CN114039945A

CN114039945A - User IP address allocation management method, device and session management function entity

Info

Publication number: CN114039945A
Application number: CN202010704449.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王荣; 周越; 宋月
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2020-07-21
Filing date: 2020-07-21
Publication date: 2022-02-11
Anticipated expiration: 2040-07-21
Also published as: WO2022017380A1; CN114039945B

Abstract

The invention provides a user IP address allocation management method, a device and a session management function entity, wherein the user IP address allocation management method is applied to an SMF entity in an SMF set and comprises the following steps: acquiring distribution information of a target IP address, wherein the distribution information comprises first corresponding relation information between the target IP address and an SMF entity and occupation condition information of the target IP address; according to the distribution information, the IP address of the user is distributed; the target IP address refers to at least one user IP address which can be allocated by the SMF entity; different SMF entities in a SMF set correspond to different target IP addresses. According to the scheme, the SMF in the SMF set can be adopted to distribute the UE IP address, address distribution conflict is avoided, normal realization of UE IP address distribution is guaranteed, normal realization of a session is further guaranteed, and the problem that the session in the prior art can not be realized is well solved.

Description

User IP address allocation management method, device and session management function entity

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for managing user IP address allocation, and a session management function entity.

Background

Currently, a 5GC (fifth generation mobile communication technology core network, i.e. 5G core network) supports that an SMF allocates an IP address to a UE (terminal) from a UE (terminal) IP address pool corresponding to a selected PSA (protocol data unit session anchor) UPF (user plane function) (i.e. the SMF allocates a UE IP address), and also supports that the SMF requests the UPF to allocate an IP address to the UE and obtains the UE IP address allocated by the UPF through an N4 interface (interface between the SMF and the user plane function UPF) (i.e. the UPF allocates a UE IP address). The SMF allocates the UE IP address as a necessary function, and the UPF allocates the UE IP address as an optional function.

In order to realize redundancy and scalability of the SMFs, 5GC supports a SMF set (set) composed of a plurality of SMFs, specifically, there are two schemes for forming a SMF set (set) by SMFs, SSET (which means that different SMFs of the SMF set are coupled through a single PFCP (packet forwarding control protocol) for session continuity control; as shown in fig. 1, only one coupling is established between the SMF set and a UPF) and MPAS (which means that different SMFs of the SMF set are coupled through multiple PFCPs (one coupling between SMFs), for session continuity control; as shown in fig. 2, each SMF of the SMF set is coupled with a UPF). However, if the method of allocating the UE IP address by the SMF is adopted, since a plurality of SMFs simultaneously control the UE IP address pool of the same UPF, there may be a case where the same UE IP address is allocated by a plurality of SMFs.

In this regard, the prior art suggests that if an SMF set is connected to a UPF (SSET scheme or MPAS scheme), the UPF performs UE IP address allocation to avoid address allocation conflicts that may be brought by SMF allocating UE IP addresses. However, there are the following problems:

although the UE IP address allocation can be achieved by the above prior art scheme, considering that some operators may already select to allocate the UE IP address by the SMF during the network evolution process at the initial stage of network construction, when it is desired to introduce the SSET or MPAS scheme to achieve redundancy and scalability of the SMF at the later stage of network construction, only the scheme for allocating the UE IP address by the UPF is provided, and the scheme for allocating the UE IP address by the SMF is lacked; it may result in an inability to implement the UE IP address assignment scheme, thereby causing an inability to implement the session.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a user IP address allocation management method, a user IP address allocation management device and a session management functional entity, so as to solve the problem that a session in the prior art can not be realized.

In order to solve the foregoing technical problem, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for allocating and managing an IP address of a user internet protocol, which is applied to an SMF entity in an SMF set having a session management function, and includes:

acquiring allocation information of a target IP address, wherein the allocation information comprises first corresponding relation information between the target IP address and the SMF entity and occupation condition information of the target IP address;

according to the distribution information, distributing the user IP address;

wherein, the target IP address refers to at least one user IP address which can be allocated by the SMF entity;

different SMF entities in the SMF set correspond to different target IP addresses.

Optionally, the allocating the user IP address according to the allocation information includes:

determining the occupation condition information of the target IP address according to the distribution information;

and according to the occupation condition information, selecting an unoccupied user IP address from the target IP addresses for distribution.

Optionally, the method further includes:

acquiring the record information of user IP addresses which can be allocated by other SMF entities in the SMF set;

the record information includes second corresponding relationship information between the other SMF entities and the user IP addresses that can be allocated by the other SMF entities, and occupation situation information of the user IP addresses that can be allocated by the other SMF entities on the SMF entities.

Optionally, the method further includes:

and dynamically maintaining the distribution information and the record information.

Optionally, the dynamically maintaining the allocation information includes:

and updating the occupation condition information of the allocated user IP address after the user IP address is allocated according to the allocation information.

Optionally, the dynamically maintaining the allocation information and the record information includes:

when a control plane with a session is switched to the other SMF entity by the SMF entity and a user IP address occupied by the session belongs to a target IP address of the SMF entity, maintaining the occupied condition information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the allocation information of the SMF entity as occupied; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and under the condition that the control plane with the session is switched to the other SMF entities by the SMF entity and the user IP address occupied by the session does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity, updating the occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the recording information of the SMF entity from occupied to unoccupied.

when a control plane with a session is switched to the SMF entity by the other SMF entities and a user IP address occupied by the session belongs to a target IP address of the SMF entity, maintaining the occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the allocation information of the SMF entity as occupied; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and under the condition that the control plane with the session is switched to the SMF entity by the other SMF entities and the user IP address occupied by the session does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity, updating the occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the record information of the SMF entity from unoccupied situation to occupied situation.

updating the occupation condition information of the released user IP address in the distribution information of the SMF entity from occupied to unoccupied under the condition that a session releases the user IP address and the released user IP address belongs to the target IP address of the SMF entity; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

updating the occupation condition information of the released user IP address in the record information of the SMF entity from occupied to unoccupied under the condition that a session releases the user IP address and the released user IP address does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity; and broadcasting the message of the released user IP address.

receiving a message for releasing the user IP address broadcast by the other SMF entities;

and updating the occupation condition information of the released user IP address from occupied to unoccupied according to the message.

under the condition that the distribution information and the recording information are lost, broadcasting a message for restarting the SMF entity to the other SMF entities;

receiving response messages fed back by all other SMF entities in the SMF set according to the messages restarted by the SMF entities;

re-determining the distribution information and the recording information according to the response message set;

wherein, the response message at least includes the first corresponding relationship of the SMF entity and the occupation condition information of the target IP address;

the set of response messages includes response messages fed back by all other SMF entities in the set of SMFs.

