CN117395714A

CN117395714A - Network congestion control method and device and core network element

Info

Publication number: CN117395714A
Application number: CN202311423620.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 栗亮顺; 谢涵
Original assignee: Guangzhou Aipu Road Network Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Guangzhou Aipu Road Network Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-10-30
Filing date: 2023-10-30
Publication date: 2024-01-12

Abstract

The application provides a network congestion control method and device and a core network element, and relates to the technical field of wireless communication. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a network optimization request sent by an application function AF network element of a preset element universe application, wherein the network optimization request comprises: location information of occurrence of network congestion; acquiring network use information and online session information in a region corresponding to the position information according to the position information, wherein the online session information is used for indicating session information of online users in the region; determining a local user and a roaming user in the online users according to the position information and the online session information; and respectively adjusting the data transmission rates of the local user and the roaming user according to the network use information. The method and the device can adjust the data transmission rate of the online user and ensure the user experience.

Description

Network congestion control method and device and core network element

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for controlling network congestion, and a core network element.

Background

In recent years, with the progress of fifth generation mobile communication technology (5 th-Generation Mobile Communication Technology, 5G), blockchain technology, virtual Reality (VR) technology, etc., metauniverse technology has also been rapidly developed.

The metauniverse may provide a variety of location-based service experiences, such as location-based social interactions, location-based virtual athletics, location-based concerts, etc., that require extensive data transfer and storage for metauniverse applications in order to implement high-definition images, virtual scenes, etc. of location-based services, which all require high bandwidth support.

As more and more users are surging into meta-universe applications, the risk of network congestion is greatly increased, so that the packet loss rate is increased, and data transmission and user experience are affected.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a network congestion control method, a network congestion control device and a core network element aiming at the defects in the prior art so as to adjust the data transmission rate of an online user and ensure the user experience.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the technical solution adopted in the embodiment of the present application is as follows:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network congestion control method, applied to a session management function SMF network element, where the method includes:

receiving a network optimization request sent by an application function AF network element of a preset element universe application, wherein the network optimization request comprises the following components: location information of occurrence of network congestion;

Acquiring network use information and online session information in an area corresponding to the position information according to the position information, wherein the online session information is used for indicating session information of online users in the area;

determining a local user and a roaming user in the online users according to the position information and the online session information;

and respectively adjusting the data transmission rates of the local user and the roaming user according to the network use information.

Optionally, the obtaining, according to the location information, network usage information in an area corresponding to the location information includes:

transmitting a network usage information acquisition request to a network capability opening function (NEF) network element, wherein the network usage information acquisition request comprises: the location information;

and receiving network use information in the area corresponding to the position information, which is determined by the NEF network element according to the position information.

Optionally, the obtaining, according to the location information, online session information in an area corresponding to the location information includes:

an online session information acquisition request to a Unified Data Management (UDM) network element, wherein the online session information acquisition request comprises: the location information;

And receiving online session information in the area corresponding to the position information, which is determined by the UDM network element according to the position information.

Optionally, the determining the local user and the roaming user in the online users according to the online session information includes:

and determining whether the online user is the local user or the roaming user according to the position information and the subscription position information of the online user in the online session information.

Optionally, the adjusting the data transmission rates of the home subscriber and the roaming subscriber according to the network usage information includes:

calculating the transmission rate increment of the local user and the transmission rate decrement of the roaming user according to the network use information;

and sending a policy update request to a policy control function PCF network element, wherein the PCF network element informs an access and mobility management function AMF network element to increase the data transmission rate of the local user according to the transmission rate increment of the local user and decrease the data transmission rate of the roaming user according to the transmission rate decrement of the roaming user according to the policy update request.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

Receiving congestion prediction information sent by a network data analysis function NWDAF network element;

if the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users in the monitored area at a preset future time meets a first preset congestion condition, if an access request of terminal equipment is received, rejecting the access request;

if the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users in the monitored area at the preset future time meets a second preset congestion condition, respectively adjusting the data transmission rates of the local users and the roaming users in the monitored area according to the network use information of the monitored area;

and if the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users of the monitored area at the preset future time meets a third preset congestion condition, controlling the processing and the data transmission rate maintenance of the monitored area for the access request.

Optionally, the congestion prediction information is information obtained by the NWDAF network element in the following manner:

acquiring the number of online users of the monitored area from the UDM network element at regular time;

calculating the number of online users at the preset future time by adopting a preset congestion prediction model according to the number of online users of the monitored area at a plurality of times;

And sending the congestion prediction information to the SMF network element according to the number of online users at the preset future time.

