CN114567911A

CN114567911A - Slice mapping method, first network element, second network element and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN114567911A
Application number: CN202011363377.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 侯云静; 倪春林
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-11-27
Filing date: 2020-11-27
Publication date: 2022-05-31

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a slice mapping method, a first network element, a second network element and a storage medium, wherein the slice mapping method comprises the following steps: when a first network element determines to map a first slice to a second slice, a request message is sent to a second network element, the request message carries slice mapping information, and the slice mapping information comprises a slice identifier of the first slice and a slice identifier of the second slice to be mapped. The embodiment of the application realizes the slice mapping process at the core network side.

Description

Slice mapping method, first network element, second network element and storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a slice mapping method, a first network element, a second network element, and a storage medium.

Background

In the terminal handover process, a Radio Access Network (RAN) node may refuse to accept a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session established by a terminal and related to a slice due to insufficient resources of the slice being used by the terminal or that the slice being used by the terminal is not supported, resulting in interruption of a service for transmitting Data through the PDU session.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a slice mapping method, a first network element, a second network element and a storage medium, which are used for solving the problem that a core network in the prior art cannot carry out slice mapping and realizing the mapping between slices in the core network.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a slice mapping method, which is applied to a first network element, and includes:

when a first network element determines to map a first slice to a second slice, a request message is sent to a second network element, the request message carries slice mapping information, and the slice mapping information comprises a slice identifier of the first slice and a slice identifier of the second slice to be mapped.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a slice mapping method, which is applied to a second network element, and includes:

receiving a request message sent by a first network element when determining to map a first slice to a second slice, wherein the request message carries slice mapping information, and the slice mapping information comprises a slice identifier of the first slice and a slice identifier of the second slice to be mapped;

mapping the first slice to a second slice based on the slice mapping information.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a first network element, including a memory, a transceiver, a processor:

a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for transceiving data under control of the processor; a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a second network element, including a memory, a transceiver, a processor:

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a slice mapping apparatus, including:

a sending module, configured to send a request message to a second network element when a first network element determines to map a first slice to a second slice, where the request message carries slice mapping information, and the slice mapping information includes a slice identifier of the first slice and a slice identifier of the second slice to be mapped.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a slice mapping apparatus, including:

a receiving module, configured to receive a request message sent by a first network element when determining to map a first slice to a second slice, where the request message carries slice mapping information, and the slice mapping information includes a slice identifier of the first slice and a slice identifier of the second slice to be mapped;

a mapping module to map the first slice to a second slice based on the slice mapping information.

In a seventh aspect, this application provides a processor-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program for causing a processor to execute the method of the first aspect or the second aspect.

According to the slice mapping method, the first network element, the second network element and the storage medium provided by the embodiment of the application, when the first network element determines to map the first slice to the second slice, a request message is sent to the second network element, the request message carries slice mapping information, and the slice mapping information comprises a slice identifier of the first slice and a slice identifier of the second slice to be mapped, so that the second network can map the slices based on the slice mapping information, the problem that a core network in the prior art cannot map the slices is solved, and the core network can support mapping between the slices.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart illustrating steps of a slice mapping method applied to a first network element in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating steps of a slice mapping method applied to a second network element in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process of determining slice mapping information according to a first embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a second schematic diagram illustrating a process of determining slice mapping information according to the first embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of determining slice mapping information according to a second embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a procedure when the RAN determines to map a first slice to a second slice in an Xn handover procedure in a third embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the RAN and AMF determining to map the first slice to the second slice during the N2 handover in the third embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic flowchart of AMF determining to map a first slice to a second slice in a fourth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic flowchart of SMF determining to map a first slice to a second slice in a fifth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a first network element in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a second network element in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a block diagram of a slice mapping applied to a first network element in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a block diagram of a slice mapping module applied to a second network element in this embodiment.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Specifically, in the slice switching process, there may be a scenario of service interruption caused by insufficient slice resources when a terminal (for short, UE) moves between routing areas or routing areas. For example, if both the source RAN node and the target RAN node support a slice being used by the UE, the target RAN node cannot accept at least one single-mesh selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) being used by the UE when handing over, e.g., because the S-NSSAI is highly loaded at the target RAN node, in which scenario the service used by the UE in the slice may be interrupted. For another example, in the cross-RA moving process, the target RAN node does not support some slices, which results in service interruption, in this scenario, the area to which the UE is moving does not support at least one slice being used by the UE, and the target RAN node rejects to accept the slice, and in this scenario, the service of the UE within the target RAN node not accepting is completely interrupted.

In order to support service continuity in the above 2 scenarios, the RAN proposes a solution of slice remapping, that is, for a slice that is not supported by the target RAN node or has insufficient resources, the RAN node remaps the slice to other slices. Slice mapping means that the remapped slice supports the same service as the original slice but supports a different RAN configuration, and the remapped slice is not the optimal slice but can be accepted by the operator or a third party compared to the original slice.

However, currently, only the slice mapping at the RAN side is considered, and the core network does not support the mechanism of the slice mapping.

Therefore, an embodiment of the present application provides a slice mapping method, a first network element, a second network element, and a storage medium, so as to solve the problem that a current core network does not support slice mapping.

The method and the device are based on the same application concept, and because the principles of solving the problems of the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be mutually referred, and repeated parts are not repeated.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can be suitable for various systems, particularly 5G systems. For example, the applicable system may be a global system for mobile communication (GSM) system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) system, a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, an LTE-a (long term evolution) system, a universal mobile system (universal mobile telecommunications system, UMTS), a Worldwide Interoperability for Mobile Access (WiMAX) system, a New Radio network (NR 5) system, etc. These various systems include terminal devices and network devices. The System may further include a core network portion, such as an Evolved Packet System (EPS), a 5G System (5GS), and the like.

