CN116193452A

CN116193452A - Information transmission method and device

Info

Publication number: CN116193452A
Application number: CN202111434415.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李世涛
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-29
Filing date: 2021-11-29
Publication date: 2023-05-30
Also published as: WO2023093631A1

Abstract

The application provides a method and a device for information transmission, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the management service consumer sends the network identification and the first gateway information to a management service provider of the core network sub-slice, and sends the network identification and the second gateway information to a management service provider of the carrier network sub-slice. The first gateway information is used for indicating a next-hop gateway of the core network sub-slice, the second gateway information is used for indicating a next-hop gateway of the bearing network sub-slice, and the network identifier is used for indicating network information configured for the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice. The information transmission method provided by the application can realize the interconnection between the sub-slices of different domains in the slice deployment process, and is beneficial to keeping consistent QoS requirements when data are transmitted between the sub-slices of different domains.

Description

Information transmission method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for information transmission.

Background

Network slice instances of 5G (5 th generation) network slices include radio access network sub-network slice instances, bearer network sub-network slice instances, and core network sub-network slice instances. The core network sub-network slice can be connected with a gateway carrying the network sub-network slice through an interface of the user plane network element, and when the user plane network element is deployed in a data center by adopting virtualization, the user plane network element can be connected with an external network only through the gateway of the data center.

In the current slicing model, the situation that the user plane has a gateway in the data center is not considered, so that the configuration of the bearing network cannot be completed correctly, and the core network sub-network slice cannot be connected with the bearing network sub-network slice.

Therefore, it is necessary to configure the sub-network slices of different domains at the time of slice deployment to achieve interconnection between the sub-network slices of different domains.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides an information transmission method for realizing interconnection among different domain sub-network slices.

In a first aspect, a method for transmitting information is provided, which may be performed by a management service consumer, or may be performed by a chip or a circuit for the management service consumer, which is not limited in this application, and for convenience of description, an example will be described below as being performed by the management service consumer.

The method comprises the following steps:

the management service consumer sends a network identification and first gateway information to a management service provider of the core network sub-slice, wherein the first gateway information is used for indicating a next-hop gateway of the core network sub-slice;

the management service consumer sends a network identification and second gateway information to a management service provider carrying the network sub-slice, the second gateway information being used to indicate a next-hop gateway carrying the network sub-slice, the network identification being used to indicate network information configured for the core network sub-slice and the carrier network sub-slice.

In one possible implementation, the management service consumer manages the functional network element for the network slice.

In another possible implementation, the management service consumer manages the functional network element for the network sub-slice.

In one possible implementation, the network identification is used to indicate network information configured on the next-hop gateway of the core network sub-slice and the next-hop gateway of the bearer network sub-slice.

According to the technical scheme, the management service consumer sends the network identifier and the first gateway information to the management service provider of the core network sub-slice, and sends the network identifier and the second gateway information to the management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice, so that the management service provider of the core network sub-slice and the management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice can utilize the received information and configure the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice respectively, connection of the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice is facilitated, circulation of data among sub-slices of different domains is realized, and overall service quality of the sub-slice network is facilitated to be improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the management service consumer sends an interface object, the interface object including the network identification and the first gateway information, the interface object being associated with an interface of a user plane network element of the core network sub-slice.

In one possible implementation, the interface object is ep_transport.

In one possible implementation, the network identification is a logicalterface contained by ep_transport.

In one possible implementation, the first gateway information is the nextHopInfo-CN contained by the ep_transport.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the first gateway information and the network identification are contained in the interface object associated with the interface of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice, and the interface object is sent to the management service provider of the core network sub-slice, so that the determination of the configuration object of the network identification is facilitated, and the management service provider of the core network sub-slice is facilitated to select different configuration schemes according to the deployment condition of the sub-slice to configure the interface of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice or the interface of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice, and the connection of the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice is realized.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the management service consumer sends a quality of service QoS mapping relation between a QoS identifier of the core network sub-slice and a QoS identifier of the bearer network sub-slice to a management service provider of the core network sub-slice.

In one possible implementation, the QoS identification of the core network subslice is described by 5 QI.

In one possible implementation, the QoS identification of the bearer network subslice is described by DSCP.

In one possible implementation, the QoS mapping relationship is the mapping relationship between the 5QI and DSCP, and is denoted by 5QI dsccpapping.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the QoS mapping relation between the QoS identification of the core network sub-slice and the QoS identification of the bearing network sub-slice is sent to the management service provider of the core network sub-slice by the management service consumer, so that the information such as the priority, the packet delay budget, the packet error rate and the like of the sub-slice service in the core network sub-slice is favorably mapped to the bearing network sub-slice, the processing of the service parameters such as the consistent priority and the delay and the like of the sub-slice service in the sub-slices in different domains is favorably realized, the same service quality is favorably ensured when data is transmitted in the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice, the management of the sub-slice service is favorably realized, the service quality of the sub-slice service is favorably improved, and the use experience of sub-slice service users is favorably improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the management service consumer sends an interface object, the interface object including the QoS mapping relation, the interface object being associated with an interface of a user plane network element of the core network subslice.

In one possible implementation, the interface object is ep_transport.

In one possible implementation, the QoS mapping relationship is 5 qidsccpm application contained in ep_transport.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the QoS mapping relation is contained in the interface object associated with the interface of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice, and the QoS mapping relation can be sent to the management service provider of the core network sub-slice through sending the interface object. The core network sub-slice management service provider can determine the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice by using the interface object, so that the QoS mapping relation is configured on the user plane, the QoS mapping relation is well defined when the slice is created, the QoS mapping relation corresponding to the slice is well configured to the corresponding slice, the information such as the priority, the packet delay budget, the packet error rate and the like of the sub-slice service in the core network sub-slice is well mapped to the bearing network sub-slice, the processing of service parameters such as the consistent priority, the delay and the like of the sub-slice service on the sub-slices in different domains is well facilitated, the management of the sub-slice service is well facilitated, the service quality of the sub-slice service is well improved, and the use experience of the sub-slice service user is well facilitated.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the management service consumer sends configuration information including: network identification, first gateway information and second gateway information.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the network identification, the first gateway information and the second gateway information are all contained in the configuration information. The management service consumer can respectively send configuration information to the management service provider of the core network sub-slice and the management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice, and the management service providers of the sub-slices of different domains do not need to be distinguished, so that the efficiency of information sending of the management service consumer is improved, and the efficiency of interconnection of the sub-slices of different domains is improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, before sending the QoS mapping relation, the management service consumer obtains information indicating that the core network subslice and the bearer network subslice are connected to be completed.

In one possible implementation, a management service consumer obtains an indication of core network subslice deployment completion from a management service provider of the core network subslice, thereby determining that the core network subslice is complete in connection with the carrier network subslice.

In one possible implementation, a management service consumer obtains an indication of completion of deployment of a bearer network sub-slice from a management service provider of the bearer network sub-slice, thereby determining that a core network sub-slice is complete with a bearer network sub-slice connection.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, after the management service consumer obtains the information indicating the completion of core network sub-slice deployment, the QoS mapping relation is sent. The method is beneficial to reducing the occurrence probability of the situation that the QoS mapping relation is deployed when the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice are not connected, is beneficial to realizing the configuration of the QoS mapping relation on the user plane network element or the session management network element of the core network sub-slice, and is beneficial to improving the deployment efficiency of the QoS mapping relation on the core network sub-slice.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method for transmitting information, which may be performed by a management service provider of a core network sub-slice, or may be performed by a chip or a circuit of the management service provider for the core network sub-slice, which is not limited in this application, and for convenience of description, will be described below with an example performed by the management service provider of the core network sub-slice.

