CN110401972B

CN110401972B - Method, apparatus and system for routing messages in a multi-network sliced network

Info

Publication number: CN110401972B
Application number: CN201910682146.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王胡成
Original assignee: 大唐移动通信设备有限公司
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-04-08
Filing date: 2016-04-08
Publication date: 2022-04-22
Anticipated expiration: 2036-04-08
Also published as: CN110401972A; CN107277883A

Abstract

The invention provides a method, equipment and a system for routing messages in a multi-network-slice network, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the message routing function receives the message and analyzes the related information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type of the message; the message routing function determines the destination network information of the message according to the relevant information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type; and the message routing function carries out message routing according to the determined destination network information.

Description

Method, apparatus and system for routing messages in a multi-network sliced network

The present application is a divisional application of patent application having a filing date of 2016, 4 and 8, and a filing number of 201610218685.6, entitled "method, apparatus and system for routing messages in a multi-network-slice network".

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method, a device, and a system for routing a message in a multi-network-slice network.

Background

In the next generation mobile communication network, richer network applications need to be supported, the service requirements of various scenes are met, the service performance requirements of different users are met, and various types of equipment access are supported. Diversified service requirements put different demands on various aspects of network mobility management, bandwidth requirements, quality of service, security, charging, etc. In order to support diversified service requirements, reduce network construction and operation costs, and improve network management flexibility and network resource effectiveness, operators propose to support specific types of communication services by using one "network slice" in the next generation mobile communication network, and the network function in each network slice is a combination of specific logical network functions for specific service requirements. In the next generation mobile communication network system, in order to enable one terminal user to simultaneously acquire a plurality of services, different services of the user are allowed to be respectively accessed into different network slices.

The definition of network Slice (Slice) is as follows: the network slice consists of three layers: a service instance layer, a network slice instance layer and a resource layer. As shown in fig. 1, the three layers are described as follows: (1) the service instance layer represents the supported service (end user service or business service). Each service instance represents a service. Generally, services may be provided by a network operator or a third party. Thus, a service instance may represent an operator service or a service provided by a third party. (2) The network slice instance provides the service instance with its required network characteristics. Multiple service instances provided by a network operator may share one network slice instance. The network slice instances may include 0, 1, or more subnet instances that may be shared by other network slice instances. A subnet instance consists of a set of network functions that run on top of physical/logical resources. (3) The resource layer comprises physical resources and logical resources. Where the physical resource is a collection of computers, storage and transmission resources (including radio access). A logical resource is a physical resource that is either specifically partitioned for a network function or shared by a group of network functions. Each network slice includes a set of logical network functions that support the communication traffic needs of a particular scenario. The logical function may be a location management function, a handover control function, a session management function, etc. The specific logic functions included in the network slice are different according to the services provided by the network slice, for example, a slice supporting mobile broadband services needs to support the three functions, while a slice supporting internet-of-things services does not need to support a location management function and a handover control function.

Currently, in 3GPP TR 23.799, the slicing modes of the network and the slicing modes of the terminal access network are classified, and there are the following mainly:

class a (Group a): in this type of network slice, a terminal obtains different services from different network slices and different core network instances, and these different network slices are completely independent from each other, including independent subscription management and mobility management. This slicing approach may cause more signaling overhead in the air interface and network, but it may be easy to implement and guarantee isolation between network slices, see fig. 2A.

Class B (Group B): in this type of network slice, some of the network functions are shared by multiple network slices, and other network functions are independently located in each network slice, see fig. 2B.

Class C (Group C): this type of network slice shares its control plane functionality, while the user plane is independently located in the respective network slice, see fig. 2C.

In an LTE (Long Term Evolution ) network, an NAS (non-access stratum) message is an interactive signaling between a UE and an MME (mobility management entity) of a core network, and is mainly used for mobility management and connection management, where a mobility management process specifically includes attachment of a terminal, location update, a service request, PDN (packet data network) connection establishment/modification/deletion, and the like. The UE transparently encapsulates all uplink NAS messages in RRC (radio resource control protocol) messages and sends the RRC messages to an eNB (base station), and then the eNB forwards the RRC messages to the MME through S1-AP messages; when the MME sends the downlink NAS message, the downlink NAS message is encapsulated in an S1-AP message and sent to the eNB, and then the downlink NAS message is forwarded to the UE through an RRC message.

Since in the LTE system, control plane functions (such AS mobility management and connection management) are deployed on MME entities, and one UE is served by only one MME, NAS/AS signaling only needs to be terminated on the MME, and then related messages are processed by internal implementation of the MME.

