CN115802303B

CN115802303B - Edge computing charging method, core network and medium in 5G roaming scene

Info

Publication number: CN115802303B
Application number: CN202211456929.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 林晓燕; 姚和良; 黄华容
Original assignee: Guangzhou Aipu Road Network Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Guangzhou Aipu Road Network Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-11-21
Filing date: 2022-11-21
Publication date: 2023-08-01
Anticipated expiration: 2042-11-21
Also published as: CN115802303A

Abstract

The invention discloses an edge computing charging method, a core network and a medium in a 5G roaming scene, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the SMF network element determines a first UPF network element of the user terminal accessed to the visiting place data network through the access point identification of the visiting place data network; the first UPF network element counts the consumption data of the user terminal accessing the visiting place data network; the usage data is marked with an access point identification of the visited data network; the CHF network element charges the user terminal based on the usage data. The invention discloses an edge calculation charging method, a core network and a medium in a 5G roaming scene, which solve the problem of how to charge a user terminal for accessing a visiting place data network in the roaming edge calculation scene. The invention uses the access point mark of the visiting place data network accessed by the user terminal to mark the data consumption of the visiting place data network accessed by the user terminal, which is convenient for the CHF network element to distinguish different visiting place data networks according to the access point mark and carries out classified charging to the user terminal.

Description

Edge computing charging method, core network and medium in 5G roaming scene

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of 5G communication, in particular to an edge calculation charging method, a core network and a storage medium in a 5G roaming scene.

Background

In a 5G mobile communication network, a user terminal connects to a home operator network through a home operator base station, thereby accessing the internet. And when the user terminal leaves the network coverage of the home operator, the user terminal cannot normally connect with the base station of the home operator, and cannot normally access the Internet. In this scenario, 3GPP has introduced a 5G home roaming scheme.

In a 5G Home-Routed roaming scheme, a Home operator signs a related policy with a visitor operator, allowing a user terminal to communicate with a Home network through the visitor network, so that the user terminal can normally access the internet. In this scenario, the user terminal connects to a visiting location AMF (V-AMF) through the visiting location base station, authenticates and authenticates the user terminal to a Home AUSF (H-AUSF) through the visiting location AMF, and registers the user terminal to a Home UDM (H-UDM). After registration is completed, a PDU session is established for the user terminal through a visiting place SMF (V-SMF, identifier-SMF) to a Home place SMF (H-SMF, home-SMF), and an uplink and downlink data forwarding channel is established for the user terminal, so that the user terminal can normally access the Internet.

However, in the prior art, a charging scheme under a 5G roaming scenario has not been developed yet, and the user terminal can only perform roaming charging after returning to the home location, which causes inconvenience in use.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, the embodiment of the invention provides an edge computing charging method, a core network and a medium in a 5G roaming scene.

The first aspect of the present invention provides an edge calculation charging method in a 5G roaming scenario, comprising the following steps:

the SMF network element determines a first UPF network element of the user terminal accessed to the visiting place data network through the access point identification of the visiting place data network;

the first UPF network element counts the consumption data of the user terminal accessing the visiting place data network; the usage data is marked with an access point identification of the visited data network;

the CHF network element charges the user terminal based on the usage data.

Further, after the step of determining the session anchor point of the user terminal accessing the visited data network through the access point identification of the visited data network, the SMF network element performs the following steps:

establishing a data forwarding rule of a second UPF network element accessed by a user terminal and the first UPF network element; the second UPF network element is a UPF network element which is different from the first UPF network element in the core network;

the data forwarding rule includes:

forwarding downstream data of the visited data network from the first UPF network element to the second UPF network element;

and forwarding the uplink data of the user terminal from the second UPF network element to the first UPF network element.

Further, the data forwarding rule for forwarding the downlink data of the visiting place data network from the first UPF network element to the second UPF network element is specifically set by the following steps:

the SMF network element sends an N4 session establishment request to the first UPF network element, wherein the N4 session establishment request comprises a downlink data forwarding rule pointing to the second UPF network element;

after receiving the N4 session establishment request, the first UPF network element returns an N4 session establishment response to the SMF network element;

the SMF network element receives the N4 session setup response.

