CN108924883B

CN108924883B - Method and device for accessing network slice

Info

Publication number: CN108924883B
Application number: CN201710204002.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 武绍芸
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-03-30
Filing date: 2017-03-30
Publication date: 2020-07-07
Anticipated expiration: 2037-03-30
Also published as: WO2018177051A1; CN108924883A

Abstract

The disclosure provides a method and a device for accessing network slices, and belongs to the technical field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a user migration notification sent by a management device; acquiring auxiliary information NSSAI selected by a network slice corresponding to a first network slice, wherein the first network slice is a network slice to which user equipment for migration needs to be accessed again; and sending the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the user equipment, wherein the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice is used for indicating the user equipment to access the first network slice. The method and the device can reduce the number of requests in the network when the user equipment is migrated, and avoid influencing the transmission of normal service data.

Description

Method and device for accessing network slice

Technical Field

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

Background

Network services in a fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5G) network are rich and diverse, and different network services have different requirements on the network; for example, network services such as automatic driving and remote control require a network to have ultra-low time delay and ultra-high reliability; network services such as Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR) require that a network has an ultra-high bandwidth; network services such as the Internet of Things (IOT) require that the network has the capability of supporting mass equipment access and ultra-low power saving. Therefore, in order to meet the requirements of different network services, the network is divided into a plurality of network slices, and different network slices are used for realizing different network services.

A User may access a network slice of a network service through a User Equipment (UE) to perform the network service. The UE may obtain assistance information (NSSAI) for network slice selection from a Common Control Plane (Common CP). When a user equipment needs to access a certain network Slice, the user equipment may send an access request to a Radio Access Network (RAN), where the access request carries an NSSAI of a network Slice that the user equipment wants to access, the RAN may send the access request to a Common CP having a network Slice Selection Function (SSF), and the Common CP may send the access request to a corresponding network Slice, so that the user equipment may access the network Slice.

In practice, the management device of a network slice adjusts the network slice based on an operation instruction of a network administrator or a preset adjustment policy, and at this time, some or all UEs in a certain network slice are offline at the same time, for example, the network administrator deletes a certain network slice through a slice management system, and all UEs in the network slice are offline and then re-access other network slices; and the policy control center automatically takes off the line of part or all of the UE which has accessed to a certain network slice according to a pre-configured policy so as to enable the UE to re-access to other network slices.

In the course of implementing the present disclosure, the inventors found that the prior art has at least the following problems:

after the UE detects that the UE is offline, the UE repeatedly sends access requests to the network slice within a preset time length, so that after a large number of UEs in the network slice are offline simultaneously, the situation that the UE repeatedly sends the access requests to the network slice occurs, the number of requests in the network is suddenly increased, the network burden is heavy, and normal service data transmission is influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problems in the prior art, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and an apparatus for accessing a network slice. The technical scheme is as follows:

in a first aspect, a method for accessing a network slice is provided, where the method includes:

receiving a user migration notification sent by a management device;

acquiring auxiliary information NSSAI selected by a network slice corresponding to a first network slice, wherein the first network slice is a network slice to which user equipment for migration needs to be accessed again;

and sending the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the user equipment, wherein the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice is used for indicating the user equipment to access the first network slice.

Therefore, when the user equipment in the second network slice needs to be migrated into the first network slice, the second network slice can send the NSSAI of the first network slice to the user equipment, so that the user equipment is accessed into the first network slice, the situation that the user equipment repeatedly sends access requests to the second network slice after being offline can be avoided, the number of requests in the network is reduced, and normal transmission of service data is prevented from being influenced.

In a possible implementation manner, the obtaining the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice includes:

acquiring NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice carried in the user migration notification; or

And acquiring the identifier of the first network slice carried in the user migration notification, and determining the NSSAI corresponding to the identifier of the first network slice according to the pre-stored corresponding relationship between the identifier of the network slice and the NSSAI.

In this way, different implementations of obtaining NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice are provided.

In another possible implementation manner, the sending, to the user equipment, the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice includes:

and if an access request sent by the user equipment is received after the user migration notification is received, sending a rejection message to the user equipment, wherein the rejection message carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice.

In this way, a way of handling user equipment that is accessing the second network slice is provided.

and sending a paging message to the user equipment, wherein the paging message carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice.

Thus, a processing mode for the user equipment with the state information in the idle state is provided.

and sending a connection interruption notification to the user equipment, wherein the connection interruption notification carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice.

Thus, a processing mode of the user equipment of which the state information is in the connection state and data transmission is carried out with the second network slice is provided.

sending a temporary identifier request corresponding to the user equipment to the first network slice so that the first network slice allocates a temporary identifier to the user equipment;

receiving a temporary identifier sent by the first network slice;

and sending a temporary identifier update message to the user equipment, wherein the temporary identifier update message carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice and the temporary identifier.

Therefore, the processing mode of the user equipment of which the state information is in the connection state and the data transmission is not carried out with the accessed second network slice is provided.

In another possible implementation manner, after the sending, to the user equipment, the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice, the method further includes:

receiving an access request which is sent by the user equipment and carries NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice;

and sending the access request to the first network slice so that the first network slice performs access processing on the user equipment.