However, the prior art does not discuss the routing problem of upstream messages when a terminal accesses multiple network slices. In a network slice scenario, the control plane functions of the network are no longer deployed on a single entity, even while the control plane functions serving the UE are not in the same network slice, so in a multi-slice network scenario, there is a problem how to correctly route NAS or AS (access stratum) messages to the correct network functions.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above technical problems, the present invention provides a method, device and system for routing a message in a multi-network-slice network, so that a message routing function can route the message to an appropriate destination network slice and/or destination network function according to the relevant information and message type of a terminal, thereby solving the problem of routing the message when the terminal accesses a plurality of network slices.

In accordance with an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of routing messages in a multi-network-slice network, the method comprising:

the message routing function receives the message and analyzes the related information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type of the message;

the message routing function determines the destination network information of the message according to the relevant information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type;

and the message routing function carries out message routing according to the determined destination network information.

Optionally, the determining, by the message routing function, destination network information of the message according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type includes:

and the message routing function indexes a message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determines a destination network slice and/or a destination network function corresponding to the destination network information of the message, wherein the message routing context comprises the corresponding relation between the message and the destination network.

Optionally, the related information of the terminal includes one or more of the following items:

identification information;

connection information of the terminal; and

the identification of a target network slice accessed by the terminal;

the identification information comprises a temporary identification or a subscription identification;

the connection information of the terminal includes: the identifier of the selected destination network slice during session establishment, or the session identifier allocated by the network after session establishment.

Optionally, when the message is an attach request message, before the message routing function indexes a message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determines a destination network slice and/or a destination network function of the message, the method further includes:

the message routing function routes the attach request message to an access control function;

the message routing function creates a message routing context for the terminal after the attach request is accepted by the network.

Optionally, when the message is another mobility management message of a non-attach request, the message routing function indexes a message routing context according to the identification information of the terminal and the message type, and determines a destination network slice and/or a destination network function of the message.

Optionally, when the message is a session establishment request message, the message routing function indexes a message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determines a destination network slice and/or a destination network function of the message, including:

the message routing function sends a slice selection request to a slice selection function;

the message routing function receives the target network slice fed back by the slice selection function and/or the result of the target network function selection;

and the message routing function updates the message routing context of the terminal according to the network slice and/or the result of network function selection.

Optionally, further comprising:

and after the session is established, the message routing function updates the message routing context by using the session identification distributed by the destination network slice.

Optionally, when the message is another session management message other than the session establishment request, the message routing function indexes a message routing context according to the connection information of the terminal and the message type, and determines a destination network slice and/or a destination network function of the message.

Optionally, the message includes an attach request message and a session establishment request message, the message routing function receives the message, and parses the related information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type of the message, including:

the message routing function analyzes the message to obtain an attachment request message, a session establishment request message, relevant information of a terminal to which the message belongs and a message type of the message;

the message routing function determines a destination network slice and/or a destination network function of the message according to the relevant information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type, and comprises the following steps:

the message routing function sends the attachment request message to an access control function, and creates a message routing context of the terminal after completing an access control process;

and the message routing function updates the message routing context of the terminal according to the network slice and the result of the network function selection.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

when all session connections established in a network slice are in an inactive state, the message routing function sets an entry related to the network slice in a message routing context of the network slice as an inactive state.

Optionally, the setting, by the message routing function, an entry related to the network slice in a message routing context of the network slice to an inactive state includes:

the message routing function receives a routing context updating request sent by a network slice, and all session connections established in the network slice are in an inactive state;

and the message routing function updates the message routing context of the network slice according to the routing context updating request, and the table entry related to the network slice in the message routing context is set to be in an inactive state.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

when the terminal is switched, the message routing function does not send the message related to the switching to the inactive network slice.

Optionally, the message routing context includes one or more of: the message type sent by the terminal to the core network, the message type sent by the access network to the core network, the related information of the terminal, and the target network slice identifier and the target network function identifier of various types of messages.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a method of routing messages in a multi-network-slice network, the method comprising:

the slice selection function receives a slice selection request sent by the message routing function;

the slice selection function selects a network slice according to the slice selection request;

the slice selection function sends a network function selection request to the selected network slice;

the slice selection function feeds back the network slices and the results of the network function selection to the message routing function.

Optionally, when the slice selection request carries information related to the terminal, a current location of the terminal, and a message type, the slice selection function selects a network slice according to the slice selection request, including:

the slice selection function acquires subscription information of the terminal;

the slice selection function selects a network slice according to subscription information of the terminal, related information of the terminal, and a current location of the terminal and/or the message type.