Further, the data forwarding rule for forwarding the uplink data of the user terminal from the second UPF network element to the first UPF network element is specifically set by the following steps:

transmitting an N4 session change request to a second UPF network element, wherein the N4 session change request comprises an uplink data forwarding rule pointing to a first UPF network element;

after receiving the N4 session change request, the second UPF network element returns an N4 session change response to the SMF network element;

the SMF network element receives the N4 session change response.

Further, the N4 session establishment request further includes a usage reporting rule and a usage trigger; the first UPF network element carries out dosage data statistics through a dosage reporting rule and a dosage trigger;

after counting the usage data of the access visit place data network of the user terminal, the first UPF network element reports the usage data to the SMF network element;

and after receiving the reported usage data, the SMF network element returns a usage reporting response to the first UPF network element.

Further, the usage data is marked by an access point identifier of the visiting place data network, and after the reported usage data is received by the SMF network element, the SMF network element marks the usage data; after the SMF network element marks the usage data, the SMF network element sends the usage data to the CHF network element.

Further, after the CHF network element charges the user terminal according to the usage data, the CHF network element sends a charging update response to the SMF network element.

Further, when the user terminal accesses different visiting place data networks or when the user terminal accesses the visiting place data networks through different access points, the first UPF network element carries out dosage data statistics by taking the access point mark of each visiting place data network as a unit; the CHF network element performs classified charging for the user terminal in units of each visited data network access point identification.

The second aspect of the present invention discloses a core network, comprising an SMF network element, a first UPF network element and a CHF network element;

the SMF network element is used for determining a first UPF network element of the access of the user terminal to the visiting place data network through the access point identification of the visiting place data network;

the first UPF network element is used for counting the consumption data of the user terminal accessing to the visiting place data network; the usage data is marked with an access point identification of the visited data network;

the CHF network element is configured to charge the user terminal according to the usage data.

A third aspect of the present invention discloses a computer-readable storage medium storing a program that is executed by a processor to implement an edge calculation charging method in a 5G roaming scenario.

The embodiment of the invention has the following beneficial effects: the invention discloses an edge calculation charging method, a core network and a medium in a 5G roaming scene, which solve the problem of how to charge a user terminal for accessing a visiting place data network in the roaming edge calculation scene. The invention uses the access point mark of the visiting place data network accessed by the user terminal to mark the data consumption of the visiting place data network accessed by the user terminal, which is convenient for the CHF network element to distinguish different visiting place data networks according to the access point mark and carries out classified charging to the user terminal.

Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are needed in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and that other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of the main steps of an edge computing charging method, a core network and a medium in a 5G roaming scenario according to the present invention;

fig. 2 is a main communication flow chart of an edge computing charging method, a core network and a medium in a 5G roaming scenario according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the present application will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the present application.

In 5G mobile communications, user data is counted by a UPF network element (User Plane Function, user plane network element) and reported to the core network. In order to improve the reporting rate and improve the experience of using Data by users, the 3GPP protocol provides an edge computing scheme, and a DN (Data Network) server is deployed locally in places such as enterprises, schools and the like. In the edge computing scheme, as the core network sinks to local places such as enterprises, schools and the like, the user terminal can access the DN deployed at the user side through the sunk core network without accessing the central DN again, and the access speed, time delay and the like can be obviously optimized.

In some 5G roaming scenarios, the user terminal cannot access the Target-Data Network (T-DN) through the preset Data channels V-UPF-H-UPF-DN (i.e., visited UPF-home UPF-Data Network), because the T-DN is deployed at the visited place rather than at the home; it is therefore necessary to choose to establish V-UPF as PSA (PDU Session Anchor ) for the user terminal to access the T-DN in order to establish the data channels of the user terminal and the T-DN.

In other 5G roaming scenarios, the user terminal can access the T-DN through the existing data tunnels V-UPF-H-UPF-DN (for example, the T-DN is deployed in the attribution place, etc.), but the problem of larger transmission delay exists; at this time, PSA needs to be set up as a data transmission anchor point for accessing T-DN, so as to reduce delay of accessing T-DN by the user terminal.

