE roams to a visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN, english: visual Public Land Mobile Network, abbreviated as VPLMN), an SSF of the visited place and an SSF of the home respectively select a Network slice for the user based on subscription information, policy information, and the like of the user obtained respectively, and a user plane tunnel is established between two Network slices, and subsequent services of the user are all forwarded to the home Network slice for processing. In a local breakout roaming scenario, when the UE roams to a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN), the SSF of the visited place selects a Network slice for the user, so that the Network slice of the visited place provides a service for the user and does not need to forward the service to the home Network for processing. However, due to the fact that plans of the visited place and the home place for subscription information, policy information and the like of the user may be inconsistent, service quality and the like of network slices selected for the user by the SSF of the visited place and the SSF of the home place are inconsistent, and therefore it is not possible to ensure that the user experiences the same as those in the home place in the visited place.

disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for selecting a network slice, which are used for solving the problem that the prior art can not ensure that a user obtains the same experience with a home location at a visiting location.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for selecting a network slice, including:

A first SSF device of a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN) receives a slice selection request, wherein the slice selection request is used for requesting the first SSF to select a network slice for roaming terminal equipment, and the slice selection request comprises condition information which is required to be met by the requested network slice; the first SSF sends the condition information to a second SSF of a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) of the terminal equipment; the first SSF receiving slice information of a first network slice which meets the condition information in the HPLMN and is sent by the second SSF; the first SSF selects a second network slice for the terminal device based on slice information of the first network slice.

Through the scheme, when the SSF of the visited place selects the slice for the terminal equipment, the SSF of the visited place preferentially selects the network slice for the terminal equipment, and then the SSF of the visited place selects a proper network slice for the terminal equipment according to the selection result of the home place, so that the reasonable slice selection experience of the roaming user in the visited place is ensured, and the roaming user can obtain the same user experience as that in the home place in the visited place.

in one possible design, the condition information includes at least one of the following information:

The identification information of the terminal equipment, the user information of the terminal equipment, the service type and the user subscription quality of service (QoS) information.

Through the design, the condition information comprises the information and is sent to the SSF of the home location, so that a good basis is provided for the SSF of the home location to select the network slice.

In one possible design, the slice information includes first session management network slice selection assistance information SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice and/or QoS information satisfied by the first network slice.

through the design, the SSF of the home location sends the first session management slice selection auxiliary information SM-NSSAI corresponding to the selected first network slice and/or the QoS information satisfied by the first network slice to the SSF of the visited location, so that the SSF of the visited location provides a basis for the SSF of the home location to select the network slice, a roaming user can be ensured to reasonably select the slice at the visited location, and further, the service experience consistent with that at the home location is obtained.

In one possible design, when the slice information includes the first SM-NSSAI, the first SSF selects a second network slice for the terminal device based on the slice information of the first network slice, including:

and the first SSF determines a second SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI based on a pre-configured SM-NSSAI mapping relation, wherein the second SM-NSSAI belongs to the second network slice.

Through the design, the SM-NSSAI mapping relation is configured on the first SSF of the home location, so that the SSF of the visited location selects the network slice for the roaming user based on the SM-NSSAI mapping relation, and the SM-NSSAI meeting the mapping relation corresponds to the two network slices, so that the service experience obtained by the user is consistent, the roaming user can be ensured to carry out reasonable slice selection in the visited location, and further the service experience consistent with that in the home location is obtained.

In one possible design, the method further includes:

And when the first SSF determines that the SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI does not exist in the SM-NSSAI mapping relation, selecting a third network slice for the terminal equipment.

through the design, a possible implementation mode is provided for the condition that the network slice cannot be selected based on the SM-NSSAI mapping relation.

In one possible design, when the slice information further includes QoS information satisfied by the first network slice, the method further includes:

And when the first SSF determines that the SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI does not exist in the SM-NSSAI mapping relation, the first SSF selects a second network slice which meets the QoS information met by the first network slice in the VPLMN.

Through the design, under the condition that the network slice can not be selected based on the SM-NSSAI mapping relation, the network slice is selected according to the QoS information, so that the network slice selected at the visiting place and the network slice selected at the attribution place can meet the same QOS requirement of a user, reasonable slice selection can be carried out by a roaming user at the visiting place, and further service experience consistent with that at the attribution place is obtained.

