CN112152926A

CN112152926A - Method and device for managing network slices of application

Info

Publication number: CN112152926A
Application number: CN201910579206.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李勇; 侯志远; 徐江
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-06-28
Filing date: 2019-06-28
Publication date: 2020-12-29
Anticipated expiration: 2039-06-28
Also published as: CN112152926B; WO2020259652A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of terminals, in particular to a method and a device for managing network slices of an application, which are used for selecting a better network slice for the application in the terminal, so that the service experience based on the network slice is improved. The method comprises the following steps: the terminal determines a first network slice serving a target application in the terminal. The terminal sends a first request message to the first equipment according to the information of the first network slice; the first request message comprises information of the first network slice, the first request message is used for requesting to update a terminal routing strategy of the terminal, and the terminal routing strategy is used for determining at least one network slice serving the target application.

Description

Method and device for managing network slices of application

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of terminals, in particular to a method and a device for managing network slices of an application.

Background

With the development of communication technology, especially the popularization of terminal use, various applications in terminals have been developed in order to meet the user's demand for diversified functions. For example, currently, a user may use a payment application in a terminal to perform social payment, manage money through a money management application, perform entertainment sharing through a video application in the terminal, and so on.

However, the user experience of different applications in the terminal may differ in terms of their promissory. I.e. the network needs to meet the requirements of different applications, such as security, time-ductility, reliability, etc. For example, the network security when the user expects to use a payment application or a financial application is higher than the security when using a video application. Alternatively, the user may wish to use the video application without the network being stuck, i.e., requiring the network to meet low latency, etc.

Therefore, how to make the network satisfy the quality of service (QoS) requirements of different applications is an urgent problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a method and a device for managing network slices of an application, which are used for selecting a better network slice for the application in a terminal, so that the service experience based on the network slice is improved.

In order to achieve the purpose, the technical scheme is as follows:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for managing a network slice of an application, including: the terminal selects a first network slice that provides services for a target application in the terminal. The terminal then sends a first request message to the first device. The first request message comprises information of the first network slice, the first request message is used for requesting the first device to update a terminal routing strategy of the terminal, and the terminal routing strategy is used for determining at least one network slice for providing service for the target application.

The embodiment of the application provides a method for managing network slices of an application, in the method, a terminal selects a first network slice for providing service for a target application, and the first network slice is independently selected by the terminal, so that the terminal can independently select a better first network slice for providing service for the target application in the terminal. In addition, the terminal sends the information of the first network slice to the first device to request the first device to update the terminal routing strategy of the terminal, so that the first device and the terminal can negotiate the network slice which can better provide service for the terminal. Thereby promoting the service experience based on the network slice.

In one possible implementation, a terminal selects a first network slice that provides a service for a target application in the terminal, including: the terminal displays at least one or more applications. When a target application in the one or more applications is selected, the terminal displays information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the selected target application. When any one or more of the at least one candidate network slice is selected, the terminal selects the selected one or more candidate network slices as a first network slice. Therefore, the target application is displayed first, and the interface of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the target application is displayed after the target application is clicked.

In one possible implementation, a terminal selects a first network slice that provides a service for a target application in the terminal, including: the terminal at least displays the target application and information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the target application. When any one or more of the at least one candidate network slice is selected, the terminal selects the selected one or more candidate network slices as a first network slice. This facilitates the common display of the target application and at least one candidate web slice corresponding to the target application on the same interface.

In one possible implementation, the determining, by the terminal, a first network slice serving a target application in the terminal includes: the terminal displays information of the one or more candidate network slices and information of at least one application of each candidate network slice service in the one or more candidate network slices. When any one of the one or more candidate network slices is selected, the terminal selects any one of the selected candidate network slices as a first network slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: and the terminal sends an operation type to the first equipment, wherein the operation type is used for indicating to delete, add or modify the terminal routing strategy. This facilitates the first device determining the operations that the terminal desires to perform on the terminal routing policy.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: the terminal receives a first response message from the first device, the first response message including the updated terminal routing policy. The updated terminal routing strategy at least comprises information of a first network slice for providing service for the target application. The terminal is facilitated to determine that the first device agrees to the target application to use the first network slice for traffic transmission through the first response message.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: and the terminal executes the updated terminal routing strategy for the target application.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: and the terminal triggers a session management process according to the updated terminal routing strategy.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: the terminal receives second indication information from the first device. The second indication information is used for indicating that the updating of the terminal routing strategy is refused. This facilitates the terminal determining that the first device does not agree with the target application to use the first network slice for traffic transmission.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: the terminal receives information from the first device indicating a rejection to update the terminal routing policy. This facilitates the terminal determining a reason why the first device disagrees with the target application for using the first network slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: the terminal sends information indicating a refusal to update the terminal routing policy to the target application.

In one possible implementation, the first request message is carried in a non-access stratum, NAS, transport message.

In a possible implementation manner, the first request message is carried in the registration request message, which facilitates the terminal negotiating with the first device in the registration process to update the terminal routing policy.

In a possible implementation manner, the first device is a policy control network element, or the first device is a server.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: the terminal determines network slice basic information corresponding to information of at least one candidate network slice. And the terminal displays the basic information of the network slice.

In one possible implementation, the determining, by the terminal, network slice basic information corresponding to information of at least one candidate network slice includes: the information of each candidate network slice in the information of at least one candidate network slice comprises a first indication, and the first indication is used for indicating the network slice basic information. The terminal determines the network slice basic information according to the first indication.

In one possible implementation, the determining, by the terminal, network slice basic information corresponding to information of at least one candidate network slice includes: the terminal receives a first list from the first device, wherein the first list at least comprises information of at least one candidate network slice and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice. And the terminal determines the basic information of the network slice according to the information of at least one candidate network slice.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for managing a network slice of an application, including: the first device receives a first request message from a terminal. The first request message includes information of a first network slice serving the target application, the first request message is used for requesting the first device to update a terminal routing policy of the terminal, and the terminal routing policy is used for determining at least one network slice serving the target application. And the first equipment manages the terminal routing strategy according to the first request message.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: the first device receives an operation type from the terminal, wherein the operation type is used for indicating that the terminal routing strategy is deleted, added or modified.

In a possible implementation manner, the managing, by the first device, the terminal routing policy according to the first request message includes: and the first equipment manages a terminal routing strategy according to the first request message and the operation type.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: and the first equipment sends the updated terminal routing strategy to the terminal. The updated terminal routing strategy at least comprises information of a first network slice for providing service for the target application.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: and the first equipment sends the updated terminal routing strategy to a strategy control network element or a user data management network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: and the first equipment sends second indication information to the terminal. And the second indication information is used for indicating that the updating of the terminal routing strategy is refused.

In one possible implementation, the first device sends, to the terminal, information indicating a rejection to update the terminal routing policy.

In one possible implementation, the first request message is carried in a registration request message.

In a possible implementation manner, the first device sends a first list to the terminal, where the first list at least includes information of at least one candidate network slice and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice.

In a third aspect, the present application provides an apparatus for managing network slices of an application, where the apparatus for managing network slices of an application may implement the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, and therefore may also achieve beneficial effects in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect. The means for managing network slices of an application may be a terminal. The device can realize the method through software, hardware or corresponding software executed by hardware.

An example, an apparatus to manage network slices for an application, comprising: a processing unit for selecting a first network slice serving a target application in a terminal. A communication unit for transmitting a first request message to a first device. The first request message comprises information of the first network slice, the first request message is used for requesting the first device to update a terminal routing strategy of the terminal, and the terminal routing strategy is used for determining at least one network slice for providing service for the target application.

In one possible implementation, the display unit is configured to display at least one or more applications. When a target application of the one or more applications is selected, the display unit is further configured to display information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the selected target application. When any one or more of the at least one candidate network slice is selected, the processing unit is further configured to select the selected one or more candidate network slices as a first network slice. Therefore, the target application is displayed first, and the interface of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the target application is displayed after the target application is clicked.

In a possible implementation manner, the display unit is configured to display at least the target application and information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the target application. When any one or more of the at least one candidate network slice is selected, the processing unit is specifically configured to select the selected one or more candidate network slices as a first network slice. This facilitates the common display of the target application and at least one candidate web slice corresponding to the target application on the same interface.

In a possible implementation, the display unit is configured to display information of the one or more candidate network slices and information of at least one application served by each of the one or more candidate network slices. When any of the one or more candidate network slices is selected, the processing unit is specifically configured to select the selected any candidate network slice as a first network slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send, to the first device, an operation type, where the operation type is used to instruct to delete, add, or modify the terminal routing policy. This facilitates the first device determining the operations that the terminal desires to perform on the terminal routing policy.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive the updated terminal routing policy from the first device. The updated terminal routing strategy at least comprises information of a first network slice for providing service for the target application. And the updated terminal routing strategy is convenient for the terminal to determine that the first device agrees to the target application to use the first network slice for service transmission.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to execute the updated terminal routing policy for the target application.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive second indication information from the first device. The second indication information is used for indicating that the updating of the terminal routing strategy is refused.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive information indicating that updating of the terminal routing policy is denied from the first device.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send, to the target application, information indicating that updating the terminal routing policy is denied.

In a possible implementation, the processing unit is further configured to determine network slice basic information corresponding to information of at least one candidate network slice. And the display unit is also used for displaying the basic information of the network slices.

In a possible implementation manner, the information of each candidate network slice in the information of at least one candidate network slice includes a first indication, and the first indication is used for indicating the network slice basic information. And the processing unit is further specifically configured to determine the network slice basic information according to the first indication.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive a first list from the first device, where the first list includes at least information of the at least one candidate network slice and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice. The processing unit is further specifically configured to determine basic information of the network slice according to information of the at least one candidate network slice.