Optionally, if the number of online users at the preset future time is greater than the average value of the number of online users at the multiple times, the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users at the preset future time in the monitored area meets a first preset congestion condition; or,

if the number of online users at the preset future time is greater than the minimum value of the number of online users at the multiple times and is smaller than or equal to the average value of the number of online users at the multiple times, the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users of the monitored area at the preset future time meets a second preset congestion condition; or,

and if the number of the online users at the preset future time is smaller than or equal to the average value of the number of the online users at the multiple times, the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of the online users of the monitored area at the preset future time meets a third preset congestion condition.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a network congestion control device, applied to a session management function SMF network element, where the device includes:

The request receiving module is used for receiving a network optimization request sent by a functional network element AF of a preset element universe application, and the network optimization request comprises: location information of occurrence of network congestion;

the information acquisition module is used for acquiring network use information and online session information in an area corresponding to the position information according to the position information, wherein the online session information is used for indicating session information of online users in the area;

the user classification module is used for determining a local user and a roaming user in the online users according to the position information and the online session information;

and the rate adjustment module is used for respectively adjusting the data transmission rates of the local user and the roaming user according to the network use information.

Optionally, the information obtaining module is specifically configured to send a network usage information obtaining request to a network element with a network capability opening function NEF, where the network usage information obtaining request includes: the location information; and receiving network use information in the area corresponding to the position information, which is determined by the NEF network element according to the position information.

Optionally, the information obtaining module is specifically configured to obtain an online session information obtaining request from a unified data management UDM network element, where the online session information obtaining request includes: the location information; and receiving online session information in the area corresponding to the position information, which is determined by the UDM network element according to the position information.

Optionally, the user classification module is specifically configured to determine whether the online user is the home user or the roaming user according to the location information and subscription location information of the online user in the online session information.

Optionally, the rate adjustment module is specifically configured to calculate, according to the network usage information, an increase in transmission rate of the local user and a decrease in transmission rate of the roaming user; and sending a policy update request to a policy control function PCF network element, wherein the PCF network element informs an access and mobility management function AMF network element to increase the data transmission rate of the local user according to the transmission rate increment of the local user and decrease the data transmission rate of the roaming user according to the transmission rate decrement of the roaming user according to the policy update request.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes:

the prediction information receiving module is used for receiving congestion prediction information sent by the network data analysis function NWDAF network element;

the processing module is used for rejecting the access request if the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users in the monitored area at the preset future moment meets a first preset congestion condition and the access request of the terminal equipment is received;

The processing module is further configured to respectively adjust data transmission rates of a local user and a roaming user in the monitored area according to network usage information of the monitored area if the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users in the monitored area at the preset future time meets a second preset congestion condition;

and the processing module is further configured to control processing and data transmission rate retention of the monitored area for the access request if the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users of the monitored area at the preset future time meets a third preset congestion condition.

Optionally, the congestion prediction information is information obtained by the NWDAF network element by adopting the following devices:

the user quantity acquisition module is used for acquiring the online user quantity of the monitored area from the UDM network element at regular time;

the user quantity prediction module is used for calculating the number of online users at the preset future time by adopting a preset congestion prediction model according to the number of online users of the monitored area at a plurality of times;

and the prediction information sending module is used for sending the congestion prediction information to the SMF network element according to the number of online users at the preset future time.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a core network element, including: a processor, a storage medium and a bus, the storage medium storing program instructions executable by the processor, the processor and the storage medium communicating over the bus when the core network element is running, the processor executing the program instructions to perform the steps of the network congestion control method according to any of the first aspects.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which computer program, when being executed by a processor, performs the steps of the data processing method according to any of the first aspects.

The beneficial effects of this application are:

according to the network congestion control method, the network congestion control device and the core network element, network use information and online session information in a region corresponding to the location information are obtained according to the location information of network congestion sent in the network optimization request, online users in the network congestion region are classified according to the location information and the online session information, local users and roaming users are determined, data transmission rates of the local users and the roaming users are adjusted according to the network use information, so that the influence of the network congestion on the local users is reduced, data transmission delay when the local users use meta-universe application, experience of the local users using the meta-universe application is preferentially guaranteed, the problem of network congestion is solved without changing network hardware equipment, and cost increase and resource waste are avoided.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings that are needed in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it being understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope, and other related drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a network architecture diagram provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a network congestion control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a second flow chart of a network congestion control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a network congestion control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a flow chart diagram of a network congestion control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flowchart fifth of a network congestion control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a network congestion control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is an interaction schematic diagram of a network congestion control method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a network congestion control device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a core network element according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments of the present invention.