Optionally, the re-determining the allocation information according to the response message set includes:

according to the response message set, re-determining the occupation condition information corresponding to the target IP address;

and obtaining the re-determined distribution information according to the first corresponding relation and the re-determined occupation condition information.

Optionally, the re-determining the occupation information corresponding to the target IP address according to the response message set includes:

re-determining the target IP address according to the first corresponding relation in the response message set;

and according to the re-determined target IP address and the occupation condition information of the target IP address in the response message set, re-determining the occupation condition information corresponding to the target IP address.

Optionally, the re-determining the occupation situation information corresponding to the target IP address according to the re-determined target IP address and the occupation situation information of the target IP address in the response message set includes:

determining that the occupation condition information of the first user IP address is occupied under the condition that the first occupation condition information exists in the occupation condition information of the first user IP address in the response message set;

otherwise, determining that the occupation condition information of the first user IP address is unoccupied;

the first occupation situation information is occupation situation information indicating that the IP address of the first user is occupied;

the first user IP address is any one user IP address in the target IP addresses.

Optionally, the response message set further includes the second correspondence information corresponding to all the other SMF entities in the SMF set, respectively;

wherein, according to the response message set, re-determining the recording information comprises:

determining, according to all the second correspondence information in the response message set, user IP addresses that can be allocated to the other SMF entities and respectively corresponding to each of the second correspondences, and determining that all the occupation condition information of the user IP addresses that can be allocated to the other SMF entities on the SMF entities is unoccupied;

and obtaining the redetermined recording information according to all the second corresponding relation information in the response message set and the determined each occupation condition information.

Optionally, dynamically maintaining the record information includes:

receiving a message of SMF restart broadcast by the other SMF entities;

feeding back response messages to the other SMF entities according to the SMF restart messages;

wherein, the response message at least includes the occupation situation information of the user IP address that can be allocated by the other SMF entity.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a device for allocating and managing the IP address of the user internet interconnection protocol, which is applied to the SMF entity in the SMF set with the session management function and comprises the following steps:

a first obtaining module, configured to obtain allocation information of a target IP address, where the allocation information includes first correspondence information between the target IP address and the SMF entity and occupation information of the target IP address;

the first distribution module is used for carrying out user IP address distribution according to the distribution information;

Optionally, the first allocating module includes:

the first determining submodule is used for determining the occupation condition information of the target IP address according to the distribution information;

and the first allocating submodule is used for selecting an unoccupied user IP address from the target IP addresses to allocate according to the occupation condition information.

Optionally, the method further includes:

a second obtaining module, configured to obtain record information of user IP addresses that can be allocated by other SMF entities in the SMF set;

Optionally, the method further includes:

and the first maintenance module is used for dynamically maintaining the distribution information and the record information.

Optionally, the first maintenance module includes:

and the first updating submodule is used for updating the occupation condition information of the allocated user IP address after the user IP address is allocated according to the allocation information.

Optionally, the first maintenance module includes:

a first processing sub-module, configured to maintain that, when a control plane in which a session exists is switched from the SMF entity to the other SMF entity and a user IP address occupied by the session belongs to a target IP address of the SMF entity, occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the allocation information of the SMF entity is occupied; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

Optionally, the first maintenance module includes:

a second processing sub-module, configured to maintain that, when a control plane in which a session exists is switched from the other SMF entity to the SMF entity and a user IP address occupied by the session belongs to a target IP address of the SMF entity, occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the allocation information of the SMF entity is occupied; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

Optionally, the first maintenance module includes:

a third processing sub-module, configured to update occupation situation information of the released user IP address in the allocation information of the SMF entity from occupied to unoccupied when a session exists to release the user IP address, and the released user IP address belongs to the target IP address of the SMF entity; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

Optionally, the first maintenance module includes:

a first receiving submodule, configured to receive a message for releasing a user IP address broadcast by the other SMF entities;

and the second updating submodule is used for updating the occupation situation information of the released user IP address from occupied to unoccupied according to the message.

Optionally, the first maintenance module includes:

a first broadcast sub-module, configured to broadcast, to the other SMF entities, a message to restart the SMF entity when the allocation information and the recording information are lost;

the second determining submodule is used for re-determining the distribution information and the recording information according to the response message set;

Optionally, the second determining sub-module includes:

a first determining unit, configured to re-determine, according to the response message set, occupation situation information corresponding to the target IP address;

and the first processing unit is used for obtaining the redetermined distribution information according to the first corresponding relation and the redetermined occupation situation information.

Optionally, the first determining unit includes:

a first determining subunit, configured to re-determine the target IP address according to the first corresponding relationship in the response message set;

and the second determining subunit is configured to re-determine, according to the re-determined target IP address and the occupation information of the target IP address in the response message set, occupation information corresponding to the target IP address.

Optionally, the second determining subunit is specifically configured to:

wherein the second determining submodule includes:

a second determining unit, configured to determine, according to all the second correspondence information in the response message set, user IP addresses that can be allocated to the other SMF entities and correspond to the second correspondences, respectively, and determine that all the occupation situation information of the user IP addresses that can be allocated to the other SMF entities on the SMF entities is unoccupied;

and a third determining unit, configured to obtain the re-determined recording information according to all the second corresponding relationship information in the response message set and the determined each occupation information.

Optionally, the first maintenance module includes:

a second receiving submodule, configured to receive a message of SMF restart broadcast by the other SMF entities;

the first feedback submodule is used for feeding back response messages to the other SMF entities according to the SMF restart messages;

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a session management function SMF entity, where the SMF entity is an SMF entity in an SMF set, and includes: a processor and a transceiver;

the processor is configured to acquire allocation information of a target IP address, where the allocation information includes first correspondence information between the target IP address and the SMF entity and occupation information of the target IP address;

according to the distribution information, distributing the user IP address;

Optionally, the processor is configured to include:

Optionally, the processor is further configured to:

Optionally, the processor is specifically configured to:

updating the occupation condition information of the released user IP address in the record information of the SMF entity from occupied to unoccupied under the condition that a session releases the user IP address and the released user IP address does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity; and broadcasting a message of the released user IP address through the transceiver.