For another example, an apparatus for managing network slices of an application, which may be a terminal, is provided in an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus for managing a network slice of an application may include: a communication unit and a processing unit. Optionally, the device may further include a display unit and a storage unit. When the device for managing the network slice of the application is a terminal, the communication unit may be a communication interface. The processing unit may be a processor. The storage unit may be a memory. The processing unit executes the instructions stored by the storage unit to cause the apparatus for managing network slices of an application to implement the method described in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

Optionally, the processor, the communication interface and the memory are coupled to each other.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides an apparatus for managing network slices of an application, which may implement the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, and thus may also achieve the beneficial effects in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. The apparatus for managing a network slice of an application may be the first device, or may be an apparatus that can support the first device to implement the second aspect or the method in any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, for example, a chip applied to the first device. The device can realize the method through software, hardware or corresponding software executed by hardware.

An example, an embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus for managing a network slice of an application, including: a communication unit, configured to receive a first request message from a terminal. The first request message includes information of a first network slice serving the target application, the first request message is used for requesting the first device to update a terminal routing policy of the terminal, and the terminal routing policy is used for determining at least one network slice serving the target application. And the processing unit is used for managing the terminal routing strategy according to the first request message.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive an operation type from the terminal, where the operation type is used to instruct to delete, add, or modify the terminal routing policy.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to manage the terminal routing policy according to the first request message and the operation type.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send the updated terminal routing policy to the terminal. The updated terminal routing strategy at least comprises information of a first network slice for providing service for the target application.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send the updated terminal routing policy to the policy control network element or the user data management network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send the second indication information to the terminal. And the second indication information is used for indicating that the updating of the terminal routing strategy is refused.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send, to the terminal, information indicating that updating of the terminal routing policy is denied.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send a first list to the terminal, where the first list includes at least information of at least one candidate network slice and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice.

In a possible implementation, the means for managing the network slice of the application is a policy control network element, or the means for managing the network slice of the application is a server.

For another example, an apparatus for managing a network slice of an application is provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus for managing a network slice of an application may be a first device, and may also be a chip in the first device. The apparatus for managing a network slice of an application may include: a communication unit and a processing unit. Optionally, the apparatus may further comprise a storage unit. When the apparatus for managing a network slice of an application is a first device, the communication unit may be a communication interface or an interface circuit. The processing unit may be a processor. The processing unit executes the instructions stored by the storage unit to cause the apparatus for managing network slices of an application to implement the method described in the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect. When the means for managing a network slice of an application is a chip within a first device, the processing unit may be a processor, and the communication units may be collectively referred to as: a communication interface. The memory unit may be referred to as a memory.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or an instruction is stored, and when the computer program or the instruction is executed on a terminal, the terminal is caused to execute the method for managing a network slice of an application as described in any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect to the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instructions are stored, and when the computer program or instructions are executed on a first device, the first device is caused to execute the method for managing network slices of an application as described in any one of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect to the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the terminal to perform a method for managing network slices of an application described in the first aspect or in various possible implementations of the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions that, when run on a computer, cause a first device to perform a method of managing network slices of an application as described in the second aspect or in various possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, where the communication system includes any one or more of the following: the apparatus for managing network slices of an application described in the third aspect and various possible implementations, and the apparatus for managing network slices of an application described in the fourth aspect and various possible implementations of the fourth aspect.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication apparatus, which includes a processor and a storage medium, where the storage medium stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, implement a method for managing a network slice of an application as described in the first aspect or various possible implementations of the first aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device, which includes a processor and a storage medium, where the storage medium stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, implement a method for managing a network slice of an application as described in the second aspect or various possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which includes one or more modules, configured to implement the methods of the first and second aspects, where the one or more modules may correspond to each step in the methods of the first and second aspects.

An example, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: the processing module is used for selecting a first network slice for providing service for a target application in the terminal. The communication module is used for sending a first request message to the first device. The first request message comprises information of the first network slice, the first request message is used for requesting the first device to update a terminal routing strategy of the terminal, and the terminal routing strategy is used for determining at least one network slice for providing service for the target application.

In one possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus further includes: the display module is used for at least displaying one or more applications. When a target application of the one or more applications is selected, the display module is further configured to display information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the selected target application. When any one or more of the at least one candidate network slice is selected, the processing module is specifically configured to select the selected one or more candidate network slices as a first network slice.

In one possible implementation, the display module displays at least the target application and information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the target application. When any one or more of the at least one candidate network slice is selected, the processing module is specifically configured to select the selected one or more candidate network slices as a first network slice.

In one possible implementation, the display module is configured to display information of the one or more candidate network slices and information of at least one application served by each of the one or more candidate network slices. When any of the one or more candidate network slices is selected, the processing module is specifically configured to select the selected any candidate network slice as a first network slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to send, to the first device, an operation type, where the operation type is used to instruct to delete, add, or modify the terminal routing policy.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to receive a first response message from the first device, where the first response message includes the updated terminal routing policy. The updated terminal routing strategy at least comprises information of a first network slice for providing service for the target application.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module is further configured to execute the updated terminal routing policy for the target application.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module is further configured to trigger a session management procedure according to the updated terminal routing policy.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to receive second indication information from the first device. The second indication information is used for indicating that the updating of the terminal routing strategy is refused.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to receive information indicating that updating of the terminal routing policy is denied from the first device.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to send, to the target application, information indicating that updating the terminal routing policy is denied.

In a possible implementation, the processing module is further configured to determine network slice basic information corresponding to information of at least one candidate network slice. And the display module is also used for displaying the basic information of the network slices.

In a possible implementation manner, the information of each candidate network slice in the information of the at least one candidate network slice includes a first indication, and the first indication is used for indicating the network slice basic information. And the processing module is specifically used for determining the network slice basic information according to the first indication.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to receive a first list from the first device, where the first list includes at least information of at least one candidate network slice and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice. And the processing module is specifically used for determining the basic information of the network slice according to the information of the at least one candidate network slice.

Another example, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: the communication module is used for receiving a first request message from the terminal. The first request message includes information of a first network slice serving the target application, the first request message is used for requesting the first device to update a terminal routing policy of the terminal, and the terminal routing policy is used for determining at least one network slice serving the target application. And the processing module is used for managing the terminal routing strategy according to the first request message.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to receive an operation type from the terminal, where the operation type is used to instruct to delete, add, or modify the terminal routing policy.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module is specifically configured to manage the terminal routing policy according to the first request message and the operation type.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to send the updated terminal routing policy to the terminal. The updated terminal routing strategy at least comprises information of a first network slice for providing service for the target application.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to send the updated terminal routing policy to the policy control network element or the user data management network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to send the second indication information to the terminal. And the second indication information is used for indicating that the updating of the terminal routing strategy is refused.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to send, to the terminal, information indicating that updating of the terminal routing policy is denied.

In a possible implementation, the communication device is a policy control network element, or the communication device is a server.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to send a first list to the terminal, where the first list at least includes information of at least one candidate network slice and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice.

In a thirteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a chip, where the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instructions to implement the first aspect or a method for managing a network slice of an application described in various possible implementations of the first aspect. The communication interface is used for communicating with other modules outside the chip.

In a fourteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a chip, where the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instructions to implement one of the methods for managing a network slice of an application described in the second aspect or various possible implementations of the second aspect. The communication interface is used for communicating with other modules outside the chip.

In particular, the chip provided in the embodiments of the present application further includes a memory for storing a computer program or instructions.

In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for determining a name of a network slice, where the method includes: the terminal has network slice basic information of at least one network slice. And when the at least one network slice is selected, the terminal displays the basic information of the network slice of the at least one network slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the information of at least one network slice carries a first indication, and the first indication is used for determining the name of the network slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: the terminal receives a first list from a first device, wherein the first list at least comprises: information of the at least one network slice, and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one network slice. The terminal determines the network slice basic information of each network slice in the at least one network slice according to the information of the at least one network slice and the first list.

Sixteenth, the present application provides an apparatus for name determination of a network slice, where the apparatus for name determination of a network slice may implement the method in the fifteenth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fifteenth aspect, and therefore can also achieve the beneficial effects in any possible implementation manner of the fifteenth aspect or the fifteenth aspect. The device for determining the name of the network slice may be a terminal, or may also be a device that can support the terminal to implement the method in the fifteenth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fifteenth aspect, for example, a chip applied in the terminal. The device can realize the method through software, hardware or corresponding software executed by hardware.

An example, an apparatus for name determination of a network slice, comprising: the apparatus has network slice basic information of at least one network slice. And when the at least one network slice is selected, the display unit is used for displaying the basic information of the network slice of the at least one network slice.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive a first list from the first device, where the first list at least includes: information of the at least one network slice, and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one network slice. And the processing unit is used for determining the network slice basic information of each network slice in the at least one network slice according to the information of the at least one network slice and the first list.

In a seventeenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a chip, where the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instructions to implement a method for name determination of a network slice described in the fifteenth aspect or various possible implementations of the fifteenth aspect. The communication interface is used for communicating with other modules outside the chip.

Eighteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instructions are stored, and when the computer program or instructions are run on a terminal, the terminal is caused to perform the method for name determination of a network slice as described in any one of the possible implementations of the fifteenth aspect to the fifteenth aspect.

In a nineteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the terminal to perform a method of name determination for a network slice as described in the fifteenth aspect or in various possible implementations of the fifteenth aspect.

In a twentieth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal, including: one or more processors; one or more memories; and one or more computer programs, wherein the one or more computer programs are stored in the one or more memories, the one or more computer programs comprising instructions which, when executed by the terminal, cause the terminal to perform the method of managing network slices of an application as in the various possible implementations of the first aspect to the first aspect.

In a twenty-first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal, including: one or more processors, a touch screen, a memory, the processor for executing one or more computer programs stored in the memory to cause the terminal to perform the steps of: detecting a first operation of a user on the touch screen, and responding to the first operation, displaying information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the selected target application on the touch screen; detecting a second operation of the user on the touch screen, and responding to the second operation, and selecting the selected any one or more candidate network slices as the first network slice.

In one possible implementation manner, the terminal is caused to perform the following steps: and displaying the basic information of the network slices on the touch screen.

In a twenty-second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal, including: one or more processors, a touch screen, a memory, the processor for executing one or more computer programs stored in the memory to cause the terminal to perform the steps of: and at least displaying the target application and information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the target application on the touch screen. Detecting a first operation of a user on the touch screen, and responding to the first operation, and selecting the selected any one or more candidate network slices as the first network slice.