Because the charging scheme under the scene does not exist in the prior art, the embodiment provides an edge calculation charging method under the 5G roaming scene, which solves the problem of how to charge the visiting place data network accessed by the user terminal under the roaming edge calculation scene.

Example 1

The embodiment provides an edge calculation charging method in a 5G roaming scene, as shown in fig. 1, mainly comprising the following steps:

s101, the SMF network element determines a first UPF network element of the user terminal accessed to the visiting place data network through an access point identifier of the visiting place data network;

s102, counting the consumption data of the user terminal accessing to the visiting place data network by the first UPF network element; the usage data is marked with access point identification of the visited data network;

and S103, charging the user terminal by the CHF network element according to the consumption data.

In this embodiment, the visitor data network (Local-DN) has a plurality of access points, each of which has its own access point identifier (DNAI, data Network Access Identity), so that the access point identifiers can distinguish the data usage of the user terminal, so as to facilitate the subsequent classified charging process. In this embodiment, the SMF network element (Session Management Function, session management function network element), the first UPF network element (PSA), the second UPF network element (ULCL), and the CHF network element (CHarging Function, billing function network element) are all network elements (i.e., V-SMF, V-UPF (PSA), V-UPF (ULCL), V-CHF) in the visited core network.

Since the PDU element of the visited core network to which the user terminal is connected in this embodiment may not be the first UPF element (PSA) determined by the SMF element, after determining the session anchor step of the user terminal accessing the visited data network by the access point identifier of the visited data network, the SMF element performs the following steps:

s101-1, establishing a data forwarding rule of a second UPF network element and a first UPF network element accessed by a user terminal; the second UPF network element is a UPF network element which is different from the first UPF network element in the core network;

the data forwarding rule includes:

s101-1a, forwarding downlink data of the visiting place data network from a first UPF network element to a second UPF network element;

s101-1b, forwarding the uplink data of the user terminal from the second UPF network element to the first UPF network element.

In this embodiment, after the user terminal is connected to the visited core network, it may be randomly connected to a UPF network element (a second UPF network element), where the second UPF network element cannot be connected to the T-DN (or has a larger data transmission delay), so that the SMF network element sets a UPF network element for forwarding the communication data of the user terminal to the DN as a first UPF network element (PSA), and uses the second UPF network element as an UpLink CLassifier (ul cl) for forwarding UpLink data of the user terminal and downlink data of the DN.

In this embodiment, a data forwarding rule for forwarding downlink data of a visited data network from a first UPF network element to a second UPF network element is specifically set by the following steps:

s101-1a-1.SMF network element sends an N4 session establishment request to a first UPF network element, wherein the N4 session establishment request comprises a downlink data forwarding rule pointing to a second UPF network element;

s101-1a-2. After receiving the N4 session establishment request, the first UPF network element returns an N4 session establishment response to the SMF network element;

s101-1a-3. The smf network element receives the N4 session setup response.

The N4 session refers to a session in which the SMF network element is connected to the UPF through an N4 interface, so as to control the UPF function. The N4 session management procedure includes an N4 session establishment procedure, an N4 session modification procedure, and an N4 session release procedure. The present embodiment relates to an N4 session establishment procedure and an N4 session modification procedure. In this embodiment, the SMF network element needs to modify the data forwarding rule of the first UPF network element (PSA), so that an N4 session with the first UPF network element (PSA) needs to be established. The N4 session establishment request includes structured control information defining how the UPF is presented, in this embodiment, a downlink data forwarding rule pointing to a second UPF network element (ULCL), and after the first UPF network element (PSA) receives the N4 session establishment request, downlink data of the T-DN is set to be forwarded to the second UPF network element (ULCL), and the second UPF network element (ULCL) sends the downlink data to the user terminal. And simultaneously, responding to the control information of the SMF network element, the first UPF network element (PSA) returns an N4 session establishment response to the SMF network element.

In this embodiment, a data forwarding rule for forwarding uplink data of a user terminal from a second UPF network element to a first UPF network element is specifically set by the following steps:

s101-1b-1, sending an N4 session change request to a second UPF network element, wherein the N4 session change request comprises an uplink data forwarding rule pointing to a first UPF network element;

s101-1b-2, after receiving the N4 session change request, the second UPF network element returns an N4 session change response to the SMF network element;

s101-1b-3.Smf network element receives the N4 session change response.