Optionally, the processor is specifically configured to:

receiving a message of releasing the user IP address broadcast by the other SMF entity through the transceiver;

Optionally, the processor is specifically configured to:

under the condition that the distribution information and the record information are lost, broadcasting a message for restarting the SMF entity to the other SMF entities through the transceiver;

receiving, by the transceiver, a response message fed back by all other SMF entities in the SMF set according to the message restarted by the SMF entity;

Optionally, the processor is specifically configured to:

wherein the processor is specifically configured to:

Optionally, the processor is specifically configured to:

receiving, by the transceiver, a message of SMF restart broadcast by the other SMF entity;

according to the SMF restart message, feeding back a response message to the other SMF entities through the transceiver;

The embodiment of the invention also provides a Session Management Function (SMF) entity, which comprises a memory, a processor and a computer program which is stored on the memory and can run on the processor; the processor implements the above-mentioned method for managing user IP address allocation when executing the program.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a readable storage medium, on which a program is stored, where the program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the method for managing allocation of IP addresses of users.

The technical scheme of the invention has the following beneficial effects:

in the above scheme, the method for managing IP address allocation of a user internet protocol acquires allocation information of a target IP address, where the allocation information includes first correspondence information between the target IP address and the SMF entity and occupation information of the target IP address; according to the distribution information, distributing the user IP address; wherein, the target IP address refers to at least one user IP address which can be allocated by the SMF entity; different SMF entities in the SMF set correspond to different target IP addresses; the method and the device can realize the allocation of the UE IP (namely the user IP) address by adopting the SMF in the SMF set, avoid address allocation conflict, ensure the normal realization of the allocation of the UE IP address, further ensure the normal realization of the session and well solve the problem that the session in the prior art can not be realized.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a prior art SSET scheme;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a MPAS scheme in the prior art;

fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a user IP address allocation management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating UE IP address pool division according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a UE IP address pool representation of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of UE IP address allocation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating dynamic labeling of the IP address of the UE according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating dynamic marking of an IP address of a UE and broadcasting of a release message on demand according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating SMF restart in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a user IP address allocation management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a session management function SMF entity according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the following detailed description is given with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

The present invention provides a method for allocating and managing a user internet protocol IP address, which is applied to an SMF entity in a session management function SMF set, and aims at the problem that a session may not be realized in the prior art, as shown in fig. 3, the method includes:

step 31: acquiring allocation information of a target IP address, wherein the allocation information comprises first corresponding relation information between the target IP address and the SMF entity and occupation condition information of the target IP address;

step 32: according to the distribution information, distributing the user IP address;

The method for managing the IP address allocation of the user internet interconnection protocol provided by the embodiment of the invention acquires the allocation information of a target IP address, wherein the allocation information comprises the first corresponding relation information between the target IP address and the SMF entity and the occupation condition information of the target IP address; according to the distribution information, distributing the user IP address; wherein, the target IP address refers to at least one user IP address which can be allocated by the SMF entity; different SMF entities in the SMF set correspond to different target IP addresses; the method and the device can realize the allocation of the UE IP address by adopting the SMF in the SMF set, avoid address allocation conflict, ensure the normal realization of the allocation of the UE IP address, further ensure the normal realization of the session, and well solve the problem that the session in the prior art can not be realized.

Specifically, the allocating the user IP address according to the allocation information includes: determining the occupation condition information of the target IP address according to the distribution information; and according to the occupation condition information, selecting an unoccupied user IP address from the target IP addresses for distribution.

Further, the method for managing IP address allocation of a user internet protocol further includes: acquiring the record information of user IP addresses which can be allocated by other SMF entities in the SMF set; the record information includes second corresponding relationship information between the other SMF entities and the user IP addresses that can be allocated by the other SMF entities, and occupation situation information of the user IP addresses that can be allocated by the other SMF entities on the SMF entities.

Wherein the other SMF entities refer to SMF entities except the SMF entities. The number of other SMF entities is at least one.

Furthermore, the method for managing IP address allocation of a user internet protocol further includes: and dynamically maintaining the distribution information and the record information.

Specifically, the dynamically maintaining the allocation information includes: and updating the occupation condition information of the allocated user IP address after the user IP address is allocated according to the allocation information.

Specifically, the occupancy information is updated from unoccupied (available) to occupied (unavailable).

Further, consider that: the solution of UE IP address assignment by only assigning different UE IP addresses to SMFs within a set of SMFs does not completely avoid the risk of address assignment conflicts, since the SSET or MPAS solution requires that any one session can be controlled by any SMF within the set of SMFs, for example: when SMF A allocates UE IP address for a session, the session may be switched to SMF B in the set, when the session is migrated from SMF A to SMF B, if no special processing is performed, SMF A considers that the initially allocated UE IP address may be allocated again, and the situation of repeatedly allocating the UE IP address may occur when the next session is requested. To prevent the risk of such address allocation conflicts, the following two exemplary measures are provided in the embodiments of the present invention:

a first example approach, the dynamically maintaining the allocation information and the logging information, includes: when a control plane with a session is switched to the other SMF entity by the SMF entity and a user IP address occupied by the session belongs to a target IP address of the SMF entity, maintaining the occupied condition information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the allocation information of the SMF entity as occupied; or, when the control plane with the session is switched from the SMF entity to the other SMF entity and the user IP address occupied by the session does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity, the occupation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the record information of the SMF entity is updated from occupied to unoccupied.

A second example approach, the dynamically maintaining the allocation information and the logging information, includes: when a control plane with a session is switched to the SMF entity by the other SMF entities and a user IP address occupied by the session belongs to a target IP address of the SMF entity, maintaining the occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the allocation information of the SMF entity as occupied; or, when the control plane with the session is switched to the SMF entity by the other SMF entities, and the user IP address occupied by the session does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity, the occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the record information of the SMF entity is updated from unoccupied to occupied.