In a twenty-third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal, including: one or more processors, a touch screen, a memory, the processor for executing one or more computer programs stored in the memory to cause the terminal to perform the steps of:

the touchscreen displays information of at least one candidate network slice and information of at least one application for which each of the at least one candidate network slice provides a service. Detecting a first operation of a user on the touch screen, and responding to the first operation to select any one of the selected candidate network slices as the first network slice.

Any one of the above-provided apparatuses, computer storage media, computer program products, chips, or communication systems is configured to execute the above-provided corresponding methods, and therefore, the beneficial effects that can be achieved by the apparatuses, the computer storage media, the computer program products, the chips, or the communication systems can refer to the beneficial effects of the corresponding schemes in the above-provided corresponding methods, and are not described herein again.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a system architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

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

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a first flowchart illustrating a method for managing a network slice of an application according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a second method for managing a network slice of an application according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a first schematic view of a network slice display provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a third flowchart illustrating a method for managing a network slice of an application according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a second schematic view of a network slice display provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a fourth flowchart illustrating a method for managing a network slice of an application according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a third schematic view of a network slice provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a first schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for managing network slices of an application according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for managing a network slice of an application according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a third schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for managing a network slice of an application according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a fourth schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for managing a network slice of an application according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same or similar items having substantially the same function and action. For example, the first request message and the second request message are only for distinguishing different request messages, and the sequence order thereof is not limited. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terms "first," "second," etc. do not denote any order or quantity, nor do the terms "first," "second," etc. denote any order or importance.

It is noted that, in the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean exemplary, illustrative, or descriptive. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and do not form a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and as a person of ordinary skill in the art knows that along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or multiple.

Before describing the embodiments of the present application, first, terms related to the embodiments of the present application are described:

1) network slice, can be understood as: in order to meet the demands of various industries in different scenes, operators need to provide connection communication services with different functions and QoS. In order to reduce the complexity of technical implementation, in a communication network, the whole network resource is sliced by adopting a virtualization technology, and classmate services with different connection capacities are deployed on different network slices, so that a virtual independent logic network comprising a core network control plane network function and a user plane network function can be implemented to meet the QoS requirements of different services. This approach of logically isolating network slices on a physical infrastructure provides resource utilization efficiency and flexibility.

2) Terminal Route Selection Policy (URSP): which may also be referred to as a user equipment routing policy, is used to associate an application to an already established Packet Data Unit (PDU) session or to establish a new PDU session for it, or to transfer it to a non-3 GPP access for transmission.

The system architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and do not form a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and as a person of ordinary skill in the art knows that along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems, and the following embodiment takes a 5G system as an example.

As shown in fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the communication system includes: a terminal 10 and a first device 20 communicating with the terminal 10. The terminal 10 may communicate directly with the first device 20, although the terminal 10 may also communicate indirectly with the first device 20. Indirect communication means that the terminal 10 communicates with the first device 20 via other network elements. In fig. 1, the first device 20 is taken as an example of a server.

As shown in fig. 1, the terminal 10 has one or more Applications (APP). The application type of the one or more applications is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the application types of the one or more applications may include any one or more of a video-type application, a payment-type application, a social-type application (e.g., QQ, WeChat), a music-type application, a financing-type application, a game-type application, a news-information application, a travel-type application, or a shopping-type application.

In this embodiment, the first device 20 may update a terminal routing Policy (URSP) of the terminal. The terminal routing strategy at least comprises a mapping relation between each application of the one or more applications and the network slice. The mapping is used to determine a network slice for each application. Specifically, the terminal routing policy at least includes a mapping relationship between an identifier of each application of the one or more applications and an identifier of the network slice. Illustratively, the identification of the Network Slice may be Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI), or other Information that may identify the Network Slice.

It should be understood that when the terminal 10 accesses the core network through the access network, a network element in the core network may deploy one or more network slices for the terminal. The one or more network slices may serve the one or more applications. Some Network Functions (NFs) may be shared among the multiple Network slices. Each of the one or more network slices may include: a core network control plane network element and a core network user plane network element. For example, the core network control plane network element may be: a Session Management Function (SMF) network element, an access and mobility Management Function (AMF) network element, and a Policy Control Function (PCF) network element. The core network user plane network element may be: a User Plane Function (UPF) Network element, and a Network Repository Function (NRF) Network element.

As an example, the first device 20 in the embodiment of the present application may be a PCF network element. When the first device 20 is a PCF network element, the terminal 10 may communicate with the PCF network element through the AMF network element to request the PCF network element to update the terminal routing policy.

As another example, the first device 20 in the embodiment of the present application may be a server. The server is a third party server independent of the application. The third party server may provide a service for the application.

As shown in fig. 2, it should be understood that the communication system shown in fig. 1 may further include, in addition to the Network elements shown in fig. 1, an access Network device, an AMF Network element, an SMF Network element, an UPF Network element, an Application Function (AF) Network element, an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) Network element, a Unified Data Management (UDM) Network element, a Network capability open Function (Network instance Function, NEF) Network element, a Unified Data Repository (UDR), a Network Repository storage Function (Network Repository Function, NRF) Network element, and a Data Network (Data Network, DN), which is not specifically limited in this embodiment.

Wherein, the terminal communicates with the AMF network element through an N1 interface (N1 for short). The AMF network element communicates with the SMF network element via an N11 interface (abbreviated as N11). The SMF network elements communicate with one or more UPF network elements over an N4 interface (abbreviated N4). Any two UPF network elements of the one or more UPF network elements communicate via an N9 interface (abbreviated as N9). The UPF Network elements communicate with a Data Network (DN) over an N6 interface (N6 for short). The terminal accesses the network through an access network device (e.g., a RAN device). The access network equipment and the AMF network element communicate with each other through an N2 interface (N2 for short). The SMF network element communicates with the PCF network element through an N7 interface (N7 for short), and the PCF network element communicates with the AF network element through an N5 interface. The access network equipment communicates with the UPF network element through an N3 interface (abbreviated as N3). Any two or more AMF network elements communicate with each other through an N14 interface (N14 for short). The SMF network element communicates with the UDM network element over an N10 interface (abbreviated N10). The AMF network element communicates with the AUSF network element through an N12 interface (abbreviated as N12). The AUSF network element communicates with the UDM network element via an N13 interface (abbreviated N13). The AMF network element communicates with the UDM network element via an N8 interface (N8 for short).

It should be noted that the interface name between each network element in fig. 2 is only an example, and the interface name may be other names in a specific implementation, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that the access network device, the AF network element, the AMF network element, the SMF network element, the AUSF network element, the UDM network element, the UPF network element, the PCF network element, and the like in fig. 2 are only names, and the names do not limit the device itself. In the 5G network and other future networks, network elements corresponding to the access network device, the AF network element, the AMF network element, the SMF network element, the AUSF network element, the UDM network element, the UPF network element, and the PCF network element may also be other names, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, the UDM network element may also be replaced by a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) or a User Subscription Database (USD) or a Database entity, and the like, which are described in the unified description herein and will not be described in detail later.

The following briefly introduces the functions of some network elements:

and the UDM network element or the UDR network element is used for storing the subscription data of the terminal and managing the subscription data of the terminal. In addition, when the subscription data of the terminal is updated, the UDM network element may also send a notification to the network element having the subscription data of the terminal. For example, the UDM network element may notify the terminal through the AMF network element, so that the terminal determines that the subscription data of the terminal changes. The subscription data of the terminal at least comprises URSP of the terminal.

The PCF network element may obtain the original URSP of the terminal from the UDM network element or the UDR network element and update the original URSP to obtain an updated URSP. In addition, the PCF network element may also send the updated URSP to the terminal or the UDM network element or the UDR network element.

It should be noted that, in addition to the functions described in the embodiment of the present application, the functions of each network element in fig. 2 may refer to the descriptions in the prior art, and are not described herein again.

A terminal (terminal) is a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, e.g., a handheld device, a vehicle-mounted device, etc., with wireless connectivity. A Terminal may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an Access Terminal (Access Terminal), a subscriber Unit (User Unit), a subscriber Station (User Station), a Mobile Station (Mobile Station), a Remote Station (Remote Station), a Remote Terminal (Remote Terminal), a Mobile device (Mobile Equipment), a User Terminal (User Terminal), a Wireless communication device (Wireless Terminal Equipment), a User Agent (User Agent), User Equipment (User Equipment), or a User device. The terminal may be a Station (STA) in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) Station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with Wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a Wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a terminal in a next Generation communication system (e.g., a Fifth-Generation (5G) communication Network) or a terminal in a future-evolution Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) Network, and the like. Among them, 5G may also be referred to as New Radio (NR).

As an example, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal may also be a wearable device. Wearable equipment can also be called wearable intelligent equipment, is the general term of applying wearable technique to carry out intelligent design, develop the equipment that can dress to daily wearing, like glasses, gloves, wrist-watch, dress and shoes etc.. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the clothing or accessories of the user. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also realizes powerful functions through software support, data interaction and cloud interaction. The generalized wearable smart device includes full functionality, large size, and can implement full or partial functionality without relying on a smart phone, such as: smart watches or smart glasses and the like, and only focus on a certain type of application functions, and need to be used in cooperation with other devices such as smart phones, such as various smart bracelets for physical sign monitoring, smart jewelry and the like.

The terminal 10 provided by the embodiment of the present application may be a device having a network slice selection function for an application. For example, the terminal 10 may be a mobile phone, a Computer, a tablet Computer, a notebook Computer, an Ultra-mobile Personal Computer (UMPC), a netbook, or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Of course, in the following embodiments, the specific form of the terminal 10 is not limited at all.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The first device and the terminal in the embodiment of the present application may refer to this communication device 400. The communication device 400 includes a processor 401, and at least one communication interface (illustrated in fig. 3 as including the communication interface 404, for example only).

The processor 401 may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the present disclosure.

The communication interface 404 may be any device, such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as an ethernet, a Radio Access Network (RAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), etc.