The terminal device referred to in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a device providing voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device having a wireless connection function, or another processing device connected to a wireless modem. In different systems, the names of the terminal devices may be different, for example, in a 5G system, the terminal device may be referred to as a User Equipment (UE). A wireless terminal device, which may be a mobile terminal device such as a mobile telephone (or "cellular" telephone) and a computer having a mobile terminal device, for example, a portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included, or vehicle-mounted mobile device, may communicate with one or more Core Networks (CNs) via a Radio Access Network (RAN). Examples of such devices include Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). The wireless terminal device may also be referred to as a system, a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a subscriber station (subscriber station), a mobile station (mobile), a remote station (remote station), an access point (access point), a remote terminal device (remote terminal), an access terminal device (access terminal), a user terminal device (user terminal), a user agent (user agent), and a user device (user device), which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application. Since the terminal device forms a network capable of supporting communication with other network devices (e.g., core network device, access network device (i.e., base station)), the terminal device is also considered as a network device in the present invention.

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

The present application is explained in detail below.

As shown in fig. 1, a flowchart of steps of a slice mapping method applied to a first network element in the embodiment of the present application is shown, where the method includes the following steps:

step 101: when the first network element determines to map the first slice to the second slice, a request message is sent to the second network element.

The request message carries slice mapping information, the slice mapping information includes a slice identifier of a first slice and a slice identifier of a second slice to be mapped, and the second network element can be a core network element, so that the second network element can perform mapping from the first slice to the second slice based on the slice mapping information, and when the second network element is the core network element, the mapping process of the slice on the core network side is achieved.

It should be noted that, of course, the slice mapping information may also only include the slice identifier of the second slice to be mapped to.

Specifically, the first network element includes a RAN, an access and mobility management function (AMF for short) or a session management function (SMF for short), the second network element includes a RAN, an AMF, an SMF, a policy control function (PCF for short) or a user plane function (UPF for short), and the first network element is different from the second network element. The method enables the RAN, the AMF, the SMF, the PCF and the UPF to execute the mapping process of the slice, thereby realizing the mapping process of the slice at the core network side and solving the problem that the core network side does not support the slice mapping in the prior art.

The first slice may be a slice currently used by a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, and the second slice may be a slice to which the PDU session is to be mapped. Namely, the method and the device can realize slice mapping of PDU session granularity.

Further, optionally, slice mapping information needs to be obtained first in this embodiment. The present application can be obtained by either of the following two ways:

the first mode is as follows: when the first network element is RAN, AMF or SMF,

slice mapping information is determined by the AMF and sent to the RAN, SMF, PCF and/or application function (AF for short); or the slice mapping information is determined by a network slice selection function (NSSF for short) or PCF and is sent to AMF, and the AMF sends the slice mapping information to RAN, SMF and/or AF; alternatively, the slice mapping information is determined by the SMF and sent to the PCF and/or AMF, and sent by the AMF to the RAN, AF and/or PCF. Therefore, network elements such as RAN, SMF, PCF, AMF, AF and the like can obtain the slice mapping information.

Specifically, the slice mapping information is determined by AMF, NSSF, PCF, or SMF based on the slice information; wherein the slice information comprises a slice identifier and at least one of: slice load, slice resource utilization, number of terminals in a slice, and number of protocol data units (PDU for short) sessions in a slice.

That is, when the slice mapping information is determined by the AMF, the NSSF, the PCF, or the SMF, the AMF, the NSSF, the PCF, or the SMF may first obtain the slice information, and determine the slice mapping information based on a slice load, a slice resource usage rate, a number of terminals in a slice, a number of PDU sessions in the slice, and the like in the slice information.

The slice identifier and the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the slice are sent to the AMF, the NSSF, the PCF or the SMF by the counting network element, and the counting network element is used for counting the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the slice; the slice identification and the slice load are sent to AMF, NSSF, PCF or SMF by a network data analysis function (NWDAF for short); the slice identity and slice resource usage are sent by the RAN to the AMF, NSSF, PCF, or SMF.

The counting network element may be an AMF, an SMF, a PCF, an NSSF, or a new network element, which is not specifically limited herein.

The second mode is as follows: when the first network element is a RAN, the RAN sends an NG establishment request message to the AMF, and receives an NG establishment request response message sent by the AMF based on the NG establishment request message, wherein the NG establishment request response message carries slice mapping information.

Specifically, the AMF may determine the slice mapping information according to information such as an operator policy, a slice supported by the RAN node, a slice supported by the SMF, and/or a slice supported by the UPF. In addition, in order to obtain the slice mapping information, the AMF may further interact with the NSSF, send an identifier of the RAN node to the NSSF, and the NSSF determines the slice mapping information and then returns the slice mapping information to the AMF.

In this way, the acquisition process of the slice mapping information is realized by any of the above manners.

Further, optionally, when the first network element determines to map the first slice to the second slice, the first slice may be determined to be mapped to the second slice based on the slice mapping information and/or the slice information. That is, the first network element may determine whether to map the first slice to the second slice based on the slice mapping information, the slice load, the slice resource usage, the number of terminals within the slice, and the number of PDU sessions within the slice, etc. For example, it may be determined to map a first slice to a second slice when it is detected that slice mapping information and/or slice information of the first slice satisfies a preset condition; the preset condition may include whether the terminal is capable of using the second slice, slice load, slice resource usage rate, whether the number of terminals in a slice and/or the number of PDU sessions in a slice reach a preset value, and the like, which is not specifically limited herein.

Further, optionally, when the first network element determines to map the first slice to the second slice, the sending of the request message to the second network element may include any one of the following manners:

first, when the first network element is a RAN and the second network element is an AMF, the RAN sends a request message to the AMF, where the request message carries slice mapping information.

Specifically, in the Xn slice switching process, the request message may be an N2 path switching request; in the N2 handover procedure, the request message may be a handover request confirm message.

It should be noted that, when the first slice is a slice currently used by a PDU session, the request message may also carry a session identifier of the PDU session.