For the case of IP address release, the following two exemplary measures are provided in the embodiment of the present invention:

a first example approach, the dynamically maintaining the allocation information and the logging information, includes: updating the occupation condition information of the released user IP address in the distribution information of the SMF entity from occupied to unoccupied under the condition that a session releases the user IP address and the released user IP address belongs to the target IP address of the SMF entity; or, in the case that a session releases a user IP address and the released user IP address does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity, updating the occupation situation information of the released user IP address in the record information of the SMF entity from occupied to unoccupied; and broadcasting the message of the released user IP address.

A second example approach, the dynamically maintaining the allocation information and the logging information, includes: receiving a message for releasing the user IP address broadcast by the other SMF entities; and updating the occupation condition information of the released user IP address from occupied to unoccupied according to the message.

For the case of SMF restart, the following two exemplary measures are provided in the embodiments of the present invention:

a first example approach, the dynamically maintaining the allocation information and the logging information, includes: under the condition that the distribution information and the recording information are lost, broadcasting a message for restarting the SMF entity to the other SMF entities; receiving response messages fed back by all other SMF entities in the SMF set according to the messages restarted by the SMF entities; re-determining the distribution information and the recording information according to the response message set; wherein, the response message at least includes the first corresponding relationship of the SMF entity and the occupation condition information of the target IP address; the set of response messages includes response messages fed back by all other SMF entities in the set of SMFs.

Wherein the re-determining the allocation information according to the response message set includes: according to the response message set, re-determining the occupation condition information corresponding to the target IP address; and obtaining the re-determined distribution information according to the first corresponding relation and the re-determined occupation condition information.

Specifically, the re-determining the occupation information corresponding to the target IP address according to the response message set includes: re-determining the target IP address according to the first corresponding relation in the response message set; and according to the re-determined target IP address and the occupation condition information of the target IP address in the response message set, re-determining the occupation condition information corresponding to the target IP address.

More specifically, the re-determining the occupation status information corresponding to the target IP address according to the re-determined target IP address and the occupation status information of the target IP address in the response message set includes: determining that the occupation condition information of the first user IP address is occupied under the condition that the first occupation condition information exists in the occupation condition information of the first user IP address in the response message set; otherwise, determining that the occupation condition information of the first user IP address is unoccupied; the first occupation situation information is occupation situation information indicating that the IP address of the first user is occupied; the first user IP address is any one user IP address in the target IP addresses.

Further, the response message set further includes the second correspondence information corresponding to all the other SMF entities in the SMF set; wherein, according to the response message set, re-determining the recording information comprises: determining, according to all the second correspondence information in the response message set, user IP addresses that can be allocated to the other SMF entities and respectively corresponding to each of the second correspondences, and determining that all the occupation condition information of the user IP addresses that can be allocated to the other SMF entities on the SMF entities is unoccupied; and obtaining the redetermined recording information according to all the second corresponding relation information in the response message set and the determined each occupation condition information.

A second example approach to dynamically maintaining the logging information includes: receiving a message of SMF restart broadcast by the other SMF entities; feeding back response messages to the other SMF entities according to the SMF restart messages; wherein, the response message at least includes the occupation situation information of the user IP address that can be allocated by the other SMF entity.

Wherein, the user IP address that other SMF entities can distribute is the target IP address corresponding to other SMF entities; the measures here may be understood as that the SMF maintains the record information of the SMF, and may also be understood as assisting in maintaining the allocation information of other SMF entities.

The following illustrates the method for managing IP address allocation of a user according to the embodiment of the present invention.

To solve the above technical problem, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for managing user IP address allocation, which may be specifically implemented as a method for performing UE IP address allocation and preventing address allocation conflicts by an SMF in an SMF set, specifically:

the scheme can be as follows: and dividing a UE IP address pool (namely an IP address Set which can be allocated by all SMF entities in the SMF Set) into a plurality of UE IP address blocks according to the total number of SMFs in the SMF Set (Set).

Assuming that the total number of SMFs in the SMF set (set) is M (M is an integer greater than or equal to 2), the allocable UE IP address pool is divided into M blocks. The scheme does not make specific requirements on the segmentation target and the segmentation method of the UE IP address pool, and can be flexibly formulated according to the requirements of operators.

For example, the following segmentation objectives can be achieved:

evenly dividing;

dividing the SMF processing capacity in equal proportion; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and the selection priority of the SMF is divided.

For example, the following segmentation method may be used:

sequentially dividing; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

carrying out Hash segmentation;

and finally, dividing the allocable UE IP address pool into M UE IP address blocks.

Each SMF in the SMF set (set) possesses a UE IP address block (namely the target IP address) which can be controllably distributed only by the SMF;

for convenience of description, in the present scheme, the UE IP address blocks are numbered sequentially from 1 to M (M corresponds to M, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2). n represents the number of any one UE IP address block.

One SMF in the set uniquely corresponds to one UE IP address block number (i.e. different SMF entities correspond to different target IP addresses).

For a certain UE IP address block, it is uniquely assigned to a certain SMF within the set of SMFs.

Each SMF records two parameters (m, n). m represents the total number of SMFs in the Set (i.e. the total number of UE IP address blocks), and n represents the number of UE IP address blocks to which the SMFs can be controllably allocated, as shown in fig. 4 (in the figure, xx.xx.xx.xx.xx represents an IP address).

And (II) each SMF in the SMF set (set) records (maintains) a UE IP address pool table (namely, the total information of the allocation information and the record information is recorded, and the table is in a presentation form) and contains all UE IP address block information.

Each SMF maintains a UE IP address pool table, which contains the UE IP address information of all the UE IP address blocks in the set.

Each UE IP address corresponds to two attributes, namely the address block number of the UE IP address; the second is an indication of whether the UE IP address is occupied (i.e. the occupancy information mentioned above, occupied corresponds to the following unavailability, and unoccupied corresponds to the following availability).

Through the UE IP address pool table, each SMF possesses an n-numbered UE IP address block that is dedicated, controllably and assignable, and also knows the UE IP address information that is not available to the SMF, as shown in fig. 5 (in the column, y indicates available, n indicates unavailable, and xx.xx.xx.xx indicates an IP address, which indicates whether the UE IP address is available or not).

And (III) each SMF in the SMF set marks whether the UE IP address is available or not according to the requirement, and dynamically maintains the UE IP address pool table.