In one possible implementation, the communication device 400 may also include communication lines 402 and memory 403.

The communication link 402 may include a path for communicating information between the aforementioned components.

The memory 403 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to these. The memory may be separate and coupled to the processor via a communication line 402. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 403 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for executing the present invention, and is controlled by the processor 401. The processor 401 is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 403, so as to implement the policy control method provided by the following embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application program codes, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Wherein, the memory 403 may store an operating system; the memory 403 may also store one or more application programs (such as a payment-type application or a financing-type application), and the like. The memory 403 may store data (such as photos, contacts, etc.) created during use of the terminal, etc. Further, memory 403 may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, Universal Flash Storage (UFS), and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 110 causes the terminal to execute the method for managing network slices of an application, and various functional applications and data processing provided in the embodiments of the present application, by executing instructions stored in the memory, and/or instructions stored in the memory disposed in the processor.

In particular implementations, processor 401 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 3, for example, as an example.

In particular implementations, communication device 400 may include multiple processors, such as processor 401 and processor 408 in fig. 3, for example, as an embodiment. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

The terminal 10 implements a display function through a display 407 (which may also be referred to as a touch panel), an application processor, and the like. The GPU is a microprocessor for image processing, and is connected to a display screen 407 and an application processor. The GPU is used to perform mathematical and geometric calculations for graphics rendering. The processor 110 may include one or more GPUs that execute program instructions to generate or alter display information.

The display screen 407 is used to display images, video, and the like. The display screen 407 includes a display panel. The display panel may adopt a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode, AMOLED), a flexible light-emitting diode (FLED), a miniature, a Micro-oeld, a quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED), and the like. In some embodiments, the terminal 10 may include 1 or N displays 407, N being an integer greater than 1.

In the embodiment of the present application, the display screen 407 may be used to display information of one or more applications or at least one network slice. As shown in fig. 3, a display interface may be included in the display screen 407. The shape of the display interface can be a regular or irregular shape such as a rectangle, a circle, etc. After the terminal 10 obtains one or more applications to be displayed, the one or more applications may be displayed in the display interface.

In particular implementations, communication device 400 may also include an output device 405 and an input device 406, as one embodiment. An output device 405 is in communication with the processor 401 and may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 405 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a projector (projector), or the like. The input device 406 is in communication with the processor 401 and may receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 406 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, among others.

The communication device 400 described above may be a general purpose device or a special purpose device. In a specific implementation, the communication device 400 may be a desktop, a laptop, a web server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet, a wireless terminal device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure as in fig. 3. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the communication apparatus 400.

The 5th-Generation (5G) communication era will have billions of internet-of-things devices accessing the network, and the demands of different types of application scenarios on the network are different. The network slicing technology provides mutually isolated network environments for different application scenes in a mode of simulating an independent logic network on the same network infrastructure, so that different application scenes can customize network functions and characteristics according to respective requirements, and requirements of different services are met. In the 5G communication era, a terminal has multiple Applications (APPs) (also referred to as applications for short), and different APPs have different requirements for delay and bandwidth, so that the types of network slices required by a user when starting different APPs are different. Different Network Slice types may be identified by Network Slice identification Information, e.g., Network Slice identification Information (S-NSSAI) that selects auxiliary Information for a Single Network Slice.

Currently, a terminal acquires a terminal routing policy from a 5G core network, and then determines how to route a service flow to an existing Packet Data Unit (PDU) session according to a URSP, or triggers establishment of a new PDU session according to the URSP. When a terminal starts different APPs and needs to establish a new PDU session, because a Network Slice Selection Policy (NSSP) in the URSP includes S-NSSAI corresponding to the different APPs, the terminal can select a Network Slice which can meet the APP requirements and establish the session according to the corresponding relationship between the APPs and the S-NSSAI.

Currently, third party application providers and operators may negotiate to deploy network slices, formulate URSPs and QoS rules, and provide specific network slices or QoS guarantees for specific applications. This application scenario has not been able to satisfy the user experience of the user.

Based on this, the embodiment of the present application provides a method for managing network slices of an application, in which a terminal determines a first network slice serving a target application in the terminal. That is, the terminal selects the first network slice desired by the application, and then the terminal sends the information of the first network slice to the first device, so that the first device updates the terminal routing policy according to the information of the first network slice. Therefore, the terminal can autonomously select a better network slice to provide service for the application in the terminal, and the service experience based on the network slice is improved.

In the embodiment of the present application, a specific structure of an execution main body of a communication method is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application as long as communication can be performed by a method for managing a network slice of an application according to the embodiment of the present application by running a program recorded with a code of a method for managing a network slice of an application according to the embodiment of the present application, for example, the execution main body of the method for managing a network slice of an application provided in the embodiment of the present application may be a first device, a terminal, or a functional module capable of calling a program and executing the program in the first device, the terminal, or a communication device applied to the first device, the terminal, for example, a chip, and the present application is not limited thereto. The following embodiments describe taking as an example that an execution subject of a method of managing a network slice of an application is a terminal and a first device, respectively.

As shown in fig. 4, fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for managing a network slice of an application according to an embodiment of the present application, where the method includes:

step 501, the terminal selects a first network slice for providing service for a target application in the terminal.

The first network slice may be a set of network slices in a core network to which the terminal is connected and which provide services for the target application. The set includes one or more network slices that can serve the target application.

The terminal in the embodiment of the application has one or more applications. The target application is an application of the one or more applications that needs to be reselected to the network slice. For example, when the user needs to select a first network slice for any one or more of the one or more applications, the user inputs a first operation to the terminal. The first operation is for the terminal to determine any one or more applications selected by the user. And detecting that any one or more applications are selected, and determining that the selected any one or more applications are target applications by the terminal.

In addition, the terminal has a set of candidate network slices in it that can serve each application. A set of candidate network slices is a set of network slices usable by the application, including at least one candidate network slice. Each network slice in the set of candidate network slices may cause the same application to have a different business experience.

In embodiments of the present application, different applications may share one or more network slices. For example, if the service experience of application 1 using network slice 1 is higher than the service experience of application 2 using network slice 2, the terminal may determine to update network slice 2 of application 2 to network slice 1.

For example, application 1 corresponds to network slice 1 and network slice 2. Wherein, the service experience of the application 1 using the network slice 1 is higher than that of the application 2 using the network slice 2. The business experience of different applications is different, and the business experience of different applications can be represented by business characteristic values. For example, the business experience of social payment type applications and financial type applications is measured by network security quality or network latency. The service experience of a voice-like application is measured by the voice quality. The service experience of video-like applications is measured by the video quality.

The terminal in the embodiment of the application also has a terminal routing strategy. The terminal routing strategy at least comprises a group of pre-deployed network slices corresponding to each application. That is, the terminal routing policy includes mapping relationships between information of each application and a set of pre-deployed network slices corresponding to the information. A set of pre-deployed network slices is a set of network slices pre-selected by an operator or a core network for the application, including at least one network slice. Pre-deployed network slices are also network slices that are authorized for applications. The candidate network slice is a usable network slice provided by the operator or the core network for the application, and is not authorized to be used by the application. The candidate network slice requires the terminal to negotiate with the first device and the application of the terminal is available after agreement of the negotiation.

It should be understood that each application in the embodiments of the present application may have either a set of candidate network slices or at least one pre-deployed network slice.

For example, when the application a needs to perform service transmission, the terminal sends a network slice carrying the pre-deployment of the application a to the network when initiating the session establishment procedure. The network may select a corresponding network element to establish a session according to the pre-deployed network slice of application a.

In one possible implementation, the service experience of the same application using a set of candidate network slices is different from the service experience using a set of pre-deployed network slices in the embodiment of the present application. Or the cost of using a set of candidate network slices and the cost of using a set of pre-deployed network slices for the same application may be different.

For example, the business experience of application 1 using a set of pre-deployed network slices is lower than the business experience of application 1 using a set of candidate network slices. Alternatively, the business experience of application 1 using the at least one pre-deployed network slice is higher than the business experience of application 1 using the at least one candidate network slice.

In an aspect, the set of pre-deployed network slices may coincide with network slices in the set of candidate network slices. I.e. the core network or the operator, may select a set of pre-deployed network slices for a certain application from a set of candidate network slices for the certain application.

For example, the at least one candidate network slice of application 1 is network slice a, network slice B, and network slice C. The pre-deployed network slice of application 1 may be network slice a.

In another aspect, the set of pre-deployed network slices may not coincide with network slices in the set of candidate network slices. That is, a set of candidate network slices provided by a core network or an operator to an application is different from a set of pre-deployed network slices.

Since the network slice pre-deployed for the target application can ensure that the application meets the most basic service experience, the service experience required by even the same target application may be different for different terminals. Or the cost of network slices pre-deployed for the target application is too high. Therefore, the terminal may execute step 501 when it is determined that the preset service experience cannot be met by using the pre-deployed network slice for the target application.

For example, when the target application is a video application, and the terminal determines that the video quality of the target application using the pre-deployed network slice a is lower than the preset service experience, step 501 is executed. For example, if the terminal determines that the tariff when the target application uses the pre-deployed network slice is higher than the tariff when the target application uses the first network slice, step 501 is performed.

In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal routing policy may be preconfigured to the terminal, or obtained by the terminal from the core network or the third-party server, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

For example, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal may determine the first network slice serving the target application based on the usage habit (i.e., user experience) and tariff of the user. And if the terminal determines that the service experience of the application 1 when using the network slice 1 is higher than that of the application 2 when using the network slice 2, determining that the first network slice serving the application 2 is the network slice 2.

Step 502, the terminal sends a first request message to the first device. The first request message comprises information of the first network slice, the first request message is used for requesting the first device to update a terminal routing strategy of the terminal, and the terminal routing strategy is used for determining at least one network slice for providing service for the target application.

It should be understood that the at least one network slice may be a pre-deployed network slice as described above.

For an example, taking the first device as the PCF network element shown in fig. 2 as an example, the first Request message may be a management terminal Policy Request (management UE Policy Request) message.