The method comprises the following steps:

The management service provider of the core network sub-slice receives a network identifier and first gateway information, wherein the first gateway information is used for indicating a next-hop gateway of the core network sub-slice, and the network identifier is used for indicating network information configured in the core network sub-slice;

the core network subslice management service provider configures the network information for the core network subslice.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the management service provider of the core network sub-slice receives the network identification and the first gateway information, configures the network information indicated by the network identification for the core network sub-slice, is beneficial to connection of the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice, and realizes data circulation among the sub-slices in different domains.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, configuring the network information for the core network sub-slice includes: configuring the network information on a first port of a next hop gateway of a core network sub-slice; or,

and creating or modifying the network of the user plane network element according to the VNF information and the network identifier of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice.

In one possible implementation manner, the management service provider of the core network sub-slice determines VNF information of the user plane network element according to the sub-slice identifier of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice, and the management service provider of the core network sub-slice requests to create or modify the network of the user plane network element from the MANO, so as to configure the network information to the user plane network element.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the network information indicated by the network identifier can be configured on the first port of the next hop gateway of the core network sub-slice, or the network of the user plane network element can be created or modified according to the VNF information of the user plane network element, so that the configuration object of the network information indicated by the network identifier is defined, the connection between the user plane network element of the core network with different deployment and the bearing network sub-slice is facilitated, and the data circulation among the sub-slices of different domains is realized.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the core network subslice management service provider receives an interface object, the interface object including a network identification and first gateway information, the interface object being associated with an interface of a user plane network element of the core network subslice.

In one possible implementation, the interface object is ep_transport.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the first gateway information and the network identification are contained in the interface object associated with the interface of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice, and the management service provider of the core network sub-slice receives the interface object, so that the management service provider of the core network sub-slice is beneficial to selecting different configuration schemes according to the deployment condition of the sub-slice to configure the interface of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice or the user plane network element of the sub-slice, and the connection of the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice is realized.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the network identifier and the first gateway information are included in configuration information, where the configuration information further includes second gateway information, where the second gateway information is used to indicate a next hop gateway carrying a sub-slice of the network;

receiving network identification and first gateway information, including: the configuration information is received.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the network identification and the first gateway information are contained in the configuration information. After the core network management service provider receives the configuration information, the network identification and the first gateway information for configuring the core network sub-slices in the configuration information are identified, so that the core network sub-slices are configured, the connection of the core network sub-slices and the bearing network sub-slices is realized, and the efficiency of interconnection of the sub-slices in different domains is improved.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the management service provider of the core network sub-slice receives a QoS mapping relationship, where the QoS mapping relationship is a mapping relationship between a QoS identifier of the core network sub-slice and a QoS identifier of the bearer network sub-slice.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the management service provider of the core network sub-slice receives the QoS mapping relation between the QoS identification of the core network sub-slice and the QoS identification of the bearing network sub-slice, can further configure the QoS mapping relation for the core network sub-slice, is beneficial to mapping the information such as the priority, the packet delay budget, the packet error rate and the like of the sub-slice service in the core network sub-slice to the bearing network sub-slice, is beneficial to processing service parameters such as the consistent priority and the delay on the sub-slices in different domains, is beneficial to ensuring that the data has the same service quality when transmitted on the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice, is beneficial to managing the sub-slice service, is beneficial to improving the service quality of the sub-slice, and is beneficial to improving the use experience of sub-slice service users.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the management service provider of the core network subslice configures the QoS mapping relationship for the core network subslice.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the QoS mapping relation is configured to the core network sub-slice by the management service provider of the core network sub-slice, so that the priority, packet delay budget, packet error rate and other information of sub-slice service in the core network sub-slice are favorably mapped to the bearing network sub-slice, the processing of service parameters such as consistent priority and delay on sub-slices in different domains of the sub-slice service is favorably realized, the management of the sub-slice service is favorably realized, and the use experience of sub-slice service users is favorably improved.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the management service provider of the core network sub-slice configures the QoS mapping relationship at a user plane network element or a session management network element, where the session management network element is configured to manage the user plane network element.

It should be understood that the session management network element is configured to manage the transceiving of the user plane network element data. When the QoS mapping relationship is configured to the session management network element, the session management network element may enable data received and transmitted by the user plane network element to satisfy the QoS mapping relationship according to the QoS mapping relationship.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the QoS mapping relation can be configured on the user plane network element or session management network element of the core network sub-slice, the core network sub-slice after the QoS mapping relation configuration is completed can map the priority, packet delay budget, packet error rate and other information of different sub-slice services onto the bearing network sub-slice, so that the sub-slice services can be favorably processed on the sub-slices of different domains by consistent priority, delay and other service parameters, the management of the sub-slice services is facilitated, and the use experience of sub-slice service users is favorably improved.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the core network subslice management service provider receives an interface object, the interface object including the QoS mapping relationship, the interface object being associated with an interface of a user plane network element of the core network subslice.

In one possible implementation, the interface object is ep_transport.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the QoS mapping relation is contained in the interface object associated with the interface of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice, and the management service provider of the core network sub-slice can receive the interface object to acquire the QoS mapping relation. The user plane network element of the core network sub-slice can be determined by utilizing the interface object, and the QoS mapping relation is configured on the user plane, so that the priority, packet delay budget, packet error rate and other information of the sub-slice service in the core network sub-slice can be mapped to the bearing network sub-slice, the processing of service parameters such as consistent priority, delay and the like of the sub-slice service on the sub-slices in different domains can be facilitated, the issuing of the QoS mapping relation during the creation of the slice can be facilitated, the configuration of the QoS mapping relation corresponding to the slice to the corresponding slice can be facilitated, the management of the sub-slice service can be facilitated, and the use experience of sub-slice service users can be improved.

In a third aspect, a method for transmitting information is provided, where the method may be performed by a management service provider that carries a network sub-slice, or may also be performed by a chip or a circuit of the management service provider that carries a network sub-slice, and this application is not limited thereto, and for convenience of description, the method is described below with an example that is performed by the management service provider that carries a network sub-slice.

The method comprises the following steps:

the management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice receives a network identifier and second gateway information, wherein the second gateway information is used for indicating a next-hop gateway of the bearing network sub-slice, and the network identifier is used for indicating network information configured in the bearing network sub-slice;

the management service provider of the bearer network sub-slice configures the network information for the bearer network sub-slice.

According to the technical scheme, the management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice receives the network identification and the second gateway information, configures the network information indicated by the network identification for the bearing network sub-slice, is beneficial to connection of the bearing network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice, and realizes data circulation among the sub-slices in different domains.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, configuring the network information for the bearer network sub-slice includes: the network information is configured on a second port of the next hop gateway carrying the network sub-slice.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the network information indicated by the network identification can be configured on the second port of the next hop gateway carrying the network sub-slice, so that connection of the carrying network sub-slice and the carrying network sub-slice is facilitated, and data circulation among sub-slices in different domains is realized.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the management service provider carrying the network sub-slice receives configuration information, where the configuration information includes a network identifier, second gateway information, and first gateway information, where the first gateway information is used to indicate a next hop gateway of the core network sub-slice.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the network identification and the second gateway information are contained in the configuration information. After the carrier network management service provider receives the configuration information, the network identifier and the second gateway information for carrying the configuration of the network sub-slices in the configuration information are identified, so that the carrying network sub-slices are configured, the connection between the core network sub-slices and the carrying network sub-slices is realized, and the efficiency of interconnection of the sub-slices in different domains is improved.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the network identification, the first gateway information and the second gateway information are contained in the configuration information, and the management service provider carrying the network sub-slice can acquire the network identification and the second gateway information by receiving the configuration information, so that the processing efficiency of the slice service is improved.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method of information transmission, comprising:

the management service consumer sends a network identifier and first gateway information to a management service provider of the core network sub-slice, wherein the first gateway information is used for indicating a next hop gateway of the core network sub-slice;

the management service consumer sends a network identification and second gateway information to a management service provider carrying the network sub-slice, the second gateway information being used to indicate a next hop gateway carrying the network sub-slice, the network identification being used to indicate network information configured for the core network sub-slice and the carrier network sub-slice.