Thus, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present application, as provided in the accompanying drawings, is not intended to limit the scope of the application, as claimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of the application. All other embodiments, which can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments herein without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the present application.

Furthermore, the terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims and in the above-described figures, are used for distinguishing between similar objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged where appropriate such that the embodiments of the invention described herein may be implemented in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

It should be noted that, without conflict, features in embodiments of the present application may be combined with each other.

Referring to fig. 1, a network architecture diagram provided in an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 1, the network architecture may specifically include:

1. terminal Equipment (UE): a user equipment, terminal, access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device may also be referred to. In the meta-universe application scenario of the present application, the terminal device may be a VR device.

2. Access Network (AN): the network access function is provided for authorized users in a specific area, and transmission tunnels with different qualities can be used according to the level of the users, the requirements of services and the like. An access network implementing access network functions based on wireless communication technology may be referred to as a radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN). The radio access network can manage radio resources, provide access services for the terminal, and further complete forwarding of control signals and user data between the terminal and the core network, and generally provide the radio access network through the base station.

3. Access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) network elements: mainly used for mobility management, access management and the like, and can be used for realizing other functions besides session management in the functions of a mobility management entity (mobility management entity, MME), for example

Such as lawful interception, or access authorization (or authentication), etc.

4. Session management function (Session Management Function, SMF) network element: the method is mainly used for session management, internet protocol (Internet Protocol, IP) address allocation and management of the UE, terminal nodes of a selective manageable user plane function, policy control or charging function interface, downlink data notification and the like.

5. User plane function (User Plane Function, UPF) network element: i.e. a data plane gateway. Quality of service (quality of service, qoS) handling, etc. for packet routing and forwarding, or user plane data. User data may be accessed to a Data Network (DN) through the network element.

6. Network data analysis function (Network Data Analytics Function, NWDAF) network element: the network analysis service may be provided according to request data of the network service.

7. Unified data management (unified data management, UDM) network element: the method is mainly responsible for managing subscription data, user access authorization and other functions.

8. Policy control function (policy control function, PCF) network element: the functions of executing the issuing control strategy, selecting UPF, distributing the IP address of the UE and the like mainly manage the service quality (Quality of Service, qoS) of each service data flow in the 5G core network.

9. Network open function (Network Exposure Function, NEF) network element: the network functions are opened to the third party in the form of an API interface.

10. -application function (Application Function, AF) network element: similar to an application server, which interacts with control plane network function network elements in the 5G core network and provides traffic services, AFs may exist for different application services, which may be owned by operators or trusted third parties.

It should be understood that the network architecture applied to the embodiments of the present application is merely an exemplary network architecture described from the perspective of a conventional point-to-point architecture and a service architecture, and the network architecture to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable is not limited thereto, and any network architecture capable of implementing the functions of the respective network elements described above is applicable to the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the foregoing network elements may communicate through a preset interface, which is not described herein. It should also be understood that the above network elements may be understood as network elements in the core network for implementing different functions, e.g. may be combined into network slices as required. The core network elements may be independent devices, or may be integrated in the same device to implement different functions, which is not limited in this application.

In the process of interaction between the terminal equipment and the metauniverse application, the metauniverse application requires extremely low delay so as to provide realistic virtual reality experience for users, if the network bandwidth is insufficient, data transmission delay is caused, and if the network delay is high, users feel uncomfortable or dizziness.

As more and more users are surging into meta-universe applications, the risk of network congestion increases, and in order to solve the problem of network congestion, the prior art generally increases bandwidth and adopts higher-end network hardware devices, which are expensive, difficult to replace existing devices in all areas, and waste a large amount of resources for the case that network congestion only happens occasionally.

Based on the problems existing in the prior art, the application aims to provide a network congestion control method, a device and a core network element, which are used for classifying online users in a network congestion area, determining local users and roaming users, reducing the influence of network congestion on the local users by adjusting the data transmission rates of the local users and the roaming users, reducing the data transmission delay when the local users use the meta-universe application, preferentially ensuring the experience of the local users using the meta-universe application, avoiding the problem of network congestion by changing network hardware equipment, and avoiding the increase of cost and the waste of resources.

The following describes in detail a specific implementation manner of the network congestion control method, device and core network element provided in the present application with reference to an embodiment.

Referring to fig. 2, a first flowchart of a network congestion control method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown in fig. 2, where the method may include:

s101: receiving a network optimization request sent by an application function AF network element of a preset element universe application, wherein the network optimization request comprises: location information of network congestion occurs.