In addition, after receiving the request message, the AMF can send the slice mapping information to the PCF through the SMF, and the PCF determines whether to modify a Policy Control and Charging (PCC) rule or not; the slice mapping information can also be sent to the UPF through the SMF, and the UPF performs N4 session modification based on the slice mapping information, thereby completing the corresponding configuration modification process after the first slice is mapped to the second slice.

Secondly, when the first network element is the AMF and the second network element is the SMF, the PCF or the RAN, the AMF sends a request message to the SMF, the PCF or the RAN, and the request message carries slice mapping information.

Specifically, when the second network element is an SMF, the request message may be an Nsmf _ PDU session _ update SM context request, and when the SMF network element receives the request message, the slice mapping information may be sent to the PCF through an Npcf _ SM policy control _ update request, and the PCF determines whether to modify the PCC rule; the slice mapping information can also be sent to the UPF through an N4 session modification request, and the UPF performs N4 session modification based on the slice mapping information, thereby completing the corresponding configuration modification process after the first slice is mapped to the second slice.

When the second network element is a PCF, the PCF may update, based on the slice mapping information, a terminal routing policy (URSP) rule of the terminal corresponding to the first slice, and send the updated URSP rule to the terminal through the AMF. In addition, the PCF may also update a policy control and charging (PCC for short) rule, such as a QoS parameter, of the PDU session corresponding to the first slice based on the slice mapping information, and send the updated PCC rule parameter of the PDU session to the SMF.

When the second network element is a RAN, the RAN may determine whether to perform slice mapping or complete reconfiguration of the RRC connection based on the slice mapping information.

Thirdly, when the first network element is the SMF and the second network element is the AMF, the PCF or the UPF, the SMF sends a request message to the AMF, the PCF or the UPF, and the request message carries the slice mapping information.

Specifically, when the second network element is the AMF, the AMF may send the slice mapping information to the RAN, and the RAN determines whether to perform slice mapping or complete reconfiguration of the RRC connection.

When the second network element is a PCF, the PCF may update the URSP rule of the terminal corresponding to the first slice based on the slice mapping information, and send the updated URSP rule to the terminal through the AMF. In addition, the PCF may also update the PCC rule, e.g., the QoS parameter, of the PDU session corresponding to the first slice based on the slice mapping information, and send the updated PCC rule parameter of the PDU session to the SMF.

When the second network element is a UPF, the UPF may make N4 session modifications based on the slice mapping information.

Thus, by the above sending method, transmission of slice mapping information between different network elements is realized, so that the network element on the core network side can complete mapping between slices based on the slice mapping information.

As shown in fig. 2, a flowchart of the steps of the slice mapping method applied to the second network element in the embodiment of the present application is shown, where the method includes the following steps:

step 201: a request message sent by the first network element when determining to map the first slice to the second slice is received.

Specifically, the request message carries slice mapping information, where the slice mapping information includes a slice identifier of a first slice and a slice identifier of a second slice to be mapped.

Step 202: the first slice is mapped to the second slice based on the slice mapping information.

After the second network element receives the slice mapping information, the first slice may be mapped to the second slice based on the slice mapping information, thereby implementing a mapping process between slices at the core network side when the second network element is a core network element.

The first network element may include a RAN, an AMF, or an SMF, the second network element may include a RAN, an AMF, an SMF, a PCF, or a UPF, and the first network element is different from the second network element.

The first slice may be a slice currently used by the PDU session and the second slice may be a slice to which the PDU session is to be mapped.

Further, optionally, in this embodiment, when the second network element receives the request message sent by the first network element when determining to map the first slice to the second slice, any one of the following manners may be included:

first, when the first network element is a RAN and the second network element is an AMF, the AMF receives a request message sent by the RAN, where the request message carries slice mapping information.

And secondly, when the first network element is AMF and the second network element is SMF, PCF or RAN, the SMF, PCF or RAN receives a request message sent by the AMF, and the request message carries slice mapping information.

And thirdly, when the first network element is the SMF and the second network element is the AMF, the PCF or the UPF, the AMF, the PCF or the UPF receives a request message sent by the SMF, and the request message carries slice mapping information.

It should be noted that, the above procedure may refer to a corresponding procedure at the first network element side, and details are not described herein again.

Further, optionally, after the second network element maps the first slice to the second slice based on the slice mapping information, any one of the following operations may be further included:

first, when the first network element is RAN and the second network element is AMF, the AMF sends the slice mapping information to PCF via SMF.

Specifically, the AMF may send an Nsmf _ PDU session _ update SM context request to the SMF, where the Nsmf _ PDU session _ update SM context request carries slice mapping information, and then the SMF sends an Npcf _ SM policy control _ update request to the PCF, where the Npcf _ SM policy control _ update request carries slice mapping information, so as to implement a transmission process of the slice mapping information. In addition, when the PCF receives the slice mapping information, the PCC rule may be updated, and the updated PCC rule may be sent to the SMF.

And secondly, when the first network element is AMF and the second network element is SMF, the SMF sends the slice mapping information to PCF.

Specifically, the specific process of the SMF sending the slice mapping information to the PCF may refer to the process in the first operation, which is not described herein again.

And thirdly, when the first network element is the SMF and the second network element is the AMF, the AMF sends the slice mapping information to the RAN.

Specifically, when the AMF transmits the slice mapping information to the RAN, the RAN may establish radio resources for a PDU session with the UE.

And fourthly, when the first network element is AMF and the second network element is PCF, the PCF updates the URSP rule of the terminal corresponding to the first slice based on the slice mapping information and sends the updated URSP rule to the terminal through the AMF.

Specifically, the PCF may update the URSP rule of the terminal according to the slice mapping information, and send the URSP rule to the terminal through the AMF. For example, if the URSP rule of the terminal is associated with the first slice for the first application and the PCF receives or determines that the slice mapping information is to map the first slice to the second slice, the PCF updates the URSP rule to be associated with the second slice for the first application.