Example 1, if the terminal is about to initiate a registration request (registration request) process after performing step 501, the terminal sends a registration request message to the AMF network element. Wherein, the registration request message carries a Payload container (Payload container). The payload container carries a management UE Policy Request message. Therefore, after the AMF network element receives the registration request message, the AMF network element calls an Npcf service interface and establishes a request service operation (Npcf _ UE Policy Control _ Create request) through terminal Policy Control to send a load container to the PCF network element. It should be understood that the content in the payload container is passed through at the AMF network element (i.e., the AMF network element does not parse the content in the payload container).

It should be appreciated that the registration request flow is for requesting registration to the core network.

Example 2, the terminal may also send a management UE Policy Request message to the PCF network element via a non-access stratum (NAS) transport message.

Specifically, the terminal sends a Ul NAS transport message to the AMF network element. Wherein, the Ul NAS transport message carries the payload container. After receiving the Ul NAS transport message, the AMF network element invokes an Npcf service interface and establishes a request service operation (Npcf _ UE Policy Control _ Create request) through terminal Policy Control to send a load container to the PCF network element.

For another example, taking the first device as a server as an example, the first request message may be any request message used between the first device and the server to negotiate updating of the URSP.

As another embodiment of the present application, if the first device is a server, the method provided in this embodiment of the present application may further include, before step 501: the server applies for the network slice corresponding to each application from the operator, and the server provides one or more applications to the terminal. And the terminal installs one or more applications and completes the registration authentication of the one or more applications. If the terminal has a plurality of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards or Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) cards, the terminal needs to select one SIM card or USIM card when determining the first network slice for the target application. This is because there is a difference between a set of candidate network slices provided by operators corresponding to different SIM cards or USIM cards for the same application, and therefore, the SIM card or USIM card used by the terminal needs to be determined.

Step 503, the first device receives a first request message from the terminal.

As an optional embodiment, after receiving the first request message, the first device may further send a response message to the terminal. The response message is used to indicate that the first device successfully received the first request message.

For example, if the first device is a PCF network element, in combination with example 2, the response message may be carried in a terminal policy control Update response (Npcf _ UEPolicyControl _ Update response). With reference to example 1, the Response message may carry an Npcf _ UEPolicyControl _ Create Response (Npcf _ UEPolicyControl _ Create Response) at the terminal. Specifically, the Npcf _ UEPolicyControl _ Update Response or the Npcf _ UEPolicyControl _ Create Response is sent by the PCF network element to the AMF network element. The AMF network element then sends the received response message to the terminal, so that the terminal determines that the first device receives the first request message.

For another example, if the first device is a server, the response message may be any response for communication between the first device and the server.

And step 504, the first device manages a terminal routing strategy according to the first request message.

Managing a routing policy in an embodiment of the present application may refer to deleting or modifying a network slice in a terminal routing policy.

Case 1, the first network slice in the embodiments of the present application may be a network slice in a set of candidate network slices.

In case 1, it may be applicable that the terminal requests the first device to add a mapping relationship between the target application and the first network slice in the terminal routing policy. That is, the terminal routing policy before updating does not include the mapping relationship between the target application and the first network slice. And the updated terminal routing strategy comprises the mapping relation between the target application and the first network slice. Subsequently, the target application may use the first network slice when a service transmission is required.

Case 2, the first network slice may also be a network slice in a set of pre-deployed network slices.

In case 2, it may be applicable that the terminal requests the first device to manage the first network slice in the terminal routing policy. For example, the first network slice is deleted and the information of the first network slice is modified.

It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, whether it is a set of pre-deployed network slices of an application or a set of candidate network slices of an application, each network slice may correspond to a priority.

If the priority of a second network slice in a group of pre-deployed network slices is higher than the priority of a first network slice, under a normal condition, the terminal needs to preferentially use the second network slice for service transmission, but if the terminal determines that the service experience when the application uses the second network slice is lower than the preset service experience, the terminal may determine that the priority of the first network slice is set to be higher than the priority of the second network slice. Wherein the business experience of the application using the first network slice is higher than the business experience of the application using the second network slice. Alternatively, if the terminal determines that the tariff when the application uses the second network slice is higher than the tariff when the first network slice is used, the terminal may determine to set the priority of the first network slice higher than the priority of the second network slice. In this way, the terminal may determine that the application is to preferentially use the first network slice for traffic transmission.

The above embodiment is only an example that the terminal changes the network slice with high cost into the network slice with low cost, and of course, the terminal may update the network slice with high cost from the network slice with low cost according to the user selection.

It should be appreciated that after the first network slice is deleted in case 2, the updated terminal routing policy does not have a mapping relationship between the target application and the first network slice. Subsequently, the target application may not use the first network slice when the service transmission is required.

Case 3, the first network slice includes network slices belonging to both the set of candidate network slices and the set of pre-deployed network slices.

In case 3, the terminal requests both to add a candidate network slice to the terminal routing policy and to delete or modify information of a pre-deployed network slice.

The embodiment of the application provides a method for managing network slices of an application, wherein a terminal determines a first network slice serving a target application, and the first network slice is selected by the terminal independently, so that the terminal can select a better first network slice independently to provide a service for the target application in the terminal. In addition, the terminal sends the information of the first network slice to the first device to request the first device to update the terminal routing strategy of the terminal, so that the first device and the terminal negotiate the network slice which can better provide service for the terminal. Thereby promoting the service experience based on the network slice.

As another embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5, a method provided in an embodiment of the present application includes: step 601-step 604. Step 601 to step 604 may correspond to step 501 to step 504, and are not described herein again.

As a possible implementation manner, step 601 in the embodiment of the present application may be implemented by step 6011-step 6013 shown in fig. 5.

Step 6011, the terminal displays at least one or more applications.

Illustratively, as shown in (a) of fig. 6, a network slice binding function may be provided on the terminal. The user may click on the network slice binding function when a first network slice needs to be selected for the target application. If the terminal determines that the network slice binding function is triggered (i.e., the terminal detects that the user turns on the network slice binding function), the terminal displays one or more applications (e.g., APP1, APP2, and APP3) as shown in (b) of fig. 6.

In addition, when the terminal displays one or more applications, the terminal can also display a display identifier corresponding to each application. The display identifier is used for prompting whether the application is selected or not. If the application is selected, "√" is displayed in the display label. Further, optionally, a cancel operation and a confirm operation may also be displayed in the interface shown in (b) in fig. 6. And if the cancel operation is triggered, the terminal returns to the main interface of the terminal. If the confirmation operation is triggered, the terminal may enter an interface as shown in (c) of fig. 6.

Step 6012, when a target application of the one or more applications is selected, the terminal displays information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the selected target application. For example, the information of the candidate network slice may be in the format of a network slice, including, for example: Slice/Service type (SST) and Slice Differentiator (SD). SD this is optional information, supplementing slice/service type, to distinguish multiple network slices of the same slice/service type. Or the terminal may display information such as tariff or delay or bandwidth or quality of service parameters for each network slice in a set of candidate network slices.

Where SST is used to point to network slice specific features and traffic types. The SD may further distinguish between multiple network slice instances that satisfy the same SST.

Wherein the information of the at least one candidate network slice may be represented by N bits. For example, as shown in table 1 below, 0000001 may be used to represent SST. 00000010 is used to denote SST and configured SST. 00001000 is used to denote SST, SD, configured SST and configured SD.

For example, when the network slice selection function needs to be executed, the user inputs a first operation on a touch screen of the terminal to select the target application, and the terminal determines that the first operation is detected on the target application and then determines that the target application in the one or more applications is selected.

The target application may represent a set of applications that need to select a network slice. That is, the target application may be at least one application selected from the one or more applications.

It should be noted that, if the target application is an application, the terminal may enter the second interface from the first interface. The first interface is an interface which displays one or more applications currently. The second interface is at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the target application. It is worth noting that the second interface can display at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the target application. Or, the second interface may display information of the target application in addition to the at least one candidate web slice corresponding to the target application.

For example, a user may select multiple applications to select a network slice for the multiple applications in parallel. If the target application includes a plurality of selected applications, the second interface may include at least one candidate network slice for each triggered application of the plurality of selected applications, and each triggered application. I.e., if each triggered application and the at least one candidate web slice corresponding to each triggered application are displayed together on the second interface.

For example, if the target application is a plurality of triggered applications, the second interface may include a plurality of second sub-interfaces. Wherein a second sub-interface of the plurality of second sub-interfaces is used to display at least one candidate web slice of a triggered application. Illustratively, the plurality of second sub-interfaces have different display orders. The display order of the plurality of second sub-interfaces may be determined by the priority of the application corresponding to each sub-interface or the sequence in which the applications are triggered. Of course, when a candidate network slice in a first second sub-interface of the plurality of second sub-interfaces is selected, the terminal may automatically enter the second sub-interface after a preset time. And the first and second sub-interfaces are displayed before the second and second sub-interfaces. The preset time is not limited in the embodiment of the application, and can be set according to needs in the practical process.

For example, if both application 1 and application 2 are selected, and the priority of application 1 is higher than that of application 2, the terminal may first display the second sub-interface 1 corresponding to application 1, where the second sub-interface 1 corresponding to application 1 is used to display at least one candidate network slice corresponding to application 1. And if the candidate network slice A in the second sub-interface 1 is selected, displaying the second sub-interface 2 by the terminal after preset time.

In addition, the information of the application and the information of the at least one network slice corresponding to the application are displayed in the second sub-interface. Or displayed in the second sub-interface may be information of at least one network slice corresponding to the application.

As shown in (c) of fig. 6, taking the selected target application as APP3 as an example, when the APP3 is selected, the terminal displays the candidate network slice 31, the candidate network slice 32, and the candidate network slice 33 corresponding to the APP 3. If the terminal detects that the confirmation operation is triggered as in (c) of fig. 6 after any one of the candidate network slices 31, 32, and 33 is selected, the terminal enters an interface as shown in (d) of fig. 6. If the terminal detects that the cancel operation is triggered as in (c) of fig. 6, the terminal may return to the interface as shown in (b) of fig. 6.