In this embodiment, the preset meta-cosmic application is an application program developed by a meta-cosmic development company and capable of being interacted by a user or a player in the virtual reality world, and the AF network element of the preset meta-cosmic application may provide a service experience based on a location for the preset meta-cosmic application, so as to provide various services for users in different location areas.

And the user or player in different position areas establishes communication connection with the 5G core network where the AF network element is located through the base station in the area by using the VR equipment, so that the preset meta-universe application transmits high-definition images or virtual scenes of the corresponding position areas to the VR equipment of the user or player, and the user or player in the position areas can experience the high-definition images or virtual scenes.

When the number of VR devices accessing the preset meta-universe application through a base station in a certain position area is too large, the VR devices in the position area and the data transmission in the preset meta-universe application time are obviously delayed due to the limitation of network bandwidth, and AF network elements of the preset meta-universe application monitor the data transmission conditions of all the position areas and determine whether the position areas with data transmission delay exist.

If the AF network element monitors that the data transmission of a certain position area has delay, determining that the position area has network congestion, acquiring the position information of the position area by positioning the position area, and sending a network optimization request to the SMF network element according to the position information of the position area, wherein the network optimization request comprises: location information of network congestion occurs.

S102: and acquiring network use information and online session information in the area corresponding to the position information according to the position information, wherein the online session information is used for indicating the session information of online users in the area.

In this embodiment, after receiving the network optimization request, the SMF network element locates, according to the location information carried in the network optimization request, a location area corresponding to the location information, and determines an area identifier of the location area corresponding to the location information.

According to the region identification, a query request is sent to a third party information storage platform, so that the third party information storage platform searches network use information and online session information of a position region corresponding to the region identification according to the region identification, and after the third party information storage platform searches the network use information and the online session information of the position region, the third party information storage platform sends the network use information and the online session information of the position region to an SMF network element.

The network usage information is used for indicating network available resources of the location area, such as network available bandwidth, and the online session information is used for indicating session information established by online users and preset meta-universe applications in the area.

In a possible implementation manner, please refer to fig. 3, which is a second flowchart of a network congestion control method provided in an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 3, a process of obtaining, according to location information, network usage information in a region corresponding to the location information in S102 may include:

s201: transmitting a network usage information acquisition request to the NEF network element, the network usage information acquisition request including: position information.

S202: and receiving network use information in the area corresponding to the position information determined by the NEF network element according to the position information.

According to the region identifier, a network usage information acquisition request is sent to the NEF network element, wherein the network usage information acquisition request comprises: the network using information of the location area corresponding to the location information is searched for by the NEF network element according to the area identification, and the NEF network element sends the network using information of the location area corresponding to the SMF network element after the network using information of the location area corresponding to the location information is searched for.

In another possible implementation manner, please refer to fig. 4, which is a flowchart of a network congestion control method provided in an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 4, the step of S102 obtaining, according to location information, online session information in a region corresponding to the location information may include:

s301: an online session information acquisition request to a UDM network element, the online session information acquisition request comprising: position information.

S302: and receiving online session information in a region corresponding to the position information determined by the UDM network element according to the position information.

According to the region identifier, a network usage information acquisition request is sent to the UDM network element, wherein the network usage information acquisition request comprises: the location information is corresponding to the location area identifier, so that the UDM network element searches the online session information of the location area corresponding to the location area identifier according to the area identifier, and after the UDM network element searches the online session information of the corresponding location area, the UDM network element sends the online session information of the corresponding location area to the SMF network element.

S103: and determining the local user and the roaming user in the online users according to the position information and the online session information.

In this embodiment, whether the online user is a user registered in the location area is determined according to the location information and the online session information, where if the online user is a user registered in the location area, the online user is determined to be a local user; if the online user is not a user registered in the location area, the online user is determined to be a non-home user, i.e., a roaming user.

In one possible implementation manner, the step of determining the home subscriber and the roaming subscriber in the online subscribers according to the location information and the online session information in S103 may include:

and determining whether the online user is a local user or a roaming user according to the subscription position information of the online user in the position information and the online session information.

Specifically, the online session information includes: the subscription position information of the online user is attribution information selected when the online user registers in a preset meta universe application for the first time, and whether the online user is a local user or a roaming user is determined by judging whether the subscription position information of the online user is consistent with the subscription position information of the online user or not.

If the position information is consistent with the subscription position information of the online user, determining that the online user is a local user; if the location information is inconsistent with the subscription location information of the online user, determining that the online user is a non-home user, namely a roaming user.