When the SMF is required to allocate a new UE IP address, the SMF in the SMF set (set) can only select and allocate the UE IP address from the n UE IP address blocks which can be allocated in a controllable way, and simultaneously, the state mark of the (allocated) UE IP address is changed from available to unavailable.

And combining the recorded (m, n) parameters and the UE IP address pool table, and the SMF obtains a UE IP address list which can be allocated by the SMF from the number n UE IP address block.

In the Session establishment or Session modification process, if the SMF is required to allocate a UE IP address, the SMF (according to the occupancy information) performs UE IP address selection from the n UE IP address block of the SMF and marks that the (selected) UE IP address is allocated to be unavailable (i.e. the occupancy information is changed from available to unavailable), as shown in fig. 6 (in the figure, PDU Session establishment indicates protocol data unit Session establishment, y → n indicates that the status is changed from available to unavailable, and other meanings indicated in fig. 5).

Here it is required that the SMF can and only can be selected and allocated from the own n number UE IP address block.

When the control plane of the session is changed from SMF a to another SMF B in the SMF set, SMF a and B can dynamically mark the available state of the UE IP address.

After the session control plane is switched to the SMF B, the SMF B serves the session; see fig. 7 (see fig. 5 for the meaning of each symbol):

SMF A: when the UE IP address occupied by the session belongs to the N-numbered UE IP address block owned by the SMF, the mark is unchanged, and the UE IP address is still unavailable; and when the UE IP address occupied by the session does not belong to the n number UE IP address block owned by the SMF, the mark is changed from unavailable to available.

SMF B: when the UE IP address occupied by the session belongs to the N-numbered UE IP address block owned by the SMF, the mark is unchanged, and the UE IP address is still unavailable; and when the UE IP address occupied by the session does not belong to the n number UE IP address block owned by the SMF, the mark is changed from available to unavailable.

And 3c, when the SMF A releases the UE IP address, the SMF A broadcasts the UE IP address release message as required, and the SMF A and other SMFs in the set dynamically mark the available state of the UE IP address.

The SMF may release some UE IP addresses due to session release, session update, and the like, specifically refer to fig. 8 (the meaning of each symbol refers to fig. 5, the available UE IP Address list in fig. 8 indicates an available UE IP Address list, add indicates a UE IP Address, and 1 Address of the Address block No. 1, 2 addresses of the Address block No. 2, and 1 Address of the Address block No. m are released in fig. 8):

SMF A: when the released UE IP address belongs to the N UE IP address block owned by the SMF, the mark is changed from unavailable to available; this UE IP address release message is not broadcast.

SMF A: when the released UE IP address does not belong to the n UE IP address block owned by the SMF, the flag is changed from unavailable to available, and a message for releasing the UE IP address is broadcast and sent (in order to make the IP address assigner know).

The broadcast message may contain the following:

(1) m, the total number of SMFs in the set;

(2) n, the number of the IP address block owned by the SMF;

(3) a list of released UE IP addresses, including one or more UE IP addresses.

Other SMFs in the set: when receiving the message of UE IP address release, checking and confirming the UE IP address marked as available in the locally maintained UE IP address pool table, if the UE IP address is marked as unavailable, changing the mark to be available.

And (IV) under the condition that the allocation information and the record information are lost, for example, after a certain SMF in the SMF set (set) is restarted, the SMF broadcasts a restart message, other SMFs in the set share the UE IP address pool table maintained locally, and the UE IP address pool table is created and maintained by the restarting SMF.

And 4a, after a certain SMF in the SMF set (set) is restarted, the SMF broadcasts a node restart message to all SMFs in the set.

The restart message may contain the following:

(1) m, the total number of SMFs in the set;

(2) n, the number of the IP address block owned by the SMF;

(3) recovery time, the restart time point of the node.

4 b: after receiving a restart message of a certain node, SMFs in the SMF set (set) share a UE IP address pool table maintained by the node.

The shared information may include the following:

(1) m, the total number of SMFs in the set;

(2) n, the number of the IP address block owned by the SMF;

(3) UE IP address pool table.

The UE IP address pool table content refers to the content of part (two) above.

4 c: and the restarted SMF integrates the UE IP address pool table sent by each SMF, and creates and maintains the UE IP address pool table of the restarted SMF.

Restarting the SMF to mark whether the UE IP address is available according to the information shared by other nodes:

(1) IP addresses within the (controllably allocatable) UE IP address blocks that are not owned by the present SMF are all marked as available.

(2) The IP address in the UE IP address block owned by the SMF is retrieved or determined from all the collected label information.

The flow of 4a and 4b may be specifically as shown in fig. 9.

The logic and method for avoiding address allocation conflicts is described in the following with specific scenarios as examples.

Scene: SMF A, SMF B and SMF C form a set, SMF A allocates UE IP address for a certain session from its own UE IP address block, then SMF A fails, the session control plane is switched from SMF A to SMF B, then to SMF C, then SMF A is recovered from failure and restarted, and the session is switched from SMF C to SMF A.

If SMF A is not failed, then SMF A allocates UE IP address for a session from UE IP address block which can be allocated by SMF A itself, and changes the mark (status mark) of the UE IP address to be unavailable.

SMF A fails and the session control plane is switched from SMF A to SMF B.

a) SMF a failure is not available.

b) SMF B processes the session, and SMF B changes the mark of the UE IP address maintained by the SMF (SMF B) from available to unavailable.

3. For some reason, the session control plane is switched from SMF B to SMF C.

a) SMF B changes the mark of the UE IP address maintained by the SMF (SMF B) from unavailable to available.

b) The SMF C processes the session and changes the flag of the UE IP address maintained by this SMF (SMF C) from available to unavailable.

SMF A restart.

a) The SMF broadcasts a restart message to all other SMFs in the set.

b) And the other SMFs in the set receive the restart message and share the UE IP address pool table of the node (namely maintained by the other SMFs).

c) And the restarted SMF A summarizes the shared information and reconstructs the own UE IP address pool table.

1) All the UE IP addresses which can not be allocated by the node are marked as available;

2) and the IP address of the UE which can be distributed by the node is obtained or confirmed according to the received marking information.

Specifically, in this scenario, for example: if SMF A receives the indication that SMF B is available for the UE IP address and SMF C is unavailable for the UE IP address, then SMF A takes two indications and indicates that the UE IP address is unavailable.