In addition, the PCF may send the terminal a list of affected or unaffected PDU sessions. For unaffected PDU sessions, the terminal does not release the PDU session due to the change of single mesh selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

And fifthly, when the first network element is the SMF and the second network element is the PCF, the PCF updates the PCC rule of the PDU conversation corresponding to the first slice based on the slice mapping information and sends the PCC rule parameter after the PDU conversation is updated to the SMF.

And sixthly, when the first network element is the SMF and the second network element is the UPF, the UPF modifies the session based on the slice mapping information.

Thus, by any of the operations described above, modification of PCC rules, URSP rules, and/or sessions is achieved.

In addition, optionally, after the second network element maps the first slice to the second slice based on the slice mapping information, when the second network element is a counting network element, the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the first slice and the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the second slice may be updated; or when the second network element is not the counting network element, informing the counting network element to update the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the first slice and the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the second slice; the counting network element is used for counting the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the slice. Therefore, statistics of the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the slice is realized, and accurate slice information can be obtained.

The second network element in this embodiment receives a request message sent by the first network element when determining to map the first slice to the second slice, where the request message carries slice mapping information, the slice mapping information includes a slice identifier of the first slice and a slice identifier of the second slice to be mapped, and maps the first slice to the second slice based on the slice mapping information, thereby implementing a slice mapping process on a core network side when the second network element is a core network element.

The present application is illustrated by the following specific examples.

The first embodiment:

as shown in fig. 3, slice mapping information may be determined by AMF. In the process, the AMF determines slice mapping information, and notifies the RAN, SMF, PCF, and/or AF of the slice mapping information to network elements, and operations of different network elements after receiving the slice mapping information, and the specific process includes the following procedures:

step 1, the AMF acquires slice information from other network elements:

in this step, the counting network element is responsible for counting the number of terminals (UEs) or PDU sessions in a slice, and may be an AMF, an SMF, a PCF, an NSSF, or a new network element. And the counting network element sends a first slice event notice to the AMF, wherein the first slice event notice carries a slice identifier, the number of the UE in the slice and/or the number of the PDU sessions. Of course, if the AMF itself is a counting network element, the first slice event notification is not received any more. Furthermore, the counting network element may send a notification message to the AMF periodically or when the number of UEs/PDU sessions reaches a certain threshold.

In addition, the NWDAF sends a second slice event notification to the AMF, where the second slice event notification carries the slice identifier and the slice load.

In addition, the RAN sends a third slice event notification to the AMF, the third slice event notification including the slice identification and slice resource information. Specifically, the slice resource information may include information such as a slice rate and a time delay.

The slice information includes at least one of the number of UEs in the slice acquired by the AMF, the number of PDU sessions in the slice, a slice load, and slice resource information.

And 2, determining slice mapping information by the AMF according to the acquired slice information and the operator configuration information.

Specifically, the operator configuration information may be slice identification of a slice supported by SMF.

Step 3, the AMF sends a slice mapping notification to other network elements (e.g. RAN, SMF, PCF, AF) to notify slice mapping information.

The determination of the slice mapping information and the acquisition of the slice mapping information by each core network element are realized through the process.

In addition, as shown in fig. 4, the slice mapping information may also be determined by other core network elements, for example, NSSF, PCF, or SMF, and in this process, the NSSF, PCF, or SMF determines the slice mapping information and notifies the slice mapping information to other network elements, where the specific process includes:

step 1, NSSF or PCF or SMF obtains slice information from other network elements:

in this step, the counting network element is responsible for counting the number of UEs or PDU sessions in a slice, and may be an AMF, an SMF, a PCF, an NSSF, or a new network element. The counting network element sends a first slice event notice to the NSSF or PCF or SMF, wherein the first slice event notice carries a slice identifier, the number of the UE in the slice and/or the number of the PDU conversation. Of course, if the NSSF or PCF or SMF itself is a counting network element, the first slice event notification is not received any more. Furthermore, the counting network element may send a notification message to the NSSF or PCF or SMF periodically or when the number of UEs/PDU sessions reaches a certain threshold.

In addition, the NWDAF sends a second slice event notification to the NSSF or PCF or SMF, where the second slice event notification carries a slice identifier and a slice load.

In addition, the RAN sends a slice event notification to the AMF, which includes slice identification and slice resource information. The AMF then sends a third slice event notification to the NSSF or PCF or SMF, where the third slice event notification includes a slice identifier, slice resource information, and Tracking Area (TA) information or cell list (cell list) information of the RAN node. TA or cell list is the coverage area of the RAN node.

And step 2, the NSSF or PCF or SMF determines slice mapping information according to the acquired slice information and the operator configuration information.

And step 3, the NSSF or PCF or SMF sends a slice mapping notice to the AMF, wherein the slice mapping notice comprises slice mapping information and can also comprise TA information or cell list information.

Of course, if the slice mapping information is determined by the SMF, the SMF may also send the slice mapping information to the PCF.

Step 4, the AMF sends a slice mapping notification to other network elements (e.g., RAN, SMF and/or AF) and so on to notify the slice mapping information.

Example two:

in this embodiment, the RAN node may obtain the slice mapping information from the AMF in the NG connection establishment procedure, as specifically shown in fig. 5, including the following steps:

in step 1, the RAN sends a NG SETUP REQUEST (NG SETUP REQUEST) message to the AMF.

Step 2, the AMF returns an NG SETUP RESPONSE (NG SETUP RESPONSE) message to the RAN node, and the NG SETUP RESPONSE message carries the slice mapping information.

It should be noted that the AMF may determine the slice mapping information according to information such as an operator policy, a slice supported by the RAN node, a slice supported by the SMF, and/or a slice supported by the UPF. In addition, in order to obtain the slice mapping information, the AMF may further interact with the NSSF, send an identifier of the RAN node to the NSSF, the NSSF determines the slice mapping information and returns the slice mapping information to the AMF, and then the AMF performs a step of returning the slice mapping information to the RAN node.

Example three:

in this embodiment, when the RAN decides to perform slice mapping during handover, e.g., due to insufficient slice resources or not supporting certain slices used by the UE, the RAN node examines the slice mapping information and determines to map the first slice to a second slice, the first slice being the slice currently used by the PDU session and the second slice being the slice to which the PDU session is to be mapped.

At this time, in the Xn slice switching process, as shown in fig. 6, the following steps are included:

step 1, the target RAN node sends a N2 path switching request to the AMF, where the N2 path switching request includes PDU session identification and slice mapping information. The slice mapping information may include the slice identification of the first slice and the slice identification of the second slice, or may include only the slice identification of the second slice.

And step 2, the AMF sends an Nsmf _ PDU session _ SM context updating request to the SMF, wherein the Nsmf _ PDU session _ SM context updating request contains slice mapping information.

Specifically, after receiving the N2 path switching request in step 1, the AMF determines, according to the slice mapping information, whether the UE may use the mapped second slice, for example, whether the slice subscribed to the UE includes the mapped second slice, whether the configured slice of the UE includes the mapped second slice, whether the SMF and UPF of the PDU session support the mapped second slice, and the like; if the UE can use the mapped second slice, the steps in the above figure are continued. If the UE cannot use the mapped second slice, the AMF does not perform steps 2-7 for the PDU session and indicates to the target RAN node that the PDU session setup failed in step 8.

And step 3, the SMF sends an Npcf _ SM strategy control _ update request to the PCF, wherein the Npcf _ SM strategy control _ update request contains slice mapping information.

And 4, the PCF determines to update the PCC rules of the PDU conversation according to the slice mapping information, such as QoS parameters, and the PCF sends an Npcf _ SM policy control _ update reply to the SMF, wherein the Npcf _ SM policy control _ update reply contains the PCC rules.

And step 5, the SMF sends an N4 session modification request to the UPF, wherein the N4 session modification request carries the updated QoS parameters and possibly the slice identifier of the mapped second slice.

Step 6, the UPF sends an N4 session modification reply to the SMF.

And 7, the SMF sends an Nsmf _ PDU session _ update SM context reply to the AMF.

Step 8, the AMF sends a N2 path switch request acknowledgement to the target RAN node.

And 9, updating the session number of the PDU of the slice, namely subtracting 1 from the session number of the PDU of the first slice (assumed as S-NSSAI1), and adding 1 to the session number of the PDU of the second slice (assumed as S-NSSAI2) after mapping. The operation may be initiated by an AMF, SMF or PCF. If the step 9 is implemented differently according to the different deployments of the counting network elements, for example, if the counting network element is deployed in the PCF, the step 9 is implemented after the step 3, that is, the PCF can perform the counting operation of the PDU session number in the slice after receiving the message of the step 3; if the counting network element is deployed in the SMF, step 9 is implemented after step 2, that is, the SMF can perform the counting operation of the PDU session number in the slice after receiving the message of step 2; if the counting network element is deployed in the AMF, step 9 is implemented after step 1, that is, the counting operation of the PDU session number in the slice can be executed when the AMF receives the message of step 1.

Step 10, the SMF sends a PDU session modification request to the UE, wherein the PDU session modification request contains slice mapping information.

And step 11, the UE updates the context of the PDU session and returns a PDU session modification reply.

At this point, the mapping process of the slice is completed.

Further, the slice switching process for N2 is shown in the following figure. The slice mapping may be determined by the AMF or by the RAN node during the N2 handover. Specifically, as shown in fig. 7, the method includes the following steps:

step 1, the source RAN node sends a switching request to the AMF.

And step 2, the AMF sends an Nsmf _ PDU session _ update SM context request to the SMF. If the AMF decides to perform slice mapping, the AMF carries slice mapping information in the message.

Step 3-7 is the same as step 3-7 in FIG. 6. (Note that step 3-4 is only performed when the AMF decides to perform slice mapping).

And step 8, the AMF sends a switching request to the target RAN node, wherein the switching request carries slice mapping information. And the target RAN node allocates resources for the PDU session in the mapped second slice according to the slice mapping information.

And 9, the target RAN node sends a switching request confirmation to the AMF. If the target RAN node decides to perform slice mapping, the handover request acknowledgement carries handover mapping information.

Steps 10-15 are the same as steps 2-7 described above (note that steps 11-12 are only performed when the RAN node decides to perform slice mapping).

At this point, the mapping process of the slice is completed.

Example four:

this embodiment is an implementation procedure for determining, by the AMF, when mapping a first slice to a second slice, specifically as shown in fig. 8, and includes the following steps:

step 1, UE sends Service Request message (Service Request) to RAN node, the Service Request message carries PDU conversation list that UE hopes to activate.

And step 2, the RAN node sends an N2 message to the AMF, wherein the N2 message carries a service request message.

And step 3, the AMF determines to map the slice to other slices according to the load information of the slice corresponding to the PDU session and the PDU session number in the slice, the AMF sends an Nsmf _ PDU session _ SM context updating request to the SMF, and the Nsmf _ PDU session _ SM context updating request carries slice mapping information.

Step 4-7 is the same as step 3-6 in the schematic diagram of the X2 switching process in the third embodiment, and will not be described herein again.

And 8, the SMF returns an Nsmf _ PDU session _ update SM context reply to the AMF.

And step 9, the AMF sends an N2 request to the RAN, and the slice identifier of the second mapped slice is carried in the N2 SM information in the N2 request.

And step 10, establishing radio resources for the PDU session between the RAN and the UE. The RAN sends a service accept message to the UE in the process, where the message carries the slice identifier of the mapped second slice of the PDU session.

At this point, the slice switching process is complete.

Example five:

this embodiment is an implementation procedure for determining, by the SMF, that a first slice is mapped to a second slice, specifically as shown in fig. 9, and includes the following steps:

step 1, UE sends service request message to RAN node, the service request message carries PDU conversation list that UE hopes to activate.

And step 3, the AMF sends an Nsmf _ PDU session _ update SM context request to the SMF.

And 4-7, in the step 4, the SMF determines to map the slice of the PDU conversation to other slices according to the load information of the slice corresponding to the PDU conversation, the PDU conversation number in the slice or the slice mapping information. The specific message process is the same as step 3-6 in the schematic diagram of the X2 handover process in the third embodiment, and is not described herein again.

And 8, the SMF returns an Nsmf _ PDU session _ update SM context reply to the AMF, wherein the Nsmf _ PDU session _ update SM context reply carries the slice mapping information and the N2 SM information. Included in the N2 SM message is the slice identity of the second slice after mapping.

And 9, the AMF modifies the locally stored PDU session context according to the slice mapping information, and the AMF can modify the slice information in the context into the slice identifier of the mapped second slice or store the slice identifier of the mapped second slice in the context. The AMF sends an N2 request to the RAN, and the slice id of the mapped second slice is carried in the N2 SM information in the N2 request.

At this point, the slice switching process is complete.

Thus, by any of the embodiments, slice mapping on the core network side is realized, and service continuity is maintained.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a first network element according to an embodiment of the present application, and includes a memory 1020, a transceiver 1000, and a processor 1010.

Where in fig. 10, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors represented by processor 1010 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 1020 being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1000 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium including wireless channels, wired channels, fiber optic cables, and the like. The processor 1010 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1020 may store data used by the processor 1010 in performing operations.

The processor 1010 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), and may also have a multi-core architecture.

A memory 1020 for storing a computer program; a transceiver 1000 for transceiving data under the control of the processor; a processor 1010 for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

Optionally, the first network element includes a radio access network RAN, an access and mobility management function AMF, or a session management function SMF, the second network element includes a RAN, an AMF, an SMF, a policy control function PCF, or a user plane function UPF, and the first network element is different from the second network element.

Optionally, when the first network element is a RAN, an AMF or an SMF,

the slice mapping information is determined by the AMF and sent to the RAN, SMF, PCF and/or AF;

or,

the slice mapping information is determined by NSSF or PCF and is sent to AMF, and the AMF sends the slice mapping information to RAN, SMF and/or AF;

or,

the slice mapping information is determined by the SMF and sent to the PCF and/or AMF, and sent by the AMF to the RAN, AF and/or PCF.

Optionally, the slice mapping information is determined by the AMF, NSSF, PCF, or SMF based on slice information;

wherein the slice information comprises a slice identification and at least one of: slice load, slice resource utilization, number of terminals in a slice, and number of protocol data unit PDU sessions in a slice.

Optionally, the slice identifier and the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the slice are sent to the AMF, NSSF, PCF, or SMF by a counting network element, where the counting network element is configured to count the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the slice;

the slice identifier and the slice load are sent to the AMF, the NSSF, the PCF or the SMF by a network data analysis function NWDAF;

and the slice identification and the slice resource utilization rate are sent to the AMF, the NSSF, the PCF or the SMF by the RAN.

Optionally, when the first network element is a RAN, the method further includes:

the RAN sends an NG establishment request message to the AMF;

and receiving an NG establishment request response message sent by the AMF based on the NG establishment request message, wherein the NG establishment request response message carries the slice mapping information.

Optionally, the determining, by the first network element, to map the first slice to the second slice includes:

the first network element determines to map the first slice to a second slice based on the slice mapping information and/or slice information.

Optionally, the sending, when the first network element determines to map the first slice to the second slice, the request message to the second network element includes:

when the first network element is a RAN and the second network element is an AMF, the RAN sends a request message to the AMF, where the request message carries the slice mapping information;

or,

when the first network element is an AMF and the second network element is an SMF, a PCF or a RAN, the AMF sends a request message to the SMF, the PCF or the RAN, and the request message carries the slice mapping information;

or,

when the first network element is an SMF and the second network element is an AMF, a PCF or a UPF, the SMF sends a request message to the AMF, the PCF or the UPF, where the request message carries the slice mapping information.

Optionally, the first slice is a slice currently used by a protocol data unit, PDU, session, and the second slice is a slice to which the PDU session is to be mapped.

As can be seen from the foregoing embodiments, the present application implements a slice mapping process in a core network.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a second network element according to an embodiment of the present application, and includes a memory 1120, a transceiver 1100, and a processor 1110.

In fig. 11, among other things, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges with various circuits being linked together, particularly one or more processors represented by processor 1110 and memory represented by memory 1120. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1100 may be a plurality of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium including wireless channels, wired channels, fiber optic cables, and the like. The processor 1110 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1120 may store data used by the processor 1110 in performing operations.

The processor 1110 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), and may also have a multi-core architecture.

A memory 1120 for storing a computer program; a transceiver 1100 for transceiving data under the control of the processor; a processor 1110 for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

Optionally, the receiving a request message sent by the first network element when determining to map the first slice to the second slice includes:

when the first network element is a RAN and the second network element is an AMF, the AMF receives a request message sent by the RAN, where the request message carries the slice mapping information;

or,

when the first network element is an AMF and the second network element is an SMF, a PCF or a RAN, the SMF, the PCF or the RAN receives a request message sent by the AMF, and the request message carries the slice mapping information;

or,

and when the first network element is an SMF and the second network element is an AMF, a PCF or a UPF, the AMF, the PCF or the UPF receives a request message sent by the SMF, and the request message carries the slice mapping information.