In this way, an implementation is provided for re-accessing the user equipment to the first network slice.

In another possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

after NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice is sent to all user equipment needing to be migrated, a migration completion notification is sent to the management equipment; or

And when the preset migration duration is reached, sending a migration completion notification to the management equipment.

Therefore, the management device can be timely informed of the completion of the migration so as to facilitate the management device to perform subsequent processing, the migration time is preset, the time of user migration processing can be limited, and the situation that the adjustment of the network slice is delayed due to the fact that the user migration time is too long is avoided.

In a second aspect, a method for accessing a network slice is provided, the method comprising:

receiving auxiliary information NSSAI selected by a network slice corresponding to a first network slice and sent by a second network slice, wherein the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice is used for indicating user equipment to access the first network slice;

and accessing the first network slice based on the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice sent by the second network slice includes:

sending an access request to the second network slice;

and receiving a rejection message sent by the second network slice, wherein the rejection message carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice.

In this way, a way of handling user equipments accessing the second network slice is provided.

In another possible implementation manner, the receiving the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice and sent by the second network slice includes:

and receiving a paging message sent by the second network slice, wherein the paging message carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice.

Thus, the processing mode of the user equipment with the state information in the idle state is provided.

In another possible implementation manner, the receiving the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice sent by the second network slice includes:

and receiving a connection interruption notification sent by the second network slice, wherein the connection interruption notification carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice.

Thus, the processing mode of the user equipment of which the state information is the connection state and which is carrying out data transmission with the second network slice is provided.

receiving a temporary identifier update message sent by the second network slice, where the temporary identifier update message carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice and a temporary identifier allocated to the user equipment by the first network slice;

the method further comprises the following steps:

and performing data transmission with the first network slice based on the temporary identifier.

Therefore, the processing mode of the user equipment with the state information of the connection state and without data transmission with the accessed second network slice is provided.

In another possible implementation manner, the accessing the first network slice based on the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice includes:

sending an access request carrying the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the second network slice, so that the second network slice sends the access request to the first network slice, and the first network slice performs access processing on the user equipment;

accessing the first network slice.

In this way, an implementation is provided for the user equipment to re-access the first network slice.

In a third aspect, a method for accessing network slices is provided, where the method includes:

receiving a user migration instruction, wherein the user migration instruction carries an identifier of a second network slice which needs to be migrated by the user equipment and an identifier of a first network slice which needs to be re-accessed by the user equipment;

sending a user migration notification to the second network slice to cause the second network slice to migrate the user device into the first network slice.

In one possible implementation, the sending the user migration notification to the second network slice includes:

sending a user migration notification carrying the identifier of the first network slice to the second network slice; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

determining NSSAI corresponding to the identifier of the first network slice according to the corresponding relation between the identifier of the pre-stored network slice and NSSAI;

and sending a user migration notification carrying the NSSAI of the first network slice to the second network slice.

In this way, different implementations of obtaining a notification of the migration of a sending user are provided.

In another possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

and deleting the second network slice when receiving a migration completion notification sent by the second network slice.

Therefore, the completion of the user equipment migration can be timely known, so that the management equipment can timely perform subsequent processing, and the efficiency of adjusting the network slice is improved.

In a fourth aspect, a second network slice is provided, the second network slice comprising: the first processor, the first network interface, the first memory, the first transmitter and the first receiver, wherein the first memory and the first network interface are respectively connected with the first processor; the first processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the first memory; the first processor implements the method for access network slicing provided in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect by executing instructions.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for access network slicing, where the apparatus for access network slicing includes at least one unit, and the at least one unit is configured to implement the method for access network slicing provided in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a user equipment is provided, which includes: the second processor, a second network interface, a second memory, a second receiver and a second transmitter, wherein the second memory and the second network interface are respectively connected with the second processor; the second processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the second memory; the second processor implements the method for access network slicing provided by the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect by executing the instructions.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for access network slicing, where the apparatus for access network slicing includes at least one unit, and the at least one unit is configured to implement the method for access network slicing provided in any one of the second aspect and the possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a management apparatus including: the third processor, a third network interface, a third memory, a third receiver and a third transmitter, wherein the third memory and the third network interface are respectively connected with the third processor; the third processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the third memory; the third processor implements the method for access network slicing provided in any one of the above third aspect or possible implementation manners of the third aspect by executing the instructions.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for access network slicing, where the apparatus for access network slicing includes at least one unit, and the at least one unit is configured to implement the method for access network slicing provided in any one of the foregoing third aspect or possible implementation manners of the third aspect.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, which includes instructions that, when the computer-readable storage medium is executed on a second network slice, cause the second network slice to perform a method for accessing a network slice, where the method is provided in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium includes instructions, which, when executed on a user equipment, cause the user equipment to perform the method for access network slicing provided in any one of the second aspect or the possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed on a management device, cause the management device to perform the method for accessing a network slice provided in any one of the third aspect or the possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure has the following beneficial effects:

in the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the user equipment in the second network slice needs to be migrated into the first network slice, the second network slice may send the NSSAI of the first network slice to the user equipment, so that the user equipment is accessed into the first network slice, which may avoid a situation that the user equipment repeatedly sends an access request to the second network slice after offline, reduce the number of requests in the network, and avoid affecting normal transmission of service data.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system framework provided by embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a system framework schematic provided by embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a network slice provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a management device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of a method for access network slicing provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method for access network slicing provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 is a flowchart of a method for access network slicing provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of a method for access network slicing provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of a method of access network slicing provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for slicing an access network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for slicing an access network provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for access network slicing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Network services in a fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5G) network are abundant and diverse, and different network services have different requirements on the network. For example, network services such as automatic driving and remote control require a network to have ultra-low time delay and ultra-high reliability; network services such as Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR) require that a network has an ultra-high bandwidth; network services such as Internet of things (IOT) and the like require that a network has the functions of supporting mass equipment access and ultra-low power saving; network services such as unmanned aerial vehicles and high-speed rails require that the network has high mobility. To meet the requirements of different network services, a network administrator may divide the network into multiple network slices, and different network slices may be used to implement different network services. The User may access to the network slices corresponding to different network services through User Equipment (UE) to perform different network services. The UE may be a wireless terminal, and may be, for example, a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Mobile Internet Device (MID), a wearable device, an Internet Protocol (IP) phone, a network printer, an electronic book reader (e-book reader), and the like.

The network slice can be managed by a management device, and the management device can be any device with a network slice management function, such as a slice management system, a policy control center, an intelligent analysis center and the like. As shown in fig. 1, taking the management device as a slice management system as an example, the network system may include a slice management system and a plurality of network slices. The slice management system can be a functional module in a certain server or an independent server, and a network administrator can perform operations such as creating a network slice, deleting the network slice, and migrating part of user equipment in the certain network slice to another network slice through the slice management system; the network slices may include RAN slices, core network slices, and transport slices. Similar to the current 4G Network, the RAN slice capability is equivalent to 1 or more base stations (Evolved Node B, eNB), the core Network slice capability is equivalent to Mobility Management Entity (MME), a control plane of Serving Gateway (SGW), a control plane of Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW), Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), or Home Subscriber Server (HSS), etc.; the transmission slice corresponds to a route forwarding device such as a router connected to another device.

When a network administrator divides a network slice, the core network may be divided into a plurality of core network slices, and each core network slice includes a set of Network Functions (NFs) with specific functions. The functions of the core network slice may include CP and UP. The functions of the CP may include Common CP functions (Common Control Plane NFs, CCNF). The public CPNFs may include Mobile Management (MM), authentication (authentication), and the like, and are implemented by Access and mobility Management (AMF) and network element Slice Selection Function (SSF). The common CP NFs may be used by one or more network slices in common, as shown in fig. 2, which is a schematic diagram of a possible 5G network architecture provided in this embodiment, where a network slice a and a network slice B use a common CP NFs in common. The RAN is in communication with the SSFs and the respective network slices. After the UE accesses the RAN, a suitable network slice is selected through the SSF, so as to access a data network (data network), and a customized service is provided through CP NFs, UP NFs, and parameter configuration, thereby forming an end-to-end network slice architecture in 5G. The SSF, when selecting a network slice for a UE, may select a network slice for the UE based on user information of the UE stored in a user Repository (Subscriber hierarchy). In practice, the SSF may be disposed in the common CP NFs, or may be disposed in the RAN, and this embodiment is described by taking the case where the SSF is disposed in the common CP NFs as an example, and the other cases are similar to the above.

Referring to fig. 3, which illustrates a network slice provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the network slice 10 includes a first transceiver 1011 and a first memory 1012, and the network slice may further include a first processor 1013 and a first network interface 1014. Wherein, the first memory 1012 and the first network interface 1014 are respectively connected to the first processor 1013; the first memory 1012 is used for storing program codes comprising computer operating instructions, the first processor 1013 and the first transceiver 1011 are used for executing the program codes stored in the first memory 1012 for implementing the relevant processing of access network slices and for interacting with UEs and management devices via the first network interface 1014.

The first processor 1013 includes one or more processing cores. The first processor 1013 executes software programs and units to perform the following method of accessing a network slice.

The first memory 1012 and the first network interface 1014 are respectively connected to the first processor 1013 and the first transceiver 1011, and the first transceiver 1011 may include a first transmitter and a first receiver.

The first memory 1012 may be used to store software programs and units. The first memory 1012 may store a first operating system 10121, a first application unit 10122 required for at least one function. The first operating system 10121 can be a Real Time eXexecuting (RTX) operating system, LINUX, UNIX, WINDOWS, or OS X operating system.

Referring to fig. 4, which illustrates a UE according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the UE20 includes a second transceiver 2011 and a second memory 2012, and the UE may further include a second processor 2013 and a second network interface 2014. The second memory 2012 and the second network interface 2014 are respectively connected to the second processor 2013; the second memory 2012 is configured to store program code comprising computer operating instructions, and the second processor 2013 and the second transceiver 2011 are configured to execute the program code stored in the second memory 2012, to implement processing associated with accessing the network slice, and to interact with network devices via the second network interface 2014.

The second processor 2013 includes one or more processing cores. The second processor 2013 executes the following method of accessing a network slice by running the software programs and units.