Step 6013, when any one or more of the at least one candidate network slice is triggered, the terminal selects the triggered any one or more candidate network slices as a first network slice.

For example, after step 6012, the user inputs a second operation to the terminal, where the second operation is used to trigger any one or more of the at least one candidate network slice. The terminal may determine that any one or more candidate network slices are triggered if the terminal determines that any one or more candidate network slices have the second operation.

The first operation in the embodiment of the present application may be a click operation or a touch operation. The second operation and the third operation may refer to the contents of the first operation.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, whether the target application or the first network slice is selected, if a click operation or a touch operation is detected for the first time on the target application or the first network slice, it may be determined that the target application or the first network slice is triggered. If a click operation or a touch operation is detected for the second time on the target application or the first network slice, it may be determined that the target application or the first network slice is not triggered, i.e., changed from selected to unselected.

As another possible implementation manner, step 501 in this embodiment may be implemented by step 8011 to step 8012 shown in fig. 7, where steps 802 to step 804 may refer to step 502 to step 504, which is not described here again:

step 8011, the terminal displays at least the target application and information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the target application.

It is to be appreciated that when a target application of the one or more applications is triggered, the terminal performs step 8011.

For example, (a) and (b) in fig. 8 may refer to (a) and (b) in fig. 6, which are not described herein again. As shown in (c) of fig. 8, the candidate network slice 31, the candidate network slice 32, and the candidate network slice 33 corresponding to the APP3 and the APP3 are collectively displayed on the interface of the terminal. Reference to (d) in fig. 8 corresponds to (d) in fig. 6, and the description thereof is omitted.

It should be understood that, if the target application in the embodiment shown in fig. 7 includes multiple triggered applications, the display rule of at least one candidate network slice of the multiple triggered applications may refer to the description in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, and will not be described herein again.

Step 8012, when any one or more of the at least one candidate network slice is triggered, the terminal selects the triggered any one or more candidate network slices as the first network slice.

It should be understood that if the terminal determines that any one or more candidate network slices detect the first operation, the terminal determines that any one or more candidate network slices are triggered.

As another possible implementation manner, step 501 in this embodiment may be implemented by step 9011 to step 9012 shown in fig. 9, where step 902 to step 904 may refer to step 502 to step 504, which is not described here again:

step 9011, the terminal displays information of the one or more candidate network slices and information of at least one application served by each of the one or more candidate network slices.

When any one of the one or more candidate network slices is triggered, the terminal selects any one of the triggered candidate network slices as a first network slice, step 9012.

For example, after passing through (a) in fig. 10, the terminal may enter an interface as shown in (b) in fig. 10, in which information of an application corresponding to each NSSAI among NSSAI11, NSSAI12, NSSAI21, and NSSAI22, and NSSAI11, NSSAI12, NSSAI21, and NSSAI22 is displayed. For example, NSSAI11 and NSSAI12 correspond to information on APP1, NSSAI21 corresponds to information on APP2, and NSSAI22 corresponds to information on APP 3. If NSSAI22 is triggered, the target application is APP3 due to the information that NSSAI22 corresponds to APP3, and the first network slice is NSSAI 22. If the first network slice is determined, the terminal may enter an interface as shown in (c) of fig. 10. In fig. 10, if the terminal determines to cancel the operation of selecting the first network slice for the application, the terminal may enter the home interface.

As another embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5, the method provided in this embodiment of the present application may further include, after step 602:

step 605, the terminal sends the operation type to the first device, where the operation type is used to indicate to delete, add, or modify the terminal routing policy.

Optionally, the operation type may also be carried in the first request message, so that signaling overhead may be saved. Alternatively, the operation type may be sent to the first device by another request message, which is not limited in this embodiment.

For example, if the first network slice is applicable to case 1 above, the operation type may be used to indicate that the first network slice is added to the terminal routing policy. If the first network slice is applicable to case 2 above, the operation type may be used to indicate that the first network slice is deleted or modified from the terminal routing policy. If the first network slice is applicable to case 3 above, the operation type may be used to indicate that the terminal routing policy is deleted, added, or modified.

Correspondingly, step 606 is also included before step 604:

step 606, the first device receives the operation type from the terminal.

Correspondingly, step 604 in this embodiment of the present application may be specifically implemented in the following manner: and the first equipment manages a terminal routing strategy according to the first request message and the operation type.

In a possible embodiment, with continuing reference to fig. 5, after step 604, the method provided in this embodiment further includes:

step 607, the first device sends a first response message to the terminal. Wherein the first response message includes the updated terminal routing policy. The updated terminal routing policy includes at least information of the first network slice serving the target application.

And if the first equipment receives the first request message, deciding to accept the request of the terminal. Therefore, the first device executes a process of updating the terminal routing policy, and in order to enable the terminal to determine the updated terminal routing policy, the first device may send the updated terminal routing policy to the terminal.

It should be noted that, for case 1, if the first device agrees to add the first network slice, the updated terminal routing policy includes the mapping relationship between the target application and the first network slice. For case 2, the updated terminal routing policy does not include the mapping relationship between the target application and the first network slice. Or the updated terminal routing strategy comprises the mapping relation between the target application and the modified first network slice. For case 3, the updated terminal routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target application and the first network slice, and a mapping relationship between the target application and the modified first network slice. Or for case 3, the updated terminal routing policy includes the mapping relationship between the target application and the first network slice, but does not include the mapping relationship between the target application and the first network slice.

Step 608, the terminal receives the first response message from the first device.

In a possible embodiment, with continuing reference to fig. 5, after step 608, the method provided in this embodiment may further include step 609 or step 610:

step 609, the terminal executes the updated terminal routing strategy for the target application. For example, the terminal determines that the target application is to perform traffic transmission, step 609 is performed. Or the terminal receives the updated terminal routing strategy and replaces the terminal routing strategy before updating with the updated terminal routing strategy.

It should be noted that, if the terminal determines that the first device agrees to update the terminal routing policy. If the first network slice is a newly added network slice, the first device may trigger a session management procedure (e.g., a session establishment procedure) to establish a session associated with the first network slice for the target application. If the terminal determines that the first device agrees to modify the information of the first network slice, the first device may trigger a session management procedure (e.g., a session update procedure) to update the session associated with the first network slice for the target application.

Step 610, the first device sends the identifier of the terminal and the updated terminal routing policy to the policy control network element or the user data management network element.

For example, if the first device is a server, the server may send the identifier of the terminal and the updated terminal routing policy to the policy control network element or the user data management network element, so that the policy control network element or the user data management network element updates the terminal routing policy for the terminal according to the updated terminal routing policy in time.

For example, if the first device is a policy control network element, the policy control network element may send the identifier of the terminal and the updated terminal routing policy to the user data management network element, so that the user data management network element updates the terminal routing policy for the terminal according to the updated terminal routing policy in time.

Illustratively, the user data management network element may be a UDM network element or a UDR network element in the above embodiments.

step 611, the first device sends a second response message to the terminal. And the second response message comprises second indication information, and the second indication information is used for indicating that the updating of the terminal routing strategy is refused.

As a specific implementation, step 611 in the embodiment of the present application may be implemented by the following manner: and the first equipment determines to refuse to update the terminal routing strategy, and then sends a second response message to the terminal.

And if the first network slice requested by the terminal can not provide service for the target application, the first equipment determines to refuse to update the terminal routing strategy. For example, the first network slice is application 1 specific, the first device determines that the first network slice may not provide service for the target application.

Step 612, the terminal receives a second response message from the first device.

It should be appreciated that, through step 612, the terminal may determine that the first device refuses to update the terminal routing policy, and therefore, for the target application, the terminal may use at least one pre-deployed network slice corresponding to the target application for traffic transmission.

As a possible implementation, the second response message further includes information indicating a rejection to update the terminal routing policy. This facilitates the terminal determining the reason why the first device refuses to update the terminal routing policy.

As a possible embodiment, after step 612, the method provided in this embodiment of the present application may further include:

step 613, the terminal sends information indicating that the updating of the terminal routing policy is denied to the target application.

In a possible implementation manner, as shown in fig. 5, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes:

step 614, the terminal determines the network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice.

Illustratively, as shown in table 1, the structure of the network slice in the prior art is shown in table 1:

TABLE 1 Structure of network slices

Wherein Length of S-NSSAI contents is defined as shown in Table 2:

TABLE 2

8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	Means of
									0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	SST
0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	SST and mapped configured SST
									0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	SST and SD
0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	SST，SD and mapped configured SST
									0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	SST，SD，mapped configured SST and mapped configured

It can be seen from a combination of tables 1 and 2 that the current network slice presents to the user a string of bit numbers that are not easily identified and selected. In view of the above, step 614 provided in this embodiment of the present application may be specifically implemented in the following manner:

in one example, the information of each candidate network slice in the information of the at least one candidate network slice includes a first indication, and the first indication is used for indicating the network slice basic information.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, the information of each network slice, whether the network slice is a candidate network slice or a predefined network slice, may further include the first indication. The first indication of any one network slice is used to indicate network slice basic information.

For example, the network slice basic information may be which application the network slice may provide a service for, or the network slice name, which operator the network slice is provided by.

As shown in table 3, the String Format (S-NSSAI String Format name) with the first indication being a network slice is taken as an example.

TABLE 3

As shown in table 4, fig. 4 shows the format of S-NSSAI with a first indication in the format of S-NSSAI.

TABLE 4

It will be appreciated that the first indication may also be used to indicate the specific meaning of the network slice and the operator or tariff or information of the third party server to which it belongs.

As shown in table 4, 00001001 denotes SST and the name of SST. 00001011 denote the names SST, SD and network slice.

In another example, the first device sends a first list to the terminal, where the first list at least includes information of the at least one candidate network slice and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice. The terminal receives a first list from a first device. And the terminal determines the basic information of the network slice according to the information of at least one candidate network slice.

It should be understood that information of the operator to which each network slice belongs or tariff information may also be included in the first list.