Optionally, after mapping the first slice to the second slice based on the slice mapping information, further comprising:

when the first network element is a RAN and the second network element is an AMF, the AMF sends the slice mapping information to a PCF through an SMF;

or,

when the first network element is an AMF and the second network element is an SMF, the SMF sends the slice mapping information to a PCF;

or,

and when the first network element is an SMF and the second network element is an AMF, the AMF sends the slice mapping information to a RAN.

when the first network element is an AMF and the second network element is a PCF, the PCF updates a terminal routing strategy (URSP) rule of a terminal corresponding to the first slice based on the slice mapping information, and sends the updated URSP rule to the terminal through the AMF;

or,

when the first network element is an SMF and the second network element is a PCF, the PCF updates a policy control and charging PCC rule of a PDU session corresponding to the first slice based on the slice mapping information, and sends the updated PCC rule parameter of the PDU session to the SMF;

or,

and when the first network element is the SMF and the second network element is the UPF, the UPF modifies the session based on the slice mapping information.

when the second network element is a counting network element, updating the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the first slice and the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the second slice; or,

when the second network element is not a counting network element, informing the counting network element to update the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the first slice and the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the second slice;

the counting network element is used for counting the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the slice.

As can be seen from the above embodiments, the present application implements a slice mapping process on the core network side.

Fig. 12 is a block diagram of a slice mapping apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus includes:

a sending module 1201, configured to send a request message to a second network element when a first network element determines to map a first slice to a second slice, where the request message carries slice mapping information, and the slice mapping information includes a slice identifier of the first slice and a slice identifier of the second slice to be mapped.

Optionally, when the first network element is a RAN, an AMF or an SMF,

the slice mapping information is determined by the AMF and sent to the RAN, the SMF, the PCF and/or the application function AF; or the slice mapping information is determined by a network slice selection function NSSF or PCF, sent to the AMF, and sent to the RAN, SMF and/or AF by the AMF; alternatively, the slice mapping information is determined by the SMF and sent to the PCF and/or AMF, and sent by the AMF to the RAN, AF and/or PCF.

Optionally, the slice mapping information is determined by the AMF, NSSF, PCF, or SMF based on slice information; wherein the slice information comprises a slice identification and at least one of: slice load, slice resource utilization, number of terminals in a slice, and number of protocol data unit PDU sessions in a slice.

Optionally, the slice identifier and the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the slice are sent to the AMF, NSSF, PCF, or SMF by a counting network element, where the counting network element is configured to count the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the slice; the slice identifier and the slice load are sent to the AMF, the NSSF, the PCF or the SMF by a network data analysis function NWDAF; and the slice identification and the slice resource utilization rate are sent to the AMF, the NSSF, the PCF or the SMF by the RAN.

a sending unit, configured to send, by the RAN, an NG establishment request message to an AMF;

a receiving unit, configured to receive an NG establishment request response message sent by the AMF based on the NG establishment request message, where the NG establishment request response message carries the slice mapping information.

Optionally, the sending module is specifically configured to:

Optionally, the sending module includes:

a first sending sub-module, configured to, when the first network element is a RAN and a second network element is an AMF, send, by the RAN, a request message to the AMF, where the request message carries the slice mapping information;

or,

a second sending sub-module, configured to, when the first network element is an AMF and the second network element is an SMF, a PCF, or a RAN, send a request message to the SMF, the PCF, or the RAN, where the request message carries the slice mapping information;

or,

and a third sending sub-module, configured to, when the first network element is an SMF and the second network element is an AMF, a PCF, or a UPF, send a request message to the AMF, the PCF, or the UPF, where the request message carries the slice mapping information.

Fig. 13 is a block diagram of a slice mapping apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus includes:

a receiving module 1301, configured to receive a request message sent by a first network element when determining to map a first slice to a second slice, where the request message carries slice mapping information, and the slice mapping information includes a slice identifier of the first slice and a slice identifier of the second slice to be mapped;

a mapping module 1302 for mapping the first slice to a second slice based on the slice mapping information.

Optionally, the receiving module includes:

a first receiving submodule, configured to receive, when the first network element is a RAN and a second network element is an AMF, a request message sent by the RAN, where the request message carries the slice mapping information;

or,

a second receiving sub-module, configured to receive, when the first network element is an AMF and the second network element is an SMF, a PCF, or a RAN, a request message sent by the AMF, where the request message carries the slice mapping information;

or,

a third receiving sub-module, configured to receive, when the first network element is an SMF and the second network element is an AMF, a PCF, or a UPF, a request message sent by the SMF, where the request message carries the slice mapping information.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a first sending module, configured to send the slice mapping information to a PCF through an SMF when the first network element is a RAN and the second network element is an AMF;

or,

a second sending module, configured to send the slice mapping information to a PCF by the SMF when the first network element is an AMF and the second network element is an SMF;

or,

a third sending module, configured to send the slice mapping information to a RAN by the AMF when the first network element is an SMF and the second network element is an AMF.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a first updating module, configured to, when the first network element is an AMF and the second network element is a PCF, update, by the PCF, a terminal routing policy, URSP, rule of a terminal corresponding to the first slice based on the slice mapping information, and send the updated URSP rule to the terminal through the AMF;

or,

a second updating module, configured to, when the first network element is an SMF and the second network element is a PCF, update, by the PCF, a policy control and charging PCC rule of a PDU session corresponding to the first slice based on the slice mapping information, and send a PCC rule parameter after the PDU session is updated to the SMF;

or,

a third updating module, configured to modify a session based on the slice mapping information by the UPF when the first network element is an SMF and the second network element is an UPF.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a first counting module, configured to update the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the first slice and the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the second slice when the second network element is a counting network element; or,

a second counting module, configured to notify a counting network element to update the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the first slice and the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the second slice when the second network element is not the counting network element;

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. In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one 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.

The integrated unit, if implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a processor readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be substantially implemented or contributed by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

It should be noted that the apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted here.

On the other hand, the embodiment of the present application further provides a processor-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored, and the computer program is used to enable the processor to execute the method described in the foregoing embodiment.

The processor-readable storage medium may be any available media or data storage device that can be accessed by a processor, including, but not limited to, magnetic memory (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disks (MOs), etc.), optical memory (e.g., CDs, DVDs, BDs, HVDs, etc.), and semiconductor memory (e.g., ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, non-volatile memory (NAND FLASH), Solid State Disks (SSDs)), etc.