Optionally, the network function selection request carries the relevant information of the terminal, the current location of the terminal and/or the message type.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a message routing function comprising:

the analysis module is used for receiving the message and analyzing the related information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type of the message;

the processing module is used for determining the destination network information of the message according to the relevant information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type;

and the first routing module is used for routing the message according to the determined destination network information.

Optionally, the processing module is further configured to:

and indexing a message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determining a target network slice and/or a target network function corresponding to the target network information of the message, wherein the message routing context comprises the corresponding relation between the message and the target network.

identification information;

connection information of the terminal; and

the identification of a target network slice accessed by the terminal;

Optionally, when the message is an attach request message, the message routing function further includes:

a second routing module for routing the attach request message to an access control function;

and the creating module is used for creating the message routing context for the terminal after the attachment request is accepted by the network.

Optionally, when the message is another mobility management message of a non-attach request, the processing module is further configured to: and according to the identification information of the terminal and the message type, indexing a message routing context, and determining a destination network slice and/or a destination network function of the message.

Optionally, when the message is a session establishment request message, the processing module is further configured to: sending a slice selection request to a slice selection function; receiving a target network slice fed back by the slice selection function and/or a target network function selection result; and updating the message routing context of the terminal according to the network slice and the result of network function selection.

Optionally, the processing module is further configured to: after the session is established, the message routing context is updated with the session identification assigned by the destination network slice.

Optionally, when the message is another session management message other than the session establishment request, the processing module is further configured to: and according to the connection information of the terminal and the message type, indexing a message routing context, and determining a destination network slice and/or a destination network function of the message.

Optionally, the message includes an attach request message and a session establishment request message, and the parsing module is further configured to: analyzing the message to obtain an attachment request message, a session establishment request message, related information of a terminal to which the message belongs and a message type of the message;

the processing module is further to: sending the attachment request message to an access control function, and creating a message routing context of the terminal after completing an access control process; sending a slice selection request to a slice selection function; receiving a target network slice fed back by the slice selection function and/or a target network function selection result; and updating the message routing context of the terminal according to the network slice and the result of network function selection.

Optionally, the message routing function further comprises:

a setting module, configured to set, when all session connections established in a network slice are in an inactive state, an entry related to the network slice in a message routing context of the network slice as the inactive state.

Optionally, the setting module is further configured to: receiving a routing context updating request sent by a network slice, wherein all session connections established in the network slice are in an inactive state; and updating the message routing context of the network slice according to the routing context updating request, and setting the table entry related to the network slice in the message routing context as an inactive state.

Optionally, the first routing module is further configured to: and when the terminal is switched, the message related to the switching is not sent to the inactive network slice.

There is also provided, in accordance with yet another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, a slice selection function, including:

the receiving module is used for receiving the slice selection request sent by the message routing function;

the selection module is used for selecting the network slice according to the slice selection request;

a sending module, configured to send a network function selection request to the selected network slice;

and the feedback module is used for feeding back the network slice and the result of network function selection to the message routing function.

Optionally, when the slice selection request carries the relevant information of the terminal, the current location of the terminal, and the message type, the selection module is further configured to: acquiring subscription information of the terminal; and selecting the network slice according to the subscription information of the terminal, the relevant information of the terminal, the current position of the terminal and/or the message type.

There is also provided, in accordance with yet another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, a system for routing messages in a multi-network sliced network, including:

the message routing function is used for receiving the message and analyzing the related information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type of the message;

the message routing function is further configured to determine destination network information of the message according to the relevant information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type;

the message routing function is further configured to route the message according to the determined destination network information;

a slice selection function for receiving a slice selection request sent by the message routing function;

the slice selection function is further configured to select a network slice according to the slice selection request;

the slice selection function is also used for sending a network function selection request to the selected network slice;

the slice selection function is further configured to feed back a result of the network slice and the network function selection to the message routing function.

One technical scheme in the technology has the following advantages or beneficial effects: the message routing function can determine the destination network function of the message according to the relevant information and the message type of the terminal to which the message belongs, namely, the message can be routed to a proper destination network slice and/or the destination network function, and the problem of routing of the uplink message when the terminal is accessed into a plurality of network slices is solved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art network slice;

FIGS. 2A 2C are schematic diagrams illustrating a slicing method of a network and a slicing method of a terminal accessing the network in the prior art;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating network functions within a shared network slice according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for routing messages in a multi-network sliced network according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a process of creating a message routing context according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a process in which a new session connection results in an update of a message routing context according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating an update of a message routing context by an attach procedure carrying a session creation request according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating RAN (access network) side request message routing according to a message routing context in a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating a session tear-down updating a message routing context according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of routing messages in a multi-network sliced network according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating message routing functionality in an eighth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating message routing functionality in a ninth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a slice selection function in a tenth embodiment of the invention;

fig. 14 is a diagram illustrating a slice selection function in an eleventh embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