And step 615, the terminal displays the basic information of the network slice.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment shown in fig. 7, step 805, step 806, step 807, step 808, step 809, step 810, step 811, step 812, step 813, step 814, and step 815 are further included, and the description in step 605 to step 615 may be referred to specifically, and is not repeated here.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 9, the method further includes step 905, step 906, step 907, step 908, step 909, step 910, step 911, step 912, step 913, step 914, and step 915, which may specifically refer to the descriptions in step 605 to step 615, and are not described herein again.

The above-mentioned scheme of the embodiment of the present application is introduced mainly from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It is to be understood that each network element, such as the terminal, the first device, etc., includes corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing each function in order to implement the above functions. Those of skill in the art would readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal and the first device may perform the division of the functional units according to the method, for example, each functional unit may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit. It should be noted that the division of the unit in the embodiment of the present application is schematic, and is only a logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

The method of the embodiment of the present application is described above with reference to fig. 4 to 10, and an apparatus for managing a network slice of an application, which executes the method, provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the methods and apparatuses may be combined and referred to each other, and an apparatus for managing a network slice of an application provided in an embodiment of the present application may perform the steps performed by the first device, or the terminal in the method for managing a network slice of an application.

The following description will be given by taking the division of each function module corresponding to each function as an example:

in the case of using an integrated unit, fig. 11 shows an apparatus for managing a network slice of an application, which may be a terminal, according to the embodiment described above, and the apparatus includes: a processing unit 201, and a communication unit 202.

In an optional implementation manner, the apparatus may further include: a display unit 203.

Wherein, the processing unit 201, the apparatus for supporting network slicing of management application, executes step 501 (or step 601, or step 801, or step 901) executed by the terminal in the above-described embodiment. The communication unit 202, the device for supporting the network slice of the management application, performs step 502 (or step 602, or step 802, or step 902) performed by the terminal in the above-described embodiment.

In a possible implementation manner, the display unit 203, the apparatus for supporting network slicing of the management application, performs step 6011, step 6012, and step 615 performed by the terminal in the above embodiments. The processing unit 201, the apparatus for supporting network slicing of management application, performs step 6013 and steps 609 and 614 performed by the terminal in the above embodiments. The communication unit 202 is further configured to enable the device for managing a network slice of an application to perform steps 605, 608, 612, and 613 performed by the terminal in the above embodiment.

Alternatively, in another possible implementation, the display unit 203, the means for supporting network slices of the management application, performs steps 8011 and step 815 performed by the terminal in the above embodiments. The processing unit 201, the means for supporting network slices of the management application, performs steps 8012 and steps 814 performed by the terminal in the above embodiments. The communication unit 202 is further configured to enable the device for managing network slices of an application to perform steps 805, 808, 812, and 813 performed by the terminal in the above-described embodiment.

Alternatively, in another possible implementation manner, the display unit 203, the apparatus for supporting network slicing of the management application, performs the steps 9011 and 915 performed by the terminal in the above embodiment. The processing unit 201, the apparatus for supporting network slicing for managing applications, executes steps 9012 and 914 executed by the terminal in the above embodiment. The communication unit 202 is further configured to enable the apparatus for managing a network slice of an application to perform steps 905, 908, 912, and 913 performed by the terminal in the above embodiment.

In the case of an integrated unit, fig. 12 shows an apparatus for managing a network slice of an application, which may be a first device, according to the foregoing embodiments, and includes: a processing unit 301, and a communication unit 302.

The communication unit 302, configured to support the apparatus for managing a network slice of an application, executes step 503 (or step 603, or step 803, or step 903) executed by the first device in the above-described embodiment. The processing unit 301, the means for supporting network slicing for managing an application, performs step 504 (or step 604, or step 804, or step 904) performed by the first device in the above-described embodiments.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit 302 is further configured to support the apparatus for managing a network slice of an application to perform steps 606, 607, 610, and 611 performed by the first device in the foregoing embodiment.

Alternatively, in yet another possible implementation manner, the communication unit 302 is further configured to support the apparatus for managing network slices of an application to perform steps 806, 807, 810, and 811 performed by the first device in the foregoing embodiment.

Alternatively, in another possible implementation manner, the communication unit 302 is further configured to support the apparatus for managing a network slice of an application to perform steps 906, 907, 910, and 911 performed by the first device in the foregoing embodiment.

Fig. 13 shows a schematic diagram of a possible logical structure of the apparatus for managing network slices of an application involved in the above-described embodiment, in the case of an integrated unit. The apparatus for managing a network slice of an application includes: a processing module 212, a communication module 213, and a display module 214. The processing module 212 is configured to control and manage actions of a device that manages a network slice of an application, for example, the processing module 212 is configured to execute a step of performing information/data processing in the device that manages the network slice of the application. The communication module 213 is used to support the steps of information/data transmission or reception in the device that manages the network slice of the application.

In a possible embodiment, the means for managing the network slice of the application may further comprise a storage module 211 for storing program code and data usable by the means for managing the network slice of the application.

The processing module 212, configured to support the apparatus for managing network slices of an application, executes step 501 (or step 601, or step 801, or step 901) executed by the terminal in the above embodiment. The communication module 213, the device for supporting the network slice of the management application, performs step 502 (or step 602, or step 802, or step 902) performed by the terminal in the above embodiments.

In a possible implementation manner, the display module 214, which is used for supporting the device for managing the network slice of the application, performs step 6011, step 6012, and step 615 performed by the terminal in the above embodiments. The processing module 212, the apparatus for supporting network slicing of management application, performs step 6013, step 609, and step 614 performed by the terminal in the above embodiments. The communication module 213 is further configured to enable the apparatus for managing a network slice of an application to perform steps 605, 608, 612, and 613 executed by the terminal in the above embodiment.

Alternatively, in another possible implementation manner, the displaying module 214, the means for supporting the network slice of the management application, performs steps 8011 and step 815 performed by the terminal in the above embodiment. The processing module 212, the means for supporting network slices of the management application, performs steps 8012 and steps 814 performed by the terminal in the above embodiments. The communication module 213 is further configured to enable the apparatus for managing network slices of an application to perform steps 805, 808, 812, and 813 performed by the terminal in the above embodiment.

Alternatively, in yet another possible implementation manner, the displaying module 214, the means for supporting the network slice of the management application, performs step 9011 performed by the terminal in the above embodiment. The processing module 212, the means for supporting network slicing for managing applications, performs step 9012 performed by the terminal in the above embodiment. The communication module 213 is further configured to enable the apparatus for managing a network slice of an application to perform steps 905, 908, 912, and 913 performed by the terminal in the above embodiment.

The processing module 212 may be specifically, for example, the processor 401 and the processor 408 shown in fig. 3. The storage module 212 may be specifically the memory 403 shown in fig. 3. The display module 214 may be specifically the display screen 407 shown in fig. 3. The communication module 213 may specifically be the communication interface 404 shown in fig. 3, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Fig. 14 shows a schematic diagram of a possible logical structure of the apparatus for managing network slices of an application involved in the above-described embodiments, in the case of an integrated unit. The apparatus for managing a network slice of an application includes: a processing module 312 and a communication module 313. The processing module 312 is used for controlling and managing the actions of the device for managing the network slice of the application, for example, the processing module 312 is used for executing the steps of information/data processing in the device for managing the network slice of the application. The communication module 313 is used to support the steps of information/data transmission or reception in the device that manages the network slice of the application.

In a possible embodiment, the means for managing the network slice of the application may further comprise a storage module 311 for storing program codes and data usable by the means for managing the network slice of the application.

The communication module 313 is configured to execute the step 503 (or step 603, or step 803, or step 903) executed by the first device in the foregoing embodiment by the apparatus for supporting network slice management of the application. The processing module 312, the means for supporting network slicing for managing an application, performs step 504 (or step 604, or step 804, or step 904) performed by the first device in the above embodiments.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module 313 is further configured to support the apparatus for managing a network slice of an application to perform steps 606, 607, 610, and 611 performed by the first device in the foregoing embodiment.

Alternatively, in yet another possible implementation manner, the communication module 313 is further configured to enable the apparatus for managing a network slice of an application to perform steps 806, 807, 810, and 811 performed by the first device in the foregoing embodiment.

Alternatively, in another possible implementation manner, the communication module 313 is further configured to enable the apparatus for managing a network slice of an application to perform steps 906, 907, 910, and 911 performed by the first device in the foregoing embodiment.

The processing module 312 may be a processor or controller, such as a central processing unit, a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. Which may implement or perform the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure. A processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., a combination of one or more microprocessors, a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, or the like. The communication module 313 may be a transceiver, a transceiving circuit or a communication interface, etc. The storage module 311 may be a memory.

When the processing module 312 is the processor 41 or the processor 45, the communication module 313 is the communication interface 43 or the transceiver, and the storage module 311 is the memory 42, the roaming data processing apparatus according to the present application may be the communication device shown in fig. 15. The communication device comprises a processor 41, a communication line 44 and at least one communication interface (which is only exemplary in fig. 15 to include the communication interface 43).

Optionally, the communication device may also include a memory 42.

Processor 41 may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure.

The communication link 44 may include a path for transmitting information between the aforementioned components.

The communication interface 43 may be any device, such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as an ethernet, a Radio Access Network (RAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), etc.

The memory 42 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that may store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that may store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory may be separate and coupled to the processor via a communication line 44. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 42 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for executing the present application, and is controlled by the processor 41 to execute. Processor 41 is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in memory 42 to implement a method for managing network slices of an application provided by the embodiments described below.

In particular implementations, processor 41 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 15, for example, as one embodiment.

In particular implementations, the communication device may include multiple processors, such as processor 41 and processor 45 in fig. 15, as one embodiment. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

As shown in fig. 16, an embodiment of the present application discloses a terminal, including: a display screen 220; one or more processors 230; a memory 240; a communication module 210; and one or more computer programs 250. The various devices described above may be connected by one or more communication buses 260. Wherein the one or more computer programs 250 are stored in the memory 240 and configured to be executed by the one or more processors 230, the one or more computer programs 250 include instructions that can be used to perform the steps of the present embodiments.

For example, the processor 230 may specifically be the processor 110 shown in fig. 3, the memory 240 may specifically be the internal memory 121 and/or the external memory 120 shown in fig. 3, the display 220 may specifically be the display 407 shown in fig. 3, and the communication module 210 may specifically be the mobile communication module 150 and/or the wireless communication module 160 shown in fig. 3, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip 150 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Chip 150 includes one or more (including two) processors 1510 and a communication interface 1530.

Optionally, the chip 150 further includes a memory 1540, which may include both read-only memory and random access memory, and provides operating instructions and data to the processor 1510. A portion of memory 1540 may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).

In some embodiments, memory 1540 stores elements, execution modules, or data structures, or a subset thereof, or an expanded set thereof.

In the embodiment of the present application, by calling an operation instruction stored in the memory 1540 (the operation instruction may be stored in an operating system), a corresponding operation is performed.

One possible implementation is: the chips used in the first device are similar in structure and different devices may use different chips to implement their respective functions.

The processor 1510 controls processing operations of any one of the first devices, and the processor 1510 may also be referred to as a Central Processing Unit (CPU).

Memory 1540 can include both read-only memory and random-access memory, and provides instructions and data to processor 1510. A portion of memory 1540 may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). For example, in an application where memory 1540, communications interface 1530 and memory 1540 are coupled together by bus system 1520, where bus system 1520 may include a power bus, control bus, status signal bus, etc. in addition to a data bus. For clarity of illustration, however, the various buses are labeled as bus system 1520 in FIG. 17.

The method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to the processor 1510 or implemented by the processor 1510. The processor 1510 may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by instructions in the form of hardware, integrated logic circuits, or software in the processor 1510. The processor 1510 may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory 1540, and the processor 1510 reads the information in the memory 1540, and performs the steps of the above method in combination with the hardware thereof.

In one possible implementation, communication interface 1530 is used to perform the steps of receiving and transmitting by a first device in the embodiments shown in fig. 4-12. Processor 1510 is configured to perform the steps of the processing of the first device in the embodiments shown in fig. 4-12.

The above communication unit may be an interface circuit or a communication interface of the apparatus for receiving signals from other apparatuses. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the communication unit is an interface circuit or a communication interface for the chip to receive signals from or transmit signals to other chips or devices.

In the above embodiments, the instructions stored by the memory for execution by the processor may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product may be written in the memory in advance or may be downloaded in the form of software and installed in the memory.

The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. The procedures or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are all or partially generated when the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, e.g., the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. A computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can store or a data storage device including one or more available media integrated servers, data centers, and the like. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. The procedures or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are all or partially generated when the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or can comprise one or more data storage devices, such as a server, a data center, etc., that can be integrated with the medium. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

While the present application has been described in connection with various embodiments, other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed application, from a review of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the word "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Although the present application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, the specification and figures are merely exemplary of the present application as defined in the appended claims and are intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present application. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method of managing network slices of an application, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal selects a first network slice for providing service for a target application in the terminal;

the terminal sends a first request message to first equipment; wherein the first request message includes information of the first network slice, and the first request message is used for requesting the first device to update a terminal routing policy of the terminal, wherein the terminal routing policy is used for determining at least one network slice for providing services for the target application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the first network slice for serving the target application in the terminal by the terminal comprises:

the terminal at least displays one or more applications;

when the target application in the one or more applications is selected, the terminal displays information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the selected target application;

when any one or more of the at least one candidate network slice is selected, the terminal selects the selected one or more candidate network slices as the first network slice.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the first network slice for serving the target application in the terminal by the terminal comprises:

the terminal at least displays the target application and information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the target application;

4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the first network slice for serving the target application in the terminal by the terminal comprises:

the terminal displays information of at least one candidate network slice and information of at least one application of each candidate network slice in the at least one candidate network slice for providing service;

when any one of the at least one candidate network slice is selected, the terminal selects the selected any one candidate network slice as the first network slice.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:

the terminal determines network slice basic information corresponding to the information of at least one candidate network slice;

and the terminal displays the basic information of the network slice.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the terminal determines network slice basic information corresponding to information of at least one candidate network slice, comprising:

the information of each candidate network slice in the information of the at least one candidate network slice comprises a first indication, and the first indication is used for indicating the network slice basic information;

or, the terminal receives a first list from the first device, where the first list at least includes information of the at least one candidate network slice and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice;

and the terminal determines the basic information of the network slice according to the information of the at least one candidate network slice.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, further comprising:

and the terminal sends an operation type to the first equipment, wherein the operation type is used for indicating to delete, add or modify the terminal routing strategy.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, further comprising:

the terminal receives the updated terminal routing strategy from the first equipment; wherein the updated terminal routing policy at least includes information of the first network slice serving the target application.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

and the terminal triggers a session management process according to the updated terminal routing strategy.

10. A method of managing network slices of an application, comprising:

a first device receives a first request message from a terminal, wherein the first request message comprises information of a first network slice for providing service for a target application, the first request message is used for requesting the first device to update a terminal routing strategy of the terminal, and the terminal routing strategy is used for determining at least one network slice for providing service for the target application;

and the first equipment manages the terminal routing strategy according to the first request message.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

the first device receives an operation type from a terminal, wherein the operation type is used for indicating to delete, add or modify the terminal routing strategy.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first device manages the terminal routing policy according to the first request message, and wherein the managing the terminal routing policy comprises:

and the first equipment manages the terminal routing strategy according to the first request message and the operation type.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

and the first device sends the updated terminal routing strategy to the terminal or a strategy control network element or a user data management network element, wherein the updated terminal routing strategy at least comprises the information of the first network slice for providing service for the target application.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10-12, further comprising:

and the first equipment sends second indication information to the terminal, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the updating of the terminal routing strategy is refused.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first device sends information to the terminal indicating a denial of updating the terminal routing policy.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10-15, further comprising:

the first device sends a first list to the terminal, wherein the first list at least comprises information of at least one candidate network slice and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice.

17. A terminal, comprising:

a processor configured to select a first network slice serving a target application in the terminal;

a communication interface for sending a first request message to a first device; wherein the first request message includes information of the first network slice, the first request message is used for requesting the first device to update a terminal routing policy of the terminal, and the terminal routing policy is used for determining at least one network slice for providing service for the target application.

18. The terminal of claim 17, wherein the terminal further comprises: a display screen for displaying at least one or more applications;

when the target application in the one or more applications is selected, the display screen is used for displaying information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the selected target application;

when any one or more of the at least one candidate network slice is selected, the processor is configured to select the selected one or more candidate network slices as the first network slice.

19. The terminal of claim 17, wherein the terminal further comprises: the display screen is used for at least displaying the target application and information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the target application;

20. The terminal of claim 17, wherein the display screen is configured to display information of one or more candidate network slices and information of at least one application served by each of the one or more candidate network slices;

when any of the one or more candidate network slices is selected, the processor is configured to select the selected any candidate network slice as a first network slice.

21. The terminal of any of claims 17-20, wherein the processor is further configured to determine network slice base information corresponding to information of at least one candidate network slice;

and the display screen is also used for displaying the basic information of the network slices.

22. The terminal according to claim 21, wherein the information of each candidate network slice in the information of the at least one candidate network slice includes a first indication, and the first indication is used to indicate the network slice basic information, and the processor is specifically configured to determine the network slice basic information according to the first indication; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the communication interface is configured to receive a first list from the first device, where the first list includes at least information of the at least one candidate network slice and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice; the processor is specifically configured to determine the network slice basic information according to the information of the at least one candidate network slice.

23. The terminal according to any of claims 17-22, wherein the communication interface is further configured to send an operation type to the first device, the operation type being used to indicate to delete, add or modify the terminal routing policy.

24. The terminal of any of claims 17-23, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive an updated terminal routing policy from the first device, wherein the updated terminal routing policy comprises at least information of the first network slice serving the target application.

25. A first device, comprising:

a communication interface, configured to receive a first request message from a terminal, where the first request message includes information of a first network slice that serves a target application, the first request message is used to request the first device to update a terminal routing policy of the terminal, and the terminal routing policy is used to determine at least one network slice that serves the target application;

and the processor is used for managing the terminal routing strategy according to the first request message.

26. The first device of claim 25, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive an operation type from a terminal, and wherein the operation type is used to instruct to delete, add, or modify the terminal routing policy.

27. The first device according to claim 26, wherein the processor is specifically configured to manage the terminal routing policy according to the first request message and the operation type.

28. The first device according to any one of claims 25 to 27, wherein the communication interface is further configured to send an updated terminal routing policy to the terminal or a policy control network element or a user data management network element, wherein the updated terminal routing policy at least includes information of the first network slice serving the target application.

29. The first device according to any of claims 25-27, wherein said communication interface is further configured to send second indication information to said terminal, said second indication information being used to indicate a rejection of updating said terminal routing policy.

30. The first apparatus of claim 29, wherein the communication interface is further configured to send information to the terminal indicating a denial of updating the terminal routing policy.

31. The first apparatus of any one of claims 25-30, wherein the communication interface is further configured to send a first list to the terminal, and wherein the first list includes at least information of at least one candidate network slice and network slice basic information corresponding to the information of the at least one candidate network slice.

32. A terminal, comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more memories;

and one or more computer programs, wherein the one or more computer programs are stored in the one or more memories, the one or more computer programs comprising instructions which, when executed by the terminal, cause the terminal to perform the method of managing network slices of an application according to any of claims 1-9.

33. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, which when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of managing network slices of an application as claimed in any of claims 1-9, or claims 10-16.

34. A chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being coupled to the processor, the processor being configured to execute a computer program or instructions to implement the method of managing network slices of an application according to any of claims 1-9, or claims 10-16.

35. A terminal, characterized in that the terminal comprises: one or more processors, a touch screen, a memory, the processor for executing one or more computer programs stored in the memory to cause the terminal to perform the steps of:

detecting a first operation of a user on the touch screen, and responding to the first operation, displaying information of at least one candidate network slice corresponding to the selected target application on the touch screen;

and detecting a second operation of the user on the touch screen, and responding to the second operation to select any one or more selected candidate network slices as the first network slice.