As can be seen from the above embodiments, a processor-readable storage medium stores a computer program for causing the processor to execute the above slice mapping method.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These processor-executable instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the 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 intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A slice mapping method applied to a first network element, comprising:

2. The slice mapping method of claim 1, wherein the first network element comprises a Radio Access Network (RAN), an access and mobility management function (AMF), or a Session Management Function (SMF), wherein the second network element comprises a RAN, an AMF, an SMF, a Policy Control Function (PCF), or a User Plane Function (UPF), and wherein the first network element is different from the second network element.

3. The slice mapping method of claim 1, wherein when the first network element is RAN, AMF, or SMF,

the slice mapping information is determined by the AMF and sent to the RAN, the SMF, the PCF and/or the application function AF;

or,

the slice mapping information is determined by a network slice selection function NSSF or PCF and is sent to an AMF, and the AMF sends the slice mapping information to a RAN, an SMF and/or an AF;

or,

4. The slice mapping method of claim 3, wherein the slice mapping information is determined by the AMF, NSSF, PCF or SMF based on slice information;

wherein the slice information comprises a slice identification and at least one of: slice load, slice resource usage, number of terminals in a slice, number of protocol data unit PDU sessions in a slice.

5. The slice mapping method according to claim 4,

the slice identifier and the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the slice are sent to the AMF, the NSSF, the PCF or the SMF by a counting network element, and the counting network element is used for counting the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the slice;

6. The slice mapping method according to claim 1, wherein when the first network element is RAN, the method further comprises:

the RAN sends an NG establishment request message to the AMF;

7. The slice mapping method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the determining by the first network element to map the first slice to the second slice comprises:

8. The slice mapping method of claim 1, wherein sending a request message to a second network element when the first network element determines to map the first slice to the second slice comprises:

or,

9. The slice mapping method according to claim 1 or 8, wherein the first slice is a slice currently used by a protocol data unit, PDU, session, and the second slice is a slice to which the PDU session is to be mapped.

10. A slice mapping method applied to a second network element, comprising:

11. The slice mapping method of claim 10, wherein the first network element comprises a Radio Access Network (RAN), an access and mobility management function (AMF), or a Session Management Function (SMF), wherein the second network element comprises a RAN, an AMF, an SMF, a Policy Control Function (PCF), or a User Plane Function (UPF), and wherein the first network element is different from the second network element.

12. The slice mapping method of claim 11, wherein the receiving the request message sent by the first network element when determining to map the first slice to the second slice comprises:

or,

13. The slice mapping method of claim 10, wherein after mapping the first slice to a second slice based on the slice mapping information, further comprising:

or,

14. The slice mapping method of claim 10, wherein after mapping the first slice to a second slice based on the slice mapping information, further comprising:

or,

15. The slice mapping method according to any of claims 10 to 14, wherein the first slice is a slice currently used by a protocol data unit, PDU, session, and the second slice is a slice to which the PDU session is to be mapped.

16. The slice mapping method of claim 10, wherein after mapping the first slice to a second slice based on the slice mapping information, further comprising:

17. A first network element, comprising a memory, a transceiver, a processor:

18. The first network element of claim 17, wherein the first network element comprises a Radio Access Network (RAN), an access and mobility management function (AMF), or a Session Management Function (SMF), wherein the second network element comprises a RAN, an AMF, an SMF, a Policy Control Function (PCF), or a User Plane Function (UPF), and wherein the first network element is different from the second network element.

19. The first network element of claim 17, wherein when the first network element is a RAN, AMF, or SMF,

or,

the slice mapping information is determined by a network slice selection function NSSF or PCF, is sent to an AMF, and is sent to RAN, SMF and/or AF by the AMF;

or,

20. The first network element of claim 19, wherein the slice mapping information is determined by the AMF, NSSF, PCF, or SMF based on slice information;

21. The first network element of claim 20,

22. The first network element of claim 17, wherein when the first network element is a RAN, further comprising:

the RAN sends an NG establishment request message to the AMF;

23. The first network element of any one of claims 17 to 22, wherein determining to map the first slice to the second slice comprises:

24. The first network element of claim 17, wherein sending a request message to the second network element when the first network element determines to map the first slice to the second slice comprises:

or,

25. The first network element of claim 17 or 24, wherein the first slice is a slice currently used by a protocol data unit, PDU, session, and wherein the second slice is a slice to which the PDU session is to be mapped.

26. A second network element, comprising a memory, a transceiver, a processor:

a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for transceiving data under the control of the processor; a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

27. The second network element of claim 26, wherein the first network element comprises a Radio Access Network (RAN), an access and mobility management function (AMF), or a Session Management Function (SMF), wherein the second network element comprises a RAN, an AMF, an SMF, a Policy Control Function (PCF), or a User Plane Function (UPF), and wherein the first network element is different from the second network element.

28. The slice mapping method of claim 27, wherein receiving the request message sent by the first network element when determining to map the first slice to the second slice comprises:

or,

29. The slice mapping method of claim 26, wherein after mapping the first slice to a second slice based on the slice mapping information, further comprising:

or,

30. The slice mapping method of claim 26, wherein after mapping the first slice to a second slice based on the slice mapping information, further comprising:

or,

31. The slice mapping method according to any of the claims 26-30, wherein the first slice is a slice currently used by a protocol data unit, PDU, session, and the second slice is a slice to which the PDU session is to be mapped.

32. The slice mapping method of claim 26, wherein after mapping the first slice to a second slice based on the slice mapping information, further comprising:

when the second network element is a counting network element, updating the number of terminals and/or PDU (protocol data unit) sessions in the first slice and the number of terminals and/or PDU sessions in the second slice; or,

33. A slice mapping apparatus applied to a first network element, comprising:

34. A slice mapping apparatus applied to a second network element, comprising:

35. A processor-readable storage medium, characterized in that the processor-readable storage medium stores a computer program for causing a processor to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 9 or to perform the method of any of claims 10 to 16.