S104: and respectively adjusting the data transmission rates of the local user and the roaming user according to the network use information.

In this embodiment, according to the network available resources in the network usage information, the resources for performing data transmission between the local user and the preset meta-universe application are increased, the resources for performing data transmission between the roaming user and the preset meta-universe application are reduced, so as to increase the data transmission rate of the local user, reduce the data transmission rate of the roaming user, preferentially ensure the use experience sense of the local user when accessing the preset meta-universe application, and solve the network congestion in the location area.

In some embodiments, with the continuous change of the number of online users accessing the preset metacosmic application, due to the reduced data transmission rate of the roaming users, a part of the roaming users may exit the preset metacosmic application to release network available resources in the location area, in this case, if there is no data transmission delay between the local user and the preset metacosmic application, the resources for data transmission between the unremoved roaming users and the preset metacosmic application may be increased, so as to eliminate the data transmission delay between the unremoved roaming users and the reserved metacosmic application.

In a possible implementation manner, please refer to fig. 5, which is a flow chart of a network congestion control method provided in an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5, the process of adjusting the data transmission rates of the local user and the roaming user according to the network usage information in S104 may include:

s401: and calculating the transmission rate increment of the local user and the transmission rate decrement of the roaming user according to the network use information.

S402: and sending a policy update request to the PCF network element, and informing the AMF network element to increase the data transmission rate of the local user according to the transmission rate increasing amount of the local user and reduce the data transmission rate of the roaming user according to the transmission rate reducing amount of the roaming user by the PCF network element according to the policy update request.

In this embodiment, the SMF network element calculates, according to the available network bandwidth, the number of local users and the number of roaming users, an increase in transmission rate for the local users and a decrease in transmission rate for the roaming users, where the increase in transmission rate for the local users needs to ensure that there is no data transmission delay between the local users and the preset meta-universe application.

The SMF network element transmits a strategy updating request to the SMF network element through the PCF network element, wherein the strategy updating request comprises the following steps: the AMF network element increases the data transmission rate of the local user according to the transmission rate increasing amount of the local user and the data transmission rate of the roaming user according to the transmission rate decreasing amount of the roaming user, and after the AMF network element adjusts the data transmission rates of the local user and the roaming user, the AMF network element sends a strategy update notification to the UE, wherein the strategy update is used for indicating the UE to update the QoS.

Wherein, since the data transmission rate of the local user is increased, the local terminal device can improve QoS, for example, improve received image quality, frame rate of virtual scene, and the like; as the data transmission rate of the roaming user is reduced, the roaming user terminal needs to reduce QoS, for example, the received image quality, the frame rate of the virtual scene, and the like.

After changing QoS, UE returns response information, the original path of the response information returns to AF network element, informs AF network element of finishing QoS strategy control, SMF network element records time, area of network congestion, adjusted data transmission rate and the like in UDM network element.

According to the network congestion control method provided by the embodiment, the network use information and the online session information in the area corresponding to the position information are acquired according to the position information of the network congestion sent in the network optimization request, the online users in the area with the network congestion are classified according to the position information and the online session information, the local users and the roaming users are determined, the data transmission rates of the local users and the roaming users are adjusted according to the network use information, so that the influence of the network congestion on the local users is reduced, the data transmission delay when the local users use the meta-universe application is reduced, the experience of the local users using the meta-universe application is preferentially ensured, the network congestion problem is not required to be solved through changing network hardware equipment, and the cost increase and the resource waste are avoided.

In a possible implementation manner, please refer to fig. 6, which is a flowchart of a network congestion control method provided in an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 6, the method may further include:

S501: and receiving congestion prediction information sent by the NWDAF network element.

S502: if congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users in the monitored area at a preset future time meets a first preset congestion condition, if an access request of the terminal equipment is received, the access request is refused.

S503: if the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users in the monitored area at the preset future time meets a second preset congestion condition, respectively adjusting the data transmission rates of the local users and the roaming users in the monitored area according to the network use information of the monitored area.

S504: and if the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users of the monitored area at the preset future time meets a third preset congestion condition, controlling the processing of the monitored area for the access request and the data transmission rate maintenance.

In this embodiment, the NWDAF network element monitors a plurality of location areas covered by the preset element universe application in real time, predicts the number of online users of each location area at a preset future time according to real-time monitoring data, and generates congestion prediction information according to preset congestion conditions satisfied by the number of online users at the preset future time.

The SMF network element receives congestion prediction information sent by the NWDAF network element at fixed time, and adjusts the network use condition of the monitored area according to preset congestion conditions which are met by the number of online users at preset future time indicated by the congestion prediction information.