The second memory 2012 and the second network interface 2014 are respectively connected to the second processor 2013 and the second transceiver 2011, which may include a second transmitter and a second receiver.

The second memory 2012 may be used for storing software programs and units. The second memory 2012 may store a second operating system 20121, a second application unit 20122 required for at least one function. The second operating system 20121 may be a Real Time eXexecuting (RTX) operating system, such as LINUX, UNIX, WINDOWS, or OS X.

Referring to fig. 5, which illustrates a management device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the management device 30 includes a third transceiver 3011 and a third memory 3012, and the management device may further include a third processor 3013 and a third network interface 3014. The third memory 3012 and the third network interface 3014 are connected to the third processor 3013; the third memory 3012 is configured to store program codes, where the program codes include computer operation instructions, and the third processor 3013 and the third transceiver 3011 are configured to execute the program codes stored in the third memory 3012, to implement relevant processing for accessing a network slice, and to interact with a network device through the third network interface 3014.

Third processor 3013 includes one or more processing cores. The third processor 3013 executes the following method of accessing a network slice by running software programs and elements.

The third memory 3012 and the third network interface 3014 are respectively connected to the third processor 3013 and the third transceiver 3011, and the third transceiver 3011 may include a third transmitter and a third receiver.

The third memory 3012 may be used to store software programs and units. The third memory 3012 may store a third operating system 30121, a third application unit 30122 required for at least one function. The third operating system 30121 may be a Real Time eXexecuting (RTX) operating system, LINUX, UNIX, WINDOWS, or OS X operating system.

In practice, the management device of the network slice may adjust the network slice, for example, a network administrator deletes a certain network slice through the management device, so that all user devices in the network slice are offline, and then re-access other network slices; the strategy control center automatically takes off the line of part or all of the user equipment which is accessed to a certain network slice according to a preset strategy so as to ensure that the user equipment is accessed to other network slices again; and the intelligent analysis center automatically adjusts part or all of the users which have accessed to a certain network slice to re-access to other network slices according to the real-time network load.

In order to avoid the situation that the network load suddenly becomes heavy due to the fact that the user equipment repeatedly sends an access request to the network slice after detecting that the user equipment is offline, this embodiment provides a method for accessing the network slice, which can control the user equipment to access other network slices in order when the network slice is adjusted, so that the network load is reduced when the user equipment is migrated, and normal transmission of service data is prevented from being influenced. The method can be realized by network slices, management equipment and user equipment together, wherein a first network slice in the embodiment is a network slice which needs to be accessed by the user equipment again, and a second network slice is a network slice which is currently accessed by the user equipment. As shown in fig. 6, the processing flow of the method may be as follows:

step 601, the management device receives a user migration instruction.

The user migration instruction may carry an identifier of a second network slice that needs to perform migration processing of the user equipment, and an identifier of a first network slice that the user equipment needs to re-access.

In implementation, the user migration instruction received by the management device may be generated based on an operation of a network administrator, or may be generated based on a preset network slice management policy. For example, the management device may be a slice management system, and a network administrator may perform a user device migration operation in the slice management system, select a network slice (i.e., a second network slice) that needs to perform migration processing of the user device, and a first network slice that the user needs to re-access, and then select a migration option, and the management device may receive the user migration instruction; or, the management device may be a policy control center, and the policy control center may determine, according to a pre-configured policy, a second network slice that needs to be adjusted and a first network slice that needs to be re-accessed by the user device, so as to generate a user migration instruction; or, the management device may also be an intelligent analysis center, and the intelligent analysis center may determine the first network slice and the second network slice according to the network real-time load, so as to generate the user migration instruction.

In step 602, the management device sends a user migration notification to the second network slice.

In implementation, the management device may send the user migration notification to the second network slice according to the user migration instruction, and the manner of sending the user migration notification may be various, and this embodiment provides two possible processing manners.

And in the first mode, sending a user migration notification carrying the identifier of the first network slice to the second network slice.

In implementation, the management device may obtain an identifier of the first network slice in the user migration instruction, generate a user migration notification according to the identifier of the first network slice, and send the user migration notification to the second network slice, so that the second network slice migrates the locally accessed user device into the first network slice. In addition, for the case of migrating a part of the user equipments in the second network slice to the first network slice, the management device may further determine the user equipments that need to be migrated according to an operation of a network administrator or a preset network slice management policy, and the user migration notification may also carry an identifier of the user equipment that needs to be migrated and/or a number of the user equipments, where the number may be a migration number or a percentage.

Determining NSSAI corresponding to the identifier of the first network slice according to the corresponding relation between the identifier of the pre-stored network slice and the NSSAI; and sending a user migration notification carrying the NSSAI of the first network slice to the second network slice.

In implementation, the management device may further pre-store a correspondence between the identifier of the network slice and the NSSAI, where NSSAI corresponding to different network slices are different. The corresponding relationship can be shown as table one:

watch 1

NSSAI	Network slicing
		1111	A
2222	B
		3333	C

Wherein A, B, C are the identifications of the network slices, respectively.