5. For some reason, the control plane of the session is switched from SMF C back to SMF a.

a) SMF C changes the mark of the UE IP address maintained by the SMF (SMF C) from unavailable to available.

b) SMF A handles the session, and the UE IP address label is not changed and still is unavailable.

Sub-scenario 1: SMF a releases the session.

SMF A releases the UE IP address and changes the mark of the UE IP address from unavailable to available.

Sub-scenario 2: the control plane of the session is switched from SMF a to SMF C. SMF C releases the session.

6. The session control plane is switched from SMF a to SMF C.

a) SMF a continues to mark that this UE IP address is not available.

SMF C releases the session, as does the UE IP address.

a) SMF C marks the UE IP address maintained by this SMF (SMF C) as available.

b) SMF C broadcasts the UE IP address release message.

c) SMF A receives the UE IP address release message of SMF C, checks the locally maintained UE IP address pool table, and changes the UE IP address into usable when the UE IP address is marked as unusable.

d) SMF B receives the UE IP address release message of SMF C, checks the locally maintained UE IP address pool table, finds that the UE IP address is marked as available, and does not process the UE IP address.

In this description, the "initial flag state" referred to in the drawing refers to a flag state of the UE IP address pool table (including a flag state of the UE IP occupancy, that is, a flag state of the occupancy information) before the occupancy state (occupancy information) of the UE IP changes due to operations such as session switching SMF or releasing the UE IP.

As can be seen from the above, the solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention involves:

1. in schemes where sets (sets) of SMFs are connected to UPFs (e.g., SSET, MPAS), the SMFs assign UE IP addresses.

Each SMF within a set (set) of SMFs possesses a block of UE IP addresses that is only controllably allocatable by itself.

And 3, recording (maintaining) a UE IP address pool table by each SMF in the SMF set (set), wherein the UE IP address pool table comprises all UE IP address block information.

And 4, each SMF in the SMF set marks whether the UE IP address is available or not according to needs, and dynamically maintains the UE IP address pool table.

(1) When SMF is needed to allocate new UE IP address, SMF in SMF set (set) can only select and allocate UE IP address from N number UE IP address blocks which can be allocated in a controllable way, and at the same time, the mark of the UE IP address is changed from available to unavailable.

(2) When the control plane of the session is changed from SMF a to another SMF B in the SMF set, SMF a and B can dynamically mark the available state of the UE IP address.

(3) When SMF A releases the UE IP address, SMF A broadcasts the UE IP address release message as required, and SMF A and other SMFs in the set dynamically mark the available state of the UE IP address.

And 5, after a certain SMF in the SMF set (set) is restarted, the SMF broadcasts a restart message, other SMFs in the set share respective locally maintained UE IP address pool tables, and the restart SMF creates and maintains the UE IP address pool tables according to the restart message.

(1) After a certain SMF in the SMF set (set) is restarted, the SMF broadcasts a node restart message to all SMFs in the set.

(2) After receiving a restart message of a certain node, SMFs in the SMF set (set) share a UE IP address pool table maintained by the node.

(3) And the restarted SMF integrates the UE IP address pool table sent by each SMF, and creates and maintains the UE IP address pool table of the restarted SMF.

In summary, the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention can realize user IP address allocation by the SMF under the introduction of the SMF set (set) concept, and can avoid conflict; the realized mechanism is as follows: the user IP address pool is divided according to the total number of SMFs in the SMF set, each SMF is divided into corresponding non-conflicted IP address blocks, each SMF maintains a general table of the user IP address pool in the SMF set, namely each SMF has an exclusive available user IP address list and knows the IP address pool to which the user IP address which is not available for the SMF belongs, and the SMF marks the allocated IP address, so that address allocation conflict caused by SMF switching can be avoided.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a device for allocating and managing a user internet protocol IP address, which is applied to an SMF entity in a session management function SMF set, and as shown in fig. 10, the device includes:

a first obtaining module 101, configured to obtain allocation information of a target IP address, where the allocation information includes first correspondence information between the target IP address and the SMF entity and occupation information of the target IP address;

a first allocation module 102, configured to allocate a user IP address according to the allocation information;

The user Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation management device provided by the embodiment of the invention acquires allocation information of a target IP address, wherein the allocation information comprises first corresponding relation information between the target IP address and the SMF entity and occupation condition information of the target IP address; according to the distribution information, distributing the user IP address; wherein, the target IP address refers to at least one user IP address which can be allocated by the SMF entity; different SMF entities in the SMF set correspond to different target IP addresses; the method and the device can realize the allocation of the UE IP address by adopting the SMF in the SMF set, avoid address allocation conflict, ensure the normal realization of the allocation of the UE IP address, further ensure the normal realization of the session, and well solve the problem that the session in the prior art can not be realized.

Specifically, the first allocation module includes: the first determining submodule is used for determining the occupation condition information of the target IP address according to the distribution information; and the first allocating submodule is used for selecting an unoccupied user IP address from the target IP addresses to allocate according to the occupation condition information.

Further, the device for allocating and managing IP addresses of users further includes: a second obtaining module, configured to obtain record information of user IP addresses that can be allocated by other SMF entities in the SMF set; the record information includes second corresponding relationship information between the other SMF entities and the user IP addresses that can be allocated by the other SMF entities, and occupation situation information of the user IP addresses that can be allocated by the other SMF entities on the SMF entities.

Furthermore, the device for allocating and managing IP addresses of users further comprises: and the first maintenance module is used for dynamically maintaining the distribution information and the record information.

Specifically, the first maintenance module includes: and the first updating submodule is used for updating the occupation condition information of the allocated user IP address after the user IP address is allocated according to the allocation information.

a first example approach, the first maintenance module, includes: a first processing sub-module, configured to maintain that, when a control plane in which a session exists is switched from the SMF entity to the other SMF entity and a user IP address occupied by the session belongs to a target IP address of the SMF entity, occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the allocation information of the SMF entity is occupied; or, when the control plane with the session is switched from the SMF entity to the other SMF entity and the user IP address occupied by the session does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity, the occupation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the record information of the SMF entity is updated from occupied to unoccupied.