Specifically, if the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users in the monitored area at a preset future time meets a first preset congestion condition, the SMF network element determines that the monitored area cannot accept a new terminal device to access the preset meta-universe application, and in this case, if an access request of the terminal device is received, the access request is refused to indicate that the terminal device cannot access the preset meta-universe application.

If the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users in the monitored area at a preset future time meets a second preset congestion condition, the SMF network element determines that the data transmission rates of the local users and the roaming users in the monitored area need to be adjusted, and in this case, the SMF network element acquires network use information and online user information of the monitored area according to the position information of the monitored area, determines the local users and the roaming users in the monitored area according to the position information and the online user information, and respectively adjusts the data transmission rates of the local users and the roaming users in the monitored area according to the network use information of the monitored area.

If the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users of the monitored area at the preset future time meets a third preset congestion condition, the SMF network element determines that no data transmission delay exists between all online users of the monitored area at the preset future time and the preset meta-universe application, and if an access request of a new terminal device for accessing the preset meta-universe application is received, communication connection between the new terminal device and the preset meta-universe application is established, and the data transmission rate between the online users in the monitored area and the preset meta-universe application is kept unchanged.

According to the network congestion control method provided by the embodiment, the congestion prediction information of the monitored area sent by the NWDAF network element is used for determining the network congestion condition of the monitored area at the preset future moment, and the network use condition of the monitored area is adjusted in advance according to the congestion prediction information, so that the network congestion of the monitored area is prevented from being sent, and the good user experience of online users of the monitored area is ensured.

A specific implementation manner of the NWDAF network element to obtain the congestion prediction information is described below with reference to an embodiment.

Referring to fig. 7, a sixth flowchart of a network congestion control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, a process of obtaining congestion prediction information by an NWDAF network element may include:

s601: the number of online users of the monitored area is acquired from the UDM network element at regular time.

S602: and calculating the number of the online users at preset future time by adopting a preset congestion prediction model according to the number of the online users of the monitored area at a plurality of time.

S603: and sending congestion prediction information to the SMF network element according to the number of online users at the preset future time.

In this embodiment, the NWDAF network element periodically obtains the number of online users in the monitored area from the UDM network element according to the preconfigured data update time, and the congestion prediction model is used to weight the number of online users at a plurality of moments in the history period to obtain the number of online users at a preset future moment, and determines, according to the preset number threshold and the number of online users at the preset future moment, a preset congestion condition satisfied by the number of online users at the preset future moment, so as to generate congestion prediction information.

The NWDAF network element groups the number of online users acquired from the UDM network element according to the area identifier, date and time, and a plurality of data sets are obtained. For example, please refer to table 1 for the data set with the region identified as id1, and refer to table 2 for the data set with the region identified as id 2.

Table 1 data set with region identified as id1

Table 2 data set with region identified as id2

It should be noted that whether network congestion occurs is determined according to the update of the SMF network element, if the SMF network element receives a network optimization request sent by the AF network element, the SMF network element updates online user data in a corresponding location area and at a corresponding time in the UDM, marks whether network congestion occurs as "True", and marks whether network congestion occurs as "False" for online user data at other times.

In some embodiments, the congestion prediction model is an autoregressive AR (p) model, and the calculation formula of the model can be expressed as:

Y _t+1 ＝Φ ₀ +Φ ₁ Y _t +Φ ₂ Y _t-1 +Φ ₃ Y _t-2 +…+Φ _p Y _t-p+1

wherein phi is ₀ Is a constant term, phi ₁ ，Φ ₂ ，…，Φ _p Is a model parameter, Φi can be obtained by least square calculation, Y _t+1 Is the number of online users to be predicted at the next time point, i.e. the preset future time point, Y _t ，Y _t-1 ，…，Y _t-p+1 Is the actual number of online users at P times in the past.

In one possible implementation, if the number of online users at the preset future time is greater than the average value of the number of online users at the multiple times, the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users at the preset future time in the monitored area meets a first preset congestion condition; or if the number of the online users at the preset future time is larger than the minimum value of the number of the online users at the multiple times and smaller than or equal to the average value of the number of the online users at the multiple times, the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of the online users of the monitored area at the preset future time meets a second preset congestion condition; or if the number of online users at the preset future time is smaller than or equal to the average value of the number of online users at a plurality of times, the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users of the monitored area at the preset future time meets a third preset congestion condition.

