CN118102404A

CN118102404A - Service continuity method and system for diversion gateway change

Info

Publication number: CN118102404A
Application number: CN202410347547.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王俊杰; 张琨; 刘涛
Original assignee: Inspur Communication Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Inspur Communication Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2024-03-26
Filing date: 2024-03-26
Publication date: 2024-05-28

Abstract

The invention discloses a business continuity method and a system for changing a shunt gateway, which relate to the technical field of mobile communication, are applied under a 5G core network architecture, and when the shunt gateway is changed due to an N2 switching process, a source shunt gateway actively transmits UE IP address and GTPU tunnel information to a target shunt gateway by means of 5G core network switching signaling, so as to complete the association of user information, actively transmits an analog data packet, updates DN route information and ensures business continuity; when the XN switching process causes the change of the distribution gateway, the target distribution gateway initiates the acquisition of the UE IP address and the GTPU tunnel information to the source distribution gateway through the SourceAMF _UE_NGAP_ID field, so as to be related to the user information, update the local DN routing information and ensure the service continuity. The invention can ensure that the shunt gateway is switched in the service forwarding process, and service interruption is avoided or service interruption time is reduced.

Description

Service continuity method and system for diversion gateway change

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of mobile communication, in particular to a business continuity method and system for changing a shunt gateway.

Background

A offload gateway product generally refers to a system or device for traffic management and routing in a network architecture that can handle functions such as traffic monitoring, logging, throttling control, black and white list management, and load balancing. The following are some key points:

1. reverse proxy and static resource mapping: nginx is a widely used offload gateway product that enables mapping of reverse proxy and static resources, helps forward client requests to the correct server, and provides the ability to cache static resources.

2. User plane function: in a 5G core network (5 GC), UPF (user plane function) is an important network element, which supports routing and forwarding of user traffic data, identification of data and traffic, policy enforcement, and the like. UPF interacts with other network elements through N4 interfaces, and is a key component for realizing distribution and management in 5G networks.

3. Micro service gateway: in micro-service architecture, an API gateway plays an important role, which not only manages the global policies of the API, but also handles calls and data exchanges between services. When the micro service gateway is designed, how to process billions of traffic is needed to be considered, and the stability and the expandability of the system are ensured.

4. Traffic management policy: the traffic gateway also focuses on global API management policies such as global traffic monitoring, logging, global throttling, black and white list control, and load balancing of access requests to the service system. These functions are somewhat similar to firewalls, but focus more on fine management and optimization of traffic.

In summary, the offload gateway products play a vital role in modern network architecture, both in traditional Web services and in emerging 5G networks, which are key components to ensure efficient, secure operation of the network.

The shunt gateway product is deployed between the base station and the core network, and the function of the product is to realize the central and local data shunt. The central flow is transmitted to the core machine room through the transmission network, the local flow is unloaded to the local DN through the shunt gateway, and the transmission delay is reduced. The shunt gateway product realizes partial UPF function and completes the interaction between the local data and the base station.

There are fewer diversion gateway products related to 5G services in the market at present, and a mature technical scheme is lacking. There is no reference scheme at present for the scenario of switching the distribution gateway which occurs in the face of the movement of the terminal.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a service continuity method and a system for changing the shunt gateway, which ensure that the shunt gateway is switched in the service forwarding process without service interruption or reduce service interruption time because the target base station cannot acquire the IP address information of the UE in the shunt gateway switching process and the downlink route cannot be updated in time to cause service interruption.

In a first aspect, the present invention provides a service continuity method for changing a shunt gateway, which solves the technical problems by adopting the following technical scheme:

a service continuity method for diversion gateway change is applied under 5G core network architecture, by means of 5G core network switching signaling,

When the shunting gateway is changed in the N2 switching process, the source shunting gateway actively transmits the UE IP address and the GTPU tunnel information to the target shunting gateway to complete the association of user information, actively transmits the analog data packet, updates DN route information and ensures service continuity;

When the XN switching process causes the change of the distribution gateway, the target distribution gateway initiates the acquisition of the UE IP address and the GTPU tunnel information to the source distribution gateway through the SourceAMF _UE_NGAP_ID field, so as to be related to the user information, update the local DN routing information and ensure the service continuity.

Optionally, when the N2 handover procedure causes the change of the forking gateway,

The source shunting gateway searches the locally configured target gateway information through the target base station information in the switching request, and actively forwards the user UE IP and GTPU tunnel information to the target shunting gateway;

after the target shunting gateway receives the message, the target shunting gateway correlates with the latest tunnel information through the downlink GTPU tunnel information, so that a new relation is established;

after the completion relation is established, the simulation uplink data packet completes the path update.