When a physical network is sliced, the entire operator network will be composed of multiple virtual networks, so that after a terminal accesses the network and sends out a NAS (non-access stratum) request message, the network faces the problem of how to correctly route the NAS message to a proper network function, and the same problem also exists when the network receives an AS (access stratum) message. In order to solve the foregoing technical problem, embodiments of the present invention provide a method, an apparatus, and a system for routing a message in a multi-network-slice network, where a message routing function can determine a destination network function of the message according to related information and a message type of a terminal to which the message belongs, so as to solve a routing problem of an uplink message when the terminal accesses multiple network slices.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Referring to fig. 3, for a multi-slice network (e.g., including network slice x, network slice y, and network slice z), it is defined that at least the following network functions exist between the access network and the core network: a message routing function (message routing function) and a Slice Selection function (Slice Selection), wherein:

and the message routing function is used for determining the destination network function of the message and forwarding the message. Optionally, the message routing function may index a message routing context to forward the message, where the message routing context may include a correspondence between the message and the destination network, for example, the message routing context includes information of destination network functions of different messages of different UEs (terminals), and it should be noted that the message routing function may also obtain related information of the destination network function in other manners to forward the message. It should be noted that, optionally, after the selection of the destination network slice and/or the destination network function is completed, the message routing function may further update the message routing context, and write the corresponding relationship between the message and the destination network function.

And the slice selection function is used for completing the selection of the target network slice and the selection of the target network function.

First embodiment

Referring to fig. 4, a flow chart of a method for routing messages in a multi-network-slice network is shown, which includes the following specific steps:

step S401, the message routing function receives the message and analyzes the related information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type of the message.

The message may be a NAS message or an AS message, for example, the message may be an attach request message, a session establishment request message, or an attach request message carrying a session establishment request, but is not limited thereto.

The related information of the terminal may include one or more of the following items: identification information (including temporary identification or subscription identification), connection information of the terminal (including identification of a destination network slice selected during session establishment or session identification allocated by a network after session establishment), and identification of a destination network slice accessed by the terminal. The message types include a message type sent by the terminal to the core network and a message type sent by the access network to the core network, but are not limited thereto.

Step S402, the message routing function determines the destination network information of the message according to the relevant information and the message type of the terminal to which the message belongs.

Optionally, the message routing function may determine the destination network function of the message according to a message routing context, which contains information of the destination network functions of different messages of different terminals (UEs). Specifically, the message routing function indexes the message routing context according to the related information and the message type of the terminal to which the message routing function belongs, and determines the destination network slice and/or the destination network function corresponding to the destination network information of the message.

In an alternative of this embodiment, the destination network function of the message is obtained from the message routing context through matching of the relevant information and the message type of the terminal, and then message routing is performed according to the obtained address of the destination network function, so that the problem of routing of the uplink message when the terminal accesses multiple network slices is solved. For example: when the message is other mobility management messages of non-attachment request, the message routing function indexes the message routing context according to the identification information and the message type of the terminal to which the message belongs, and determines the target network slice and/or the target network function of the message. Another example is: when the message is other mobility management messages of the non-session establishment request, the message routing function indexes the message routing context according to the connection information of the terminal and the message type, and determines the destination network slice and/or the destination network function of the message.

In this embodiment, the message routing context may be used by the message routing function to route the received upstream message, and is mainly composed of two parts:

per UE (per terminal) granular message routing context

Per UE (per terminal) per slice (per network slice) granular message routing context

And step S403, performing message routing according to the determined destination network information.

In the above technical solution, the message routing function can determine the destination network slice and/or the destination network function of the message according to the related information and the message type of the terminal to which the message belongs, thereby solving the problem of routing of the uplink message when the terminal accesses a plurality of network slices.

Second embodiment

On the basis of the first embodiment, in this embodiment, when the message is an attach request message, before the message routing function indexes the message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determines the destination network slice and/or the destination network function of the message, the method further includes: the message routing function routes the message to the access control function; the message routing function creates a message routing context for the terminal after the attach request is accepted by the network.

Referring to fig. 5, a schematic diagram of a process for creating a message routing context is shown, which includes the following specific steps:

step S501, the terminal (UE) initiates an attach request, which is received by the message routing function.