The N4 session change request is used to update the N4 session context of an existing PDU session at the UPF network element, performed between the SMF network element and the UPF network element whenever PDU session related parameters have to be modified. In this embodiment, since the SMF network element has already established an N4 session request with the second UPF network element (ULCL) in step S101-1, it is necessary to send an N4 session change request to the second UPF network element (ULCL) to set uplink data of the user terminal to be forwarded to the first UPF network element (PSA). And simultaneously, in response to the control information of the SMF network element, the second UPF network element (ULCL) returns an N4 session change response to the SMF network element.

In this embodiment, since the data usage statistics for the user terminal is performed in the first UPF network element (PSA), the SMF network element sends the N4 session establishment request to the first UPF network element (PSA) further includes a usage reporting rule and a usage trigger, and the first UPF network element (PSA) performs the usage data statistics specifically through the usage reporting rule and the usage trigger. The statistical usage data in this embodiment includes usage flow and usage time.

After the first UPF network element (PSA) finishes counting the usage data of the access of the user terminal to the visiting place data network, the first UPF network element (PSA) reports the usage data obtained by statistics to the SMF network element; after receiving the reported usage data, the SMF network element returns a usage reporting response to the first UPF network element (PSA) to indicate successful receipt of the usage data.

After the SMF network element receives the reported usage data, the usage data needs to be forwarded to the CHF network element for charging. But before forwarding the usage data, the usage data needs to be marked to facilitate classified billing by CHF network elements for different T-DNs and different access points. The usage data is in this embodiment marked with access point identification (DNAI) of the visited data network.

In this embodiment, after the CHF network element charges the user terminal according to the usage data, the CHF network element sends a charging update response to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element stores or displays the charging update response.

In some embodiments, the user terminal may have multiple T-DNs or access T-DNs through different access points (AI). These T-DNs or access points may have differences in charging rules. Therefore, when the user terminal accesses different visiting place data networks (T-DN) or when the user terminal accesses the visiting place data networks through different access points (AI), the first UPF network element carries out the consumption data statistics by taking the identification of each visiting place data network access point as a unit; the CHF network element performs classified charging for the user terminal in units of each visited data network access point identification.

Example 2

This embodiment describes an example of edge calculation billing in a specific 5G roaming scenario.

In the following table 1, the visited data network accessed by the user terminal UE1 is Local-DN1, and the access point identifier is 001, and if the SMF network element reports to the CHF network element that the traffic usage of the user terminal UE1 on the 001 access point of the Local-DN1 is 5GB and the time usage is 10h; the CHF network element carries out class A charging on the user terminal UE 1;

the visiting place data network accessed by the user terminal UE2 is Local-DN2, the access point mark is 002, the SMF network element reports the 002 access point consumption of the user terminal UE2 in the Local-DN1 to the CHF network element as 15GB, and the time consumption is 30h; the CHF network element carries out class B charging on the user terminal UE 2;

the visited data network accessed by the user terminal UE3 is Local-DN2, and the access point identifier is 001, the SMF network element reports to the CHF network element that the 001 access point usage of the user terminal UE3 in the Local-DN2 is 20GB, no time usage is required, and the CHF network element performs class C charging on the user terminal UE 3.

Table 1SMF network element save usage example graph

User terminal	Visitor data network	Access point identification	Flow rate (GB)	Use time (h)	Category(s)
						UE1	Local-DN1	001	5	10	A
UE2	Local-DN1	002	15	30	B
						UE3	Local-DN2	001	20	0	C
...	...	...	...	...	...

Example 3

The embodiment introduces a core network, which comprises an SMF network element, a first UPF network element and a CHF network element;

the first UPF network element is used for counting the consumption data of the user terminal accessing the visiting place data network; the usage data is marked with access point identification of the visited data network;

the CHF network element is configured to charge the user terminal based on the usage data.