The core network sub-slice management network element configures the core network sub-slice according to the network identification and the first gateway information;

and the management service provider root of the bearing network sub-slice configures the bearing network sub-slice according to the network identification and the second gateway information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the management service consumer sends a QoS mapping relationship to the core network sub-slice, where the QoS mapping relationship is a mapping relationship between a QoS identifier of the core network sub-slice and a QoS identifier of the bearer network sub-slice;

the management service provider of the core network subslice configures QoS mapping relationships for the core network subslice.

In a fifth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a management service consumer, a management service provider of a core network sub-slice and a management service provider of a carrier network sub-slice, wherein the management service consumer is configured to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof, the management service provider of the core network sub-slice is configured to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof, and the management service provider of the carrier network sub-slice is configured to perform the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising:

and a communication module: for sending a network identification and first gateway information to a management service provider of the core network sub-slice, the first gateway information being for indicating a next hop gateway of the core network sub-slice.

The communication module is also for: and sending a network identifier and second gateway information to a management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice, wherein the second gateway information is used for indicating a next-hop gateway of the bearing network sub-slice, and the network identifier is used for indicating network information configured for the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the communication module is further configured to: and sending the interface object, wherein the interface object comprises a network identifier and first gateway information, and the interface object is associated with an interface of a user plane network element of the core network sub-slice.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the communication module is further configured to: and sending the QoS mapping relation to the core network sub-slice, wherein the QoS mapping relation is the mapping relation between the QoS identification of the core network sub-slice and the QoS identification of the bearing network sub-slice.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the communication module is further configured to: an interface object is sent, the interface object including a QoS mapping relationship.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the communication module is further configured to: transmitting the configuration information to a management service provider of the core network sub-slice; the method comprises the steps of,

and sending the configuration information to a management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice, wherein the configuration information comprises a network identifier, first gateway information and second gateway information.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the communication apparatus further includes:

the processing module is used for: and the method is used for acquiring information indicating that the connection of the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice is completed before the QoS mapping relation is transmitted.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising:

and the communication module is used for receiving a network identifier and first gateway information, wherein the first gateway information is used for indicating a next-hop gateway of the core network sub-slice, and the network identifier is used for indicating the network information configured in the core network sub-slice.

The processing module is used for: for configuring the network information for core network subslices.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the processing module is further configured to: configuring the network information on a first port of a next hop gateway of a core network sub-slice; the method comprises the steps of,

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the communication module is further configured to: the interface object is received, the interface object including a network identification and first gateway information.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the communication module is further configured to: and receiving a QoS mapping relation, wherein the QoS mapping relation is the mapping relation between the QoS identification of the core network sub-slice and the QoS identification of the bearing network sub-slice.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the processing module is further configured to: the QoS mapping relationship is configured for the core network subslice.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the processing module is further configured to: the QoS mapping relation is configured in a user plane network element or a session management network element, and the session management network element is used for managing the user plane network element.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the communication module is further configured to: an interface object is received, the interface object including a QoS mapping relationship.

An eighth aspect provides a communication apparatus, comprising:

and the communication module is used for receiving a network identifier and second gateway information, the second gateway information is used for indicating a next-hop gateway of the bearing network sub-slice, and the network identifier is used for indicating the network information configured in the bearing network sub-slice.

And the processing module is used for configuring the network information for the bearing network sub-slice.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the processing module is further configured to: the network information is configured on a second port of the next hop gateway carrying the network sub-slice.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the communication module is further configured to: receiving the configuration information, the configuration information comprising: network identification, first gateway information and second gateway information.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising at least one processor coupled with at least one memory, the at least one memory for storing a computer program or instructions, the at least one processor for invoking and running the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, the at least one memory being for storing a computer program or instructions, the at least one processor being for invoking and running the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising at least one processor coupled with at least one memory, the at least one memory for storing a computer program or instructions, the at least one processor for invoking and running the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, causing the communication device to perform the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method as in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

In a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method as in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

In a fourteenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method as in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

In a fifteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method as in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

In a sixteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method as in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

In a seventeenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the method as in the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof to be performed.

In an eighteenth aspect, there is provided a chip comprising a processor for reading instructions stored in a memory, which when executed by the processor, cause the chip to perform the method of the first aspect.

In a nineteenth aspect, there is provided a chip comprising a processor for reading instructions stored in a memory, which when executed by the processor causes the chip to perform the method of the second aspect.

In a twentieth aspect, there is provided a chip comprising a processor for reading instructions stored in a memory, which when executed by the processor, cause the chip to perform the method of the third aspect.

With respect to operations such as transmitting, transmitting and acquiring/receiving, etc., which are referred to by a processor, unless otherwise specified, or if not contradicted by actual or inherent logic in the relevant description, operations such as outputting and receiving, inputting, etc., by the processor are more generally understood as being operations such as transmitting, transmitting and receiving, etc., rather than directly by radio frequency circuitry and antennas.

In implementation, the processor may be a processor dedicated to performing the methods, or may be a processor that executes computer instructions in a memory to perform the methods, e.g., a general purpose processor. The memory may be a non-transitory (non-transitory) memory, such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately provided on different chips, and the type of the memory and the manner of providing the memory and the processor are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network slice framework suitable for use in embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a method of constructing a network slice suitable for use in embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a method for information transmission according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a process for configuring core network subslices according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of another method for information transmission according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of another method for information transmission according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of another method for information transmission according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of another method for information transmission according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of another method for information transmission according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: global system for mobile communications (global system of mobile communication, GSM), code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA) system, wideband code division multiple access (wideband code division multiple access, WCDMA) system, general packet radio service (general packet radio service, GPRS), long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), universal mobile telecommunications system (universal mobile telecommunication system, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMAX) communication system, future fifth generation (5th generation,5G) system, or New Radio (NR), etc.

The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a user device, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user apparatus. The terminal device may also be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN), etc., as the embodiments of the application are not limited in this respect.

The network device in this embodiment of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, where the network device may be a base station (base transceiver station, BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (global system of mobile communication, GSM) or code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA), may also be a base station (NodeB, NB) in a wideband code division multiple access (wideband code division multiple access, WCDMA) system, may also be an evolved base station (evolutional NodeB, eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, may also be a wireless controller in a cloud wireless access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario, or the network device may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle device, a wearable device, a network device in a future 5G network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network, etc., which is not limited in this application.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network slice framework applied to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 1, the end-to-end network slice framework includes two parts, a network slice management domain and a network slice traffic domain. The respective portions referred to in fig. 1 are described below.

1. The communication service management network element is responsible for generating an allocation request of a new network slice example, mainly provides functions and services for a client side, and provides management of network slice commodity information, such as a commodity catalog.

In a 5G communication system, the communication service management service provider may be a communication service management function (communication service management function, CSMF) network element. In future communication systems, the communication service management service provider may still be a CSMF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

2. The slice management service provider is mainly responsible for the management of end-to-end network slices, including life cycle management, performance management, fault monitoring and the like, and for example, the network slice service requirements are decomposed into sub-domain slice sub-network service requirements of the wireless/bearing/core network, and issued, so that the new construction of network slice examples is completed.