Step S502, the message routing function analyzes the message header, obtains the message type and the terminal identification, and when the message is an attachment message, the attachment request is routed to the access control function by default.

Step S503, the access control function performs authentication and authorization for the terminal, and when the authentication is passed, sends an attach accept message to the message routing function, and in addition, the access control function may also send a location registration request to the location management function for location update.

Step S504, the message routing function creates the message routing context of the UE according to the attachment acceptance message, and the message routing context includes the message routing context of each UE.

It should be noted that other contents in this embodiment are the same as those described in the first embodiment, and are not described again here.

In the above technical solution, the message routing function can determine the destination network function of the message according to the related information and the message type of the terminal to which the message belongs, thereby solving the routing problem of the uplink message when the terminal accesses a plurality of network slices.

Third embodiment

On the basis of the first embodiment, in this embodiment, when the message is a session establishment request message, the message routing function sends a slice selection request (including, for example, an identifier of a terminal, a message type, a current location of the terminal, and the like) to the slice selection function; the message routing function receives the destination network slice fed back by the slice selection function and/or the result of destination network function selection (for example, including the identifier of the network slice, the identifier of the network function, etc.); the message routing function updates the message routing context of the terminal according to the network slice and the result of the network function selection; and the message routing function indexes the updated message routing context according to the related information of the terminal and the message type, and determines the target network slice and/or the target network function of the message.

Specifically, in this embodiment, when the UE requests to establish a new session connection, and the new session connection is to be served by a new network slice or a new destination network function, the message routing context is to be updated.

Referring to fig. 6, the new session connection results in the update procedure of the message routing context, which includes the following specific steps:

step S601, the UE initiates a session establishment request, where the session establishment request carries a message type, such as an application ID (request identifier).

Step S602, the message routing function parses the message header to obtain the message type, and obtains the identifier and the location information of the terminal.

Step S603, when the message type is a session establishment request and there is no related routing item in the message routing context or the routing item is invalid or expired, the message routing function sends a slice selection request to the slice selection function, where the slice selection request carries an identifier (UE ID) of the terminal, a current Location (Location) of the terminal, and the message type (e.g., application ID).

Step S604, the slice selection function obtains the subscription information of the terminal, and selects a network slice according to the subscription information, the relevant information of the terminal (e.g., the type of the terminal, the mobility model, etc.), and the current location and the message type of the terminal.

Step S605, the slice selection function sends a network function selection request carrying the current location and the message type of the terminal according to the selected network slice.

Step S606, the selected network slice selects a network function according to the current location of the terminal and the message type and responds, for example, the response message carries a network function identifier (NF ID).

Step S607, the Slice Selection function (Slice Selection) feeds back the results of Slice Selection and network function Selection, including the Slice identification (Slice ID) and the network function identification (NF ID), to the message routing function.

Step S608, the message routing function updates the message routing context of the UE (Updating the route context of the UE) according to the content of the slice response, and puts the destination network slice into an active state.

Step S609, the message routing function sends the message to a destination network function in the destination slice according to the message routing context;

step S610, the destination slice completes the session establishment process and returns a response message to the message routing function, and the destination network slice may request the message routing function to update the routing context, and write the identifier of the newly established session, i.e. the session ID.

Step S611, the message routing function returns a session establishment response message to the terminal.

Fourth embodiment

On the basis of the first embodiment, in this embodiment, the message may include: the message routing function analyzes the message correspondingly to obtain the attachment request message, the session establishment request message, the related information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type of the message; the message routing function sends the attachment request message to an access control function, and creates a message routing context of the terminal after the access control process is completed; the process of selecting a network slice and a destination network function of the third embodiment described above may then be performed and the message routing context of the terminal updated before the message routing function sends a session establishment request.

Specifically, when the attach request message carries a session establishment request, the message routing function should be able to separate the attach request from the session establishment request, so as to perform authentication of the UE first and then perform connection establishment after the authentication passes.

Referring to fig. 7, the process of updating the message routing context by the attach procedure carrying the session creation request is shown, and the specific steps are as follows:

step S701, the UE initiates an attach request message carrying a session establishment request, and the message routing function parses the message to obtain the attach request message and the session establishment request message.

Step S702, the message routing function sends the attach request to an access control function (Admission control), and creates a message routing context of the terminal after the access control procedure is completed.

Step S703, before the message routing function sends the session establishment request, executes the process of selecting a network slice and a destination network function according to the third embodiment, and updates the routing context of the terminal.

Step S704, the message routing function forwards the session establishment request to complete the session establishment process.

Fifth embodiment

On the basis of the first embodiment, in this embodiment, when all session connections established in a network slice are in an inactive state, the message routing function sets an entry related to the network slice in a message routing context of a message to be in the inactive state.