A second example approach, the first maintenance module, includes: a second processing sub-module, configured to maintain that, when a control plane in which a session exists is switched from the other SMF entity to the SMF entity and a user IP address occupied by the session belongs to a target IP address of the SMF entity, occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the allocation information of the SMF entity is occupied; or, when the control plane with the session is switched to the SMF entity by the other SMF entities, and the user IP address occupied by the session does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity, the occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the record information of the SMF entity is updated from unoccupied to occupied.

a first example approach, the first maintenance module, includes: a third processing sub-module, configured to update occupation situation information of the released user IP address in the allocation information of the SMF entity from occupied to unoccupied when a session exists to release the user IP address, and the released user IP address belongs to the target IP address of the SMF entity; or, in the case that a session releases a user IP address and the released user IP address does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity, updating the occupation situation information of the released user IP address in the record information of the SMF entity from occupied to unoccupied; and broadcasting the message of the released user IP address.

A second example approach, the first maintenance module, includes: a first receiving submodule, configured to receive a message for releasing a user IP address broadcast by the other SMF entities; and the second updating submodule is used for updating the occupation situation information of the released user IP address from occupied to unoccupied according to the message.

a first example approach, the first maintenance module, includes: a first broadcast sub-module, configured to broadcast, to the other SMF entities, a message to restart the SMF entity when the allocation information and the recording information are lost; receiving response messages fed back by all other SMF entities in the SMF set according to the messages restarted by the SMF entities; the second determining submodule is used for re-determining the distribution information and the recording information according to the response message set; wherein, the response message at least includes the first corresponding relationship of the SMF entity and the occupation condition information of the target IP address; the set of response messages includes response messages fed back by all other SMF entities in the set of SMFs.

Wherein the second determining submodule includes: a first determining unit, configured to re-determine, according to the response message set, occupation situation information corresponding to the target IP address; and the first processing unit is used for obtaining the redetermined distribution information according to the first corresponding relation and the redetermined occupation situation information.

Specifically, the first determining unit includes: a first determining subunit, configured to re-determine the target IP address according to the first corresponding relationship in the response message set; and the second determining subunit is configured to re-determine, according to the re-determined target IP address and the occupation information of the target IP address in the response message set, occupation information corresponding to the target IP address.

More specifically, the second determining subunit is specifically configured to: determining that the occupation condition information of the first user IP address is occupied under the condition that the first occupation condition information exists in the occupation condition information of the first user IP address in the response message set; otherwise, determining that the occupation condition information of the first user IP address is unoccupied; the first occupation situation information is occupation situation information indicating that the IP address of the first user is occupied; the first user IP address is any one user IP address in the target IP addresses.

Further, the response message set further includes the second correspondence information corresponding to all the other SMF entities in the SMF set; wherein the second determining submodule includes: a second determining unit, configured to determine, according to all the second correspondence information in the response message set, user IP addresses that can be allocated to the other SMF entities and correspond to the second correspondences, respectively, and determine that all the occupation situation information of the user IP addresses that can be allocated to the other SMF entities on the SMF entities is unoccupied; and a third determining unit, configured to obtain the re-determined recording information according to all the second corresponding relationship information in the response message set and the determined each occupation information.

A second example approach, the first maintenance module, includes: a second receiving submodule, configured to receive a message of SMF restart broadcast by the other SMF entities; the first feedback submodule is used for feeding back response messages to the other SMF entities according to the SMF restart messages; wherein, the response message at least includes the occupation situation information of the user IP address that can be allocated by the other SMF entity.

The implementation embodiments of the method for managing IP address allocation of the user IP are all applicable to the embodiment of the device for managing IP address allocation of the user IP, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a session management function SMF entity, where the SMF entity is an SMF entity in an SMF set, and as shown in fig. 11, the SMF entity includes: a processor 111 and a transceiver 112;

the processor 111 is configured to obtain allocation information of a target IP address, where the allocation information includes first correspondence information between the target IP address and the SMF entity and occupation information of the target IP address;

according to the distribution information, distributing the user IP address;

The session management function SMF entity provided by the embodiment of the invention acquires the distribution information of the target IP address, wherein the distribution information comprises the first corresponding relation information between the target IP address and the SMF entity and the occupation condition information of the target IP address; according to the distribution information, distributing the user IP address; wherein, the target IP address refers to at least one user IP address which can be allocated by the SMF entity; different SMF entities in the SMF set correspond to different target IP addresses; the method and the device can realize the allocation of the UE IP address by adopting the SMF in the SMF set, avoid address allocation conflict, ensure the normal realization of the allocation of the UE IP address, further ensure the normal realization of the session, and well solve the problem that the session in the prior art can not be realized.

Specifically, the processor is configured to include: determining the occupation condition information of the target IP address according to the distribution information; and according to the occupation condition information, selecting an unoccupied user IP address from the target IP addresses for distribution.

Further, the processor is further configured to: acquiring the record information of user IP addresses which can be allocated by other SMF entities in the SMF set; the record information includes second corresponding relationship information between the other SMF entities and the user IP addresses that can be allocated by the other SMF entities, and occupation situation information of the user IP addresses that can be allocated by the other SMF entities on the SMF entities.

Still further, the processor is further configured to: and dynamically maintaining the distribution information and the record information.

Specifically, the processor is specifically configured to: and updating the occupation condition information of the allocated user IP address after the user IP address is allocated according to the allocation information.

a first example approach, the processor is specifically configured to: when a control plane with a session is switched to the other SMF entity by the SMF entity and a user IP address occupied by the session belongs to a target IP address of the SMF entity, maintaining the occupied condition information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the allocation information of the SMF entity as occupied; or, when the control plane with the session is switched from the SMF entity to the other SMF entity and the user IP address occupied by the session does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity, the occupation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the record information of the SMF entity is updated from occupied to unoccupied.

Second example apparatus, the processor is specifically configured to: when a control plane with a session is switched to the SMF entity by the other SMF entities and a user IP address occupied by the session belongs to a target IP address of the SMF entity, maintaining the occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the allocation information of the SMF entity as occupied; or, when the control plane with the session is switched to the SMF entity by the other SMF entities, and the user IP address occupied by the session does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity, the occupation situation information of the user IP address occupied by the session in the record information of the SMF entity is updated from unoccupied to occupied.

a first example approach, the processor is specifically configured to: updating the occupation condition information of the released user IP address in the distribution information of the SMF entity from occupied to unoccupied under the condition that a session releases the user IP address and the released user IP address belongs to the target IP address of the SMF entity; or, in the case that a session releases a user IP address and the released user IP address does not belong to the target IP address of the SMF entity, updating the occupation situation information of the released user IP address in the record information of the SMF entity from occupied to unoccupied; and broadcasting a message of the released user IP address through the transceiver.