Embodiments of the present invention also disclose a computer program product or computer program comprising computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium. The computer instructions may be read from a computer-readable storage medium by a processor of a computer device, and executed by the processor, to cause the computer device to perform the method shown in fig. 1.

In some alternative embodiments, the functions/acts noted in the block diagrams may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Furthermore, the embodiments presented and described in the flowcharts of the present invention are provided by way of example in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the technology. The disclosed methods are not limited to the operations and logic flows presented herein. Alternative embodiments are contemplated in which the order of various operations is changed, and in which sub-operations described as part of a larger operation are performed independently.

Furthermore, while the invention is described in the context of functional modules, it should be appreciated that, unless otherwise indicated, one or more of the described functions and/or features may be integrated in a single physical device and/or software module or one or more functions and/or features may be implemented in separate physical devices or software modules. It will also be appreciated that a detailed discussion of the actual implementation of each module is not necessary to an understanding of the present invention. Rather, the actual implementation of the various functional modules in the apparatus disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of their attributes, functions and internal relationships. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art can implement the invention as set forth in the claims without undue experimentation. It is also to be understood that the specific concepts disclosed are merely illustrative and are not intended to be limiting upon the scope of the invention, which is to be defined in the appended claims and their full scope of equivalents.

In the description of the present specification, a description referring to terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "examples," "specific examples," or "some examples," etc., means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiments or examples. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

While embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: many changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the spirit and principles of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and those skilled in the art can make various equivalent modifications or substitutions without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and these equivalent modifications or substitutions are included in the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. The edge calculation charging method under the 5G roaming scene is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the SMF network element determines a first UPF network element of the user terminal accessed to the visiting place data network through the access point identification of the visiting place data network; the SMF network element refers to a session management network element in a 5G core network;

the first UPF network element counts the consumption data of the user terminal accessing the visiting place data network; the usage data is marked with an access point identification of the visited data network; the UPF network element refers to a user plane network element in a 5G core network;

the CHF network element charges the user terminal according to the consumption data; the CHF network element refers to a charging function network element in the 5G core network.

2. The edge computing charging method in a 5G roaming scenario according to claim 1, wherein after the step of determining a session anchor point for a user terminal to access a visited data network by an access point identification of the visited data network, the SMF network element performs the steps of:

the data forwarding rule includes:

3. The method for calculating and charging for edges in a 5G roaming scenario according to claim 2, wherein the data forwarding rule for forwarding the downstream data of the visited data network from the first UPF network element to the second UPF network element is specifically set by the following steps:

the SMF network element receives the N4 session setup response.

4. The method for calculating and charging an edge in a 5G roaming scenario according to claim 3, wherein the data forwarding rule for forwarding uplink data of the user terminal from the second UPF network element to the first UPF network element is specifically set by:

the SMF network element receives the N4 session change response.

5. The method for calculating and charging edges in a 5G roaming scenario according to claim 3, wherein the N4 session establishment request further includes a usage reporting rule and a usage trigger; the first UPF network element carries out dosage data statistics through a dosage reporting rule and a dosage trigger;

6. The method for calculating and charging for edges in 5G roaming scenario according to claim 5, wherein the usage data is marked by an access point identifier of a visited data network, and after the reported usage data is received by the SMF network element, the usage data is marked by the SMF network element; after the SMF network element marks the usage data, the SMF network element sends the usage data to the CHF network element.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein after the CHF network element charges the user terminal according to the usage data, the CHF network element sends a charging update response to the SMF network element.

8. The method for calculating and charging edges in a 5G roaming scenario according to claim 1, wherein when the user terminal accesses different visited data networks or when the user terminal accesses a visited data network through different access points, the first UPF network element performs usage data statistics in units of access point identifiers of each visited data network; the CHF network element performs classified charging for the user terminal in units of each visited data network access point identification.

9. A core network comprising an SMF network element, a first UPF network element, and a CHF network element; the SMF network element refers to a session management network element in a 5G core network; the UPF network element refers to a user plane network element in a 5G core network; the CHF network element refers to a charging function network element in a 5G core network;

10. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the storage medium stores a program, which is executed by a processor to implement the method of any one of claims 1-8.