Specifically, taking a handover request or a path update request as an RAN-side request message as an example, the message routing function may perform message routing according to the created routing context.

Referring to fig. 8, a process for performing RAN (access network) side request message routing according to a message routing context is shown, which includes the following specific steps:

step S801, the RAN sends a RAN side request message, such as a handover request message or a path handover request message, to the CN (core network).

Step S802, the message routing function parses the message and queries the message routing context, and forwards the RAN-side request message for the slice in the context in the active state, for example, to the network slice x in the active state, and does not forward the message for the slice in the inactive state, for example, does not forward the message to the network slice y in the inactive state.

Step S803, after completing the handover, when the network function of the service UE in the network slice x changes, the network slice x needs to request the message routing function to update the message routing context of the UE.

Sixth embodiment

Based on the first embodiment, in this embodiment, when all sessions established by the UE in a certain network slice are completely released or air resources of all sessions are released, the network slice requests the message routing function to update the routing context, and sets a message routing context (Ctx) table associated with the network slice in the routing context to an inactive (inactive) state, as shown in fig. 9. Further, a timer may be started for the routing context of the inactive slice, and after the timer expires, the routing context associated with the slice is set to invalid (invalid).

When the message routing function queries the invalid routing context table entry, the destination network function needs to be queried and updated again.

Seventh embodiment

Referring to fig. 10, a method for routing messages in a multi-network-slice network is shown, which comprises the following specific steps:

in step S1001, the slice selection function receives a slice selection request transmitted by the message routing function.

Step S1002, the slice selection function selects a network slice according to the slice selection request.

Optionally, when the slice selection request carries the relevant information of the terminal, the current position of the terminal and the message type, the slice selection function obtains the subscription information of the terminal; the slice selection function selects a network slice according to subscription information of a terminal, related information of the terminal, and a current location and/or a message type of the terminal.

Step S1003, the slice selection function sends a network function selection request to the selected network slice.

Optionally, the network function selection request carries information related to the terminal and a current location and/or a message type of the terminal.

Step S1004, the slice selection function feeds back the network slice and the result of the network function selection to the message routing function.

In the above technical solution, the slice selection function feeds back the network slice and the result of network function selection to the message routing function, so that the message routing function can determine the destination network function of the message according to the related information and the message type of the terminal to which the message belongs, thereby solving the routing problem of the uplink message when the terminal accesses a plurality of network slices.

Eighth embodiment

Referring to fig. 11, a message routing function is shown, comprising:

the parsing module 1101 is configured to receive a message, parse out relevant information of a terminal to which the message belongs and a message type of the message;

a processing module 1102, configured to determine destination network information of the message according to the relevant information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type;

a first routing module 1103, configured to perform routing on the message according to the destination network information obtained through the determination.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the processing module is further configured to:

and indexing a message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determining a target network slice and/or a target network function of the message, wherein the message routing context comprises the corresponding relation between the message and the target network.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the relevant information of the terminal includes one or more of the following items:

identification information;

connection information of the terminal; and

the identification of a target network slice accessed by the terminal;

Optionally, in this embodiment, when the message is an attach request message, the message routing function further includes:

Optionally, in this embodiment, when the message is another mobility management message of a non-attach request, the processing module is further configured to: and according to the identification information of the terminal and the message type, indexing a message routing context, and determining a destination network slice and/or a destination network function of the message.

Optionally, in this embodiment, when the message is a session establishment request message, the processing module is further configured to: sending a slice selection request to a slice selection function; receiving a target network slice fed back by the slice selection function and/or a target network function selection result; updating the message routing context of the terminal according to the network slice and the result of network function selection; and indexing the updated message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determining the target network slice and/or the target network function of the message.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the processing module is further configured to: after the session is established, the message routing context is updated with the session identification assigned by the destination network slice.

Optionally, in this embodiment, when the message is another mobility management message of a non-session establishment request, the processing module is further configured to: and according to the connection information of the terminal and the message type, indexing a message routing context, and determining a destination network slice and/or a destination network function of the message.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the message includes an attach request message and a session establishment request message, and the parsing module is further configured to: analyzing the message to obtain an attachment request message, a session establishment request message, related information of a terminal to which the message belongs and a message type of the message;

the processing module is further to: sending the attachment request message to an access control function, and creating a message routing context of the terminal after completing an access control process; sending a slice selection request to a slice selection function; receiving a target network slice fed back by the slice selection function and/or a target network function selection result; updating the message routing context of the terminal according to the network slice and the result of network function selection; and indexing the updated message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determining the target network slice and/or the target network function of the message.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the message routing function further includes:

Optionally, in this embodiment, the setting module is further configured to: receiving a routing context updating request sent by a network slice, wherein all session connections established in the network slice are in an inactive state; and updating the message routing context of the network slice according to the routing context updating request, and setting the table entry related to the network slice in the message routing context as an inactive state.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the first routing module is further configured to: and when the terminal is switched, the message related to the switching is not sent to the inactive network slice.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the message routing context includes one or more of the following: the message type sent by the terminal to the core network, the message type sent by the access network to the core network, the related information of the terminal, and the target network slice identifier and the target network function identifier of various types of messages.