In a 5G communication system, the slice management service provider may be a network slice management function (network slice management function, NSMF) network element. In future communication systems, the slice management service provider may still be an NSMF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

3. The sub-slice management service provider is responsible for life cycle management, performance management, fault monitoring and the like of slice subnets of all subzones and specifically comprises an access network sub-slice management service provider, a bearing network sub-slice management service provider and a core network sub-slice management service provider.

In a 5G communication system, the subslice management service provider may be a network subslice management function (network slice subset management function, NSSMF) network element. In future communication systems, the sub-slice management service provider may still be an NSSMF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

4. The access network sub-slice management service provider is responsible for the access of terminal equipment, the allocation of wireless resources, the selection of core network elements and the like.

In a 5G communication system, the access network subslice management service provider may be AN access network subslice management function (AN-NSSMF) network element. In future communication systems, the access network sub-slice management service provider may still be AN-NSSMF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

5. A bearer network sub-slice management service provider for managing creation of a bearer network sub-slice that may be used to connect an access network sub-slice with a core network sub-slice.

In a 5G communication system, the carrier network subslice management service provider may be a carrier network subslice management function (transport network-network slice subset management function, TN-NSSMF) network element. In future communication systems, the carrier network sub-slice management service provider may still be a TN-NSSMF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

6. The core network sub-slice management service provider is responsible for session management of the terminal equipment, including registration, session establishment, roaming and the like of the terminal equipment.

In a 5G communication system, the core network subslice management service provider may be a core network subslice management function (CN-NSSMF) network element. In future communication systems, the core network subslice management service provider may still be a CN-NSSMF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

7. Terminal equipment (terminal equipment): the mobile user can provide basic computing capability and storage capability, display a service window to the user and accept user operation input. May include various handheld devices, vehicle mount devices, wearable devices, computing devices, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, as well as various forms of terminals, mobile Stations (MSs), terminals, user Equipment (UEs), soft terminals, etc. Such as water meters, electricity meters, sensors, etc.

8. (radio) access network (radio access network, (R) AN): the system is used for providing network access functions for authorized terminal equipment in a specific area, and can use transmission tunnels with different qualities according to the level of the terminal equipment, the service requirements and the like.

The (R) AN can manage radio resources, provide access services for the terminal device, and further complete forwarding of control signals and terminal device data between the terminal device and the core network, and the (R) AN network element can also be understood as a base station in a conventional network.

In a 5G communication system, the access network may be a (R) AN. In future communication systems, the access network may still be the (R) AN, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

9. Bearer network (transport network, TN): also called transmission network, transport network, bearer network, transport network or transport network, is responsible for connecting the access network with the core network for transmitting data.

In a 5G communication system, the carrier network may be a TN. In future communication systems, the carrier network may still be a TN, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

10. Core Network (CN): also called core network, is responsible for managing the data transmitted by the bearer network.

In a 5G communication system, the core network may be a CN. In future communication systems, the core network may still be a CN, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

11. Data Network (DN): the data network for providing business services for users, the client is generally located in the UE, and the server is located in the data network. The data network may be a private network, such as a local area network, or an external network not under the control of an operator, such as the Internet, or a proprietary network co-deployed by an operator, such as a network providing Internet protocol (Internet protocol, IP) multimedia system (IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS) services.

In a 5G communication system, the data network may be a DN. In future communication systems, the data network may still be a DN, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

It will be appreciated that the network elements or functions described above may be either network elements in a hardware device, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The network elements or functions may be divided into one or more services, and further, services that exist independently of the network functions may also occur.

Further, the NSMF network element is abbreviated as NSMF, and the NSSMF network element is abbreviated as NSSMF. That is, NSMF described later in this application may be replaced with a slice management network element, and NSSMF may be replaced with a sub-slice management network element.

Fig. 2 shows an application scenario of the method for information transmission provided in the present application.

As shown in fig. 2, in the slice deployment process, if the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice is deployed in the data center by adopting virtualization, the user plane network element can be connected with the external network only by the gateway 1 or the gateway 2 of the core network sub-slice, and the connection between the core network sub-slice and the access network sub-slice can be realized by the gateway 1 or the gateway 2 and then the gateway 3 due to the fact that the gateway 3 is also arranged for carrying the core network sub-slice.

The method of constructing a network slice as applied to embodiments of the present application is further described below in conjunction with fig. 3.

Network Slice (NS) is a way of networking on demand, and allows operators to separate multiple virtual end-to-end networks on a unified infrastructure, where each network slice is logically isolated from a radio access network to a bearer network and then to a core network to adapt to various types of applications. In a network slice, at least three parts of an access network sub-slice, a carrier network sub-slice and a core network sub-slice can be divided.

Fig. 3 shows a method for constructing a network slice, in which the functional entities involved in the process mainly include: communication service management network elements, slice management network elements, sub-slice management network elements, and management and orchestration (management and orchestration, MANO).

A user subscribes a communication service in a portal;

the communication service management network element completes the conversion from the user's requirement to a service-level agreement (SLA);

the slice management network element selects proper sub slices according to the SLA;

the sub-slice management network element is responsible for completing resource application of the sub-slice and managing the life cycle of the sub-slice;

MANO completes the deployment of each sub-slice and its dependent network, computing, storage resources over a network function virtualization infrastructure (network functions virtualization infrastructure, NFVI);

the management system will reverse inform the user that the slice deployment is complete and that communication services can be used. Subsequent users can make optimal adjustments to the slices.

Before describing embodiments of the present application, some terms of art that may be used in the following embodiments will be explained first.

Quality of service (quality of service, qoS): refers to the probability of meeting a given service contract in the field of packet switched networks, or to the probability of a packet passing between two points in the network. QoS is a control mechanism that provides for employing correspondingly different priorities for different users or different data flows, or ensuring that the performance of the data reaches a certain level, depending on the requirements of the application. The guarantee of QoS is important for networks with limited capacity, in particular for streaming multimedia applications.

A service-level agreement (SLA), also known as service-level agreement, is a formal commitment defined between a service provider and a customer. The service provider and the served user have specifically agreed upon the quality, availability and liability of the service index.

Differential service code point (differentiated services code point, DSCP): a QoS classification standard prioritizes by encoding values using 6 bits used and 2 bits unused in a class of service (TOS) identification byte of each packet IP header. There are two expressions of DSCP values, digital form and keyword form. In digital form, DSCP contains 6 bits, the decimal interval is 0-63, and 64 priorities can be defined. In the key form, DSCP values are called per-hop behavir (PHB), and there are three types of PHBs that have been defined so far, namely best effort, guaranteed forwarding, and accelerated forwarding, respectively.

Element network slice selection assistance information (single-network slice selection assistance information, S-nsai): the method is used for identifying a network slice and consists of a slice/service type and a slice differentiator.

Gateway (GW): when receiving a request sent from a client, the gateway can process the request as the source server having the resource.

Network slice instance (network slice instance, NSI): is a temporary logical network, spanning multiple technology domains, comprising: group network, storage, operation and connection relationship.

Network element management system (element management system, EMS): refers to a system that manages one or more telecommunications network elements of a particular type.

Network slice subnet instance proprietary name (network slice subnet instance distinguished name, NSSIDN): unique identification of NSSI in the system.

Virtual local area network (virtual local area network, VLAN): the network management technology is constructed in the local area network switching technology, so that the network management can effectively dispatch the packets coming in and going out of the local area network to the correct coming in and going out ports through the control switch, the logical grouping management of the devices in the local area networks of different entities is realized, the congestion problem caused by excessive useless packets when the local area network circulates a large amount of data is reduced, and the information security guarantee of the local area network is improved.

Virtual network function (virtualized network function, VNF): is a software application that provides network functions such as directory services, routers, firewalls, load balancers, etc. The virtual network functions are deployed in the form of virtual machines, typically the next step in which the telecommunications provider digitizes from the physical network functions of conventional network devices on proprietary hardware.

Network function virtualization (network function virtualization, NFV) management and orchestration is an architectural framework for managing and orchestrating VNFs and other software components, comprising three main functional modules: NFV orchestrator, VNF manager, and virtualization infrastructure manager.

N3 interface (ep_n3): is AN interface between (R) AN and CN user plane network element, and is mainly used for transmitting uplink and downlink user plane data between (R) AN and user plane network element.

In a 5G communication system, the interface may be an N3 interface. In future communication systems, the interface may still be an N3 interface, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

Guaranteed bit rate (guaranteed bit rate, GBR): refers to a minimum bit rate that the system guarantees for a bearer, and the corresponding bit rate can be maintained even in case of network resources shortage.

Push To Talk (PTT): also known as push-to-talk, is a communication mode in which the trusted state is switched by depressing a switch, and is commonly used in communication channels using half duplex modes, including two-way radio systems.

The following describes how the method for transmitting information provided in the embodiment of the present application achieves connection of the subnet slices of different domains with reference to fig. 4.

S110: the management service consumer sends a network identification and first gateway information.

In some embodiments, the first gateway information is used to indicate a next hop gateway for a core network sub-slice.

In one embodiment, the first gateway information is next hop gateway information (nexthoplnfo-CN) of a core network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the network identification is used to indicate network information configured at the core network subslice.

In some embodiments, the first gateway information includes an IP address of a next-hop gateway of the core network sub-slice and an egress port number of the next-hop gateway of the core network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the network identification information is a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) Identification (ID).

In some embodiments, the management service consumer is NSSMF.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer is an NSMF.

The management service consumer sends the network identifier and the first gateway information to the management service provider of the core network sub-slice, and the management service provider of the core network sub-slice can configure the core network sub-slice by using the received information, so that connection of the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice is facilitated, and circulation of data among sub-slices in different domains is realized.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer sends a sub-slice service requirement for indicating, creating, and assigning a sub-slice identity to the sub-slice before sending the network identity and the first gateway information.

Illustratively, the management service consumer sends a sub-slice traffic requirement to the NSSMF for the NSMF, instructing the NSSMF to create a sub-slice and assigning a sub-slice identification to the newly created sub-slice.

Illustratively, the management service consumer is NSSMF, which sends sub-slice service requirements to the core network sub-slice management network element, instructs the core network sub-slice management network element to create a core network sub-slice and assigns a sub-slice identification to the newly created core network sub-slice.

It should be appreciated that the subslice identification is used to identify the subslice and the network resources that the subslice contains.

For example, a subslice identification may be used to identify the core network subslice that the subslice contains.

Illustratively, the subslice identification may be used to identify user plane network elements in a core network subslice that the subslice contains.

Illustratively, the subslice identification may be used to identify the N3 interface of the user plane network element in the core network subslice that the subslice contains.

In some embodiments, the subslice identification is NSSIDN.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer transmits the QoS mapping after transmitting the network identification and the first gateway information.

The management service consumer sends the QoS mapping relation between the QoS identification of the core network sub-slice and the QoS identification of the bearing network sub-slice to the management service provider of the core network sub-slice, which is beneficial to mapping the information such as the priority, the packet delay budget, the packet error rate and the like of the sub-slice service in the core network sub-slice to the bearing network sub-slice, is beneficial to processing service parameters such as consistent priority and delay on the sub-slices in different domains, is beneficial to ensuring that the data has the same service quality when transmitted on the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice, is beneficial to managing the sub-slice service, is beneficial to improving the service quality of the sub-slice service, and is beneficial to improving the use experience of sub-slice service users.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer obtains information indicating that the core network subslice and bearer network subslice connection is complete before sending the QoS mapping relationship.

After obtaining information indicating that core network sub-slice deployment is completed, the management service consumer transmits the QoS mapping relation. The method is beneficial to reducing the occurrence probability of the situation that the QoS mapping relation is deployed when the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice are not connected, is beneficial to realizing the configuration of the QoS mapping relation on the user plane network element or the session management network element of the core network sub-slice, and is beneficial to improving the deployment efficiency of the QoS mapping relation on the core network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the QoS mapping is a mapping between QoS identities of core network subslices and QoS identities of bearer network subslices.

In one embodiment, the QoS identification of the core network subslice is described by a 5G quality identification (5G quality identity,5QI) and the QoS identification of the bearer network subslice is described by a differential service code point DSCP.

In one embodiment, the QoS mapping relationship is a 5QIDSCP mapping (5 qidscm applying).

Table one is a manner of describing different QoS by using 5QI applicable to the present embodiment, and different 5QI values may represent different service types in the core network, corresponding to different transmission requirements (e.g. packet delay, packet error rate).

TABLE 5 relation of QI values to service types

In some embodiments, the management service consumer sends an interface object to the core network subslice management service provider, the interface object comprising: network identification and first gateway information, the interface object being associated with an interface of a user plane network element of a core network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer sends an interface object to the core network subslice management service provider, the interface object comprising a QoS mapping relationship, the interface object being associated with an interface of a user plane network element of the core network subslice.

In one embodiment, the interface of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice is an N3 interface, the interface object associated with the N3 interface is an endpoint Transport object (ep_transport), the network identifier is logical interface information (logicalinterface info) contained in the ep_transport, and the first gateway information is nexthoplnfo-CN contained in the ep_transport.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer sends configuration information to the core network subslice management service provider, the configuration information comprising: the network identification, the first gateway information and the second gateway information, the second gateway information is used for indicating a next hop gateway carrying the sub-slice of the network.

S120: the management service provider of the core network sub-slice receives the network identification and the first gateway information, and configures network information indicated by the network identification for the core network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the management service provider of the core network sub-slice configures network information indicated by the network identification on a first port of a next hop gateway of the core network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the management service provider of the core network sub-slice creates or modifies the network of the user plane network element according to the VNF information of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice and the network information indicated by the network identification.

For example, when the user plane network element has not created a network, the management service provider of the core network sub-slice creates a network including the network information for the user plane network element according to the VNF information of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice and the network information indicated by the network identifier.

For example, when the user plane network element has created a network, the management service provider of the core network sub-slice modifies the network that the user plane network element has created into a network that includes the network information according to the VNF information of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice and the network information indicated by the network identifier.

The management service provider of the core network sub-slice configures network information indicated by the network identifier on a first port of a next hop gateway of the core network sub-slice or creates or modifies a network of the user plane network element according to the VNF information of the user plane network element, so that a configuration object of the network information indicated by the network identifier is defined, connection between the user plane network element of the core network with different deployment and the bearing network sub-slice is facilitated, and data circulation among the sub-slices of different domains is realized.

In some embodiments, the core network subslice management service provider receives a QoS mapping relationship between QoS identities of the core network subslices and QoS identities of the bearer network subslices.

In some embodiments, the management service provider of the core network subslice configures QoS mapping relationships at user plane network elements of the core network subslice.

In some embodiments, the management service provider of the core network subslice configures QoS mapping relationships at session management network elements of the core network subslice.

In some embodiments, the element management system EMS configures QoS mapping relationships at session management elements of core network sub-slices.

In some embodiments, a management service provider of a core network subslice receives an interface object comprising: network identification and first gateway information.

