CN108738027B

CN108738027B - Network processing method, resource management system and network equipment

Info

Publication number: CN108738027B
Application number: CN201710278815.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张伟; 朱明�
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-04-25
Filing date: 2017-04-25
Publication date: 2021-05-18
Anticipated expiration: 2037-04-25
Also published as: CN108738027A

Abstract

The application discloses a network processing method, a resource management system and network equipment, which are used for solving the problem of how to realize network resource sharing. The method comprises the following steps: the first resource management system determines that network resources outside the first network domain need to be used, and then the first resource management system sends a first message to the second resource management system; the first message carries network resource demand information of a first resource management system; and the first resource management system receives a second message sent by the second resource management system, wherein the second message carries network resource information outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system.

Description

Network processing method, resource management system and network equipment

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a network processing method, a resource management system, and a network device.

Background

With the development of communication technology, a concept of Network Slicing (Network Slicing) is introduced into a 5g (geographic) Network architecture, the Network Slicing technology is that logical networks supporting different service characteristics are constructed on a physical facility, and the logical networks include a set of physical function instances and a set of connections thereof. A Network slice under the 5G Network architecture can be considered as a set of Network Functions (NFs), Network resources running the Network functions, and configurations specific to the Network functions. The management of network slices can be understood as the integration and rearrangement of network resources.

Network resources are distributed around the world, for example, Network resources provided by different operators are divided into different Network domains, and the Network resources of the different Network domains need to be managed separately, so that there is not only one Network Slice Manager and coordinator (NSM & O), or referred to as Slice Support System/Business Support System (SSS/BSS), in terms of geographical range or Business model. At least one NSM & O system is arranged in each network domain and is used for managing network resources (such as frequency spectrum, bandwidth, calculation, storage, CPU, various data centers and the like) in the network domain.

Currently, the roaming problem of the terminal between two network domains and the interface problem between two NSM & O become a hot spot of research in the industry. Since the network resources of each network domain are managed by respective NSM & O, in such a scenario that the terminal moves across domains, it would be necessary to solve the communication problem of the terminal through a roaming scheme. A roaming solution across Network domains is given in the current 5G standard document, and the scheme is similar to a roaming scheme in the existing Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, namely, a Network function module corresponding to a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) decision slice type is used in a local Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN); the network functions of the control plane and the user plane can be deployed in a home domain and a roaming domain simultaneously or only in the roaming domain; signing a roaming agreement between a home domain and a roaming domain, and mapping inter-domain slice Identification (ID), namely mapping the signed home domain ID into a roaming domain ID which can be identified by the roaming domain through the roaming agreement; if there is no roaming agreement, the roaming domain maps the terminal to a default slice of the home.

It can be seen that, because the network resources of each network domain are separated from each other, in a scenario such as terminal cross-domain movement, the communication complexity is high, and the roaming scheme only solves the problem of communication between domains, but cannot implement sharing and optimization of inter-domain resources, and how to overcome the above-mentioned defects is a urgent need for research and solution in the industry.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a network processing method, a resource management system and network equipment, which are used for solving the problem of how to realize network resource sharing.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a network processing method, including:

the method comprises the steps that a first resource management system determines that network resources outside a first network domain need to be used, and then the first resource management system sends a first message to a second resource management system; the first message carries network resource demand information of the first resource management system;

and the first resource management system receives a second message sent by the second resource management system, wherein the second message carries network resource information outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system.

Through the communication process between the first resource management system and the second resource management system, the first resource management system can transmit resource demand information to the second resource management system, and the second resource management system selects network resources outside the first network domain for the second resource management system; it can be seen that through the above communication process, one resource management system can use the network resources provided by other resource management systems, and can also provide the network resources to other resource management systems, so that the sharing of the network resources is equivalently realized, and the problem that the current network resources of each network domain are mutually separated and the inter-domain resource sharing and optimization cannot be realized can be overcome.

In one possible implementation, before the first resource management system determines that the network resource outside the first network domain needs to be used, the method further includes:

the first resource management system receives an establishment request message for requesting establishment of a network slice of the first network domain;

wherein, the establishment request message carries first indication information for indicating the position of the terminal using the network slice, and/or second indication information for indicating the network resources required for establishing the network slice.

In one possible implementation, the first resource management system determining that use of network resources outside of the first network domain is required includes:

according to the first indication message in the establishment request message, if the first resource management system determines that the terminal using the network slice is located outside the service range of the first network domain or the probability of moving to the outside of the service range of the first network domain is not smaller than a set probability threshold, the first resource management system determines that network resources outside the first network domain need to be used; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and the first resource management system determines that network resources except for the first network domain need to be used if determining that the idle network resources of the first network domain cannot meet the network resources required for establishing the network slice according to the second indication message in the establishment request message.

In one possible implementation, the network resource outside the first network domain includes a network resource of a second network domain, and the network resource managed by the second resource management system includes a network resource of the second network domain; the second network domain and the first network domain are different network domains managed by the same operator or network domains managed by different operators;

the first resource management system determining that use of network resources outside of a first network domain is required, comprising:

according to the first indication message in the establishment request message, if the first resource management system determines that the terminal using the network slice is located in the service range of the second network domain, or has a distance with the service range of the second network domain not exceeding a set distance threshold, or the probability of moving to the service range of the second network domain is not less than a set probability threshold, the first resource management system determines that the network resource of the second network domain needs to be used; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and the first resource management system determines that the network resource of the second network domain needs to be used if the first resource management system determines that the idle network resource of the first network domain cannot meet the network resource required for establishing the network slice and determines that the service range of the first network domain has an overlapping area with the service range of the second network domain or the distance between the service range of the first network domain and the service range of the second network domain is not greater than a set distance threshold according to the second indication message in the establishment request message.

In one possible implementation, the network resources outside the first network domain include network resources provided by a device provider, and the network resources managed by the second resource management system include network resources provided by the device provider;

according to the first indication message in the establishment request message, if the first resource management system determines that the terminal using the network slice is located in the service range of the network resource provided by the equipment provider, or has a distance with the service range of the network resource provided by the equipment provider not exceeding a set distance threshold, or has a probability of moving to the service range of the network resource provided by the equipment provider not less than a set probability threshold, the first resource management system determines that the network resource provided by the equipment provider needs to be used; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and the first resource management system determines, according to the second indication message in the establishment request message, that the network resource provided by the device provider needs to be used if it is determined that the idle network resource of the first network domain cannot meet the network resource required for establishing the network slice, and it is determined that the network resource provided by the device provider is deployed in the service range of the first network domain or the network resource provided by the device provider is deployed in an area which is not more than a set distance threshold from the service range of the first network domain.

In a possible implementation, after the first resource management system sends the first message to the second resource management system, the method further includes:

and the first resource management system receives a third message sent by the second resource management system, wherein the third message is used for informing the first resource management system that the second resource management system cannot select network resources outside the first network domain for the first resource management system.

In a possible implementation, after the first resource management system receives the second message sent by the second resource management system, the method further includes:

the first resource management system determines network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system according to the network resource information carried in the second message;

the first resource management system establishes a network slice of the first network domain by using network resources outside the first network domain according to a resource use rule agreed with a second resource management system;

wherein the resource usage rule at least comprises one or more of the following information:

time that the first resource management system can use network resources outside the first network domain, a set of executable operations, a payment mode of the first resource management system to the second resource management system, and a charging policy of the second resource management system.

In one possible implementation, after the first resource management system establishes the network slice of the first network domain using the network resource outside the first network domain, the method further includes:

and the first resource management system resends the first message to the second resource management system if determining to continue using the network resource outside the first network domain before the time of using the network resource outside the first network domain reaches the usable time specified in the agreed resource usage rule.

the first resource management system releases the used network resources outside the first network domain upon determining that any one or more of the following occurs:

the time when the first resource management system uses the network resource outside the first network domain reaches the usable time specified in the agreed resource usage rule;

the first resource management system determining that network resources outside the first network domain are no longer needed for use;

the first resource management system receives a resource release request sent by the second resource management system, wherein the resource release request carries indication information that the second resource management system requests the first resource management system to release network resources outside the first network domain.

if the first resource management system determines that the used network resource outside the first network domain is to be replaced, the first resource management system sends a replacement request message to the second resource management system;

and the first resource management system receives a replacement response message sent by the second resource management system, wherein the replacement response message carries the network resource information outside the first network domain reselected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system.

In one possible implementation, the first resource management system determining to replace the used network resource outside the first network domain includes:

if the first resource management system detects that a terminal in a network slice of the first network domain established by using network resources outside the first network domain moves out of a set service range, the first resource management system determines to replace the used network resources outside the first network domain; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

if the first resource management system detects that a network slice of the first network domain established by using network resources outside the first network domain needs to expand capacity or reduce capacity, the first resource management system determines to replace the used network resources outside the first network domain; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

if the first resource management system detects that the used network resources outside the first network domain have faults, the first resource management system determines to replace the used network resources outside the first network domain; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

if the first resource management system receives a resource replacement request sent by the second resource management system, where the resource replacement request carries indication information that the second resource management system requests the first resource management system to replace the used network resource outside the first network domain, the first resource management system determines to replace the used network resource outside the first network domain.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a network processing method, including:

the second resource management system receives a first message sent by the first resource management system; wherein, the first message carries the network resource demand information of the first resource management system;

the second resource management system selects network resources outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the first message;

and the second resource management system sends a second message to the first resource management system, wherein the second message carries the network resource information outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system.

In a possible implementation, after the second resource management system receives the first message sent by the first resource management system, the method further includes:

if the second resource management system determines that the network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system, the second resource management system sends a third message to the first resource management system, where the third message is used to notify the first resource management system that the second resource management system cannot select the network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system.

In one possible implementation, the determining, by the second resource management system, that a network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system includes:

the second resource management system authenticates the first resource management system according to the received first message, and if the authentication is not passed, the second resource management system determines that the network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system; wherein the authentication is that the second resource management system authenticates whether the first resource management system is allowed to use the network resource managed by the second resource management system; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the second resource management system determines whether idle network resources outside a first network domain managed by the second resource management system can meet the network resource requirement of the first resource management system, and if the idle network resources outside the first network domain cannot meet the network resource requirement, the second resource management system determines that network resources outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system.

In a possible implementation, the network resources managed by the second resource management system at least include network resources of a second network domain, and the second network domain and the first network domain are different network domains managed by the same operator or network domains managed by different operators;

the second resource management system selecting network resources outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the first message, including:

if the second resource management system determines that the first resource management system needs to use the network resources of the second network domain according to the network resource demand information of the first resource management system carried in the first message, the second resource management system selects the network resources for the first resource management system from the idle network resources of the second network domain.

In one possible implementation, the network resources managed by the second resource management system include at least network resources provided by a device vendor;

if the second resource management system determines that the first resource management system needs to use the network resources provided by the equipment provider according to the network resource demand information of the first resource management system carried in the first message, the second resource management system selects the network resources for the first resource management system from the idle network resources provided by the equipment provider.