In this embodiment, the minimum value Q of the number of online users at a plurality of times is calculated according to the number of online users at a plurality of times _min Average value Q _avg The first preset congestion condition is that the number of online users at the preset future time is larger than the average value Q _avg The second preset congestion condition is that the number of online users at the preset future time is larger than the minimum value Q _min And is less than or equal to the average value Q _avg Third preset congestion barThe number of online users at a preset future time is less than or equal to the minimum value Q _min 。

If the number of online users at the preset future time is greater than the average value Q _avg And determining that the number of online users at the preset future time meets a first preset congestion condition, wherein the number of online users in the monitored area at the preset future time reaches a peak value, and in this case, if the SMF network element receives an access request of the terminal equipment, rejecting the access request to indicate that the terminal equipment cannot access the preset element universe application.

If the number of online users at the preset future time is greater than the minimum value Q _min And is less than or equal to the average value Q _avg And determining that the number of online users at the preset future time meets a second preset congestion condition, wherein data transmission delay can occur between the online users of the monitored area at the preset future time and the preset meta-universe application, and in this case, the SMF network element respectively adjusts the data transmission rates of the local users and the roaming users of the monitored area according to the network use information of the monitored area.

If the number of online users at the preset future time is less than or equal to the minimum value Q _min Determining that the number of online users at the preset future time meets a third preset congestion condition, wherein no data transmission delay exists between the online users in the monitored area and the preset meta-universe application at the preset future time, and if the SMF network element receives an access request of a new terminal device to access the preset meta-universe application, establishing communication connection between the new terminal device and the preset meta-universe application, and keeping the data transmission rate between the online users in the monitored area and the preset meta-universe application unchanged.

According to the network congestion control method provided by the embodiment, the NWDAF network element calculates the number of the online users of the monitored area at the preset future time by adopting the congestion prediction model according to the number of the online users of the monitored area at the multiple times, so that congestion prediction information is sent to the SMF network element according to the number of the online users at the preset future time, the SMF network element adjusts the network use condition of the monitored area in advance according to the congestion prediction information, network congestion is avoided being sent to the monitored area, and good user experience is ensured for the online users of the monitored area.

For example, referring to fig. 8, an interaction schematic diagram of a network congestion control method provided in an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 8, the process may include:

1. and when network congestion occurs, the AF network element sends a network optimization request to the SMF network element, wherein the request carries the position information of the network congestion.

2. The SMF network element sends a network use information acquisition request of the area corresponding to the position information to the NEF network element.

3. The NEF network element returns network usage information to the SMF network element, including: the bandwidth available to the network.

4. And the SMF network element sends an online session information acquisition request of the location information corresponding area to the UDM network element.

5. The UDM network element returns online session information of the access corresponding area.

6. The SMF network element determines a local user and a roaming user according to the position information and the online session information, calculates the transmission rate increment of the local user and the transmission rate decrement of the roaming user according to the network use information, and sends a Qos strategy updating request to the PFC network element.

7. The PCF network element transmits the Qos strategy updating request to the AMF network element, increases the data transmission rate for the local user, and reduces the data transmission rate for the roaming user.

8. AMF network element informs UE to update strategy

9. And after the Qos is changed, the UE returns a response message, and the response message is returned to the AF network element in a primary way to inform the AF network element that the Qos strategy control is finished.

10. The SMF network element updates the time, the area and the adjusted Qos transmission rate of network congestion recorded in the UDM network element.

11. The NWDAF network element acquires the number of online sessions recorded in the UDM network element at fixed time, and predicts the network congestion condition of each area at a preset future time.

On the basis of the method embodiment, the embodiment of the application also provides a network congestion control device which is applied to the session management function SMF network element. Referring to fig. 9, a schematic structural diagram of a network congestion control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application is shown in fig. 9, where the apparatus may include:

the request receiving module 10 is configured to receive a network optimization request sent by a functional network element AF of a preset element universe application, where the network optimization request includes: location information of occurrence of network congestion;

the information acquisition module 20 is configured to acquire network usage information and online session information in an area corresponding to the location information according to the location information, where the online session information is used to indicate session information of online users in the area;

a user classification module 30 for determining a local user and a roaming user among the online users according to the location information and the online session information;

the rate adjustment module 40 is configured to adjust data transmission rates of the home subscriber and the roaming subscriber according to the network usage information.

Optionally, the information obtaining module 20 is specifically configured to send a network usage information obtaining request to the network element with the network capability opening function NEF, where the network usage information obtaining request includes: position information; and receiving network use information in the area corresponding to the position information determined by the NEF network element according to the position information.