After the management device obtains the identifier of the first network slice, the NSSAI corresponding to the identifier of the first network slice may be searched in the corresponding relationship, and then a user migration notification may be generated according to the NSSAI corresponding to the identifier of the first network slice, and the user migration notification is sent to the second network slice, so that the second network slice migrates the locally accessed user equipment into the first network slice. In addition, for the case of migrating a part of the user equipments in the second network slice to the first network slice, the management device may further determine the user equipments that need to be migrated according to an operation of a network administrator or a preset network slice management policy, and the user migration notification may also carry an identifier of the user equipment that needs to be migrated and/or a number of the user equipments, where the number may be a migration number or a percentage.

Step 603, the second network slice receives the user migration notification sent by the management device.

Step 604, the second network slice acquires the auxiliary information NSSAI selected by the network slice corresponding to the first network slice.

Wherein, the first network slice is a network slice which needs to be accessed again by the user equipment for migration.

In implementation, the second network slice may obtain the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice according to the received user migration notification. The step can have the following two processing modes:

and in the first mode, acquiring NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice carried in the user migration notification.

In implementation, for the case that the user migration notification carries the NSSAI of the first network slice, the second network slice may analyze the user migration notification to obtain the NSSAI of the first network slice. The NSSAI may be a previously stored NSSAI of the first network slice or may be an NSSAI of the first network slice newly added by the network administrator. If the second network slice detects that the NSSAI does not exist in the correspondence between the locally stored network slice identifier and the NSSAI, the identifier of the first network slice and the NSSAI may be added to the correspondence. For example, the correspondence between the locally stored network slice identifier and NSSAI is as shown in table one above, and after the second network slice receives NSSAI 4444 corresponding to network slice B, B and 4444 may be added to the correspondence table, as shown in table two:

watch two

Or, the NSSAI may also be an NSSAI of the second network slice, and the second network slice may modify the identifier of the network slice corresponding to the NSSAI in table one to the identifier of the first network slice. For example, if the network slice a receives the user migration notification, the first network slice B and NSSAI 1111 are carried in the user migration notification, the identifier of the network slice corresponding to 1111 may be modified to B, as shown in table three:

watch III

NSSAI	Network slicing
		1111	B
2222	B
		3333	C

And secondly, acquiring the identifier of the first network slice carried in the user migration notification, and determining the NSSAI corresponding to the identifier of the first network slice according to the pre-stored corresponding relationship between the identifier of the network slice and the NSSAI.

In implementation, for the case that the user migration notification carries the identifier of the first network slice, the second network slice may store the correspondence between the identifier of the network slice and the NSSAI in advance, and the correspondence may refer to the first table. The second network slice may analyze the user migration notification to obtain an identifier of the first network slice, and then search for an NSSAI corresponding to the identifier of the first network slice in the correspondence.

In practice, if the second network slice needs to be deleted, the management device may send a user migration notification carrying the identifier of the first network slice to the second network slice, or may send a user migration notification carrying the NSSAI of the first network slice to the second network slice, so that the second network slice migrates all local user devices into the first network slice. If only part of the users in the second network slice are migrated to the first network slice, the second network slice needs to be used continuously, and the new NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice can be sent to the second network slice.

The processing of this step may be implemented by SSF in the network slice.

Step 605, the second network slice sends NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the user equipment, where NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice is used to instruct the user equipment to access the first network slice.

In implementation, when the second network slice sends the NSSAI of the first network slice to the user equipment that needs to be migrated, the state information of the user equipment may be determined first. For example, the user equipment may be a user equipment that is requesting access to the second network slice; the user equipment with the state information in the idle state can be used; the user equipment may be a user equipment whose status information is a connection status and is performing data transmission with the second network slice; and the state information is the connection state, and the user equipment does not perform data transmission with the second network slice. After the second network slice determines the state information of the user equipment, the NSSAI of the first network slice of the user equipment may be sent in a sending mode corresponding to the state information. For the ue in different states, the transmission manner of the second network slice may be different, and the specific processing procedure will be described in detail in the steps of fig. 7 to fig. 10.

Step 606, the ue receives the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice sent by the second network slice.

In implementation, the processing procedure for the ue in different states to receive NSSAI may be different, and the specific processing procedure will be described in detail in the steps of fig. 7 to fig. 10.

Step 607, the user equipment accesses the first network slice based on the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice.

The access request may be an attach request or a location update request.

In implementation, after receiving an NSSAI corresponding to a first network slice, a user equipment may send an access request carrying the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to a second network slice, and after receiving the access request, the second network slice may parse the access request to obtain the NSSAI therein, and then determine, according to a pre-stored correspondence between an identifier of the network slice and the NSSAI, that the NSSAI corresponds to the first network slice, and may further forward the access request to the first network slice.

After receiving the subsequent Request, the first network slice may send a Context Request (i.e., Context Request) message to the second network slice, where the Context Request message may carry an identifier of the ue, and after receiving the Context Request message, the first network slice may obtain user subscription information and security Context information of the ue according to the identifier of the ue, and then send a Context Response (i.e., Context) message to the first network slice, where the Context Response message may carry the user subscription information and the security Context information of the ue. After receiving the Context Response message, the first network slice may perform access processing on the ue based on the Context Response message and a preset access policy, so that the ue is accessed to the first network slice.

In step 608, the second network slice sends a migration complete notification to the management device.

In implementation, after receiving the user migration notification, the second network slice may start timing and send NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the user equipment that needs to be migrated, and when the second network slice sends NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to all the user equipment that needs to be migrated, or when the preset migration duration is reached, the second network slice may send a migration completion notification to the management equipment, so that the management equipment performs subsequent processing.

In step 609, the management device receives the migration completion notification.

In implementation, the management device may receive the migration completion notification sent by the second network slice, and then may automatically perform the adjustment processing corresponding to the second network slice, for example, may delete the second network slice, and may notify the SSF and the second network slice to release the resource. Or, the management device may also display a migration completion notification corresponding to the second network slice, so that the network administrator performs the next operation.

The processing sequence of the steps 606 to 607 and the steps 608 to 609 may not be sequential.

The embodiment also provides a process of sending NSSAI of the first network slice for the user equipment in different states to enable the user equipment to access the first network slice. As shown in fig. 7, taking the user equipment as the user equipment that is requesting to access the second network slice as an example, the process of accessing the network slice by the user equipment may include the following steps:

step 701, the ue sends an NSSAI access request carrying the second network slice to the second network slice.

The access request may be an attach request or a location update request.

In implementation, when the user equipment needs to access the second network slice, the user equipment may send an access request to the second network slice, where the access request may carry the NSSAI of the second network slice.

In step 702, the second network slice receives an access request sent by the ue.

Step 703, the second network slice sends a rejection message to the user equipment, where the rejection message carries the NSSAI of the first network slice.

In implementation, if the second network slice receives an NSSAI access request carrying the second network slice sent by the ue after receiving the user migration notification, a reject message may be sent to the ue, where the reject message carries an NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice, and the reject cause value is "slice reselection".

In step 704, the ue receives a reject message sent by the second network slice.

In an implementation, after receiving the reject message, the ue may parse the reject message, obtain NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice, and reject "slice reselection" as a cause value.

Step 705, the ue sends an NSSAI access request carrying the first network slice to the second network slice.

In implementation, the user equipment may obtain that it needs to access the first network slice according to the reject cause value "slice reselection" and the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice, and may then carry an access request of the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the second network slice. In this step, the access request may be sent to the SSF of the network slice.

In step 706, the second network slice receives an NSSAI access request carrying the first network slice sent by the ue.

In an implementation, after receiving an access request sent by the user equipment, the second network slice may parse the access request to obtain an NSSAI in the access request, and if the NSSAI is the NSSAI of the first network slice, step 707 is executed, and if not, step 703 may be executed. The processing of this step may be implemented by SSF in the network slice.

The second network slice sends the access request to the first network slice, step 707.

The processing of this step can be implemented by SSF in the network slice, and the specific processing can refer to the related description in step 607.

In step 708, the first network slice performs access processing on the user equipment, so that the user equipment is accessed to the first network slice.

The specific processing of this step can refer to the related description in step 607 above.

As shown in fig. 8, taking the state information of the ue as an idle state as an example, the process of accessing the network slice by the ue may include the following steps:

step 801, the second network slice sends a paging message to the user equipment.

The paging message carries NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice, and may also carry "slice reselection" as a paging cause value.

In an implementation, a single migration number (for convenience of description, may be referred to as a first number) of the user equipment may be preset in the second network slice, and the first number may be a migration number or a percentage. The second network slice may send the paging messages to the ue in the idle state in batches based on the first number, that is, the second network slice may determine the first number of ues in the ue in the idle state in each time, and send the paging messages to the first number of ues until the paging messages are sent to all ues in the idle state that need to be migrated. Therefore, the paging can be initiated batch by batch for the user equipment in the idle state, and the efficiency of transferring the user equipment is improved.

Step 802, the user equipment receives a paging message sent by the second network slice, where the paging message carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice.

In an implementation, the ue may receive the paging message, parse the paging message, and obtain NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice, and "slice reselection" as a paging cause value.

Step 803, the ue sends an access request carrying the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the second network slice.

In implementation, the user equipment may obtain that it needs to access the first network slice according to the paging cause value "slice reselection" and the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice, and then may carry an access request of the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the second network slice. In this step, the access request may be sent to the SSF of the network slice.

Step 804, the second network slice receives an access request which is sent by the user equipment and carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice.

The processing of this step can be implemented by SSF in the network slice, and the specific processing can refer to the related description in step 706.

Step 805, the second network slice sends an access request to the first network slice.

In step 806, the first network slice performs access processing on the user equipment, so that the user equipment is accessed to the first network slice.

As shown in fig. 9, taking the state information of the ue as the connection state and the ue does not perform data transmission with the currently accessed second network slice as an example, the process of accessing the network slice by the ue may include the following steps:

in step 901, the second network slice sends a temporary identifier request corresponding to the ue to the first network slice.

In implementation, after obtaining the NSSAI of the first network slice, the second network slice may send a temporary identifier request to the first network slice, where the temporary identifier request may carry an identifier of a user equipment that needs to be migrated, and the number of the identifiers of the user equipment may be one or multiple.

Step 902, the first network slice sends a temporary identifier to the second network slice.

In implementation, after receiving the temporary identifier request, the first network slice may parse the temporary identifier request to obtain an identifier of the user equipment therein, and then allocate the temporary identifier to the user equipment. For the case that the temporary identifier request carries identifiers of multiple user equipments, the first network slice may allocate a temporary identifier to each user equipment, and then the first network slice sends the temporary identifier corresponding to each user equipment to the second network slice. In addition, in the scenario related to this embodiment, the first network slice may obtain the user subscription information and the security context information of the ue after step 902, or may obtain the user subscription information and the security context information of the ue after receiving the access request, and the specific processing process may refer to step 607 and is not described again.

In step 903, the second network slice receives the temporary identifier sent by the first network slice.

Step 904, the second network slice sends a temporary identity update message to the user equipment.

The temporary identifier update message may carry a temporary identifier corresponding to the ue.

In implementation, the second network slice may send the temporary identifier update message to the user equipment batch by batch to improve the efficiency of migrating the user equipment, and the specific processing may refer to step 801 described above and is not described again.

Step 905, the ue receives the temporary identifier update message sent by the second network slice.

In implementation, the ue may receive the temporary identifier update message, analyze the temporary identifier update message, and obtain an NSSAI and a temporary identifier corresponding to the first network slice.

Step 906, the user equipment sends a temporary identifier reallocation response message to the second network slice.

In an implementation, after receiving the temporary identifier update message, the ue may send a temporary identifier reallocation response message to the second network slice, so that the second network slice knows that the ue receives the temporary identifier update message.

Step 907, the ue sends an access request carrying the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the second network slice.

In implementation, when the user equipment needs to perform a service, the user equipment may carry an access request of an NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the second network slice according to the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice. In this step, the access request may be sent to the SSF of the network slice.

Step 908, the second network slice receives the access request carrying the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice sent by the user equipment.

The second network slice sends an access request to the first network slice, step 909.

In step 910, the first network slice performs access processing on the user equipment, so that the user equipment is accessed to the first network slice.

The specific processing of this step can refer to the related description in step 607 above. In addition, after the first network slice allocates the temporary identifier to the user equipment, the SSF may record the corresponding relationship between the temporary identifier and the first network slice. After the user equipment is accessed to the first network slice, data transmission can be performed between the user equipment and the first network slice, the temporary identifier is added to a data transmission message (which may be called a data message), the data message is sent to the SSF, and after the SSF receives the data message, the data message can be sent to the first network slice according to the temporary identifier, so that data transmission between the user equipment and the first network slice is realized.

As shown in fig. 10, taking the state information of the ue as the connection state and the ue is performing data transmission with the currently accessed second network slice as an example, the process of accessing the network slice by the ue may include the following steps:

step 1001, the second network slice sends a connection interruption notification to the user equipment.

The connection interruption notification carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice, and may also carry a connection interruption cause value "slice reselection".

In implementation, the state information in the second network slice may be in a connection state, and the ue currently accessing the second network slice performing data transmission send paging messages batch by batch, so as to improve the efficiency of migrating the ue.

In step 1002, the ue receives a connection interruption notification sent by the second network slice.

In an implementation, the ue may receive the connection interruption notification, parse the connection interruption notification, and obtain an NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice and a connection interruption cause value "slice reselection".

Step 1003, the user equipment sends an access request carrying the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the second network slice.

In implementation, the user equipment may obtain that it needs to access the first network slice according to the connection interruption cause value "slice reselection" and the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice, and carry an access request of the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the second network slice. In this step, the access request may be sent to the SSF of the network slice.

Step 1004, the second network slice receives the access request carrying the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice sent by the user equipment.

In step 1005, the second network slice sends the access request to the first network slice.

In step 1006, the first network slice performs access processing on the user equipment, so that the user equipment is accessed to the first network slice.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram of an apparatus for accessing a network slice, which may be implemented by software, hardware or a combination of the two as part or all of the network slice.

The device includes: a transceiving unit 1110 and an acquisition unit 1120.

The transceiver 1110 is configured to perform step 603, step 605, step 608, step 702, step 703, step 706, step 707, step 801, step 804, step 805, step 901, step 903, step 904, step 908, step 909, step 1001, step 1004, and step 1005, and optional steps in the above embodiments.

The obtaining unit 1120 is configured to perform the step 604 and its optional solutions in the above embodiments.

Fig. 12 is a block diagram of an apparatus for accessing a network slice according to an embodiment of the present invention, which may be implemented as part or all of a user equipment by software, hardware, or a combination of the two.

The device includes: a transceiving unit 1210 and a processing unit 1220.

The transceiver 1210 is configured to perform step 606, step 701, step 704, step 705, step 802, step 803, step 905 to step 907, step 1002, and step 1003, and optional steps in the foregoing embodiments.

The processing unit 1220 is used to execute step 607 and its alternatives in the above embodiments.

Fig. 13 is a block diagram of an apparatus for accessing a network slice according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the apparatus may be implemented as part or all of a management device through software, hardware, or a combination of the two.

The device includes: a transceiving unit 1310.

The transceiving unit 1310 is configured to perform step 601, step 602, and step 609 in the above-described embodiments and their alternatives.

The apparatus may further comprise a deletion unit for performing step 609 and its alternatives in the above embodiments.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or part of the steps for implementing the above embodiments may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by a program instructing relevant hardware, where the program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the above-mentioned storage medium may be a read-only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc.

The above description is intended to be exemplary only and not to limit the present disclosure, and any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure is to be considered as the same as the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method of accessing network slices, the method comprising:

receiving a user migration notification sent by a management device;

sending an NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the user equipment, where the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice is used to instruct the user equipment to access the first network slice;

when the state information of the ue is in a connection state and the ue does not perform data transmission with a currently accessed second network slice, the sending the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the ue includes:

receiving a temporary identifier sent by the first network slice;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice comprises:

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sending the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the user equipment comprises:

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the state information of the ue is in an idle state, the sending the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the ue comprises:

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the state information of the ue is a connected state and the ue is performing data transmission with a currently accessed second network slice, the sending the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the ue comprises:

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the sending the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the user equipment, further comprising:

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

8. A method of accessing network slices, the method comprising:

accessing the first network slice based on the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice;

when the status information of the ue is in a connection status and the ue and the second network slice do not perform data transmission, the receiving the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice sent by the second network slice includes:

the method further comprises the following steps: and performing data transmission with the first network slice based on the temporary identifier.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the receiving the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice transmitted by the second network slice comprises:

sending an access request to the second network slice;

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein when the status information of the ue is in an idle state, the receiving the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice sent by the second network slice includes:

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein when the status information of the ue is in a connected status and the ue and the second network slice are performing data transmission, the receiving the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice sent by the second network slice comprises:

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the accessing the first network slice based on the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice comprises:

accessing the first network slice.

13. A method of accessing network slices, the method comprising:

receiving a user migration instruction, wherein the user migration instruction carries an identifier of a second network slice which needs to be migrated by user equipment and an identifier of a first network slice which needs to be accessed again by the user equipment;

and sending a user migration notification to the second network slice, so that when the state information of the user equipment in the second network slice is in a connection state and the user equipment and the second network slice do not perform data transmission, the temporary identifier of the user equipment is acquired from the first network slice, and sending a temporary identifier update message to the user equipment, so that the user equipment is migrated to the first network slice, wherein the temporary identifier update message carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice and the temporary identifier.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein sending a user migration notification to the second network slice comprises:

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

16. An apparatus for accessing network slicing, the apparatus comprising:

the receiving and sending unit is used for receiving a user migration notification sent by the management equipment;

an obtaining unit, configured to obtain auxiliary information NSSAI selected by a network slice corresponding to a first network slice, where the first network slice is a network slice to which a user equipment performing migration needs to re-access;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send an NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the user equipment, where the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice is used to instruct the user equipment to access the first network slice;

when the state information of the ue is in a connection state and the ue does not perform data transmission with the currently accessed second network slice, the transceiver unit is configured to:

receiving a temporary identifier sent by the first network slice;

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the obtaining unit is further configured to:

18. The apparatus according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

19. The apparatus according to claim 16 or 17, wherein when the status information of the ue is in an idle state, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

20. The apparatus of claim 16 or 17, wherein when the status information of the ue is a connection status and the ue is performing data transmission with a currently accessed second network slice, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

22. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

23. An apparatus for accessing network slicing, the apparatus comprising:

a transceiving unit, configured to receive auxiliary information NSSAI selected by a network slice corresponding to a first network slice and sent by a second network slice, where the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice is used to instruct a user equipment to access the first network slice;

the processing unit is used for accessing the first network slice based on the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice;

when the status information of the ue is in a connection status and the ue and the second network slice are not in data transmission, the transceiver unit is configured to:

the processing unit is further configured to:

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

sending an access request to the second network slice;

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein when the status information of the ue is in an idle state, the transceiver unit is further configured to:

26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein when the status information of the ue is in a connected status and the ue and the second network slice are performing data transmission, the transceiving unit is further configured to:

27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

controlling the transceiver unit to send an access request carrying the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice to the second network slice, so that the second network slice sends the access request to the first network slice, and the first network slice performs access processing on the user equipment;

accessing the first network slice.

28. An apparatus for accessing network slicing, the apparatus comprising:

a receiving and sending unit, configured to receive a user migration instruction, where the user migration instruction carries an identifier of a second network slice that needs to perform migration processing of a user equipment, and an identifier of a first network slice that the user equipment needs to re-access;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send a user migration notification to the second network slice, so that when the state information of the user equipment in the second network slice is in a connection state and data transmission between the user equipment and the second network slice is not performed, the transceiver unit obtains a temporary identifier of the user equipment from the first network slice, and sends a temporary identifier update message to the user equipment, so as to migrate the user equipment to the first network slice, where the temporary identifier update message carries the NSSAI corresponding to the first network slice and the temporary identifier.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

30. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising:

and the deleting unit is used for deleting the second network slice when receiving the migration completion notification sent by the second network slice.

31. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by a second network slice to implement the method of any of claims 1-7.

32. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by a user device to perform the method of any one of claims 8-12.

33. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by a management device to implement the method of any one of claims 13-15.