In a possible implementation, after the second resource management system sends the second message to the first resource management system, the method further includes:

if the second resource management system determines that the first resource management system is required to release the network resources selected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system, the second resource management system sends a resource release request to the first resource management system, wherein the resource release request carries indication information that the second resource management system requests the first resource management system to release the network resources outside the first network domain.

if the second resource management system determines that the network resource selected by the first resource management system needs to be replaced, the second resource management system sends a resource replacement request to the first resource management system, wherein the resource replacement request carries indication information of the network resource outside the first network domain, which is used by the second resource management system for requesting the first resource management system to replace.

the second resource management system receives a replacement request message sent by the first resource management system;

the second resource management system reselects network resources outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the replacement request message;

and the second resource management system sends a replacement response message to the first resource management system, wherein the replacement response message carries the network resource information outside the first network domain reselected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system.

In one possible implementation, a resource usage rule is agreed between the second resource management system and the first resource management system; the resource usage rule at least comprises one or more of the following information:

the time that the first resource management system can use the network resource selected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system, the executable operation set, the payment mode of the first resource management system to the second resource management system and the charging policy of the second resource management system.

The implementation and beneficial effects of the method implemented by any of the above second aspect or the second aspect of the present invention may be mutually referred to the implementation and beneficial effects of the method implemented by any of the above first aspect or the first aspect of the present invention, and repeated details are not repeated.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a resource management system, the system comprising: a functional module configured to execute any one of the above first aspect or the first aspect to implement the network processing method.

The implementation and the advantageous effects of the apparatus implemented by any one of the third aspect or the third aspect of the present invention may be mutually referred to the implementation and the advantageous effects of the method implemented by any one of the first aspect or the first aspect of the present invention, and repeated details are not repeated.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a resource management system, the system comprising: and the functional module is used for executing any one of the above second aspect or the second aspect to realize the network processing method.

The implementation and the advantageous effects of the apparatus according to any of the above-mentioned fourth aspect or the fourth aspect of the present invention may be mutually referred to the implementation and the advantageous effects of the method according to any of the above-mentioned second aspect or the second aspect of the present invention, and repeated descriptions are omitted.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a resource management system, the system comprising: a functional module configured to execute any one of the above first aspect or the first aspect to implement the network processing method, and a functional module configured to execute any one of the above second aspect or the second aspect to implement the network processing method.

The implementation and advantageous effects of the apparatus according to any of the above-mentioned fifth aspect or fifth aspect of the present invention may be mutually referred to, and repeated details are not repeated, as the implementation and advantageous effects of the method according to any of the above-mentioned first aspect or first aspect of the present invention and the implementation and advantageous effects of the method according to any of the above-mentioned second aspect or second aspect of the present invention.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a network device, comprising: a processor and a transceiver;

wherein the processor is configured to implement the method by the transceiver executing any of the first aspect or the first aspect.

The implementation and advantageous effects of any one of the above-mentioned sixth aspect or the above-mentioned sixth aspect of the present invention for implementing the network device may be mutually referred to as the implementation and advantageous effects of any one of the above-mentioned first aspect or the above-mentioned first aspect of the present invention for implementing the method, and repeated details are not repeated.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a network device, including: a processor and a transceiver;

wherein the processor is configured to implement the method by the transceiver executing any of the second aspect or the second aspect.

The implementation and advantageous effects of any one of the foregoing seventh aspects of the present invention for implementing the network device may be mutually referred to with the implementation and advantageous effects of any one of the foregoing second aspects of the present invention for implementing the method, and repeated details are not repeated.

In an eighth aspect, the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing software instructions for executing the functions implemented by any of the first aspect and the first aspect, wherein the software instructions comprise a program designed to execute the method implemented by any of the first aspect and the first aspect; and/or software instructions for executing the functions of any of the implementations of the second aspect and the second aspect, including a program designed to execute the method of any of the implementations of the second aspect and the second aspect.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication network in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a communication network according to further embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a communication network according to further embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a network processing method according to some embodiments of the invention;

fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a network processing method according to some embodiments of the invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a network processing method provided in some embodiments of the present invention in an actual application scenario;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a resource recycling process in practical application of the network processing method according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a resource replacement process in practical application of the network processing method according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a network processing method in an actual application scenario according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a network processing method in an actual application scenario according to some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a resource management system according to some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a resource management system according to some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a resource management system according to some embodiments of the invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to some embodiments of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The application provides a network processing method, a resource management system and network equipment, which are used for solving the problem of how to realize network resource sharing. In the network processing scheme provided by the application, when a first resource management system needs to use network resources outside a first network domain, the first resource management system can send a first message carrying network resource demand information to a second resource management system, so that the second resource management system selects the network resources outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the first message and feeds back the network resources to the first resource management system through a second message; it can be seen that through the above process, the first resource management system can use network resources outside the first network domain, and thus can effectively solve the problem that inter-domain resource sharing and optimization cannot be realized due to mutual separation of the network resources of each network domain.

To more clearly illustrate the network processing scheme provided by the present application, a brief description of some terms involved in the present application is provided below:

various embodiments are described herein in connection with a "network domain". A network domain may be considered to include a collection of network resources within a common range of address management or path computation capabilities that may serve various terminals including, but not necessarily limited to, wireless communication devices. Different network domains can be divided according to network ranges managed by different operators, for example, in the same geographic area, an operator a deploys a network domain1, and an operator B deploys a network domain 2; alternatively, the different network domains may be divided according to different geographical ranges in which networks managed by the same operator are located, for example, the same operator has the network domain 3 deployed on the geographical area 1 and the network domain 4 deployed on the geographical area 2.

Various embodiments are described herein in connection with a "network resource". The network resources may include various cloud platforms (e.g., public cloud and private cloud), various data centers, various network element devices, air interface spectrum resources, and other conditions. For example, in terms of functional differentiation, a network resource may include a computing resource for providing computing power, a storage resource for providing storage space, a network resource for providing a transmission channel, and the like, a computing resource may include a Central Processing Unit (CPU) resource, a storage resource may include a memory resource, and the like; for another example, by way of formal differentiation, network resources may include physical infrastructure resources, which may include servers, storage devices, etc., virtual resources, which may include virtual machines, etc., and software resources; for another example, the network resources may include Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) according to the cloud computing Service hierarchy, and correspond to hardware resources, Platform resources, and application resources, respectively.

It should be noted that the underlying resources that may be needed during the network slice creation process are included in the "network resources" described in this application. In addition, "resource" and "device" in the description of the present application are also referred to as "network resource".

Various embodiments are described herein in connection with a "terminal. The terminal may be various communication devices having a communication function, such as, but not limited to, a mobile cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a wireless data card, a wireless Modem (Modem), or a wearable device such as a smart watch, etc. With the advent of Internet of Things (IOT), more and more devices that did not have communication capabilities before, such as but not limited to, home appliances, vehicles, tool devices, service devices, and service facilities, began to obtain wireless communication capabilities by configuring wireless communication units so that they could access a wireless communication network and receive remote control. Such a device has a wireless communication function due to the arrangement of the wireless communication unit, and thus also belongs to the category of wireless communication devices. Further, a terminal can also be referred to as a user equipment, a mobile station, a mobile device, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a handheld device, a client, and the like.

Furthermore, it should be noted that, in the description of the present application, the terms "first," "second," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or order.

Specifically, network resources in different network domains are managed by respective resource management systems. For example, fig. 1 illustrates an architectural diagram of a communication network in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, the exemplary communication network 100 includes: network domains 101, 102, network domain resource management systems 103, 104, and terminals 105, 106;

the Network domain resource management systems 103 and 104, or managers and coordinators (NSM & O) of Network slices, Network Slice Support systems/Business Support systems (SSS/BSS), and the like, mainly function to include: and performing slice editing and managing network resources of the network domain in which the slice editing and managing device is located, such as various operations including creation, pull-up, stop, deletion, capacity expansion, capacity reduction, updating, state monitoring, charging and the like of the network slice of the network domain in which the slice editing and managing device is located.

As shown in fig. 1, the network domain resource management system 103 manages network resources of the network domain 101, and may create a network slice of the network domain 101 using the network resources of the network domain 101 and manage the created network slice, for example, a network slice of the network domain 101 may be created for the terminal 105 when requesting a service; similarly, the network domain resource management system 104 manages the network resources of the network domain 102, and can create and manage a network slice of the network domain 102 using the network resources of the network domain 102; in addition, as shown in fig. 1, a communication connection is established between the network domain resource management systems 103 and 104.

Further, network resources in a plurality of network domains may be managed in a unified manner according to geographical areas, or may be managed in a unified manner by an operator.

For example, based on the example architecture of the communication network 100 shown in fig. 1, fig. 2 shows a schematic architecture of a communication network according to further embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 2, the exemplary communication network 200 includes: network domains 101 and 102, network domain resource management systems 103 and 104, terminals 105 and 106, and a global area resource management system 201;

the global resource management system 201 may also be understood as a third-party resource management system, and mainly refers to a resource management system having a trust relationship with network domain resource management systems of a plurality of network domains.

For example, the global resource management system 201 may be a resource management system set by a government agency, and is used for collectively managing network domains deployed by multiple operators in the same geographic area; alternatively, the global resource management system 201 may be a resource management system set by an operator, and is used for managing and controlling a plurality of network domains deployed by the operator.

As shown in fig. 2, a communication connection is established between the global area resource management system 201 and the network domain resource management systems 103 and 104, and the global area resource management system 201 performs overall management on the network resources of the network domains 101 and 102 through the network domain resource management systems 103 and 104.

On the other hand, with the rapid development of various network technologies, equipment providers can also provide a large amount of network resources, such as various data centers, cloud platforms, and the like; these network resources do not belong to any operator and can be deployed to various geographical areas.

Based on the example architecture of the communication network 100 shown in fig. 1, fig. 3 shows a schematic architecture of a communication network according to further embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 3, the exemplary communication network architecture 300 includes: network domains 101, 102, network domain resource management systems 103, 104, terminals 105, 106, network resources 301 provided by device providers, and resource management systems 302 of device providers;

an equipment Provider, or also referred to as an Infrastructure Provider (Infrastructure Provider), mainly refers to a company or organization that provides the basic equipment, and may not operate a specific service; the network resources provided by the device vendor may include, for example, a cloud platform (public cloud, private cloud, public cloud, exclusive cloud, etc.), a large, medium, and small data center, and the like.

As shown in fig. 3, the network resources 301 provided by the device vendor include network resources deployed in the geographic area where the network domains 101 and 102 are located, and network resources deployed outside the network domains 101 and 102; the resource management system 302 of the device provider is used for managing the network resources 301 provided by the device provider, and communication connection is established between the network domain resource management systems 103 and 104 and the resource management system 302 of the device provider.

It should be understood that the above-mentioned communication networks 100, 200, and 300 are only used for example, and are not used to limit the technical solutions provided in the present application. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that, in the implementation process, the communication network 100 may further include a global resource management system 201 in the communication network 200, and/or a network resource 301 provided by a device provider and a resource management system 302 of the device provider in the communication network 300; in addition, other devices may be included in the communication networks 100, 200, and 300, and will not be described in detail herein.

The following describes a flow of a network processing method provided by some embodiments of the present invention with reference to fig. 4 based on the architecture examples of the communication network shown in fig. 1 to 3.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart of a network processing method according to some embodiments of the present invention. The process shown in fig. 4 may be executed by a first resource management system, specifically, for example, the network domain resource management system 103 or 104 in fig. 1 to 3, and functional modules for executing the process shown in fig. 4 may be configured thereon, and these functional modules may be specifically implemented by hardware, software programming, or a combination of hardware and software.

As shown in fig. 4, the process includes the following steps:

step 401: the first resource management system determines that network resources outside the first network domain need to be used, and then the first resource management system sends a first message to the second resource management system; the first message carries network resource demand information of a first resource management system;

step 402: and the first resource management system receives a second message sent by the second resource management system, wherein the second message carries network resource information outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system.

Through the communication process, the first resource management system can transmit resource demand information to the second resource management system, and the second resource management system selects network resources outside the first network domain for the second resource management system; through the communication process, one resource management system can request network resources from other resource management systems and can also provide own network resources to other resource management systems, so that the sharing of the network resources is equivalently realized, and the problem that the network resources of each network domain cannot realize inter-domain resource sharing and optimization at present can be solved.

In particular, the first resource management system may determine, under some trigger, that a network resource outside the first network domain needs to be used. For example, in some implementation scenarios of the flow shown in fig. 4, the first resource management system may determine whether to use a network resource outside the first network domain according to a received establishment request message after receiving the establishment request message for requesting establishment of a network slice of the first network domain.

Specifically, the establishment request message for requesting establishment of the network slice of the first network domain may carry first indication information for indicating a location of a terminal using the network slice, or may carry second indication information for indicating network resources required for establishment of the network slice, or may also carry both of the first indication information and the second indication information.

For example, the establishment request message may be sent by the terminal to the first resource management system when the network slice needs to be established, where the establishment request message carries first indication information for indicating a location of the terminal.

In some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 4, if the first resource management system determines, according to the first indication message carried in the received establishment request message, that the terminal using the network slice is located outside the service range of the first network domain, or the probability of moving to the outside of the service range of the first network domain is not less than the set probability threshold, the first resource management system may determine that network resources outside the first network domain need to be used in consideration of factors such as shortening the data plane routing delay;

or, in still other implementation scenarios, if the first resource management system determines, according to the second indication message carried in the received establishment request message, that the idle network resources of the first network domain cannot meet the network resources required for establishing the network slice, the first resource management system may determine that network resources outside the first network domain need to be used.

It is contemplated that network resources outside of the first network domain may include network resources such as network resources of other network domains and network resources provided by device vendors and, thus, in some possible implementation scenarios, if the first resource management system determines that the terminal using the network slice is located in the service range of the second network domain according to the first indication message carried in the received establishment request message for requesting to establish the network slice of the first network domain, or the distance between the first resource management system and the service range of the second network domain does not exceed a set distance threshold, or the probability of moving to the service range of the second network domain is not less than a set probability threshold, then, in consideration of shortening data plane routing delay, protecting terminal user privacy and other factors, the first resource management system can specifically determine that the network resources of the second network domain need to be used;

or, in still other possible implementation scenarios, if the first resource management system determines, according to the second indication message carried in the received establishment request message for requesting to establish the network slice of the first network domain, that the idle network resources of the first network domain cannot meet the network resources required for establishing the network slice, and determines that the service range of the first network domain has an overlapping area with the service range of the second network domain, or the distance between the service range of the first network domain and the service range of the second network domain is not greater than the set distance threshold, the first resource management system may also specifically determine that the network resources of the second network domain need to be used.

Similarly, in some possible implementation scenarios, if the first resource management system determines, according to a first indication message carried in a received establishment request message for requesting establishment of a network slice of a first network domain, that a terminal sending the network slice is located within a service range of a network resource provided by an equipment provider, or is not farther away from the service range of the network resource provided by the equipment provider than a set distance threshold, or moves to a service range of the network resource provided by the equipment provider than a set probability threshold, the first resource management system may specifically determine that the network resource provided by the equipment provider needs to be used;

or, in still other possible implementation scenarios, if the first resource management system determines, according to the second indication message carried in the received establishment request message for requesting to establish the network slice of the first network domain, that the idle network resources of the first network domain cannot meet the network resources required for establishing the network slice, and determines that the network resources provided by the device provider are deployed within the service range of the first network domain, or the network resources provided by the device provider are deployed within an area that is not greater than a set distance threshold from the service range of the first network domain, the first resource management system may also specifically determine that the network resources provided by the device provider need to be used.

Based on the foregoing possible implementation scenarios, in some possible implementation scenarios, the first resource management system may also specifically determine that network resources of multiple network domains, or network resources provided by multiple device providers, or network resources of at least one network domain and network resources provided by at least one device provider need to be used, and since these possible implementation scenarios are equivalent to the combination of the foregoing scenarios, in order to simplify the description, the present application mainly takes one network domain and one device provider as an example to set forth the scheme.

Specifically, after determining that a network resource outside the first network domain needs to be used, the first resource management system may generate a first message carrying network resource demand information of the first resource management system, and send the first message to the second resource management system.

The network resource requirement information of the first resource management system carried in the first message may specifically include capabilities that the network resources needed by the first resource management system should have, such as computing capability, storage capability, and basic software configuration that should have, and the like.

In some possible implementation scenarios, the first resource management system may determine the network resource requirement information based on the network resource required for establishing the network slice, which is indicated by the second indication information in the establishment request message; for example, assuming that the second indication information for indicating the network resources required for establishing the network slice describes the capability that the required network resources should have, the first resource management system may determine the network resource requirement based on the second indication information.

Further, in view of some possible implementation scenarios described above, if the first resource management system specifically determines that the network resource of the second network domain needs to be used, the first message may also carry indication information of the second network domain; if the first resource management system specifically determines that the network resource provided by the device provider needs to be used, the first message may also carry indication information of the device provider.

As can be seen from the above description, the first resource management system may determine that only network resources outside the first network domain need to be used, or may specifically determine that network resources of the second network domain and/or network resources provided by the device provider need to be used, and meanwhile, in some implementation scenarios of the flow shown in fig. 4, in consideration of the communication system examples shown in fig. 1 to 3, the first resource management system may send the first message to the second resource management system in many ways.

Several possible ways will be described below based on the communication examples shown in fig. 1-3, assuming that the network domain resource management system 103 is the first resource management system, it being understood that the way in which the first resource management system sends the first message to the second resource management system is not limited to the following:

mode 1, the network domain resource management system 103 can directly broadcast the first message, and the first message is received and processed by other resource management systems (any one or more of the network domain resource management system 104, the global area resource management system 201, and the resource management system 302 of the device supplier) in the communication system; it can be seen that this approach is suitable for the case where the network domain resource management system 103 only determines that network resources outside the network domain1 need to be used.

In the mode 2, the network domain resource management system 103 may send the first message to the network domain resource management system 104 or the global area resource management system 201 that manages the network resources of the network domain2, and the first message is received and processed by the network domain resource management system 104 or the global area resource management system 201; it can be seen that this approach is more suitable for the network domain resource management system 103 to specifically determine the situation that the network resource of the network domain2 needs to be used;

specifically, for the case where the network domain resource management system 103 specifically determines that the network resource of the network domain2 needs to be used, the first message in this manner may carry the indication information of the network domain 2.

In the mode 3, the network domain resource management system 103 sends the first message to the resource management system 302 of the device provider, and the first message is received and processed by the resource management system 302 of the device provider, which can be seen that this mode is more suitable for the case that the network domain resource management system 103 specifically determines that the network resource 301 provided by the device provider needs to be used.

Specifically, for the case where the network domain resource management system 103 specifically determines that the network resource 301 provided by the device provider needs to be used, the first message in this manner may carry indication information of the device provider.

Furthermore, after receiving the first message sent by the first resource management system, the second resource management system can select network resources outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the network resource demand information of the first resource management system carried in the received first message.

Specifically, in some possible scenarios of the process shown in fig. 4, after receiving the first message sent by the first resource management system, the second resource management system may first determine whether it is possible to select a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system.

For example, after receiving the first message sent by the first resource management system, the second resource management system may first determine whether idle network resources outside the first network domain managed by the second resource management system can meet the network resource requirement of the first resource management system, if so, determine that network resources outside the first network domain can be selected for the first resource management system, and if not, determine that network resources outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system.

For another example, after receiving the first message sent by the first resource management system, the second resource management system may authenticate the first resource management system, that is, authenticate whether the first resource management system is allowed to use the network resource managed by the second resource management system, if the authentication is passed, it is determined that the network resource outside the first network domain can be selected for the first resource management system, and if the authentication is not passed, it is determined that the network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system.

Specifically, the first message may carry information of a first network domain and/or information of a first resource management system, such as a first network domain identifier, an identifier of the first resource management system, and the like;

furthermore, after receiving the first message, the second resource management system may authenticate the first resource management system that sends the first message according to the information of the first network domain and/or the information of the first resource management system that is carried in the first message, and only if the authentication is passed, the second resource management system may select a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the network resource demand information of the first resource management system that is carried in the first message.

Specifically, if the second resource management system determines that the network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system, the second resource management system may send a third message to the first resource management system, where the third message is used to notify the first resource management system that the second resource management system cannot select the network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system.

The third message may carry reason information that the second resource management system cannot select a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system, such as that the authentication fails, or the network resource is not sufficient.

Further, in consideration of the authentication process of the second resource management system to the first resource management system, the first resource management system and the second resource management system may pre-subscribe to a resource sharing protocol to determine whether to allow the first resource management system to use the network resources managed by the second resource management system and/or whether to allow the second resource management system to use the network resources managed by the first resource management system.

For example, if a first resource management system manages network resources of a first network domain (e.g., 103 in fig. 1), a second resource management system manages network resources of a second network domain (e.g., 104 in fig. 1), when the first network domain and the second network domain belong to the same operator, an agreement on resource sharing between the first resource management system and the second resource management system may be considered as internal resource management of the operator, and when the first network domain and the second network domain do not belong to the same operator, an agreement on resource sharing between the first resource management system and the second resource management system may be considered as resource cooperative management between the operators;

alternatively, if the first resource management system manages network resources of the first network domain (e.g., 103 in fig. 2) and the second resource management system manages network resources provided by the device vendor (e.g., 302 in fig. 3), then the agreement between the first resource management system and the second resource management system for resource sharing may be considered as an internal resource management of the operator;

alternatively, if the first resource management system manages network resources of the first network domain (e.g., 103 in fig. 3) and the second resource management system manages network resources of the first network domain and the second network domain (e.g., 201 in fig. 2), the agreement between the first resource management system and the second resource management system for resource sharing may be considered as cooperative resource management between the operator and the device provider.

Specifically, in the process of the first resource management system and the second resource management system signing a resource sharing protocol, the first resource management system and the second resource management system may also agree on the resource usage rule. For example, the second resource management system allows the first resource management system to use the network resource managed by the first resource management system, and the first resource management system and the second resource management system may also agree on the resource usage rules, such as the time that the first resource management system can use the network resource provided by the second resource management system, the set of operations that can be performed, the payment method from the first resource management system to the second resource management system, and the charging policy of the second resource management system.

It should be noted that the agreement process for the resource usage rule between the first resource management system and the second resource management system may also occur after the second resource management system receives the first message sent by the first resource management system and determines to select the network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system, for example, the second resource management system may initiate the agreement process after determining to select the network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system, or may initiate the above process after selecting the network resource for the first resource management system, which is not described in detail herein.

Specifically, after the second resource management system determines that the network resource outside the first network domain can be selected for the first resource management system, the network resource outside the first network domain can be selected for the first resource management system according to the received first message.

In some possible scenarios of the process shown in fig. 4, the second resource management system may specifically select a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the network resource requirement information of the first resource management system carried in the received first message.

For example, the second resource management system may select a network resource for the first resource management system from idle network resources managed by the second resource management system and not belonging to the first network domain according to the network resource requirement information of the first resource management system carried in the received first message.

In particular, based on the example communication systems shown in fig. 1-3, it can be seen that the second resource management system may manage only network resources of network domain2, such as the network domain resource management system 104 shown in fig. 1; or as shown in fig. 2, the system 201 for managing global resources manages network resources of a plurality of network domains including at least a network domain1 and a network domain 2; or may manage device vendor provided network resources 301 as shown in fig. 3 by device vendor's resource management system 302; it will also be different for a second resource management system of a different type to select a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system based on the received first message.

Several possible scenarios will be described below assuming, still based on the communication examples shown in fig. 1-3, that the network domain resource management system 103 is the first resource management system, it being understood that the scenario in which the first resource management system selects network resources outside the first network domain for the first resource management system is not limited to the following:

cases 1,

The network domain resource management system 104 receives a first message sent by the network domain resource management system 103, and further, the network domain resource management system 104 can select network resources for the network domain resource management system 103 from the idle network resources of the network domain2 managed by the network domain resource management system according to the network resource demand information of the network domain resource management system 103 carried in the first message;

further, the network domain resource management system 104 can also configure the selected network resource.

Case 2,

The global resource management system 201 receives the first message sent by the network domain resource management system 103, and further, the global resource management system 201 may select a network resource for the network domain resource management system 103 from the idle network resources of the plurality of network domains including the network domain2 managed by the global resource management system.

In some possible scenarios, the global resource management system 201 may select, according to the network resource requirement information of the network domain resource management system 103 carried in the first message, a network resource for the network domain resource management system 103 from idle network resources of all other network domains (including at least the network domain2) managed by the global resource management system except the network domain 1;

further, the global area resource management system 201 can also instruct the network domain resource management system for managing the selected network resources to configure the network resources.

In still other possible scenarios, based on the above description of sending the first message by the network domain resource management system 103, if the first message carries the indication information of the network domain2, the global area resource management system 201 may directly select the network resource for the network domain resource management system 103 from the idle network resources of the network domain2 managed by the global area resource management system 201 according to the network resource requirement information of the network domain resource management system 103 and the indication information of the network domain2 carried in the first message;

further, the global area resource management system 201 can also instruct the network domain resource management system 104 to configure the selected network resource of the network domain 2.

Cases 3,

The resource management system 302 of the device supplier receives the first message sent by the network domain resource management system 103, and further, the network domain resource management system 104 can select network resources for the network domain resource management system 103 from the idle network resources provided by the device supplier managed by the network domain resource management system 104 according to the network resource demand information of the network domain resource management system 103 carried in the first message;

further, the resource management system 302 of the device vendor may also configure the selected network resources.

Specifically, the configuring of the selected network resource may be to perform security configuration on the selected network resource, install some basic software, and the like according to the network resource requirement information of the first resource management system.

Specifically, in some possible scenarios of the process shown in fig. 4, after the second resource management system selects a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system, a second message carrying information of the network resource outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system may be sent to the first resource management system, and the first resource management system may receive the second message through step 402.

Optionally, the information about the network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system, which is carried in the second message, may specifically include information about an identifier, an available capability, and the like of the network resources selected by the second resource management system.

Further, after receiving the second message sent by the second resource management system through step 402, the first resource management system may determine, according to the network resource information carried in the second message, a network resource outside the first network domain selected for it by the second resource management system;

furthermore, the first resource management system may establish the network slice of the first network domain by using the network resource outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system according to the resource usage rule agreed with the second resource management system.

Specifically, the first resource management system may create the network slice only by using the network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system, or may simultaneously select some network resources in the first network domain to cooperate with the network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system to create the network slice.

Optionally, the agreed resource usage rule may specifically be as described above, and includes: the time that the first resource management system can use the network resource outside the first network domain, the executable operation set, the payment mode of the first resource management system to the second resource management system, the charging policy of the second resource management system, the basic configuration requirement of the network resource that the second resource management system can provide to the first resource management system, and the like.

As mentioned above, the agreed resource usage rule may be agreed in the process of the first resource management system and the second resource management system entering into the resource sharing protocol; or may be initiated after the second resource management system receives the first message sent by the first resource management system and determines to select a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system, which may specifically refer to the description in the foregoing embodiment.

Specifically, in some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 4, before the time of using the network resource selected by the second resource management system reaches the available time specified in the agreed resource usage rule, if it is determined that the network resource selected by the second resource management system is to be continuously used, the first resource management system may resend the first message to the second resource management system to continuously use the network resource selected by the second resource management system.

Specifically, in some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 4, after the second resource management system sends the second message to the first resource management system, the second resource management system may start timing the network resource provided to the first resource management system, and send a warning message to the first resource management system when it is determined that the time that the first resource management system uses the network resource selected for the first resource management system reaches the set time threshold, so as to notify the first resource management system that the time that the first resource management system uses the network resource outside the first network domain provided for the first resource management system reaches the set time threshold.

Optionally, the reminding message may carry identification information of a network resource outside the first network domain, which is provided by the second resource management system for the first resource management system, and the like.

Furthermore, after the first resource management system uses the second resource management system to establish the network slice of the first network domain for the network resource selected by the first resource management system, if the reminding message sent by the second resource management system is received, whether the network resource selected by the second resource management system is to be continuously used or not can be determined, and when the fact that the network resource is required to be continuously used is determined, a request message for continuous use is sent to the second resource management system.

For example, when determining that the first resource management system needs to continue to be used, the first resource management system may resend the first message to the second resource management system, so that the second resource management system times the network resource provided to the first resource management system again according to the received first message.

Optionally, the first resource management system may also notify the second resource management system through other types of messages that it needs to continue using the network resources outside the first network domain provided by the second resource management system, which is not described in detail in this application.

Specifically, in some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 4, after the first resource management system establishes a network slice of the first network domain using network resources outside the first network domain, the first resource management system may release the used network resources outside the first network domain if it is determined that any one or more of the following occurs:

the time that the first resource management system uses the network resources outside the first network domain used currently reaches the usable time specified in the appointed resource use rule;

the first resource management system no longer needs to use network resources outside the currently used first network domain;

the first resource management system receives a resource release request sent by the second resource management system, wherein the resource release request carries indication information that the second resource management system requests the first resource management system to release network resources outside a first network domain selected for the first resource management system currently used by the first resource management system.

Specifically, after the second resource management system sends the second message to the first resource management system, if it is determined that the first resource management system is required to release the network resource selected for the second resource management system, the second resource management system may send the resource release request to the first resource management system.

Specifically, the first resource management system releases the network resource selected for it by the second resource management system, specifically, the whole network slice established by using the network resource outside the first network domain may be deleted, or the network slice is modified so that the network slice releases the network resource selected for it by the second resource management system;

for example, the first resource management system may issue a network slice deletion or modification command, where the command carries identification information of the network resource selected for the first resource management system by the second resource management system.

Further, in some implementation scenarios of the flow shown in fig. 4, after the first resource management system releases the network resource selected for it by the second resource management system used by the first resource management system, a notification message may be sent to the second resource management system, where the notification message carries information of the network resource selected for it by the second resource management system released by the first resource management system.

Correspondingly, after receiving the notification message sent by the first resource management system, the second resource management system can restore the network resource indicated by the network resource information in the notification message to default configuration according to the notification message; for example, the released network resources may be restored to an initial state for subsequent use.

Further, in consideration of changes in service characteristics and changes in network resource states, such as a sudden increase in service traffic, a large increase in the number of terminals, and a network resource failure, it may happen that network resources other than the currently used first network domain no longer meet the network resource requirement of the first network domain, and so on, so in some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 4, after the first resource management system establishes a network slice of the first network domain using the acquired network resources other than the first network domain, it may also detect whether the network resources other than the currently used first network domain need to be replaced.

Specifically, if a network slice established on a network resource outside the currently used first network domain needs to be expanded or reduced, which is usually caused by a change in traffic flow or a change in the number of terminals, the first resource management system may determine that the network resource outside the currently used first network domain needs to be replaced; or; the first resource management system may determine that a network resource other than the currently used first network domain needs to be replaced due to, for example, a movement of a terminal position using the network slice, where the replacement mainly means that a position of the required network resource needs to be changed accordingly.

For example, if the first resource management system detects that a terminal in a network slice established on a currently used network resource outside a first network domain moves out of a set service range, the first resource management system may determine that the currently used network resource outside the first network domain needs to be replaced;

for another example, if the first resource management system detects that a network slice established on a network resource outside the currently used first network domain needs to expand or contract in capacity, the first resource management system may determine to replace the currently used network resource outside the first network domain;

for another example, if the first resource management system detects that a network resource outside the currently used first network domain is out of order, the first resource management system may also determine that the network resource outside the currently used first network domain needs to be replaced;

for another example, if the first resource management system receives a resource replacement request sent by the second resource management system, where the resource replacement request carries indication information that the second resource management system requests the first resource management system to replace a currently used network resource outside the first network domain, the first resource management system may also determine that the currently used network resource outside the first network domain needs to be replaced.

Specifically, the resource replacement request may be sent to the first resource management system when the second resource management system determines that the network resource selected by the first resource management system needs to be replaced.

Alternatively, the determination by the second resource management system that a network resource needs to be selected for the first resource management system may occur, for example, when the second resource management system receives a resource usage request of a higher priority, when the first resource management system uses the network resource for a usage duration specified in an agreed resource usage rule, or the like.

In particular, in some implementation scenarios of the flow shown in fig. 4, if a first resource management system determines that a network resource outside a currently used first network domain is to be replaced, a replacement request message may be sent to a second resource management system.

Optionally, the replacement request message may carry identification information of a network resource that needs to be replaced by the first resource management system, and the like.

Further, after receiving the replacement request message sent by the first resource management system, the second resource management system may reselect a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the replacement request message, and send a replacement response message to the first resource management system, where the replacement response message carries information of the network resource outside the first network domain reselected for the first resource management system by the second resource management system.

Optionally, the information of the network resource outside the first network domain reselected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system may specifically be identification information of the network resource.

Optionally, after the second resource management system reselects a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system, the second resource management system may further configure the network resource reselected for the first resource management system, and restore the network resource originally selected for the first resource management system to a default configuration.

Accordingly, after receiving the replacement response message sent by the second resource management system, the first resource management system may replace the network resource outside the first network domain that is reselected for the first resource management system by using the second resource management system, and may release the previously used network resource outside the first network domain.

Specifically, when the first resource management system is replaced with a network resource outside the first network domain reselected for the first resource management system by using the second resource management system, a modification process of the network slice may be initiated, for example, a network function of the network slice may be deployed on the network resource reselected for the first resource management system by the second resource management system.

It should be understood that, although only the case that the first resource management system requests the second resource management system for the network resource outside the first network domain is described above, the first resource management system may also request the other resource management system domains for the network resource outside the first network domain at the same time in the same manner, and the description of this application will not be repeated.

In summary, it can be seen that in the network processing scheme provided in the present application, when a first resource management system needs to use a network resource outside a first network domain, the first resource management system can send a first message carrying network resource requirement information to a second resource management system, so that the second resource management system selects a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the first message, and feeds back the network resource outside the first network domain to the first resource management system through a second message; it can be seen that through the above process, the first resource management system can use network resources outside the first network domain, and thus can effectively solve the problem that resource sharing and optimization between domains cannot be realized because the network resources of each network domain are separated from each other at present.

Further, from the perspective of terminal user experience, through the communication process between the first resource management system and the second resource management system, when the terminal moves and temporarily migrates between domains, the solution is no longer required to be solved through a roaming scheme with higher communication complexity, but the communication requirement of the terminal can be met by establishing a network slice of a home domain by using network resources of a roaming domain; moreover, user data of the terminal, such as user ID information, user location information, user service information, user traffic information, etc., will not need to be directly exposed to the roaming domain, which is beneficial to protecting user privacy;

from the perspective of an operator, through the communication process between the first resource management system and the second resource management system, the network resources of each network domain can be shared, so that on one hand, an operation mode can be increased, and the income can be increased by providing (equivalently leasing) idle network resources to the network domain needing the network resources; on the other hand, each network domain can use network resources of other network domains, thereby expanding the user plane range of the control plane of the network domain and being beneficial to the expansion of the service and the expansion of the user group;

in addition, a new service path is provided for the equipment supplier through the communication process between the first resource management system and the second resource management system; meanwhile, the overall planning and planning of the network can be promoted, so that idle network resources in the network can be more fully utilized;

further, with the development of cloud computing technology, in a future 5G scenario, a network slice is deployed on a public cloud and/or a private cloud with a high probability, and a solution in a cross-network domain scenario is provided for the deployment on the network slice cloud through a communication process between the first resource management system and the second resource management system.

Based on the same technical concept, fig. 5 shows a flow chart of a network processing method provided by some embodiments of the present invention. The process shown in fig. 5 may be executed by a second resource management system, which may specifically be, for example, a resource management system for managing network resources of one network domain, such as the network domain resource management system 103 or 104 in fig. 1 described above, or may also be, for example, a resource management system for overall managing network resources of multiple network domains, such as the global resource management system 201 in fig. 2 described above, or may also be, for example, the resource management system 302 of the device provider in fig. 3 described above, and may specifically be configured with functional modules configured to execute the process shown in fig. 5 on the second resource management system, where the functional modules may specifically be implemented by hardware, software programming, or a combination of hardware and software.

As shown in fig. 5, the process includes the following steps:

step 501: the second resource management system receives a first message sent by the first resource management system; the first message carries network resource demand information of a first resource management system;

step 502: the second resource management system selects network resources outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the first message;

step 503: and the second resource management system sends a second message to the first resource management system, wherein the second message carries the network resource information outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system.

In some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 5, the second resource management system selects, according to the first message, a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system, specifically, may select, according to the network resource requirement information of the first resource management system carried in the first message, a network resource for the first resource management system from idle network resources managed by the second resource management system and not belonging to the first network domain.

Furthermore, considering that the second resource management system may be a resource management system for integrally managing network resources of multiple network domains, such as the global resource management system 201 in fig. 2, it may also receive and record information of idle network resources of respective network domains reported by the resource management systems of the respective network domains managed by the second resource management system, so as to select network resources for the first resource management system according to the recorded idle network resource conditions of the respective network domains after receiving the first message of the first resource management system.

Further, still considering the case where the second resource management system is a resource management system for collectively managing network resources of a plurality of network domains, such as the global area resource management system 201 in fig. 2 described above, the second resource management system may have a resource sharing agreement with the resource management systems of the respective network domains it manages in advance.

Specifically, the resource sharing protocol may include network domain identifiers corresponding to network resources that are allowed to be used by the resource management systems, for example, the second resource management system manages a first network domain, a second network domain, and a third network domain, where the resource management system of the first network domain may subscribe to the resource sharing protocol with the second resource management system to allow the resource management system of the second network domain to use the network resources of the first network domain, and not allow the resource management system of the third network domain to use the network resources of the first network domain.

In some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 5, after the second resource management system receives the first message sent by the first resource management system, if it is determined that the network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system, a third message may be sent to the first resource management system, where the third message is used to notify the first resource management system that the second resource management system cannot select the network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system.

In some possible implementation scenarios, the second resource management system may authenticate the first resource management system according to the received first message, and if the authentication fails, it is determined that a network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system; the authentication is that the second resource management system authenticates whether the first resource management system can use the network resources managed by the second resource management system; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

in some possible implementation scenarios, the second resource management system determines whether idle resources outside the first network domain managed by the second resource management system can meet the network resource requirement of the first resource management system, and if not, determines that network resources outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system.

Corresponding to the foregoing description of the flow shown in fig. 4 and the possible implementation scenarios thereof in the present application, for specific implementation of the various possible implementation scenarios, reference may be made to the related description of the exemplary situation where the second resource management system determines whether to select a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system in the foregoing description of the present application, and details of the present application will not be repeated herein.

In some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 5, the network resources managed by the second resource management system may include at least the network resources of the second network domain; furthermore, if the second resource management system determines that the first resource management system needs to use the network resources of the second network domain according to the network resource demand information of the first resource management system carried in the first message, the second resource management system may select the network resources for the first resource management system from the idle network resources of the second network domain managed by the second resource management system.

Accordingly, in some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 5, the network resources managed by the second resource management system may include at least network resources provided by a device vendor; furthermore, if the second resource management system determines that the first resource management system needs to use the network resources provided by the device provider according to the network resource demand information of the first resource management system carried in the first message, the second resource management system may select the network resources for the first resource management system from the idle network resources provided by the device provider managed by the second resource management system.

Corresponding to the foregoing description of the flow shown in fig. 4 and the possible implementation scenarios thereof in the present application, for specific implementations of the various possible implementation scenarios, reference may be made to the related description of an example situation in which the first resource management system determines a network resource outside the first network domain that needs to be acquired, the first message, the communication mode between the first resource management system and the second resource management system, and the second resource management system selects a network resource for the first resource management system in the foregoing description of the present application, and details of the present application will not be repeated here.

Specifically, in some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 5, after the second resource management system selects a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the first message, the second resource management system may also configure the network resource selected for the first resource management system according to the network resource requirement information carried in the first message.

In addition, in some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 5, if it is determined that the time that the first resource management system uses the network resource selected for it by the second resource management system reaches the set time threshold, the second resource management system may send a warning message to the first resource management system; further, if the second resource management system receives the first message retransmitted by the first resource management system, the second resource management system may re-time the usage time for the network resource selected for the first resource management system.

Optionally, in some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 5, if it is determined that the first resource management system needs to release the network resource selected for the second resource management system, the second resource management system may send a resource release request to the first resource management system, where the resource release request carries indication information that the second resource management system requests the first resource management system to release the network resource outside the first network domain selected for the second resource management system.

In some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 5, the second resource management system may further receive a notification message sent by the first resource management system, where the notification message carries network resource information outside the first network domain released by the first resource management system, and further, the second resource management system may restore, according to the notification message, the network resource indicated by the network resource information in the notification message to a default configuration.

Optionally, in some implementation scenarios of the procedure shown in fig. 5, if it is determined that the network resource selected by the first resource management system needs to be replaced by the second resource management system, the second resource management system may send a resource replacement request to the first resource management system, where the resource replacement request carries indication information of a network resource outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for which the second resource management system requests the first resource management system to replace the used network resource.

In some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 5, the second resource management system may also receive a replacement request message sent by the first resource management system; furthermore, the second resource management system may reselect a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the replacement request message, and send a replacement response message to the first resource management system, where the replacement response message carries information of the network resource outside the first network domain reselected for the first resource management system by the second resource management system.

In some implementation scenarios of the process shown in fig. 5, a resource usage rule may be agreed in advance between the second resource management system and the first resource management system; the pre-agreed resource usage rule may include information such as a time that the first resource management system can use the network resource selected by the second resource management system, an executable operation set, a payment method from the first resource management system to the second resource management system, and a charging policy of the second resource management system.

Specifically, since the flow shown in fig. 5 and each possible implementation scenario thereof correspond to the flow shown in fig. 4 and each possible implementation scenario thereof in the present application, specific implementation and beneficial effects of the flow shown in fig. 5 and each possible implementation scenario thereof may specifically refer to the foregoing description of the flow shown in fig. 4 and each possible implementation scenario thereof in the present application, and will not be described herein again.

In order to more clearly illustrate the network processing method provided by the above embodiment of the present application, the following will exemplarily set forth a flow of the network processing method provided by the above embodiment of the present application in some practical scenarios, in conjunction with the architecture examples of the communication network shown in fig. 1 to 3 and the method flows shown in fig. 4 and 5.

For example, the network processing scheme provided by some embodiments of the present invention may be applied to the communication network architecture shown in fig. 1.

Specifically, in some embodiments of the present invention, a first resource management system is configured to manage network resources of a first network domain, a second resource management system is configured to manage network resources of a second network domain, and a communication connection is established between the first resource management system and the second resource management system; the first resource management system may request network resources of the second network domain from the second resource management system and may establish a network slice of the first network domain on the network resources of the second network domain selected for it by the second resource management system.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a network processing method provided by some embodiments of the present invention in an actual application scenario.

The Domain 1(Domain1) corresponds to a first network Domain, the resource management system 1 corresponds to a first resource management system, the Domain 2(Domain2) corresponds to a second network Domain, and the resource management system 2 corresponds to a second resource management system.

As shown in fig. 6, the process is specifically as follows:

s600: the resource management system 1 of the network domain1 and the resource management system 2 of the network domain2 sign a resource sharing protocol.

Specifically, for example, the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2 may negotiate in advance whether to allow the resource management system 1 to use the network resource managed by the resource management system 2.

Further, in the process that the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2 sign up for the resource sharing protocol, the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2 may also agree on the resource usage rule, for example, determine the basic configuration requirement of the resource management system 1 on the network resource provided by the resource management system 2, the time that the resource management system 1 can use the network resource provided by the resource management system 2, the set of executable operations, the payment method from the resource management system 1 to the resource management system 2, the charging policy of the resource management system 2, and so on.

Optionally, in this step, the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2 may also simply negotiate to determine whether to allow the resource management system 1 to use the network resource managed by the resource management system 2, and after the subsequent resource management system 1 initiates a resource request message (equivalent to the first message), perform detailed negotiation on the resource use details.

S601: the resource management system 1 receives a setup request (equivalent to the setup request message described above) for creating a network slice of the network domain 1.

Specifically, the establishment request message may carry indication information indicating the location of the terminal using the network slice, and/or may carry indication information indicating network resources required for establishing the network slice, and may also carry identification information of the network slice, Qos template information, and the like.

S602: the resource management system 1 determines that the network resources of the network domain2 need to be used.

For example, after the resource management system 1 receives the establishment request of the network slice, if it is determined that the location information of the terminal using the network slice, which is carried in the establishment request of the network slice, indicates that the terminal uses the slice in the geographic range of the network domain2, or the terminal may move into the range of the network domain2, so that the purposes of shortening the data plane routing delay and protecting the privacy of the user are achieved, the resource management system 1 may determine that the network resource of the network domain2 needs to be used;

for another example, if the service range of the network domain1 is geographically overlapped or closer to the service range of the network domain2, the currently available network resources of the network domain1 are not enough or not available (corresponding to the network resources that are not enough to establish the network slice), and the available network resources of the network domain2 are sufficient, the resource management system 1 may also determine that the network resources of the network domain2 need to be used.

S603: the resource management system 1 transmits a resource request message (corresponding to the first message described above) to the resource management system 2.

Specifically, the resource request message may carry the resource requirement information of the resource management system 1. The resource requirement information may specifically include the capabilities of the network resource required by the resource management system 1, such as computing capability, storage capability, whether some basic software has been installed, and so on.

Specifically, the resource request message may include identification information of the network domain1 or the resource management system 1 of the network domain1, so that the resource management system 2 authenticates the identification information.

S604: the resource management system 2 determines the network resources in the network domain2 that are provided to the resource management system 1.

Specifically, the resource management system 2 may determine the usage of the network resources in the network domain2, respond to the resource request of the resource management system 1 when the available network resources are sufficient, and partition a part of the available resources in the network domain2 according to the resource requirement information in the resource request to provide to the resource management system 1, or may also be understood as providing to the network domain 1; for example, as shown in fig. 5, the resource management system 2 provides the resource management system 1 with the data center 1 and the device 1 in the network domain 2; and the resource management system 2 may proceed to execute S605.

Accordingly, if the resource management system 2 determines that the network resources currently available in the network domain2 are not sufficient or are not allowed to provide network resources for other reasons, it may proceed to execute S607, return a resource request response of the resource management system 1, and indicate in the resource request response that the resource request of the resource management system 1 is denied (equivalent to the third message described above).

S605: the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2 may further negotiate on the details of resource usage.

If the details of resource usage have already been negotiated and the resource usage rules are agreed in S600, then this step S605 is optional.

S606: the resource management system 2 performs some basic configuration, such as security configuration, or installs some necessary software, etc., on the data center 1 and the device 1 provided to the resource management system 1. Wherein, the step S606 is optional.

S607: the resource management system 2 returns a resource request response (corresponding to the second message described above) to the resource management system 1.

Specifically, the resource request response may carry network resource list information provided by the resource management system 2 to the resource management system 1, for example, as shown in fig. 6, the resource management system 2 returns information of the device 1 and the data center 1 to the resource management system 1.

Accordingly, if in S604 the resource management system 2 determines not to provide the network resource to the resource management system 1, then in this step S607, a returned resource request response is used to instruct the resource management system 2 to reject the resource request of the resource management system 1. Optionally, the reason for the rejection of the resource management system 2, such as insufficient resources of the network domain2, may be carried.

S608: after receiving the resource request response sent by the resource management system 2, the resource management system 1 can determine the network resources in the network domain2 provided by the resource management system 2, and further can establish network slices on the network resources provided by the resource management system 2.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 6, the network resources used by the established network slice may only include the network resources of the network domain2 provided by the resource management system 2, or may also be selected from some network resources in the network domain1 to cooperate with each other.

It should be understood that, for the specific reference to the related description in the foregoing method embodiment of the present application, the execution of each step in the above-described flow shown in fig. 6 may also be referred to, and the detailed description of the present application will not be repeated herein.

It can be seen that through the communication process between the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2, the resource management system 1 can transmit the resource requirement information to the resource management system 2, and use the network resources of the network domain2 selected by the resource management system 2; through the communication process, one resource management system can use the network resources of other network domains provided by other resource management systems, and can also provide the network resources of the network domain of the resource management system to other resource management systems, so that the sharing of the network resources is equivalently realized, and the problem that the sharing and optimization of the resources between domains cannot be realized because the network resources of each network domain are mutually separated at present can be solved.

Further, after the resource management system 1 establishes the network slice on the network resource provided by the resource management system 2 through the above communication process, a resource recovery process may be further included between the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2.

For example, based on the communication flow shown in fig. 6, after the resource management system 1 uses the network resources of the network domain2 provided thereto by the resource management system 2 for a prescribed usage time, the resource management system 2 may initiate a resource reclamation process.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a resource recycling process in practical application of the network processing method according to some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in fig. 7, this exemplary flow includes the following steps:

s700: before the resource management system 1 uses the network resource of the network domain2 provided thereto by the resource management system 2 for a prescribed usage time, the resource management system 2 of the network domain2 may transmit a resource usage expiration reminder (equivalent to the above-described reminder message) to the resource management system 1. It should be understood that this step is an optional step.

Specifically, the resource usage expiration notice may carry ID information of a network resource in the network domain2 used by the resource management system 1, and the like.

S701: if the resource management system 1 needs to continue using the network resources of the network domain2 provided thereto by the resource management system 2, the resource management system 1 may perform a negotiation process for renewing the network resources with the resource management system 2.

Optionally, the negotiation process of renewing network resources between the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2 may refer to the communication process between the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2 shown in fig. 5, which will not be described herein again;

it should be understood that this step is also an optional step.

S702: if the resource management system 1 uses the network resources of the network domain2 provided to it by the resource management system 2 for a specified usage time, the resource management system 1 may make a decision to release the network resources of the network domain2 used by it.

It should be understood that the decision made by the resource management system 1 to release the network resources of the network domain2 used by the resource management system may also be for other reasons, and specifically refer to the description in the foregoing method embodiments of the present application, which will not be described herein again.

S703: the resource management system 1 can delete the network slice, namely delete the whole network slice; or the resource management system 1 may perform a network slice modification operation, i.e. modify the network slice, so that the network slice releases the used network resources of the network domain2 (such as the device 1/data center 1 shown in fig. 5).

Optionally, the command of the network slice deleting operation and the command of the modifying operation may carry information of the network resource of the network domain2 used by the resource management system 1, such as an equipment ID, a data center ID, slice ID information, and the like.

S704: after determining that the resource management system 1 releases the network resources of the network domain2 used by the resource management system, the resource management system 2 may perform release configuration on the released network resources, such as restoring the initial state of the device for the next use.

It should be understood that, for the specific implementation of each step in the above-described flow shown in fig. 7, reference may also be made to the related description in the foregoing method embodiment of the present application, and the present application will not be described herein again.

Further, after the resource management system 1 establishes the network slice on the network resource provided by the resource management system 2 through the communication process, considering the changes of the service characteristics and the changes of the operation state of the network resource, such as the rapid increase of the traffic, the great increase of the number of users, the equipment failure, and the finding that the used network resource no longer meets the requirements, the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2 may further include a resource replacement process.

For example, based on the communication flow shown in fig. 6, the resource management system 1 may initiate a resource replacement process when a network resource of the network domain2 provided to it by the currently used resource management system 2 needs to be replaced.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a resource replacement process in practical application of the network processing method according to some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in fig. 8, this exemplary flow includes the following steps:

s801: the resource management system 1 determines that the network resources of the currently used network domain2 need to be replaced.

Alternatively, the resource management system 1 may determine that the network resource of the currently used network domain2 needs to be replaced when a request for capacity expansion or capacity reduction of the network slice is received (which is equivalent to a change in traffic flow and/or a change in the number of users) (S800), or a position movement of the terminal in the network slice is determined (which is equivalent to a need to change the position of the network resource for providing a service to the terminal), or another network slice needs to be established, or the like.

It should be understood that the decision made by the resource management system 1 to release the network resources of the network domain2 used by the resource management system may also be for other reasons, and specific reference may be made to the related description in the foregoing method embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again.

S802: the resource management system 1 transmits a replacement resource request (corresponding to the replacement request message) to the resource management system 2. Optionally, the resource replacement request may carry information of network resources that the resource management system 1 needs to replace; for example, as shown in fig. 8, it is assumed that the resource management system 2 originally selects the device 1 and the data center 1 for the resource management system 1, and the identification information of the device 1 and the data center 1 can be carried in the replacement resource response.

S803: the resource management system 2 reselects the available network resources in the network domain2 for the resource management system 1.

As shown in fig. 8, assuming that the resource management system 2 newly selects the device 2 and the data center 2 in the network domain2 for the resource management system 1, the resource management system 2 can perform release configuration on the device 1 and the data center 1 that were originally selected for the resource management system 1, and perform start configuration on the newly selected device 2 and the data center 2.

S804: the resource management system 2 returns a replacement resource response (corresponding to the replacement response message) to the resource management system 1. Optionally, the resource replacement response may carry information of the network resource in the network domain2 that the resource management system 2 reselects for the resource management system 1; as shown in fig. 8, the replacement resource response may carry identification information of the device 2 and the data center 2.

S805: the resource management system 1 initiates a network slice modification procedure to deploy the network functions of the network slice on the network resources in the network domain2 for which the resource management system 2 reselects. In the modification process of the network slice, some network devices in the network domain1 may need to be adaptively adjusted, which is not described in detail in this application.

It should be understood that, for the specific implementation of each step in the above-described flow shown in fig. 8, reference may also be made to the related description in the foregoing method embodiment of the present application, and the present application will not be described herein again.

As another example, some embodiments of the present invention provide a network processing scheme that may be applied to the communication network architecture shown in fig. 2.

Specifically, in some embodiments of the present invention, a first resource management system is configured to manage network resources of a first network domain, a second resource management system (corresponding to the global resource system 201 in fig. 2) is configured to comprehensively manage network resources of the first network domain and a second network domain, a third resource management system is configured to manage network resources of the second network domain, and the second resource management system is configured to establish a communication connection with both the first resource management system and the third resource management system; the first resource management system may also request network resources from the second resource management system outside the first network domain and may establish a network slice of the first network domain on the network resources of the second network domain selected for it by the second resource management system.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a network processing method provided by some embodiments of the present invention in an actual application scenario.

The Domain 1(Domain1) corresponds to a first network Domain, the resource management system 1 corresponds to a first resource management system, the global resource management system corresponds to a second resource management system, the Domain 2(Domain2) corresponds to a second network Domain, and the resource management system 2 corresponds to a third resource management system.

As shown in fig. 9, the process is specifically as follows:

s900: the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2 respectively sign a resource sharing protocol with the global area management system.

For example, the resource usage protocol may include whether to agree to provide free resources in the network domain for other network domains, and the content of the protocol may include, in addition to the content negotiated in step S600 in the flow illustrated in fig. 6, an identifier of each network domain, and the like. For example, when the resource management system 2 and the global area resource management system agree on a resource usage protocol, it may agree that only the idle network resources in the network domain2 managed by the resource management system 1 are allowed to be provided to the resource management system.

It should be noted that, if the global resource management system belongs to the same operator as the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2, this step is equivalent to the resource management process inside the operator.

S901: the resource management system 1 and the resource management system 2 report the idle resource status in the network domain to the global resource management system periodically.

Optionally, the status of the idle resource in the network domain may specifically include location information of the idle resource, capability information of the idle resource, and the like.

Optionally, the global area resource management system may record and update the idle resource status of the network domain1 reported by the resource management system 1 and the idle resource status of the network domain2 reported by the resource management system 2.

S902 to S903: the resource management system 1 receives a setup request for creating a network slice of the network domain1 and determines that the network resources of the network domain2 need to be used. Specifically, S902 to S903 may refer to descriptions of S601 to S602 in the flow shown in fig. 6, which are not repeated herein.

S904: the resource management system 1 transmits a resource request message (corresponding to the first message described above) to the global resource management system.

Specifically, the resource request message may carry resource requirement information of the resource management system 1, such as capabilities that the network resource to be used should have, such as computing capability, storage capability, whether some basic software has been installed, and the like.

Optionally, the resource request message may further include location information of a network resource to be used, so that the global area resource management system can perform screening from a plurality of network domains managed by the global area resource management system.

Optionally, the resource request message may also directly include indication information of the network domain2, so as to indicate that the resource management system 1 needs to use the network resource of the network domain 2.

S905: the global area resource management system selects for the resource management system 1 a network resource outside the network domain1 provided to it. Such as that shown in fig. 9, the global area resource management system selects free network resources in the network domain2 to provide to the resource management system 1.

Specifically, if it is indicated in S904 that the idle network resource of the network domain2 needs to be used, the global resource management system may refer to the location information in the resource requirement information within the available network resource range of the network domain2, and select the network resource for the resource management system 1 through a preset algorithm, such as selecting the network resource within the location range indicated by the location information, selecting the network device with the most available network resources, and the like;

alternatively, if no idle network resource of the network domain2 is indicated to be used in S904, the global resource management system may determine a network domain other than the first network domain that can provide the network resource to the resource management system 1, such as selecting the network domain2, among all the network domains managed by the global resource management system, and then select an idle resource among the available network resources of the network domain 2.

Alternatively, if the global area resource management system determines that there are not enough network resources available in each of the network domains currently managed by the global area resource management system to provide to the resource management system 1, it may proceed to execute step S910.

S906 to S908: the global area resource management system sends a resource notification to the resource management system 1, and the resource management system 2 performs some basic configuration on the network resources (such as the data center 1 and the device 1 shown in fig. 9) provided to the resource management system 1 according to the notification, and returns a resource response to the global area resource management system.

Specifically, S906 to S908 can refer to the descriptions of S606 to S607 in the flow shown in fig. 6, which are not repeated herein.

S909: after receiving the resource response of the resource management system 2, the global resource management system may update the information of the available network resources in the network domain2 recorded thereon.

Specifically, the global resource management system deletes the network resource information of the network domain2 selected for the resource management system 1 from the recorded available network resource information in the network domain 2.

S910: the global area resource management system returns a resource request response (corresponding to the second message described above) to the resource management system 1. Specifically, the resource request response may carry information of the network resource provided to the resource management system 1;

alternatively, if it is determined in S905 that the network resource cannot be provided to the resource management system 1, the global area resource management system may return a rejection response to the resource management system 1, where the rejection reason may be carried.

S911: after receiving the response message sent by the global area resource management system, the resource management system 1 can determine the network resources in the network domain2 provided by the global area resource management system, and further can establish network slices on the network resources of the network domain2 provided by the global area resource management system. See also the description of step S608 in fig. 6 above.

Specifically, the execution of steps S900 to S911 can refer to the foregoing method embodiment and the corresponding description of each step in the flow shown in fig. 8, which will not be described herein again; in addition, it should be understood that the flows shown in fig. 7 and fig. 8 described above can also be applied to the communication network architecture shown in fig. 2, and the description of the present application is omitted here.

It can be seen that through the communication process between the resource management system 1 and the global resource management system, the resource management system 1 can transmit resource requirement information to the global resource management system, and use the network resources of the network domain2 selected by the global resource management system for it; that is, through the communication process, one resource management system can use the network resources of the other network domain provided by the other resource management system, and can also provide the network resources of its own network domain to the other resource management system, so that the sharing of the network resources is realized, thereby promoting the planning and planning of the whole network, and enabling the idle network resources in the network to be more fully utilized.

As another example, some embodiments of the present invention provide a network processing scheme that may be applied to the communication network architecture shown in fig. 3.

Specifically, in some embodiments of the present invention, a first resource management system is configured to manage network resources of a first network domain, a second resource management system (corresponding to the resource management system 302 of the device provider in fig. 3) is configured to manage network resources provided by the device provider (corresponding to the network resources 301 provided by the device provider in fig. 3), and a communication connection is established between the second resource management system and the first resource management system; the first resource management system may also request network resources from the second resource management system outside the first network domain (device vendor provided network resources) and may establish a network slice of the first network domain on the device vendor provided network resources selected by the second resource management system for it.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a network processing method provided by some embodiments of the present invention in an actual application scenario.

As shown in fig. 10, the Domain 1(Domain1) corresponds to a first network Domain, and the resource management system 1 (corresponding to the first resource management system) of the Domain1 can request the network resources provided by the device provider through a communication connection with the resource management system of the device provider, and can establish a network slice of the Domain1 on the network resources provided by the device provider selected by the resource management system of the device provider.

Specifically, in the flow shown in fig. 10, the resource management system 1 of the network domain1 may subscribe to the resource management system of the device provider in advance to sign a resource sharing protocol through S1000, and further, after determining that the network resource provided by the device provider needs to be used through S1001 and S1002, the resource management system 1 may directly send a resource request message (equivalent to the first message) to the resource management system of the device provider through S1003, select, by the resource management system of the device provider, an idle network resource of the device provider for which the resource request message is made, perform corresponding configuration, and return a response of the resource request (equivalent to the second message).

Specifically, the execution of steps S1000 to S1007 may refer to the foregoing method embodiment and the corresponding description of each step in the flow shown in fig. 8, which will not be described herein again; in addition, it should be understood that the flows shown in fig. 7 and fig. 8 described above can also be applied to the communication network architecture shown in fig. 3, and the description of the present application is omitted here.

It can be seen that through the communication process between the resource management system 1 and the global resource management system, the resource management system 1 can transmit resource requirement information to the resource management system of the equipment supplier and use the network resources provided by the equipment supplier selected by the resource management system of the equipment supplier; that is, through the communication process, one resource management system can use network resources provided by the equipment provider, and thus planning and planning of the whole network can be promoted.

Based on the same inventive concept, the present application further provides a resource management system, where the resource management system may be configured to execute the network processing method flow at the first resource management system side described in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, and each functional module in the resource management system, which is used to execute the network processing method flow at the first resource management system side described in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, may specifically be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

FIG. 11 illustrates an architectural diagram of a resource management system provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in fig. 11, the resource management system 1100 includes:

a sending module 1101, configured to send a first message to a second resource management system when it is determined that a network resource outside the first network domain needs to be used; the first message carries network resource requirement information of the resource management system 1100;

a first receiving module 1102, configured to receive a second message sent by the second resource management system, where the second message carries network resource information outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the resource management system 1100.

In one possible implementation, the resource management system 1100 further includes:

a second receiving module 1103, configured to receive, before the sending module 1101 determines that a network resource outside a first network domain needs to be used, a setup request message for requesting to setup a network slice of the first network domain.

In a possible implementation, the sending module 1101 is specifically configured to:

according to the first indication message in the establishment request message, if the probability that the terminal using the network slice is located outside the service range of the first network domain or moves to the outside of the service range of the first network domain is not smaller than a set probability threshold value is determined, it is determined that network resources outside the first network domain need to be used; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and according to the second indication message in the establishment request message, if determining that the idle network resources of the first network domain cannot meet the network resources required for establishing the network slice, determining that the network resources outside the first network domain need to be used.

the sending module 1101 is specifically configured to:

according to the first indication message in the establishment request message, if the terminal using the network slice is determined to be located in the service range of the second network domain, or the distance between the terminal using the network slice and the service range of the second network domain is not more than a set distance threshold, or the probability of moving to the service range of the second network domain is not less than a set probability threshold, determining that the network resource of the second network domain needs to be used; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

according to the second indication message in the establishment request message, if it is determined that the idle network resources of the first network domain cannot meet the network resources required for establishing the network slice, and it is determined that the service range of the first network domain has an overlapping area with the service range of the second network domain or the distance between the service range of the first network domain and the service range of the second network domain is not greater than a set distance threshold, it is determined that the network resources of the second network domain need to be used.

the sending module 1101 is specifically configured to:

according to the first indication message in the establishment request message, if the terminal using the network slice is determined to be located in the service range of the network resource provided by the equipment provider, or the distance between the terminal using the network slice and the service range of the network resource provided by the equipment provider is not more than a set distance threshold, or the probability of moving to the service range of the network resource provided by the equipment provider is not less than a set probability threshold, determining that the network resource provided by the equipment provider needs to be used; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

according to the second indication message in the establishment request message, if it is determined that the idle network resources of the first network domain cannot meet the network resources required for establishing the network slice, and it is determined that the network resources provided by the equipment provider are deployed in the service range of the first network domain or the network resources provided by the equipment provider are deployed in an area which is not more than a set distance threshold from the service range of the first network domain, it is determined that the network resources provided by the equipment provider need to be used.

In one possible implementation, the first receiving module 1102 is further configured to:

receiving a third message sent by the second resource management system, where the third message is used to notify the resource management system 1100 that the second resource management system cannot select a network resource outside the first network domain for the resource management system 1100.

a determining module, configured to determine, according to network resource information carried in the second message received by the first receiving module 1102, a network resource outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the resource management system 1100;

a use module, configured to establish a network slice of the first network domain using network resources outside the first network domain according to a resource use rule agreed between the resource management system 1100 and a second resource management system;

time that the resource management system 1100 may use for network resources outside the first network domain, set of operations that may be performed, manner of payment from the resource management system 1100 to the second resource management system, charging policy for the second resource management system.

Specifically, since the apparatus provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention is similar to the principle of the embodiment of the method for processing a network on the first resource management system side provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention to solve the problem, the specific implementation of the apparatus provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention and the implementation of the method for processing a network on the first resource management system side provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention may be referred to each other, and repeated parts are not repeated again.

Based on the same inventive concept, the present application further provides a resource management system, where the resource management system may be configured to execute the network processing method flow at the second resource management system side described in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, and each functional module in the resource management system, which is used to execute the network processing method flow at the second resource management system side described in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, may specifically be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of a resource management system provided in accordance with some embodiments of the invention. As shown in fig. 12, the resource management system 1200 includes:

a receiving module 1201, configured to receive a first message sent by a first resource management system; wherein, the first message carries the network resource demand information of the first resource management system;

a selecting module 1202, configured to select, according to the first message received by the receiving module 1201, a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system;

a sending module 1203, configured to send a second message to the first resource management system, where the second message carries information of network resources outside the first network domain that is selected by the resource management system 1200 for the first resource management system.

In one possible implementation, the resource management system 1200 further includes: a determining module for determining whether a network resource outside the first network domain can be selected for the first resource management system;

the sending module 1203 is further configured to:

if the determining module determines that the network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system, the determining module sends a third message to the first resource management system, where the third message is used to notify the first resource management system that the resource management system 1200 cannot select the network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system.

In a possible implementation, the determining module is specifically configured to:

authenticating the first resource management system according to the first message received by the receiving module 1201, and if the authentication fails, determining that a network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system; wherein the authentication is to authenticate whether the first resource management system is allowed to use the network resource managed by the resource management system 1200; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

determining whether idle network resources outside a first network domain managed by the resource management system 1200 can meet the network resource requirement of the first resource management system, and if not, determining that network resources outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system.

In a possible implementation, the network resources managed by the resource management system 1200 at least include network resources of a second network domain, where the second network domain and the first network domain are different network domains managed by the same operator or network domains managed by different operators;

the selecting module 1202 is specifically configured to:

if the first resource management system needs to use the network resources of the second network domain according to the network resource demand information of the first resource management system carried in the first message, selecting the network resources for the first resource management system from the idle network resources of the second network domain.

In one possible implementation, the network resources managed by the resource management system 1200 include at least network resources provided by a device vendor;

the selecting module 1202 is specifically configured to:

if it is determined that the first resource management system needs to use the network resources provided by the equipment provider according to the network resource demand information of the first resource management system carried in the first message, selecting the network resources for the first resource management system from the idle network resources provided by the equipment provider.

In one possible implementation, there is a resource usage rule agreed between the resource management system 1200 and the first resource management system; the resource usage rule at least comprises one or more of the following information:

the time that the first resource management system can use the network resource selected by the resource management system 1200 for the first resource management system, the set of operations that can be performed, the payment method from the first resource management system to the resource management system 1200, and the charging policy of the resource management system 1200.

Specifically, since each functional module in the resource management system provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention is similar to the principle of the embodiment of the present invention for solving the problem of the network processing method on the second resource management system side provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the specific implementation of the resource management system provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention and the implementation of the network processing method on the second resource management system side provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention may be referred to each other, and repeated parts are not described again.

Based on the same inventive concept, the present application further provides a resource management system, where the resource management system can be used to execute the network processing method flow of the first resource management system side described in the above embodiment of the present invention, and can also be used to execute the network processing method flow of the second resource management system side described in the above embodiment of the present invention, and each functional module in the resource management system, which is used to execute the network processing method flow of the first resource management system side described in the above embodiment of the present invention, and is used to execute the network processing method flow of the second resource management system side described in the above embodiment of the present invention, can be specifically implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of a resource management system provided in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 13, the resource management system 1300 can include the functional modules of the resource management system 1100 shown in FIG. 11 and the functional modules of the resource management system 1200 shown in FIG. 12.

Specifically, since each functional module in the resource management system provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention is similar to the principle of the embodiment of the network processing method on the first resource management system side provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention and the principle of the embodiment of the network processing method on the second resource management system side provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention for solving the problem, the specific implementation of the resource management system provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention can be referred to as the implementation of the network processing method on the first resource management system side and the implementation of the network processing method on the second resource management system side provided in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, and repeated details are not repeated.

The division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic, and only one logical function division is provided, and in actual implementation, there may be another division manner, and in addition, each functional module 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 module by two or more modules. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode.

Based on the same inventive concept, the present application further provides a network device, where the network device may be configured to execute the network processing method flow of the first resource management system side described in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in fig. 14, the network device 1400 may include a processor 1401 and a transceiver 1402.

The processor 1401 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), or a digital processing module, etc. The network device 1400 may also include a transceiver 1402. Wherein, the processor 1401 is configured to send, through the transceiver 1402, a first message carrying network resource requirement information to the second resource management system when it is determined that a network resource outside the first network domain needs to be used; and is configured to receive, through the transceiver 1402, a second message sent by the second resource management system and carrying the information of the network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the processor 1401.

Specifically, the processor 1401 and the transceiver 1402 may be configured to specifically execute the network processing method on the first resource management system side described in the foregoing embodiments of the present invention, and details of the present application are not described herein again.

Although not shown, the network device 1400 may also include a memory for storing programs executed by the processor 1401. The memory may be a nonvolatile memory, such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), and may also be a volatile memory, such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory 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 between the processor 1401 and the transceiver 1402 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, a processor 1401 and a transceiver 1402 are connected through a bus in fig. 14, fig. 14 is indicated by a hollow double-arrow line, but does not indicate only one bus or one type of bus, 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.

Some embodiments of the present invention further provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing software instructions required to be executed by the processor, which includes a program required to be executed by the processor.

Based on the same inventive concept, the present application further provides a network device, where the network device may be configured to execute the network processing method flow of the second resource management system side described in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in fig. 15, the network device 1500 may include a processor 1501 and a transceiver 1502.

The processor 1501 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a digital processing module, or the like. The network device 1500 may also include a transceiver 1502. The processor 1501 is configured to receive, through the transceiver 1502, a first message that is sent by a first resource management system and carries network resource requirement information of the first resource management system; and selecting a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system according to the first message; and is configured to send, via the transceiver 1502, a second message to the first resource management system, where the second message carries the network resource information outside the first network domain selected by the processor 1501 for the first resource management system.

Specifically, the processor 1501 and the transceiver 1502 may be configured to specifically execute the network processing method on the second resource management system side described in the foregoing embodiments of the present invention, and details of this application are not described herein again.

Although not shown, the network device 1500 may also include a memory for storing programs and data executed by the processor 1501. The memory may be a nonvolatile memory, such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), and may also be a volatile memory, such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory 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 between the processor 1501 and the transceiver 1502 is not limited in this embodiment. In fig. 15, the processor 1501 and the transceiver 1502 are connected through a bus, and fig. 15 is indicated by an open double-arrow line, but does not indicate only one bus or one type of bus, 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.

Some embodiments of the present invention also provide a computer-readable storage medium, which includes instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the network processing method on the first resource management system side as described in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, and/or perform the network processing method on the second resource management system side as described in the above-described embodiments of the present invention.

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 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 network processing method, the method comprising:

the first resource management system receives a second message sent by the second resource management system, wherein the second message carries network resource information outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system;

the first resource management system establishes a network slice of a first network domain by using the network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system; or the first resource management system selects part of the network resources in the first network domain and establishes the network slice of the first network domain by using the selected part of the network resources in the first network domain and the network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the first resource management system determining that use of network resources outside of the first network domain is required, further comprising:

wherein, the establishment request message carries a first indication message for indicating the location of the terminal using the network slice, and/or a second indication message for indicating the network resource required for establishing the network slice.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first resource management system determining that use of network resources outside the first network domain is required comprises:

4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the network resources outside the first network domain comprise network resources of a second network domain, and wherein the network resources managed by the second resource management system comprise network resources of the second network domain; the second network domain and the first network domain are different network domains managed by the same operator or network domains managed by different operators;

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the network resources outside the first network domain comprise device vendor provided network resources, and wherein the second resource management system manages network resources comprising the device vendor provided network resources;

6. The method of claim 1, wherein after the first resource management system sends the first message to the second resource management system, further comprising:

7. The method of claim 1, wherein after the first resource management system receives the second message sent by the second resource management system, further comprising:

8. A network processing method, the method comprising:

the second resource management system sends a second message to the first resource management system, wherein the second message carries information of the network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the first resource management system, so that the first resource management system establishes a network slice of the first network domain by using the network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system; or the first resource management system uses part of the network resources in the first network domain and the network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system to establish the network slice of the first network domain.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein after the second resource management system receives the first message sent by the first resource management system, further comprising:

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second resource management system determining that a network resource outside of the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system, comprising:

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the network resources managed by the second resource management system include at least network resources of a second network domain, the second network domain being a different network domain managed by the same operator as the first network domain or a network domain managed by a different operator;

12. The method according to claim 8 or 11, wherein the network resources managed by the second resource management system include at least network resources provided by a device vendor;

13. The method according to any of claims 8-11, wherein a resource usage rule is agreed between the second resource management system and the first resource management system; the resource usage rule at least comprises one or more of the following information:

14. A resource management system, the system comprising: functional module for performing a network processing method according to any of claims 1-7 and/or a network processing method according to any of claims 8-13.

15. A network device, the device comprising: a processor and a transceiver; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the processor is configured to send a first message to a second resource management system via the transceiver when it is determined that a network resource outside the first network domain needs to be used; the first message carries the network resource demand information of the processor; and the number of the first and second groups,

the transceiver is configured to receive a second message sent by the second resource management system, where the second message carries network resource information outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the processor;

the second resource management system is used for selecting network resources outside the first network domain from the network slices of the first network domain; or for selecting a part of network resources in the first network domain, and establishing a network slice of the first network domain using the selected part of network resources in the first network domain and network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor, prior to determining that use of network resources outside of the first network domain is required, is further configured to:

receiving, by the transceiver, an establishment request message for requesting establishment of a network slice of the first network domain;

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the processor, when determining that a network resource outside the first network domain needs to be used, is specifically configured to:

18. The apparatus of claim 16 or 17, wherein the network resources outside of the first network domain comprise network resources of a second network domain, and wherein the network resources managed by the second resource management system comprise network resources of the second network domain; the second network domain and the first network domain are different network domains managed by the same operator or network domains managed by different operators;

when determining that a network resource outside the first network domain needs to be used, the processor is specifically configured to:

19. The device of claim 16, wherein the network resources outside of the first network domain comprise device vendor provided network resources, and wherein the second resource management system manages network resources comprising the device vendor provided network resources;

20. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receiving, by the transceiver, a third message sent by the second resource management system, where the third message is used to notify the second resource management system that a network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the processor.

21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor, after receiving, by the transceiver, the second message sent by the second resource management system, is further configured to:

determining, according to network resource information carried in the second message, network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system for the processor;

establishing a network slice of the first network domain by using network resources outside the first network domain according to a resource use rule agreed with a second resource management system;

time that the processor is available for network resources outside the first network domain, a set of operations that can be performed, a manner of payment by the processor to the second resource management system, and a charging policy for the second resource management system.

22. A network device, the device comprising: a processor and a transceiver; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the processor is used for receiving a first message sent by a first resource management system through the transceiver; wherein, the first message carries the network resource demand information of the first resource management system; and the number of the first and second groups,

for selecting a network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system based on the first message; and the number of the first and second groups,

the transceiver is configured to send a second message to the first resource management system, where the second message carries information of network resources outside the first network domain selected by the processor for the first resource management system, so that the first resource management system establishes a network slice of the first network domain using the network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system; or the first resource management system uses part of the network resources in the first network domain and the network resources outside the first network domain selected by the second resource management system to establish the network slice of the first network domain.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the processor, after receiving, via the transceiver, the first message sent by the first resource management system, is further configured to:

if it is determined that the network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system, sending a third message to the first resource management system, where the third message is used to notify the first resource management system that the processor cannot select the network resource outside the first network domain for the first resource management system.

24. The device of claim 23, wherein the processor is specifically configured to:

according to the first message, authenticating the first resource management system, and if the authentication is not passed, determining that the network resource outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system; wherein the authentication is that the processor authenticates whether the first resource management system is allowed to use the network resources managed by the processor; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and determining whether the idle network resources outside the first network domain managed by the processor can meet the network resource requirement of the first resource management system, and if not, determining that the network resources outside the first network domain cannot be selected for the first resource management system.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the processor-managed network resources comprise at least network resources of a second network domain, the second network domain being a different network domain managed by a same operator as the first network domain or being a network domain managed by a different operator;

the processor is specifically configured to:

26. The device of claim 22 or 25, wherein the processor-managed network resources include at least device vendor-provided network resources;

the processor is specifically configured to:

27. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein a resource usage rule is agreed between the processor and the first resource management system; the resource usage rule at least comprises one or more of the following information:

the first resource management system may be configured to determine a time that the processor may use the network resource selected for the first resource management system, a set of operations that may be performed, a payment method from the first resource management system to the processor, and a charging policy for the processor.

28. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the network processing method of any of claims 1-7 and/or the network processing method of any of claims 8-13.