Optionally, the information obtaining module 20 is specifically configured to obtain, from the UDM network element, an online session information obtaining request, where the online session information obtaining request includes: position information; and receiving online session information in a region corresponding to the position information determined by the UDM network element according to the position information.

Optionally, the user classification module 30 is specifically configured to determine whether the online user is a local user or a roaming user according to the location information and the subscription location information of the online user in the online session information.

Optionally, the rate adjustment module 40 is specifically configured to calculate, according to the network usage information, an increase of the transmission rate of the local user and a decrease of the transmission rate of the roaming user; and sending a policy update request to the PCF network element of the policy control function, and informing the access and mobility management function AMF network element of increasing the data transmission rate of the local user according to the transmission rate increasing amount of the local user and reducing the data transmission rate of the roaming user according to the transmission rate reducing amount of the roaming user by the PCF network element according to the policy update request.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

the processing module is further configured to respectively adjust data transmission rates of a local user and a roaming user in the monitored area according to network usage information of the monitored area if the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users in the monitored area at a preset future time meets a second preset congestion condition;

and the processing module is further used for controlling the processing and the data transmission rate maintenance of the monitored area aiming at the access request if the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of the online users of the monitored area at the preset future moment meets a third preset congestion condition.

the user quantity prediction module is used for calculating the number of online users at preset future time by adopting a preset congestion prediction model according to the number of online users of the monitored area at a plurality of time;

And the prediction information sending module is used for sending congestion prediction information to the SMF network element according to the number of online users at the preset future moment.

Optionally, if the number of online users at the preset future time is greater than the average value of the number of online users at the multiple times, the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users of the monitored area at the preset future time meets a first preset congestion condition; or,

if the number of the online users at the preset future time is larger than the minimum value of the number of the online users at the multiple times and smaller than or equal to the average value of the number of the online users at the multiple times, the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of the online users of the monitored area at the preset future time meets a second preset congestion condition; or,

if the number of online users at the preset future time is smaller than or equal to the average value of the number of online users at a plurality of times, the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users of the monitored area at the preset future time meets a third preset congestion condition.

The foregoing apparatus is used for executing the method provided in the foregoing embodiment, and its implementation principle and technical effects are similar, and are not described herein again.

The above modules may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, for example: one or more application specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, abbreviated as ASICs), or one or more microprocessors, or one or more field programmable gate arrays (Field Programmable Gate Array, abbreviated as FPGAs), etc. For another example, when a module above is implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler code, the processing element may be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU) or other processor that may invoke the program code. For another example, the modules may be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

Referring to fig. 10, which is a schematic diagram of a core network element provided in an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 10, the core network element 100 includes: processor 101, storage medium 102, and bus, storage medium 102 stores program instructions executable by processor 101, and when core network element 100 is running, processor 101 communicates with storage medium 102 via the bus, and processor 101 executes the program instructions to perform the method embodiments performed by the SMF network element or NWDAF network element described above. The specific implementation manner and the technical effect are similar, and are not repeated here.

Optionally, the present invention further provides a computer readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which when executed by a processor performs a method embodiment performed by the SMF network element or NWDAF network element.

In the several embodiments provided by the present invention, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The integrated units may be implemented in hardware or in hardware plus software functional units.

The integrated units implemented in the form of software functional units described above may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The software functional unit is stored in a storage medium, and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor (english: processor) to perform some of the steps of the methods according to the embodiments of the invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: u disk, mobile hard disk, read-Only Memory (ROM), random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk, etc.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions can be easily made by those skilled in the art within the technical scope of the present invention, and the present invention is intended to be covered by the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the invention is subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A network congestion control method, applied to a session management function SMF network element, the method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining network usage information in the location information corresponding area according to the location information comprises:

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining online session information in the area corresponding to the location information according to the location information comprises:

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining a home subscriber and a roaming subscriber among said online subscribers based on said and said online session information comprises:

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting the data transmission rates of the home subscriber and the roaming subscriber, respectively, based on the network usage information comprises:

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the congestion prediction information is information obtained by the NWDAF network element in the following manner:

8. The method of claim 7, wherein if the number of online users at the preset future time is greater than an average of the number of online users at the plurality of times, the congestion prediction information indicates that the number of online users of the monitored area at the preset future time satisfies a first preset congestion condition; or,

9. A network congestion control device, applied to a session management function, SMF, network element, the device comprising:

10. A core network element comprising: a processor, a storage medium and a bus, the storage medium storing program instructions executable by the processor, the processor and the storage medium communicating over the bus when the core network element is running, the processor executing the program instructions to perform the steps of the network congestion control method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.