In some embodiments, a management service provider of a core network subslice receives an interface object comprising: network identification, first gateway information and QoS mapping relation.

The first gateway information and the network identification are contained in an interface object associated with an interface of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice, and the interface object is received by a management service provider of the core network sub-slice, so that the management service provider of the core network sub-slice is beneficial to selecting different configuration schemes according to deployment conditions of the sub-slice to configure the interface of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice or the user plane network element of the sub-slice, and connection of the core network sub-slice and the carrier network sub-slice is realized.

In some embodiments, a management service provider of a core network subslice receives configuration information comprising: network identification, first gateway information and second gateway information.

S130: the management service consumer sends the network identification and the second gateway information.

In some embodiments, the second gateway information is used to indicate a next hop gateway carrying a sub-slice of the network.

In one embodiment, the second gateway information is next hop gateway information (nexthoplnfo-TN) carrying the network sub-slices.

In some embodiments, the network identification is used to indicate network information configured at the bearer network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the second gateway information includes a next hop gateway IP address carrying the network sub-slice and an egress port number of the next hop gateway carrying the network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer is NSSMF.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer is an NSMF.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer sends a sub-slice service requirement for indicating, creating, and assigning a sub-slice identity to the sub-slice before sending the network identity and the second gateway information.

Illustratively, the management service consumer sends a sub-slice service requirement to the NSSMF for the NSMF, instructs the NSSMF to create a sub-slice, and assigns a sub-slice identification to the newly created sub-slice.

Illustratively, the management service consumer is NSSMF, which sends a sub-slice service requirement to the carrier network sub-slice management network element, instructs the carrier network sub-slice management network element to create a sub-slice, and assigns a sub-slice identifier to the newly created sub-slice.

Illustratively, a subslice identification may be used to identify the carrier web subslice that the subslice contains.

The management service consumer sends the network identifier and the second gateway information to the management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice, and the management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice can configure the bearing network sub-slice by using the received information, so that connection of the core network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice is facilitated, and circulation of data among sub-slices in different domains is realized.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer sends configuration information to the carrier network subslice management service provider, the configuration information comprising: network identification, first gateway information and second gateway information.

S140: and the management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice receives the network identification and the second gateway information and configures network information indicated by the network identification for the bearing network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, a management service provider carrying a network sub-slice configures network information indicated by a network identification on a first port of a next hop gateway carrying the network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, a management service provider carrying a network sub-slice receives configuration information comprising: network identification, first gateway information and second gateway information.

The management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice receives the network identification and the second gateway information, configures the network information indicated by the network identification for the bearing network sub-slice, is beneficial to the connection of the bearing network sub-slice and the bearing network sub-slice, and realizes the circulation of data among the sub-slices in different domains.

The method for transmitting information provided in the embodiment of the present application is described above with reference to fig. 4, and the configuration procedure of the core network sub-slice by the management service provider of the core network sub-slice is described in detail below with reference to fig. 5.

S121: information sent by the management service consumer is received.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer is an NSMF, and the core network subslice management service provider receives configuration information sent by the NSMF, the configuration information comprising: network identification, first gateway information and second gateway information.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer is NSSMF, and the core network subslice management service provider receives an interface object sent by NSSMF, the interface object comprising: network identification and first gateway information.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer is NSSMF, and the core network subslice management service provider receives an interface object sent by NSSMF, the interface object comprising: network identification, first gateway information and QoS mapping relation.

In some embodiments, the management service consumer is NSSMF and the core network subslice management service provider receives one or more of a network identification, first gateway information, and QoS mapping relationship sent by NSSMF.

S122: a configuration object is determined.

In some embodiments, the core network subslice management service provider determines the first port of the core network subslice as a configuration object from the first gateway information contained in the configuration information.

In some embodiments, the core network subslice management service provider determines the first port of the core network subslice as a configuration object based on the first gateway information contained in the interface object.

In some embodiments, the core network subslice management service provider determines the first port of the core network subslice as a configuration object from the first gateway information.

In some embodiments, the core network subslice management service provider determines, from the interface object, a user plane network element of the core network subslice associated with the interface object as a configuration object.

S123: and configuring network information.

In some embodiments, the core network subslice management service provider configures network information at a first port of the core network subslice.

In some embodiments, the core network subslice management service provider determines VNF instance information for the user plane network element according to the subslice identification of the user plane network element. The creation or modification of the external network of the user plane network element is accomplished by the MANO using the network identification.

The configuration process of the core network sub-slice management service provider on the core network sub-slice is described above with reference to fig. 5, and the application of the information transmission method provided in the application in a specific scenario is described below with reference to fig. 6 to 10.

For brevity, the description of the following embodiments related to the same content as the embodiment shown in fig. 4 will not be repeated, and specific content may be referred to the corresponding description of the embodiment shown in fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an information transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application, where in an application scenario shown in fig. 6, a user plane network element of a core network slice subnet is deployed by virtualization, and the user plane network element of the core network slice subnet needs to first pass through a gateway of a Data Center (DC) to be connected to an external network. The management service consumer manages the network elements for the subslices.

S201: the slice management network element sends a slice subnet creation request to the sub-slice management network element.

S202: the subslice management network element creates a first subslice and assigns a subslice identification NSSI DN to the first subslice.

S203: the subslice management network element sends a subslice identification of the first subslice to the slice management network element.

S204: the slice management network element creates an interface object at the first sub-slice according to the sub-slice identification and associates the interface object to an interface of the user plane network element of the first sub-slice.

S205: the sub-slice management network element sends the network identification and the first gateway information to the core network sub-slice management network element.

In some embodiments, the subslice management network element transmits an interface object to the core network subslice management network element, the interface object containing the network identification and the first gateway information.

S206: the core network sub-slice management network element determines a first port of a next-hop gateway of the core network sub-slice according to the first gateway information.

S207: the core network sub-slice management network element configures network information indicated by the network identification for the first port.

S208: the sub-slice management network element sends the network identification and the second gateway information to the bearing network sub-slice management network element.

S209: and the bearing network sub-slice management network element determines a second port of a next-hop gateway of the bearing network sub-slice according to the second gateway information.

S210: the carrier network sub-slice management network element configures network information indicated by the network identification for the second port.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of another information transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application, where in the application scenario shown in fig. 7, a management service consumer manages a network element for a sub-slice. The core network sub-slice management network element creates or modifies the network of the user plane network element according to the VNF information and the network identifier of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice.

S301: the slice management network element sends a slice subnet creation request to the sub-slice management network element.

S302: the subslice management network element creates a first subslice and assigns a subslice identification NSSI DN to the first subslice.

S303: the subslice management network element sends a subslice identification of the first subslice to the slice management network element.

S304: the slice management network element creates an interface object at the first sub-slice according to the sub-slice identification and associates the interface object to the N3 interface of the user plane network element of the first sub-slice.

S305: the sub-slice management network element sends the network identification and the first gateway information to the core network sub-slice management network element.

S306: the core network sub-slice management network element determines a user plane network element of the core network sub-slice associated with the interface object according to the interface object.

S307: the network of user plane network elements of the core network sub-slice is created or modified.

In some embodiments, the core network sub-slice management network element determines VNF instance information of a user plane network element of the core network sub-slice according to the sub-slice identifier, and requests the MANO to create or modify a network of the user plane network element according to the received network identifier.

S308: the sub-slice management network element sends the network identification and the second gateway information to the bearing network sub-slice management network element.

S309: and the bearing network sub-slice management network element determines a second port of a next-hop gateway of the bearing network sub-slice according to the second gateway information.