Second example apparatus, the processor is specifically configured to: receiving a message of releasing the user IP address broadcast by the other SMF entity through the transceiver; and updating the occupation condition information of the released user IP address from occupied to unoccupied according to the message.

a first example approach, the processor is specifically configured to: under the condition that the distribution information and the record information are lost, broadcasting a message for restarting the SMF entity to the other SMF entities through the transceiver; receiving, by the transceiver, a response message fed back by all other SMF entities in the SMF set according to the message restarted by the SMF entity; re-determining the distribution information and the recording information according to the response message set; wherein, the response message at least includes the first corresponding relationship of the SMF entity and the occupation condition information of the target IP address; the set of response messages includes response messages fed back by all other SMF entities in the set of SMFs.

Wherein the processor is specifically configured to: according to the response message set, re-determining the occupation condition information corresponding to the target IP address; and obtaining the re-determined distribution information according to the first corresponding relation and the re-determined occupation condition information.

Specifically, the processor is specifically configured to: re-determining the target IP address according to the first corresponding relation in the response message set; and according to the re-determined target IP address and the occupation condition information of the target IP address in the response message set, re-determining the occupation condition information corresponding to the target IP address.

More specifically, the processor is specifically configured to: determining that the occupation condition information of the first user IP address is occupied under the condition that the first occupation condition information exists in the occupation condition information of the first user IP address in the response message set; otherwise, determining that the occupation condition information of the first user IP address is unoccupied; the first occupation situation information is occupation situation information indicating that the IP address of the first user is occupied; the first user IP address is any one user IP address in the target IP addresses.

Further, the response message set further includes the second correspondence information corresponding to all the other SMF entities in the SMF set; wherein the processor is specifically configured to: determining, according to all the second correspondence information in the response message set, user IP addresses that can be allocated to the other SMF entities and respectively corresponding to each of the second correspondences, and determining that all the occupation condition information of the user IP addresses that can be allocated to the other SMF entities on the SMF entities is unoccupied; and obtaining the redetermined recording information according to all the second corresponding relation information in the response message set and the determined each occupation condition information.

Second example apparatus, the processor is specifically configured to: receiving, by the transceiver, a message of SMF restart broadcast by the other SMF entity; according to the SMF restart message, feeding back a response message to the other SMF entities through the transceiver; wherein, the response message at least includes the occupation situation information of the user IP address that can be allocated by the other SMF entity.

The implementation embodiments of the method for managing IP address allocation of the user internetworking protocol are all applicable to the embodiment of the SMF entity, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

The implementation embodiments of the method for managing IP address allocation of a user internet protocol are all applicable to the embodiment of the readable storage medium, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

It should be noted that many of the functional components described in this specification are referred to as modules/sub-modules/units/sub-units in order to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence.

In embodiments of the present invention, the modules/sub-modules/units/sub-units may be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified module of executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions which may, for instance, be constructed as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified module need not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different bits which, when joined logically together, comprise the module and achieve the stated purpose for the module.

Indeed, a module of executable code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Likewise, operational data may be identified within the modules and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network.

When a module can be implemented by software, considering the level of existing hardware technology, a module implemented by software may build a corresponding hardware circuit to implement a corresponding function, without considering cost, and the hardware circuit may include a conventional Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) circuit or a gate array and an existing semiconductor such as a logic chip, a transistor, or other discrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A method for allocating and managing IP addresses of users is applied to SMF entities in a Session Management Function (SMF) set, and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

according to the distribution information, distributing the user IP address;

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the allocating the user IP address according to the allocation information comprises:

3. The method of managing user IP address assignment according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the dynamically maintaining the allocation information comprises:

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the dynamically maintaining the allocation information and the record information comprises:

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the dynamically maintaining the allocation information and the record information comprises:

8. The method according to claim 4, wherein the dynamically maintaining the allocation information and the record information comprises:

9. The method according to claim 4, wherein the dynamically maintaining the allocation information and the record information comprises:

10. The method according to claim 4, wherein the dynamically maintaining the allocation information and the record information comprises:

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said re-determining said allocation information based on a set of response messages comprises:

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein said re-determining the occupation information corresponding to the target IP address according to the response message set comprises:

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein said re-determining the occupation information corresponding to the target IP address according to the re-determined target IP address and the occupation information of the target IP address in the response message set comprises:

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the response message set further includes the second correspondence information corresponding to all the other SMF entities in the SMF set respectively;

15. The method of claim 4 wherein dynamically maintaining the record information comprises:

receiving a message of SMF restart broadcast by the other SMF entities;

16. An apparatus for allocating and managing IP addresses of users, applied to SMF entities in a session management function SMF set, comprising:

17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the first allocating module comprises:

18. The apparatus for managing assignment of IP addresses according to claim 16 or 17, further comprising:

19. The apparatus for subscriber internet protocol IP address assignment management as claimed in claim 18, further comprising:

20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first maintenance module comprises:

21. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first maintenance module comprises:

22. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first maintenance module comprises:

23. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first maintenance module comprises:

24. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first maintenance module comprises:

25. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first maintenance module comprises:

26. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the second determining sub-module comprises:

27. The apparatus as claimed in claim 26, wherein the first determining unit comprises:

28. The apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the second determining subunit is specifically configured to:

29. The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the response message set further includes the second mapping relationship information corresponding to all the other SMF entities in the SMF set respectively;

wherein the second determining submodule includes:

30. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first maintenance module comprises:

31. A session management function, SMF, entity, the SMF entity being an SMF entity in a SMF set, comprising: a processor and a transceiver;

according to the distribution information, distributing the user IP address;

32. A session management function, SMF, entity comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor; a method for managing allocation of a subscriber internet protocol, IP, address according to any one of claims 1 to 15 when said program is executed by said processor.

33. A readable storage medium having stored thereon a program which, when executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the method for managing allocation of IP addresses according to any one of claims 1 to 15.