Further alternatively, when the N2 handover procedure causes the forking gateway to change,

The source distribution gateway discovers a target base station through a signaling of identification Handover Required, and identifies the associated GTPU tunnel information of the UE and the IP address of the UE;

the UE IP address and the GTPU tunnel are sent to the target shunt gateway through the Agent of the source shunt gateway through the source shunt gateway information associated with the target base station configured locally;

after receiving the information, the target distribution gateway identifies user information through the Handover Command and Handover Complete information, and associates the current latest information with the UE IP address through the received downlink GTPU tunnel information;

The target distribution gateway simulates an uplink data packet, after forwarding the uplink data packet to the DN, the DN route information is changed to the target distribution gateway, and subsequent data is transmitted to the target base station and the terminal through the target distribution gateway.

Optionally, when the XN handover procedure causes the change of the forking gateway,

The target base station indexes user information to the source diversion gateway by using SourceAMF _UE_NGAP_ID field, and associates the latest GTPU tunnel information through the UE IP address after completing data acquisition, thereby establishing a new relation;

Further alternatively, when the XN handover procedure causes the change of the forking gateway,

The target shunt gateway obtains SourceAMF _UE_NGAP_ID information according to the received PATH SWITCH Request, locally inquires source shunt gateway information, and forwards the information to the source shunt gateway through an Agent;

after receiving the data packet, the source distribution gateway inquires about the UE context information, and forwards the information related to the UE, including GTPU tunnel information and the UE IP address, to the target distribution gateway;

The target shunt gateway learns the latest tunnel information according to PATH SWITCH Request and PATH SWITCH Request Ack and associates the information acquired from the source shunt gateway;

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a service continuity system for changing a shunt gateway, which solves the technical problems by adopting the following technical scheme:

a service continuity system for a offload gateway change, which is applied under a 5G core network architecture, and the implementation process involves a source offload gateway and a target offload gateway by means of 5G core network handover signaling, wherein:

Compared with the prior art, the service continuity method and system for changing the shunt gateway have the beneficial effects that:

The invention solves the problem that the target base station can not acquire the IP address information of the UE in the switching process of the shunt gateway, the downlink route can not be updated in time, and the service interruption can be caused, and can ensure that the shunt gateway is switched in the service forwarding process, and the service interruption can not occur or the service interruption time can be reduced.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an N2 switch networking architecture in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of N2 handover in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an XN switch networking architecture in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of XN switching in an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical scheme, the technical problems to be solved and the technical effects of the invention more clear, the technical scheme of the invention is clearly and completely described below by combining specific embodiments.

The English words in the drawings will now be explained:

UE, collectively referred to as User Equipment, in 5G networks represents a terminal device that can access the network.

NG-RAN, collectively Next Generation Radio Access Network, is a radio access network in 5G systems, named by the 3GPP standardization organization.

UPF, collectively User Plane Function, user plane function, is an important component of the 5G core network, mainly responsible for handling and managing routing and forwarding of user packets. The UPF also includes functions such as data interaction with external data networks, qoS (Quality of Service ) handling of user plane, and enforcement of flow control rules. These functions ensure efficient transmission of data and efficient utilization of network resources.

DN, collectively referred to as Data Network, refers to a target Network that a User Equipment (UE) wants to access, which may be the internet, a service Network of an operator, or a service Network provided by a third party. The data network may be any type of network as long as it is capable of interfacing with the UPF and exchanging data.

The AMF, collectively ACCESS AND Mobility Management Function, is a functional entity responsible for access and mobility management in the 5G network, and is responsible for handling the functions of access request, mobility management, security authentication, etc. of the user. Specifically, the main responsibilities of an AMF include: ① Access control: the AMF is responsible for processing an access request of User Equipment (UE) and ensuring that only authorized equipment can access the network; ② Mobility management: AMF tracks and manages the position information of UE, and maintains the stability of connection during the movement of UE; ③ And (3) safety authentication: the AMF is also responsible for carrying out identity authentication and encryption on the user equipment, so that the safety of communication is ensured.

Embodiment one:

the embodiment provides a service continuity method for changing a shunt gateway, which is applied under a 5G core network architecture, and switches signaling by means of the 5G core network,

The shunting gateway is deployed between the base station and the core network, and the shunting gateway is used for shunting local service traffic and central service traffic. In the process that the terminal equipment UE accesses the NG-RAN for the first time, the distribution gateway identifies the information such as the UE IP address, the AMF-UE-NGAP-ID, the RAN-UE-NGAP-ID, the N3 GTPU tunnel and the like according to the N2 signaling and the N3 data packet and stores the association relation. The uplink data are distinguished to the local or central according to the routing rule of the shunt gateway which is configured in advance. The local data distribution gateway strips off the GTPU header information carried by the base station and forwards the GTPU header information to the local DN. If the data is to the central machine room, the data is directly forwarded to the central UPF.

Referring to fig. 1-4, when a local service is performed, a terminal moves to cause a base station and a shunt gateway to change, and at this time:

N2 handover refers to the process of a mobile device switching from a 4G network to a 5G network, particularly under the 5GNon-standalone (NSA) network architecture.

Referring to fig. 2, in this embodiment, when the N2 handover procedure causes the change of the shunt gateway,

After receiving the information, the target distribution gateway identifies the user information through the Handover Command and Handover Complete information, and associates the current latest information with the UE IP address through the received downlink GTPU tunnel information, thereby establishing a new relation;

After the relation is established, the target distribution gateway simulates an uplink data packet, and after the uplink data packet is forwarded to the DN, the route information of the DN is changed to the target distribution gateway, and subsequent data is transmitted to the target base station and the terminal equipment UE through the target distribution gateway.

XN switching, where the function of the XN interface: in a 5G network, the XN interface (or referred to as XN interface) is an interface connecting different base stations for supporting handover of User Equipment (UE) during mobility. When a UE moves from one base station service area to another, an XN handover is required in order to ensure continuity of service. XN switching flow: the flow of XN handover is similar to X2 handover in 4G LTE. When the UE moves and needs to switch to a new base station, the source base station initiates a handover request and communicates with the target base station through the XN interface. After confirming that the UE can be served, the target base station may send an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE, including necessary information of the new cell. And the UE completes the switching to the new base station according to the information and sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message to confirm the completion of the switching. While the UPF (user plane function) may not change when the XN handover procedure causes the change of the breakout gateway, in some cases a change of the breakout gateway may occur if the new base station is connected to a different UPF or needs to route data through a different path. This change is to ensure that the data stream is efficiently transported to the correct destination while maintaining the performance and stability of the network.

Referring to fig. 4, in this embodiment, when the XN handover procedure causes the change of the shunt gateway,

The target shunt gateway learns the latest tunnel information according to PATH SWITCH Request and PATH SWITCH Request Ack and associates the information acquired from the source shunt gateway, so that a new relation is established;

Embodiment two:

With reference to fig. 1-4, this embodiment proposes a service continuity system for changing a shunt gateway, which is applied under a 5G core network architecture, and the implementation process involves a source shunt gateway and a target shunt gateway by means of 5G core network handover signaling, where:

The supplementary ones are: the shunting gateway is deployed between the base station and the core network, and the shunting gateway is used for shunting local service traffic and central service traffic. In the process that the terminal equipment UE accesses the NG-RAN for the first time, the distribution gateway identifies the information such as the UE IP address, the AMF-UE-NGAP-ID, the RAN-UE-NGAP-ID, the N3 GTPU tunnel and the like according to the N2 signaling and the N3 data packet and stores the association relation. The uplink data are distinguished to the local or central according to the routing rule of the shunt gateway which is configured in advance. The local data distribution gateway strips off the GTPU header information carried by the base station and forwards the GTPU header information to the local DN. If the data is to the central machine room, the data is directly forwarded to the central UPF.

When the local service is performed, the terminal movement causes the base station and the distribution gateway to change.

In summary, the service continuity method and system for changing the shunt gateway can ensure that the shunt gateway is switched in the service forwarding process without service interruption or reduce service interruption time.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the principles and embodiments of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention may be better understood. Based on the above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention, any improvements and modifications made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles of the present invention should fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A service continuity method for diversion gateway change is characterized in that the method is applied under a 5G core network architecture, by means of 5G core network switching signaling,

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, when the change of the shunt gateway is caused by the N2 handover procedure,

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, when the change of the shunt gateway is caused by the N2 handover procedure,

4. A traffic continuity method for a change of a breakout gateway according to claim 3, characterized in that, when the XN handover procedure causes the change of the breakout gateway,

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, when the XN switching process causes the change of the distribution gateway,

6. A service continuity system for a change of a shunt gateway, which is characterized in that the service continuity system is applied under a 5G core network architecture, and the implementation process relates to a source shunt gateway and a target shunt gateway by means of 5G core network switching signaling, wherein:

7. The system for traffic continuity of a change in a forking gateway as recited in claim 6, wherein, when the N2 handoff procedure causes the forking gateway to change,

8. The system for traffic continuity of a change in a forking gateway as recited in claim 7, wherein, when the N2 handoff procedure causes the forking gateway to change,

9. The system for traffic continuity of a change in a breakout gateway of claim 8, wherein, when the XN handoff procedure causes the breakout gateway to change,

10. The system for traffic continuity of a change in a breakout gateway of claim 9, wherein, when the XN handoff procedure causes the breakout gateway to change,