S310: the carrier network sub-slice management network element configures network information indicated by the network identification for the second port.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of another information transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application, where in the application scenario shown in fig. 8, a user plane network element of a core network slice subnet is deployed by virtualization, and the user plane network element of the core network slice subnet needs to be connected to an external network through a gateway of a data center. The management service consumer manages the network elements for the subslices.

In order to enable the same QoS for data transmitted in different sub-network slices, the QoS mapping relationship needs to be configured after the sub-network slices establish a connection.

S401: the slice management network element sends a slice subnet creation request to the sub-slice management network element.

S402: the subslice management network element creates a first subslice and assigns a subslice identification NSSI DN to the first subslice.

S403: the subslice management network element sends a subslice identification of the first subslice to the slice management network element.

S404: the slice management network element creates an interface object at the first sub-slice according to the sub-slice identification and associates the interface object to the N3 interface of the user plane network element of the first sub-slice.

S405: the sub-slice management network element sends the interface object to the core network sub-slice management network element.

In some embodiments, the interface object contains a network identification, first gateway information, and QoS mapping.

S406: the core network sub-slice management network element determines a first port of a next-hop gateway of the core network sub-slice according to first gateway information contained in the interface object.

S407: the core network sub-slice management network element configures network information indicated by the network identification for the first port.

S408: the sub-slice management network element sends the network identification and the second gateway information to the bearing network sub-slice management network element.

S409: and the bearing network sub-slice management network element determines a second port of a next-hop gateway of the bearing network sub-slice according to the second gateway information.

S410: the carrier network sub-slice management network element configures network information indicated by the network identification for the second port.

S411: the sub-slice management network element sends the NSSI DN of the interface object and the user plane network element associated with the interface object to the core network sub-slice management network element.

In some embodiments, the interface object contains a QoS mapping.

S412: the core network sub-slice management network element configures a QoS mapping relation contained in the interface object on the user plane network element or the session management network element.

It should be understood that the session management network element is configured to manage the transceiving of data on the user plane network element.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an information transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application, where in an application scenario shown in fig. 9, a user plane network element of a core network slice subnet is deployed by virtualization, and the user plane network element of the core network slice subnet needs to be connected to an external network through a gateway of a data center. The management service consumer manages the network element for the slice.

S501: the slice management network element sends a slice subnet creation request to the sub-slice management network element.

S502: the subslice management network element creates a first subslice and assigns a subslice identification NSSI DN to the first subslice.

S503: the subslice management network element sends a subslice identification of the first subslice to the slice management network element.

S504: the slice management network element creates an interface object at the first sub-slice according to the sub-slice identification and associates the interface object to the N3 interface of the user plane network element of the first sub-slice.

S505: the slice management network element sends the configuration information to the core network sub-slice management network element.

In some embodiments, the configuration information includes a network identification, first gateway information, and second gateway information.

S506: the core network sub-slice management network element determines a first port of a next hop gateway of the core network sub-slice according to the first gateway information in the configuration information.

S507: the core network sub-slice management network element configures network information indicated by the network identification for the first port.

S508: and the slice management network element sends the configuration information to the bearing network sub-slice management network element.

S509: and the bearing network sub-slice management network element determines a second port of a next-hop gateway of the bearing network sub-slice according to the second gateway information in the configuration information.

S510: the carrier network sub-slice management network element configures network information indicated by the network identification for the second port.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of another information transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application, where in an application scenario shown in fig. 10, a user plane network element of a core network slice subnet is deployed by virtualization, and the user plane network element of the core network slice subnet needs to be connected to an external network through a gateway of a data center. The management service consumer manages the network element for the slice.

In order to enable the same QoS for data transmitted in different sub-network slices, the QoS mapping relationship needs to be configured after the sub-network slices are established.

S601: the slice management network element sends a slice subnet creation request to the sub-slice management network element.

S602: the subslice management network element creates a first subslice and assigns a subslice identification NSSI DN to the first subslice.

S603: the subslice management network element sends a subslice identification of the first subslice to the slice management network element.

S604: the slice management network element creates an interface object at the first sub-slice according to the sub-slice identification and associates the interface object to the N3 interface of the user plane network element of the first sub-slice.

S605: the slice management network element sends the configuration information to the core network sub-slice management network element.

S606: the core network sub-slice management network element determines a first port of a next hop gateway of the core network sub-slice according to the first gateway information in the configuration information.

S607: the core network sub-slice management network element configures network information indicated by the network identification for the first port.

S608: and the slice management network element sends the configuration information to the bearing network sub-slice management network element.

S609: and the bearing network sub-slice management network element determines a second port of a next-hop gateway of the bearing network sub-slice according to the second gateway information in the configuration information.

S610: the carrier network sub-slice management network element configures network information indicated by the network identification for the second port.

S611: and the slice management network element sends the NSSI DN of the user plane network element associated with the QoS mapping relation and the interface object to the core network sub-slice management network element.

S612: the core network sub-slice management network element configures QoS mapping relationships on the user plane network element or session management network element.

Based on the same concept as the above method embodiments, the present application further provides a communication device, which may have the functions of the management service consumer, the core network sub-slice management service provider, and the carrier network sub-slice management service provider in the above method embodiments, and may be used to perform the steps performed by the functions of the management service consumer, the core network sub-slice management service provider, and the carrier network sub-slice management service provider in the above method embodiments. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by software or hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In one possible implementation, the communication device 1100 as shown in fig. 11 may be used as a management service consumer according to the above-described method embodiment, and perform the steps performed by the management service consumer in the above-described method embodiment.

As shown in fig. 11, the communication apparatus 1100 may include a communication module 1110 and a processing module 1120, and the communication module 1110 and the processing module 1120 are coupled to each other.

The communication module 1110 may be used to support the communication device 1100 to communicate, for example, to perform the actions of sending and/or receiving performed by the management service consumer in S110, S130, S201, S203, S205, S208, S301, S303, S305, S308, S401, S403, S405, S408, S411, S501, S503, S505, S508, S601, S603, S605, S608, and S611 in fig. 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

The processing module 1120 may be configured to support the communications device 1100 to perform the processing actions in the method embodiments described above, for example, performing the processing actions performed by the management service consumer in S202, S302, S402, S502, S602, etc. in fig. 6, fig. 7, fig. 8, fig. 9, and fig. 10.

In another possible implementation, the communication apparatus 1100 shown in fig. 11 may be used as a core network subslice management service provider according to the above method embodiment, and perform the steps performed by the core network subslice management service provider in the above method embodiment.

As shown in fig. 11, the communication device 1100 may include a communication module 1110 and a processing module 1120, where the communication module 1110 and the processing module 1120 are coupled to each other.

The communication module 1110 may be configured to support communication by the communication device 1100, for example, to perform the actions of sending and/or receiving performed by the core network subslice management service provider in S110, S121, S205, S305, S405, S411, S505, S605, and S611 in fig. 4, fig. 5, fig. 6, fig. 7, fig. 8, fig. 9, and fig. 10.

The processing module 1120 may be configured to support the communication apparatus 1100 to perform the processing actions in the above-described method embodiments, for example, performing the processing actions performed by the management service provider, such as S120, S122, S123, S206, S207, S306, S307, S406, S407, S412, S506, S507, S606, S607, and S612 in fig. 4, fig. 5, fig. 6, fig. 7, fig. 8, fig. 9, and fig. 10.

In yet another possible implementation, the communication apparatus 1100 shown in fig. 11 may be used as a carrier network slice management service provider according to the above method embodiment, and perform the steps performed by the carrier network slice management service provider in the above method embodiment.

The communication module 1110 may be configured to support communication by the communication device 1100, for example, to perform the actions of transmitting and/or receiving performed by the carrier network subslice management service provider in S130, S208, S308, S408, S508, and S608 of fig. 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

The processing module 1120 may be configured to support the communications apparatus 1100 to perform the processing actions in the method embodiments described above, for example, performing the processing actions performed by the carrier network sub-slice management service provider in S140, S209, S210, S309, S310, S409, S410, S509, S510, S609, S610, etc. in fig. 4, fig. 6, fig. 7, fig. 8, fig. 9, and fig. 10.

Optionally, the communication device 1100 may further comprise a memory module 1130 for storing program codes and data of the communication device 1100.

Fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1200 provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown, the communication device 1200 includes: at least one processor 1210 and a transceiver 1220. The processor 1210 is coupled to the memory for executing instructions stored in the memory to control the transceiver 1220 to transmit signals and/or receive signals.

Optionally, the communication device 1200 further comprises a memory 1230 for storing instructions.

In some embodiments, the processor 1210 and the memory 1230 may be combined into one processing device, and the processor 1210 is configured to execute program codes stored in the memory 1230 to implement the functions described above. In particular, the memory 1230 may also be integrated into the process 1210 or independent of the processor 1210.

In some embodiments, transceiver 1220 may include a receiver (or receiver) and a transmitter (or transmitter).

Transceiver 1220 may further include antennas, the number of which may be one or more. Transceiver 1220 may be a communication interface or interface circuitry.

When the communication device 1200 is a chip, the chip includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The receiving and transmitting unit can be an input and output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit may be an integrated processor or microprocessor or an integrated circuit on the chip.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or by instructions in the form of software. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor for execution. The software modules may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. as well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and, in combination with its hardware, performs the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, a detailed description is not provided herein.

The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions for implementing the method performed by the communication device in the above method embodiments.

For example, the computer program, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by the communication device in the above-described method embodiments.

The explanation and beneficial effects of the related content in any of the above-mentioned devices can refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and are not repeated here.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods 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 each embodiment of the present application 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 functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (random access Memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The foregoing is merely specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think about changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and the changes and substitutions are intended to be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of information transmission, comprising:

the management service consumer sends a network identifier and first gateway information to a management service provider of a core network sub-slice, wherein the first gateway information is used for indicating a next hop gateway of the core network sub-slice;

the management service consumer sends the network identifier and second gateway information to a management service provider carrying the network sub-slice, wherein the second gateway information is used for indicating a next-hop gateway of the carrying network sub-slice, and the network identifier is used for indicating network information configured for the core network sub-slice and the carrying network sub-slice.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the network identification and the first gateway information comprises:

and sending an interface object, wherein the interface object comprises the network identification and the first gateway information, and the interface object is associated with an interface of a user plane network element of the core network sub-slice.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising the management service consumer sending a quality of service QoS mapping relation between QoS identities of the core network sub-slices and QoS identities of the bearer network sub-slices to a management service provider of the core network sub-slices.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the sending the QoS mapping relationship comprises: and sending an interface object, wherein the interface object comprises the QoS mapping relation, and the interface object is associated with an interface of a user plane network element of the core network sub-slice.

5. The method according to any one of claim 1 to 4, wherein,

the sending the network identifier and the first gateway information includes:

transmitting configuration information;

the sending the network identifier and the second gateway information includes:

transmitting the configuration information;

wherein the configuration information includes the network identification, the first gateway information, and the second gateway information.

6. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein before the sending the QoS mapping relation, the method further comprises:

The management service consumer obtains information indicating that the core network sub-slice and the carrier network sub-slice are connected.

7. A method of information transmission, comprising:

the management service provider of the core network sub-slice receives a network identifier and first gateway information, wherein the first gateway information is used for indicating a next hop gateway of the core network sub-slice, and the network identifier is used for indicating network information configured for the core network sub-slice;

and the management service provider of the core network sub-slice configures the network information for the core network sub-slice.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said configuring said network information comprises:

configuring the network information on a first port of a next hop gateway of the core network sub-slice; or,

and creating or modifying the network of the user plane network element according to the VNF information of the user plane network element of the core network sub-slice and the network information.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein,

the receiving network identification and first gateway information includes:

and receiving an interface object, wherein the interface object comprises the network identification and the first gateway information, and the interface object is associated with an interface of a user plane network element of the core network sub-slice.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein,

the receiving network identification and first gateway information includes:

and receiving configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises the network identification, first gateway information and second gateway information, and the second gateway information is used for indicating a next hop gateway carrying the network sub-slice.

11. The method according to any of claims 7 to 10, further comprising receiving a quality of service, qoS, mapping by a management service provider of the core network sub-slice, the QoS mapping being a mapping between QoS identities of the core network sub-slice and QoS identities of the bearer network sub-slice.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

and the management service provider of the core network subslice configures the QoS mapping relation for the core network subslice.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the configuring the QoS mapping relationship comprises:

the management service provider of the core network sub-slice configures the QoS mapping relation in the user plane network element and/or a session management network element, wherein the session management network element is used for managing the user plane network element.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein,

the receiving QoS mapping relation includes:

and receiving an interface object, wherein the interface object comprises the QoS mapping relation, and the interface object is associated with an interface of a user plane network element of the core network sub-slice.

15. A method of information transmission, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a management service provider of a bearing network sub-slice receives a network identifier and second gateway information, wherein the second gateway information is used for indicating a next-hop gateway of the bearing network sub-slice, and the network identifier is used for indicating network information configured for the bearing network sub-slice;

and the management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice configures the network information for the bearing network sub-slice.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said configuring said network information comprises:

and configuring the network identification on a second port of the next hop gateway carrying the network sub-slice.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein,

the receiving network identification and second gateway information includes:

and receiving configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises the network identification, the second gateway information and first gateway information, and the first gateway information is used for indicating a next hop gateway of a core network sub-slice.

18. A method of information transmission, comprising:

the management service consumer sends the network identification and second gateway information to a management service provider carrying the network sub-slice, wherein the second gateway information is used for indicating a next hop gateway of the carrying network sub-slice, and the network identification is used for indicating network information configured in the core network sub-slice and the carrying network sub-slice;

the management service provider of the core network sub-slice configures the core network sub-slice according to the network identification and the first gateway information;

and the management service provider of the bearing network sub-slice configures the bearing network sub-slice according to the network identification and the second gateway information.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

the management service consumer sends a quality of service QoS mapping relation to the core network sub-slice;

the management service provider of the core network sub-slice configures the QoS mapping relation for the core network sub-slice;

The QoS mapping relation is the mapping relation between the QoS identification of the core network sub-slice and the QoS identification of the bearing network sub-slice.

20. A communication system comprising a management service consumer, a management service provider for core network subslices, and a management service provider for bearer network subslices, wherein,

the management service consumer is configured to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 6, the management service provider of the core network sub-slice is configured to perform the method of any of claims 7 to 14, and the management service provider of the carrier network sub-slice is configured to perform the method of any of claims 15 to 17.

21. A communication device comprising means for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 6, claims 7 to 14 or claims 15 to 17.

22. A communication device, comprising:

a processor for executing computer instructions stored in a memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 6, claims 7 to 14 or claims 15 to 17.

23. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program to be executed by a computer so as to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 6, claims 7 to 14, or claims 15 to 17.

24. A computer program product comprising computer program code embodied therein, which, when run on a computer, is adapted to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 6, claims 7 to 14 or claims 15 to 17.

25. A chip, comprising: a processor for reading instructions stored in a memory, which when executed by the processor causes the chip to implement the method of any one of the preceding claims 1 to 6, claims 7 to 14 or claims 15 to 17.