Ninth embodiment

Referring to fig. 12, a message routing function is shown comprising:

the first processor 1200 is configured to read the program in the first memory 1220 and execute the following processes: receiving a message, and analyzing the related information of a terminal to which the message belongs and the message type of the message; determining the destination network information of the message according to the related information of the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type; routing the message according to the determined destination network information;

a first transceiver 1210 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the first processor 1200.

Optionally, the first processor 1200 is further configured to: and indexing a message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determining a target network slice and/or a target network function of the message, wherein the message routing context comprises the corresponding relation between the message and the target network.

When the message is an attach request message, optionally, the first processor 1200 is further configured to: routing the attach request message to an access control function; after the attach request is accepted by the network, a message routing context is created for the terminal.

When the message is a session establishment request message, optionally, the first processor 1200 is further configured to: sending a slice selection request to a slice selection function; receiving a target network slice fed back by the slice selection function and/or a target network function selection result; updating the message routing context of the terminal according to the network slice and the result of network function selection; and indexing the updated message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determining the target network slice and/or the target network function of the message.

Optionally, the messages include an attach request message and a session establishment request message, and the first processor 1200 is further configured to: analyzing the message to obtain an attachment request message, a session establishment request message, related information of a terminal to which the message belongs and a message type of the message;

the first processor 1200 is further configured to: sending the attachment request message to an access control function, and creating a message routing context of the terminal after completing an access control process; sending a slice selection request to a slice selection function; receiving a target network slice fed back by the slice selection function and/or a target network function selection result; updating the message routing context of the terminal according to the network slice and the result of network function selection; and indexing the updated message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determining the target network slice and/or the target network function of the message.

Optionally, the first processor 1200 is further configured to: when all session connections established in a network slice are in an inactive state, setting an entry related to the network slice in a message routing context of the network slice as the inactive state.

Optionally, the first processor 1200 is further configured to: receiving a routing context updating request sent by a network slice, wherein all session connections established in the network slice are in an inactive state; and updating the message routing context of the network slice according to the routing context updating request, and setting the table entry related to the network slice in the message routing context as an inactive state.

Optionally, the first processor 1200 is further configured to: and when the terminal is switched, the message related to the switching is not sent to the inactive network slice.

Optionally, the message routing context includes one or more of: the message type sent by the terminal to the core network, the message type sent by the access network to the core network, and the destination network slice identifier and the destination network function identifier of various types of messages.

Where, in fig. 12, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with various circuits of one or more processors represented by the first processor 1200 and a memory represented by the first memory 1220 being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The first transceiver 1210 may be a plurality of elements, i.e., including a transmitter and a transceiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The first processor 1200 is responsible for managing a bus architecture and general processing, and the first memory 1220 may store data used by the first processor 1200 when performing operations.

The first processor 1200 is responsible for managing a bus architecture and general processing, and the first memory 1220 may store data used by the first processor 1200 when performing operations.

Tenth embodiment

Referring to fig. 13, a slice selection function is shown, comprising:

a receiving module 1301, configured to receive a slice selection request sent by a message routing function;

a selection module 1302, configured to select a network slice according to the slice selection request;

a sending module 1303, configured to send a network function selection request to the selected network slice;

a feedback module 1304 for feeding back the result of the network slice and the network function selection to the message routing function.

In the above technical solution, the slice selection function feeds back the network slice and the result of network function selection to the message routing function, so that the message routing function can determine the destination network slice and/or the destination network function of the message according to the related information and the message type of the terminal to which the message belongs, thereby solving the routing problem of the uplink message when the terminal accesses a plurality of network slices.

Eleventh embodiment

Referring to fig. 14, a slice selection function is shown, comprising:

the second processor 1400 is configured to read the program in the second memory 1420, and perform the following processes: receiving a slice selection request sent by a message routing function; selecting a network slice according to the slice selection request; sending a network function selection request to the selected network slice; and feeding back the results of the network slice and the network function selection to the message routing function.