In one possible design, when the slice information includes QoS information satisfied by the first network slice, the first SSF selects a second network slice for the terminal device based on the slice information of the first network slice, including:

The first SSF selects a second network slice that satisfies the QoS information satisfied by the first network slice.

through the design, the network slice is selected at the visiting place according to the QoS information of the network slice selected at the attribution place, so that the network slice selected at the visiting place and the network slice selected at the attribution place can meet the same QoS requirement of a user, the reasonable slice selection of a roaming user at the visiting place is ensured, and the service experience consistent with that at the attribution place is further obtained.

In one possible design, the method further includes:

And when determining that the QoS information met by the first network slice is not met, the first SSF sends feedback information to a slice management system, wherein the feedback information is used for informing an administrator of the network slice which does not meet the service requirement of the terminal equipment.

through the design, after receiving the feedback information, an administrator can plan a network slice, or the slice management system automatically generates a network slice according to a pre-configured strategy. The feedback information may include identification information of the terminal device, identification information of the VPLMN, an identification of the HPLMN, SM-NSSAI of the home, QoS information, and the like.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for selecting a network slice, including:

A second slice selection functional entity SSF of a home public land mobile network HPLMN receives condition information which is sent by a first SSF of a VPLMN of a visiting public land mobile network and is used for selecting a network slice for roaming terminal equipment;

The second SSF selects a first network slice satisfying the condition information, and sends slice information of the first network slice to the first SSF, so that the first SSF selects a second network slice for the terminal device based on the slice information of the first network slice.

based on the same inventive concept as the method embodiment, in a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a device for selecting a network slice, including:

A receiving unit, configured to receive a slice selection request, where the slice selection request is used to request to select a network slice for a roaming terminal device, and the slice selection request includes condition information that the requested network slice should meet;

A sending unit, configured to send the condition information to a second SSF of a home public land mobile network HPLMN of the terminal device;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive slice information of a first network slice that satisfies the condition information in the HPLMN and is sent by the HPLMN;

a selecting unit, configured to select a second network slice for the terminal device based on the slice information of the first network slice.

In one possible design, the slice information includes first session management slice selection side information SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice and/or QoS information satisfied by the first network slice.

in a possible design, when the slice information includes the first SM-NSSAI, the selecting unit is specifically configured to determine, based on a pre-configured SM-NSSAI mapping relationship, a second SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI, where the second SM-NSSAI belongs to the second network slice.

In a possible design, the selecting unit is further configured to select a third network slice for the terminal device when it is determined that the SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI does not exist in the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship.

in a possible design, when the slice information further includes QoS information that is satisfied by a first network slice, the selecting unit is further configured to select a second network slice that satisfies the QoS information that is satisfied by the first network slice when it is determined that an SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI does not exist in the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship.

In one possible design, when the slice information includes QoS information satisfied by the first network slice, the selection unit is further configured to select a second network slice that satisfies the QoS information satisfied by the first network slice.

In a possible design, the sending unit is further configured to send feedback information to a slice management system when it is determined that the QoS information satisfied by the first network slice is not satisfied, where the feedback information is used to notify an administrator of a network slice that does not satisfy a service requirement of the terminal device.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus for selecting a network slice, including:

The receiving unit is used for receiving the condition information which is sent by the VPLMN of the visiting public land mobile network and is used for selecting the network slice for the roaming terminal equipment;

A selection unit configured to select a first network slice that satisfies the condition information;

A sending unit, configured to send the slice information of the first network slice selected by the selecting unit to the first SSF, so that the VPLMN selects a second network slice for the terminal device based on the slice information of the first network slice.

based on the same inventive concept as the method embodiment, in a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a device for selecting a network slice, where the device includes:

A communication interface, a processor, and a memory.

the memory is used for storing program codes executed by the processor.

The processor may receive and transmit data via the communication interface, and is specifically configured to execute the program code stored in the memory, so as to implement the method according to any one of the first aspect and the first aspect.

Based on the same inventive concept as the method embodiment, in a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a device for selecting a network slice, where the device includes: the device comprises:

A communication interface, a processor, and a memory.

the memory is used for storing program codes executed by the processor.

the processor receives and transmits data through the communication interface, and is specifically configured to execute the program code stored in the memory, so as to implement the method according to the second aspect or any design of the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, this embodiment of the present application further provides a computer storage medium, where a software program is stored, and when the software program is read and executed by one or more processors, the software program may implement the method provided by the first aspect or any one of the designs of the first aspect, or implement the method provided by the second aspect or any one of the designs of the second aspect.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of slice management performed by a slice management system according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a method for selecting a network slice according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an SM-NSSAI mapping relationship provided in an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network slice selection method according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a selection apparatus for a network slice applied to a first SSF of a VPLMN according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of another selection apparatus applied to a network slice of a first SSF of a VPLMN according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a device for selecting a network slice of a second SSF applied to an HPLMN according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of another apparatus for selecting a network slice applied to the second SSF of the HPLMN according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The network slice, i.e. the "5G slice", supports a communication service of a specific connection type, and provides a specific processing method for the service, namely Control Plane (CP) and User Plane (UP). To achieve this goal, a mobile operator implements configuration and management of hundreds of network slices on a control platform of a Core Network (CN) through configuration and arrangement of a series of network functions, so as to support a specific use case or business model. The network slice may relate to a series of configurations and supports of network elements between end to end, and includes a User Equipment (UE) terminal, an access network (RAN) terminal, and other devices. The network slice can be used for supporting specific application and business mode, only provides necessary service processing, avoids all other unnecessary functions, simplifies complexity and shortens the time for service to appear on the market; the network slice allows a third party to control the network slice to a certain degree, so that the flexibility is improved, and the workload of an operator is reduced; the network slice not only comprises a network slice on the resource, but also provides a general management method of the network and the network element based on the slice resource, such as deployment, expansion and contraction capacity, software upgrading and the like. When the number of slices is large, the maintenance cost of an operator is increased. In order to reduce maintenance cost, the automation degree of life cycle management processes such as network deployment, capacity expansion and expansion, upgrading and the like can be improved; in addition, the network slice is different from a mode of sharing the same network by a traditional Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), the network slice adopts a virtualization technology, isolation among different slices is realized from the resource aspect, and different networks are virtualized according to diversified requirements.

the network slice can realize the isolation of the network Quality of Service (called QoS for short), flexible network management and control and the improvement of the network efficiency, a network manager can decompose the QoS requirement from end to end and map the QoS requirement to different sub-network systems and forwarding equipment, and meanwhile, the network slice is established in a low-cost and high-speed mode without influencing the existing Service. The network slice can provide part of flexible programmable interfaces to be opened to third-party users, so that the third-party users can design and open the network service for sending based on the open interfaces and realize rapid deployment, considerable economic benefits are brought to operators, and the use efficiency of the existing network is improved.

referring to fig. 1, a network manager may manage a network slice of a network through a slice management system, including operations of creation and revocation. One network slice is divided according to functions and may include a RAN slice, a core network slice, and a transmission slice. Similar to the current 4G Network, the capability of RAN slice is equivalent to 1 or more access Network nodes (eNB), the capability of core Network slice is equivalent to (MME), the control plane of Serving Gateway (SGW), the control plane of Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW), the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), the Home Subscriber Server (HSS), and so on. The transmission slice corresponds to a route forwarding device such as a router connected to another device. The scheme provided by the embodiment of the application mainly aims at the selection of the network slice on the core network.

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a possible 5G network architecture. In fig. 2, the core network may be divided into a plurality of network slices, and each network slice includes a set of Network Functions (NF) with specific functions. In addition, the functions of the core network mainly include CP and UP. The functions of the CP can be divided into Common CP functions (Common CP NFs, CCNF for short) and specific CP functions (CP NFs). The common CP function includes Mobile Management (MM), authentication (authentication), etc., and is implemented by Access Management and mobility Management (AMF) and SSF. The specific CP function includes Session Management (SM) and the like. The common CP NFs may be used by one or more network slices in common, such as in fig. 2, network slice a and network slice B use one common CP NFs in common. The RAN is in communication with the SSFs and the respective network slices. After the terminal device accesses the RAN, a suitable network slice is selected through the SSF, so as to access a data network (data network), and a customized service is provided through CP NFs, UP NFs and parameter configuration, thereby forming an end-to-end network slice architecture in 5G. When selecting a network slice for a terminal device, the SSF may select a network slice for the terminal device based on user information of the terminal device stored in a user Repository (Subscriber hierarchy).

In the 5G network environment, when a user's terminal equipment roams from a home network HPLMN to a visited network VPLMN, the SSF of the VPLMN needs to select a network slice for the terminal equipment. At present, 5G services are more and more abundant, and there are great experience appeal with high bandwidth and low delay, in addition, in order to achieve the same user experience of a user at a visited place and a home place under a 5G network architecture, reasonable selection needs to be performed on slices besides reasonable QoS parameters are allocated, traditional network roaming is to roam from one network to another network, and no other network selection exists, whereas at present, in a 5G network environment, roaming from 1 network slice to multiple network slices is performed, and more selections are available.

therefore, in order to achieve the effect that a user obtains the same user experience at a visited place and at an attribution place, embodiments of the present application provide a method and an apparatus for selecting a network slice, when an SSF at the visited place selects a slice for a terminal device, the SSF at the attribution place preferentially selects a network slice for the terminal device, and then the SSF at the visited place selects a suitable network slice for the terminal device according to a selection result of the attribution place, thereby ensuring that a roaming user can obtain a reasonable slice selection experience at the visited place, and thus, the roaming user obtains the same user experience at the visited place as at the attribution place. The method and the device are based on the same inventive 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.

in addition, when the network slice is selected in the embodiment of the present application, the method may be applied to selection of a common CP NFs portion in different network slices, may also be applied to selection of a specific CP NFs portion in different network slices, or may also be applied to selection of a common CP NFs portion and selection of a specific CP NFs portion, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may be a wireless terminal, for example, a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (abbreviated as PDA), a mobile Internet device (abbreviated as MID), an Internet Protocol (abbreviated as Internet Protocol, IP) phone, a network printer, an electronic book reader, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, an Internet of things terminal device, such as a fire detection sensor, a smart water meter/electric meter, a smart bicycle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a factory monitoring device, and the like.

The embodiment of the application can be applied to a 5G communication system or a mobile communication system such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system.

The Session Management Network Slice Selection auxiliary Information (SM-NSSAI for short) related in the embodiments of the present application is Information used for Network Slice Selection as the name implies. The network Slice selection assistance information includes network Slice information/Service type (SST) and/or Slice Separator (SD). SST refers to the expected network behavior in terms of performance and service. The use of SD information to supplement SST information allows further differentiation of selected network slice instances from a plurality of network slice instances that all satisfy the indicated slice/service type information.

In the description of the embodiments of the present application, a plurality means two or more. And/or "describe the association relationship of the associated object, indicating that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, which 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.

In addition, it should be understood that the terms first, second, etc. in the description of the embodiments of the present application are used for distinguishing between the descriptions and not for indicating or implying relative importance or order.

Based on the above description, as shown in fig. 3, a schematic flow chart of a method for selecting a network slice according to an embodiment of the present application is provided.

Referring to fig. 3, the method includes:

S301, a first slice selection function SSF device of a visited public land mobile network VPLMN receives a slice selection request, wherein the slice selection request is used for requesting the first SSF to select a network slice for a roaming terminal device, and the slice selection request comprises condition information which the requested network slice should meet.

in this embodiment of the present application, the first SSF device receives the slice selection request, which may be triggered when the terminal device accesses the VPLMN and initiates an Attach (Attach), or may be triggered when a Tracking Area Update (TAU) or other flows are triggered.

Wherein the condition information includes at least one of the following information:

s302, the first SSF sends the condition information to a second SSF of a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN).

S303, after receiving the condition information, the second SSF selects the first network slice satisfying the condition information, and sends the slice information of the first network slice to the first SSF.

S304, the first SSF receives the slice information of the first network slice which is sent by the second SSF and meets the condition information.

S305, the first SSF selects a second network slice for the terminal device based on the slice information of the first network slice.

Specifically, the first SSF selects a second network slice for the roaming terminal device in the VPLMN where the first SSF is located based on the slice information of the first network slice.

In one possible implementation, the first SSF at the visited place and the second SSF at the home place perform network slice selection through SM-NSSAI.

There is a definition of SM-NSSAI in each PLMN.

the SM-NSSAI includes a plurality of network slices that satisfy different business services.

For example, two network slices are planned by the operator in the home network, facing two different QoS services, using two different SM-NSSAIs as identities. As shown in table 1, for the SM-NSSAI definition in the home network HPLMN.

TABLE 1

SM-NSSAI	corresponding slice	Planning bandwidth cap	Planning time delay	……
					1	Slice HA (Low business service)	10Mbps	100ms	……
2	slice HB (high business service)	1Gbps	10ms	……

The network slice corresponding to SM-NSSAI ═ 1 is a network slice HA for low service, and satisfies the service quality that the upper limit of the planned bandwidth is 10Mbps, and the planned delay is 100 ms. The network slice corresponding to SM-NSSAI ═ 2 is a network slice HA for high service, and meets the service quality that the upper limit of the planned bandwidth is 1Gbps, and the planned delay is 10 ms.

For example, the operator plans three network slices in the visited network, and uses three different SM-NSSAIs as identifiers for services of three different QoS, as shown in table 2, defined for SM-NSSAI of the visited network VPLMN.

TABLE 2

SM-NSSAI	Corresponding slice	Planning bandwidth cap	Planning time delay	……
					100	slice VA (Low Business service)	15Mbps	200ms	……
200	Slice VB (high business service)	900Mbps	15ms	……
					300	slice VC (others)	10Mbps	500ms	……

The network slice corresponding to the SM-NSSAI being 100 is a network slice VA for low service, and meets the service quality that the upper limit of the planned bandwidth is 15Mbps, and the planned delay is 200 ms. The network slice corresponding to the SM-NSSAI of 200 is a network slice VB for high service, and the network slice satisfies the service quality that the upper limit of the planned bandwidth is 900Mbps, and the planned delay is 15 ms. The network slice corresponding to the SM-NSSAI 300 is a network slice VC for other service services, and meets the service quality that the upper limit of the planned bandwidth is 10Mbps, and the planned delay is 500 ms.

Based on the above configuration, after the second SSF receives the condition information, the second SSF selects the first network slice that satisfies the condition information, and sends slice information of the first network slice to the first SSF. The slice information may include first slice selection side information SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice and/or QoS information satisfied by the first network slice.

In an application scenario, the slice information includes the first SM-NSSAI, that is, after determining that the first network slice is satisfied according to the condition information, the second SSF determines, according to the definition of the network slice in the SM-NSSAI, the SM-NSSAI of the first network slice, so as to send the SM-NSSAI of the first network slice to the first SSF. Then, in step S305, the first SSF selects a second network slice for the terminal device based on the slice information of the first network slice, which may be implemented as follows:

The SM-NSSAI mapping relationship may be pre-configured in the SSFs of the home and visited locations. Taking table 1 and table 2 as an example, the configured SM-NSSAI mapping relationship, as shown in fig. 4 and table 3, may be:

TABLE 3

SM-NSSAI.H	SM-NSSAI-V
		1	100
2	200
		Others	300

Wherein SM-NSSAI-H represents SM-NSSAI of the home HPLMN, and SM-NSSAI-V represents SM-NSSAI of the visited VPLMN.

The mapping relationship between SM-NSSAI of the HPLMN and SM-NSSAI of the VPLMN is used to select SM-NSSAI-V through SM-NSSAI-H. The SM-NSSAI mapping relationship can be configured to the SSFs of the VPLMN and the HPLMN.

Specifically, during network planning, a roaming agreement may be signed by the VPLMN and the HPLMN, and SM-NSSAI mapping relationships may be obtained by mapping SM-NSSAI of the VPLMN and the HPLMN according to QOS planning of each PLMN, and then configured on SSFs of the VPLMN and the HPLMN, respectively.

In addition to the exact mapping, a default SM-NSSAI-V may be configured, which may be chosen as a default when other rules cannot be matched. For example, when SM-NSSAI-H is neither 1 nor 2, SM-NSSAI-V is used at 300.

Specifically, when the first SSF determines that the SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI does not exist in the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship, a third network slice is selected for the terminal device.

In another application scenario, when the slice information includes the first SM-NSSAI of the first network slice, QoS information satisfied by the first network slice may also be included. After determining that the first network slice is satisfied according to the condition information, the second SSF determines the SM-NSSAI of the first network slice according to the definition of the network slice in the SM-NSSAI, and determines the QoS information that the first network slice satisfies. Thereby sending the SM-NSSAI and QoS information for the first network slice to the first SSF.

Therefore, when the first SSF determines that the SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI does not exist in the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship, the first SSF selects a second network slice in the VPLMN that satisfies the QoS information satisfied by the first network slice.

In yet another application scenario, the slice information includes QoS information that is satisfied by the first network slice. Namely, after the second SSF determines that the first network slice is satisfied according to the condition information, the QoS information that the first network slice satisfies is determined. Thereby sending the QoS information of the first network slice to the first SSF. Thus, when the first SSF selects a second network slice for the terminal device in the VPLMN based on the slice information of the first network slice, the following may be implemented:

The first SSF selects a second network slice in the VPLMN that satisfies the QoS information that the first network slice satisfies.

In a possible implementation manner, when it is determined that none of the network slices in the VPLMN satisfies the QoS information that is satisfied by the first network slice, that is, when it is determined that none of the QoS information that is satisfied by the first network slice is satisfied, the first SSF may further send feedback information to a slice management system, where the feedback information is used to notify an administrator that the network slice in the VPLMN cannot satisfy the service requirement of the terminal device, that is, notify the administrator that there is no network slice that satisfies the service requirement of the terminal device. So that an administrator can plan a network slice or the slice management system automatically generates a network slice according to a pre-configured policy. The feedback information may include identification information of the terminal device, identification information of the VPLMN, an identification of the HPLMN, SM-NSSAI of the home, QoS information, and the like.

The following describes embodiments of the present application in detail with reference to specific application scenarios. The process of selecting a specific CP in a network slice after selecting a common CP in the network slice is described in detail.

In the following description, the home SM-NSSAI configuration is shown in table 1, the visited SM-NSSAI configuration is shown in table 2, and the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship is shown in fig. 3 as an example. For the purpose of clearly expressing the network element of the home location and the network of the visited location, the network element of the visited location, for example, v.ssf with V, is expressed as SSF of the visited location. The SSF of the front band H is assigned to the home.

referring to fig. 5, a schematic flow chart of a method for selecting a network slice provided in the embodiment of the present application takes a terminal device attached to a VPLMN as an example.

S501, the terminal equipment accesses the VPLMN and initiates an attach request (attach request) to the access network equipment V.AN of the VPLMN.

S502, the v.an selects a common CP function (CCNF), i.e. selects a v.amf, for the terminal device in the VPLMN.

S503, the v.an forwards the attach request to the v.amf, so that the v.amf performs mobility management processing based on the attach request.

S504, the v.amf obtains the subscription and authentication information from the v.hss. The subscription and authentication information includes user subscription quality of Service (QoS) information and the like.

S505, the v.amf initiates a Slice selection Request (Slice Select Request) to the v.ssf. The slice selection request includes condition information that the requested network slice should satisfy, where the condition information may include at least one of the following information: the identification information of the terminal equipment, the user information of the terminal equipment, the Service type, the user subscription quality of Service (QoS) information and the SM-NSSAI of the requested network slice.

S506, the v.ssf sends a Slice selection Request (Slice Select Request) to the h.ssf.

S507, the h.ssf performs slice selection (selects SM of the home) based on the condition information in the slice selection request. For example, the selected network slice is slice HB, SM-NSSAI-H is 100, and the QoS information corresponding to slice HB is <1Gbps, 10ms, … … >.

S508, the h.ssf returns slice information of the selected network slice to the v.ssf. The slice information may include SM-NSSAI-H as 100, and QoS information corresponding to the network slice as <1Gbps, 10ms, … … > and the like.

Specifically, the h.ssf sends a Slice selection Response (Slice Select Response) to the v.ssf. Slice Select Response includes Slice information for the selected network Slice.

And S509, after receiving the slice information of the network slice returned by the H.SSF, the V.SSF determines the SM-NSSAI-V of the network slice according to the slice information.

Specifically, the network slice may be selected as follows.

The first implementation mode comprises the following steps:

When the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship shown in table 3 is configured on the v.ssf, the v.ssf determines that SM-NSSAI-V corresponding to SM-NSSAI-H (100) is 1 according to the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship.

The second implementation mode comprises the following steps:

When the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship shown in table 3 is not configured on the v.ssf, the v.ssf performs matching in the local network slice according to the QoS information <1Gbps, 10ms, … … > returned by the h.ssf, and obtains a network slice with SM-NSSAI-V of 1 by matching.

The third implementation mode comprises the following steps:

and a roaming SM-NSSAI mapping relation is not configured on the V.SSF, matching is carried out in local network slices according to QoS information <1Gbps, 10ms, … … > returned by the H.SSF, and a matched network slice is not obtained, and a notification message can be sent to a slice management system through a management interface, so that an administrator is notified that an roaming user which cannot meet experience requirements exists.

The notification message may carry the ID, VPLMN, HPLMN, SM-NSSAI-H, QoS information, etc. of the terminal device.

and S510, selecting the V.SM meeting the requirement in the network slice corresponding to the SM-NSSAI-V by the V.SSF. Specifically, according to the information of the user signed QoS, the local policy, the mapped or matched alternative SM-NSSAI and the like corresponding to the terminal device, the v.sm meeting the requirements in the selected network slice is determined, and the information of the v.sm is returned to the v.amf. The v.ssf may obtain the local policy from the PCRF.

s511, a subsequent procedure of the SM signaling is performed.

Based on the same inventive concept as the method embodiment, an embodiment of the present application provides a device for selecting a network slice, where the device may be applied to the first SSF of a VPLMN or to a device for slice selection in a VPLMN, as shown in fig. 6, and the device includes:

a receiving unit 601, configured to receive a slice selection request, where the slice selection request is used to request to select a network slice for a roaming terminal device, and the slice selection request includes condition information that the requested network slice should meet;

a sending unit 602, configured to send the condition information to a home public land mobile network HPLMN of the terminal device;

Specifically, the sending unit 602 sends the condition information to a home public land mobile network HPLMN of the terminal device. And after receiving the condition information, the selection device of the network slice in the home public land mobile network HPLMN of the terminal equipment determines a first network slice meeting the condition information, and sends the selection device of the network slice of the VPLMN through the home public land mobile network HPLMN.

The receiving unit 601 is further configured to receive slice information of a first network slice that meets the condition information and is sent by the HPLMN.

Specifically, the receiving unit 601 receives slice information of a first network slice that satisfies the condition information transmitted from the HPLMN.

a selecting unit 603 configured to select a second network slice for the terminal device in the VPLMN based on the slice information of the first network slice.

In a possible design, when the slice information includes the first SM-NSSAI, the selecting unit 603 is specifically configured to determine, based on a pre-configured SM-NSSAI mapping relationship, a second SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI, where the second SM-NSSAI belongs to the second network slice.

In a possible design, the selecting unit 603 is further configured to select a third network slice for the terminal device when it is determined that the SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI does not exist in the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship.

In a possible design, when the slice information further includes QoS information that is satisfied by a first network slice, the selecting unit 603 is further configured to determine that there is no SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI in the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship, and the first SSF selects a second network slice that satisfies the QoS information that is satisfied by the first network slice.

In one possible design, when the slice information includes QoS information that is satisfied by the first network slice, the selecting unit 603 is further configured to select a second network slice that satisfies the QoS information that is satisfied by the first network slice.

In a possible design, the sending unit 602 is further configured to send feedback information to a slice management system when it is determined that the QoS information satisfied by the first network slice is not satisfied, where the feedback information is used to notify an administrator of a network slice that does not satisfy the service requirement of the terminal device.

The division of the unit in the embodiment of the present application is schematic, and is only a logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation, and in addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processor, may also exist alone physically, or may also be integrated in one unit by two or more units. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

As shown in fig. 7, the selection means applied to a network slice in a VPLMN may comprise a communication interface 710, a processor 720 and a memory 730. The hardware of the entity corresponding to the unit shown in fig. 6 may be the processor 720. Processor 720 receives and transmits data through communication interface 710 and is configured to implement the methods performed by the first SSF (v.ssf) described in fig. 3 and 5. In implementation, the steps of the process flow may be performed by instructions in the form of hardware, integrated logic circuits, or software in the processor 720. The processor 720 may be a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof that may implement or perform the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in embodiments of the present application. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software elements in a processor. Program code executed by processor 720 to implement the above-described methods may be stored in memory 730. The memory 730 may be a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), and may also be a volatile memory such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory 730 is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to such.

The specific connection medium among the communication interface 710, the processor 720 and the memory 730 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 730, the processor 720 and the communication interface 710 are connected by a bus 740 in fig. 7, the bus is represented by a thick line in fig. 7, and the connection manner between other components is merely illustrative and not limited. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 7, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.

The embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection apparatus, which is applied to the second SSF of the HPLMN, or to a device for slice selection in the HPLMN, and as shown in fig. 8, the apparatus includes:

A receiving unit 801, configured to receive condition information that is sent by a VPLMN of a visited public land mobile network and is used to select a network slice for a roaming terminal device;

A selecting unit 802, configured to select a first network slice that satisfies the condition information;

A sending unit 803, configured to send the slice information of the first network slice selected by the selecting unit 802 to the first SSF, so that the VPLMN selects a second network slice for the terminal device based on the slice information of the first network slice.

as shown in fig. 9, the selection means applied to the network slice in the HPLMN may include a communication interface 910, a processor 920, and a memory 930. The hardware of the entity corresponding to the above-mentioned unit shown in fig. 8 may be the processor 920. The processor 920 receives and transmits data through the communication interface 910, and is configured to implement the method performed by the second SSF (h.ssf) described in fig. 3 and 5. In implementation, the steps of the process flow may be performed by instructions in the form of hardware, integrated logic circuits, or software in the processor 920. The processor 920 may be a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof that may implement or perform the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in embodiments of the present application. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software elements in a processor. Program code executed by processor 920 to implement the above-described methods may be stored in memory 930. The memory 930 may be a nonvolatile memory such as an HDD or SSD, or may be a volatile memory such as a RAM. The memory 930 is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to such.

the specific connection medium among the communication interface 910, the processor 920 and the memory 930 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 930, the processor 920, and the communication interface 910 are connected by a bus 940 in fig. 9, the bus is represented by a thick line in fig. 9, and the connection manner between other components is merely illustrative and is not limited thereto. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 9, but this does not indicate only one bus or one type of bus.

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, CD-ROM, 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 the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program 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 computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-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 computer-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 computer program 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 method for selecting a network slice, comprising:

A first slice selection function SSF of a visited public land mobile network VPLMN receives a slice selection request, wherein the slice selection request is used for requesting the first SSF to select a network slice for roaming terminal equipment, and the slice selection request comprises condition information which is required to be met by the requested network slice;

The first SSF sends the condition information to a second SSF of a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) of the terminal equipment;

The first SSF receives slice information of a first network slice which is sent by the second SSF and meets the condition information;

The first SSF selects a second network slice for the terminal device based on slice information of the first network slice.

2. the method of claim 1, wherein the condition information comprises at least one of:

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the slice information comprises first session management network slice selection assistance information SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice and/or QoS information satisfied by the first network slice.

4. the method of claim 3, wherein when the slice information comprises the first SM-NSSAI, the first SSF selecting a second network slice for the terminal device based on the slice information of the first network slice, comprising:

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

6. The method of claim 4, wherein when the slice information further includes QoS information satisfied by the first network slice, the method further comprises:

and when the first SSF determines that the SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI does not exist in the SM-NSSAI mapping relation, the first SSF selects a second network slice which meets the QoS information met by the first network slice.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein when the slice information includes QoS information satisfied by the first network slice, the first SSF selects a second network slice for the terminal device based on the slice information of the first network slice, comprising:

8. the method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the method further comprises:

9. An apparatus for selecting a network slice, comprising:

A sending unit, configured to send the condition information to a home public land mobile network HPLMN of the terminal device;

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the condition information comprises at least one of:

11. The apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the slice information comprises first session management slice selection assistance information SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice and/or QoS information satisfied by the first network slice.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein when the slice information includes the first SM-NSSAI, the selecting unit is specifically configured to determine, based on a pre-configured SM-NSSAI mapping relationship, a second SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI, where the second SM-NSSAI belongs to the second network slice.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the selecting unit is further configured to select a third network slice for the terminal device when it is determined that the SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI does not exist in the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein when the slice information further includes QoS information that is satisfied by a first network slice, the selecting unit is further configured to select a second network slice that satisfies the QoS information that is satisfied by the first network slice when it is determined that a SM-NSSAI corresponding to the first SM-NSSAI does not exist in the SM-NSSAI mapping relationship.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the selection unit, when the slice information includes QoS information satisfied by the first network slice, is further for selecting a second network slice that satisfies the QoS information satisfied by the first network slice.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 or 15, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send feedback information to a slice management system when it is determined that the QoS information satisfied by the first network slice is not satisfied, the feedback information being used to inform an administrator of a network slice that does not satisfy the traffic demand of the terminal device.