A second transceiver 1410 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the second processor 1400.

Where in fig. 14 the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, in particular one or more processors represented by the second processor 1400 and various circuits of memory represented by the second memory 1420, linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The second transceiver 1410 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a transceiver providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The second processor 1400 is responsible for managing a bus architecture and general processing, and the second memory 1420 may store data used by the second processor 1400 in performing operations.

The second processor 1400 is responsible for managing a bus architecture and general processing, and the second memory 1420 may store data used by the second processor 1400 in performing operations.

Twelfth embodiment

The embodiment provides a system for routing messages in a multi-network-slice network, comprising:

It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

In various embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention

In addition, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" herein is merely one type of association relationship that describes an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

In the embodiments provided herein, it should be understood that "B corresponding to a" means that B is associated with a from which B can be determined. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may be determined from a and/or other information.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed method and apparatus may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may be physically included alone, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, or in a form of hardware plus a software functional unit.

The integrated unit implemented in the form of a software functional unit may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The software functional unit is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to perform some steps of the transceiving method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it should be understood that various modifications and adaptations thereof may occur to one skilled in the art without departing from the principles of the present invention and are intended to be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of routing messages in a multi-network sliced network, the method comprising:

the message routing function performs message routing according to the determined destination network information;

the message routing function determines the destination network information of the message according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and the method comprises the following steps:

the message routing function indexes a message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determines a target network slice and/or a target network function corresponding to the target network information of the message, wherein the message routing context comprises the relevant information of the terminal or the corresponding relation between the message type and the target network;

the relevant information of the terminal comprises one or more of the following items:

identification information;

connection information of the terminal; and

the identification of a target network slice accessed by the terminal;

the connection information of the terminal includes: an identification of the selected destination network slice at session establishment, or a session identification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein when the message is an attach request message, before the message routing function indexes a message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determines a destination network slice and/or a destination network function of the message, the method further comprises:

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the message is another mobility management message of a non-attach request, the message routing function indexes a message routing context according to the identification information of the belonging terminal and the message type, and determines a destination network slice and/or a destination network function of the message.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the message is a session establishment request message, the message routing function indexes a message routing context according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, and determines the destination network slice and/or the destination network function of the message, including:

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the message is other session management message other than the session establishment request, the message routing function indexes a message routing context according to the connection information of the terminal and the message type, and determines the destination network slice and/or the destination network function of the message.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the message includes an attach request message and a session setup request message, and the message routing function receives the message, and analyzes the information related to the terminal to which the message belongs and the message type of the message, including:

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the message routing function setting the network slice-related entry in the message routing context of the network slice to inactive state comprises:

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

11. The method of any of claims 1-10, wherein the message routing context includes one or more of: the message type sent by the terminal to the core network, the message type sent by the access network to the core network, the related information of the terminal, and the target network slice identifier and the target network function identifier of various types of messages.

12. A method of routing messages in a multi-network sliced network, the method comprising:

the slice selection function feeds back the network slices and the result of network function selection to the message routing function;

when the slice selection request carries the relevant information of the terminal, the current position of the terminal and the message type, the slice selection function selects the network slice according to the slice selection request, and the method comprises the following steps:

the slice selection function acquires subscription information of the terminal;

the slice selection function selects a network slice according to subscription information of the terminal, relevant information of the terminal, and a current position of the terminal and/or the message type;

identification information;

connection information of the terminal; and

the identification of a target network slice accessed by the terminal;

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the network function selection request carries information related to the terminal and a current location of the terminal and/or the message type.

14. A message routing function entity, wherein the message routing function entity comprises:

the first routing module is used for routing the message according to the determined destination network information;

the processing module is further to:

according to the relevant information of the terminal and the message type, indexing a message routing context, and determining a target network slice and/or a target network function corresponding to the target network information of the message, wherein the message routing context comprises the relevant information of the terminal or the corresponding relation between the message type and the target network;

identification information;

connection information of the terminal; and

the identification of a target network slice accessed by the terminal;

15. A slice selection functional entity, characterized in that it comprises:

a feedback module for feeding back the results of network slicing and network function selection to the message routing function;

when the slice selection request carries the relevant information of the terminal, the current location of the terminal, and the message type, the selection module is further configured to: acquiring subscription information of the terminal; selecting a network slice according to subscription information of the terminal, relevant information of the terminal, the current position of the terminal and/or the message type;

identification information;

connection information of the terminal; and

the identification of a target network slice accessed by the terminal;

16. A system for routing messages in a multi-network sliced network, comprising: