Network access method, device, computer readable medium and electronic device

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application provide a network access method, device, computer-readable medium and electronic device. The network access method includes: when in a non-connected state, obtaining the attribute information of a network slice; determining the attribute information of a target network slice to be accessed based on the attribute information of the network slice; if the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user device, initiating an access process to the target network slice. The technical solution of the embodiments of the present application can access network slices more efficiently, thereby improving the resource efficiency of network slices.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of computer and communication technology, and in particular to a network access method, device, computer-readable medium and electronic device. Background Art

[0002] Network slicing is an on-demand networking method, which essentially divides the operator's physical network into multiple virtual networks. Each virtual network is divided according to different service requirements, such as latency, bandwidth, security and reliability, to flexibly respond to different network application scenarios. After the network side is divided into multiple network slices, how to access the network slices more efficiently and improve the resource efficiency of the network slices is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0003] The embodiments of the present application provide a network access method, device, computer-readable medium and electronic device, which can efficiently access network slices to at least a certain extent, thereby improving the resource efficiency of network slices.

[0004] Other features and advantages of the present application will become apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part by the practice of the present application.

[0005] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a network access method is provided, including: when in a non-connected state, obtaining attribute information of a network slice; determining attribute information of a target network slice to be accessed based on the attribute information of the network slice; if the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by a user device, initiating an access process to the target network slice.

[0006] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a network access method is provided, including: generating system information of an access layer, the system information including an association relationship between a network slice and attribute information; broadcasting the system information so that a user device determines the attribute information of a target network slice to be accessed according to the association relationship, and initiating an access process to the target network slice when the attribute information of the target network slice matches a service type to be initiated by the user device.

[0007] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a network access device is provided, including: an acquisition unit, configured to acquire attribute information of a network slice when in a non-connected state; a determination unit, configured to determine attribute information of a target network slice to be accessed based on the attribute information of the network slice; and a processing unit, configured to initiate an access process to the target network slice when the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by a user device.

[0008] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the acquisition unit is configured to: receive system information broadcast by the network device; obtain the association relationship between the network slices and the attribute information from the system information, so as to determine the attribute information of each network slice based on the association relationship.

[0009] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the attribute information includes frequency information of the network slice; the acquisition unit is configured to: scan multiple frequency points to receive the system information at one of the frequency points, and the system information includes identifiers of the network slices supported respectively at the multiple frequency points.

[0010] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the attribute information includes frequency information of the network slice; the acquisition unit is configured to: scan at least one frequency point to receive the system information at each frequency point, and the system information received at each frequency point includes an identifier of the network slice supported at the current frequency point.

[0011] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the acquisition unit is configured to: obtain identification information of the network slice; and obtain attribute information of the network slice from a specified field in the identification information of the network slice.

[0012] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the attribute information includes frequency information of the network slice; the acquisition unit is configured to: perform a hash calculation on the value of the specified field in the identification information to obtain a hash value; and determine the frequency information of the network slice based on the correspondence between the hash value and the frequency information.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the attribute information includes load information of the network slice; the acquisition unit is configured to: perform a hash calculation on the value of the specified field in the identification information to obtain a hash value; and determine the load information of the network slice based on the correspondence between the hash value and the load level.

[0014] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the acquisition unit is configured to: determine the attribute information of the network slice according to the value indicated by the specified field in the identification information.

[0015] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the designated field is located in the slice service type SST field in the identification information, or in the slice differentiator SD field in the identification information, or in a partial field of the SST and a partial field of the SD.

[0016] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a network access device is provided, including: a generation unit, configured to generate system information of an access layer, the system information including an association relationship between a network slice and attribute information; a broadcast unit, configured to broadcast the system information so that a user device determines the attribute information of a target network slice to be accessed based on the association relationship, and initiates an access process to the target network slice when the attribute information of the target network slice matches a service type to be initiated by the user device.

[0017] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the attribute information includes at least one of the following: frequency information of the network slice, load information of the network slice, and the number of devices currently connected to the network slice.

[0018] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a computer-readable medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the network access method as described in the above embodiment is implemented.

[0019] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, an electronic device is provided, comprising: one or more processors; a storage device for storing one or more programs, wherein when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the network access method as described in the above embodiments.

[0020] In the technical solutions provided by some embodiments of the present application, the attribute information of the network slice is obtained when it is in a non-connected state to determine the attribute information of the target network slice that needs to be accessed, and then when the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user device, the access process is initiated to the target network slice, so that the user device can determine whether the attribute information of the target network slice that needs to be accessed matches the service type to be initiated by the user device when it is in a non-connected state, and initiate the access process to the target network slice when it matches, avoiding the waste of connection resources caused by first establishing a signaling connection with the network side and then releasing the connection after determining that a network slice cannot be accessed. It can be seen that the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can access network slices more efficiently and improve the resource efficiency of network slices.

[0021] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The drawings herein are incorporated into the specification and constitute a part of the specification, showing embodiments consistent with the present application, and together with the specification, are used to explain the principles of the present application. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application, and for ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work. In the drawings:

[0023] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing an exemplary system architecture to which the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application can be applied;

[0024] Figure 2 A flow chart of a network access method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0025] Figure 3 A flowchart of obtaining attribute information of a network slice according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0026] Figure 4 A flowchart of obtaining attribute information of a network slice according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0027] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of S-NSSAI;

[0028] Figure 6 A flow chart of a network access method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0029] Figure 7 A flowchart of a UE performing network access according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0030] Figure 8 A flowchart of a UE performing network access according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0031] Fig. 9 A block diagram of a network access device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0032] Fig.10 A block diagram of a network access device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0033] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of the structure of a computer system suitable for implementing an electronic device of an embodiment of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, example embodiments can be implemented in a variety of forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this application will be more comprehensive and complete and fully convey the concept of the example embodiments to those skilled in the art.

[0035] In addition, described feature, structure or characteristic can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. In the following description, many specific details are provided to provide a full understanding of the embodiments of the present application. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the technical scheme of the present application can be put into practice without one or more of the specific details, or other methods, components, devices, steps, etc. can be adopted. In other cases, known methods, devices, realizations or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid blurring the various aspects of the application.

[0036] The block diagrams shown in the accompanying drawings are merely functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically independent entities. That is, these functional entities may be implemented in software form, or in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different networks and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0037] The flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings are only exemplary and do not necessarily include all the contents and operations / steps, nor must they be executed in the order described. For example, some operations / steps can be decomposed, and some operations / steps can be combined or partially combined, so the actual execution order may change according to actual conditions.

[0038] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an exemplary system architecture to which the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application can be applied is shown.

[0039] In a system architecture of the present application, if Figure 1 As shown, it is assumed that the user equipment (UE) 103 is currently located at three frequency points, f1, f2, and f3, and each frequency point has a cell providing wireless coverage.

[0040] If UE 103 has not been configured with RFSP (Radio Frequency Selection Priority) and the slice information allowed to be accessed, i.e., Allowed NSSAI (Network Slice Selection Assistance Information), or UE 103 is configured with RFSP and Allowed NSSAI (the specific content of Allowed NSSAI can be referred to 3GPP protocol TS 23.501), but Allowed NSSAI does not contain any frequency information, then even if UE 103 only considers the frequency priority configured by RFSP between different frequencies when selecting a cell, and does not consider the correspondence between different frequencies and network slices, UE 103 may select a frequency that is not suitable for its service, and then the selected cell may find that the frequency is not suitable after the connection is established, and the cell selection and connection establishment need to be re-performed. In this case, since UE 103 needs to establish a signaling connection first, the signaling connection includes at least a control plane connection such as an RRC (Radio Resource Control) connection and a NAS (Non-Access Stratum) connection, if the UE finds that the frequency is not suitable after establishing the connection, it needs to release the connection. Obviously, this method causes a waste of network connection resources, especially for the efficiency and scalability of the 5G system used to support massive connection scenarios for massive IoT devices, as well as user experience, which poses negative challenges.

[0041] In an embodiment of the present application, when the UE is in a non-connected state, such as when the UE is in an IDLE state and an INACTIVE state, it can obtain attribute information of the network slice (such as frequency information of the network slice), and then determine whether it is suitable to access the corresponding network slice, thereby avoiding the problem of wasting network connection resources due to the UE first accessing the network and then determining whether the accessed network slice is suitable, and solving the problem of inefficient network slice access due to the lack of network slice attribute information of the UE.

[0042] It should be noted that Figure 1 The access network 101 shown in the figure may be a 5G access network (AN), and the core network 102 may be a 5G core network (CN). Of course, the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto, for example, the access network and the core network may also be the access network and the core network of the next generation wireless communication technology.

[0043] The implementation details of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application are described in detail below:

[0044] Figure 2 A flowchart of a network access method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. The network access method can be performed by a user device, which can be Figure 1 UE 103 shown in FIG. Figure 2 As shown, the network access method at least includes steps S210 to S230, which are described in detail as follows:

[0045] In step S210, when in a non-connected state, attribute information of the network slice is obtained.

[0046] In one embodiment of the present application, when the UE is in an idle state or an inactive state, it means that the UE is in a non-connected state. When the UE is in a non-connected state, there is no connection between the UE and the network side.

[0047] The UE in the idle state does not store the context information of the user equipment, and performs PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) selection and cell reselection in this state, and can receive paging messages from the network side.

[0048] The UE in the inactive state will save the context information of the terminal device, and perform PLMN selection and cell reselection in this state, and can receive paging messages from the network side.

[0049] There is a control plane connection and a user plane connection between the UE in a connected state (or also called an activated state) and the access layer device and the core network device.

[0050] In one embodiment of the present application, the attribute information of the network slice may include at least one of the following: frequency information of the network slice, load information of the network slice, the number of devices connected to the network slice, etc.

[0051] In one embodiment of the present application, when the UE is in a non-connected state, the scheme for obtaining the attribute information of the network slice may be as follows: Figure 3 and Figure 4 The embodiment shown is described in detail below:

[0052] In one embodiment of the present application, Figure 3 As shown, the process of obtaining attribute information of a network slice may include steps S310 and S320, which are specifically as follows:

[0053] In step S310, system information broadcasted by a network device is received.

[0054] In one embodiment of the present application, the attribute information of the network slice may include the frequency information of the network slice. In this case, the UE may scan multiple frequency points, and then receive the system information broadcast by the network device at one of the frequency points, and the system information includes the identifiers of the network slices supported on the multiple frequency points. In this embodiment, the network device may broadcast the system information only at one frequency point to notify the UE of the attribute information of the network slices supported at each frequency point. For example, if network slices S1 and S2 are supported on frequency point f1, network slice S3 is supported on frequency point f2, and network slices S4 and S5 are supported on frequency point f3, then the network device may broadcast the system information at one of the frequency points f1, f2 and f3, and the system information includes the attribute information of network slice S1, the attribute information of network slice S2, the attribute information of network slice S3, the attribute information of network slice S4 and the attribute information of network slice S5.

[0055] In one embodiment of the present application, the UE may also scan at least one frequency point, and then receive system information broadcast by the network device at each frequency point, wherein the system information received at each frequency point includes the identifier of the network slice supported at the current frequency point. In this embodiment, the network device may broadcast system information at multiple frequency points, and the system information broadcast at each frequency point only includes the attribute information of the network slice supported at the current frequency point. For example, if network slices S1 and S2 are supported on frequency point f1, network slice S3 is supported on frequency point f2, and network slices S4 and S5 are supported on frequency point f3, then the network device may include the attribute information of network slice S1 and the attribute information of network slice S2 in the system information broadcast at frequency point f1, the attribute information of network slice S3 is included in the system information broadcast at frequency point f2, and the attribute information of network slice S4 and the attribute information of network slice S5 is included in the system information broadcast at frequency point f3.

[0056] It should be noted that the network device may be a base station, the multiple frequency points scanned by the UE may be the frequency points that can be detected at the location of the UE, and the identifier of the network slice may be S-NSSAI (Single NSSAI, which is used to identify a network slice). In addition, the multiple appearing in the embodiments of the present application refers to two or more.

[0057] In step S320, the association relationship between network slices and attribute information is obtained from the system information to determine the attribute information of each network slice based on the association relationship.

[0058] In one embodiment of the application, if the attribute information of the network slice includes frequency information, then the association relationship obtained from the system information may be the correspondence between the frequency information and the network slice identifier, such as which network slice identifiers each frequency information corresponds to; if the attribute information of the network slice includes load information, then the association relationship obtained from the system information may be the correspondence between the network slice identifier and the load level; if the attribute information of the network slice includes the number of connected devices, then the association relationship obtained from the system information may be the correspondence between the network slice identifier and the number of devices.

[0059] In one embodiment of the present application, Figure 4 As shown, the process of obtaining attribute information of a network slice may include steps S410 and S420, which are specifically as follows:

[0060] In step S410, identification information of the network slice is obtained.

[0061] In one embodiment of the present application, the identification information of the network slice may be S-NSSAI, where Figure 5 As shown, S-NSSAI contains two parts: SST (Slice / Service type) and SD (SliceDifferentiator). SST refers to the expected network slicing behavior in terms of functions and services, occupying 8 bits; SD is optional information used to supplement the slice / service type field to distinguish multiple network slices of the same slice / service type, occupying 24 bits.

[0062] In step S420, the attribute information of the network slice is obtained from the specified field in the identification information of the network slice.

[0063] In one embodiment of the present application, the above-mentioned designated field may be located in the SST field, or in the SD field, or in a partial field of the SST and a partial field of the SD.

[0064] In one embodiment of the present application, if the attribute information of the network slice includes the frequency information of the network slice, then obtaining the attribute information of the network slice from the above-mentioned specified field may be to perform a hash calculation on the value of the specified field to obtain a hash value, and then determine the frequency information of the network slice based on the correspondence between the hash value and the frequency information. In this case, when allocating a network slice identifier, the value of the specified field may correspond to a value from 0 to n-1 by means of a hash calculation, and each value represents a frequency identifier (such as a frequency number).

[0065] In one embodiment of the present application, if the attribute information of the network slice includes the load information of the network slice, then obtaining the attribute information of the network slice from the above-mentioned designated field may be to perform a hash calculation on the value of the designated field to obtain a hash value, and then determine the load level of the network slice based on the correspondence between the hash value and the load level. In this case, when allocating the network slice identifier, the value of the designated field may correspond to a value from 0 to n-1 by hash calculation, and each value represents a load level.

[0066] In one embodiment of the present application, if the attribute information of the network slice includes the number of devices that have accessed the network slice, then obtaining the attribute information of the network slice from the above-mentioned specified field may be to perform a hash calculation on the value of the specified field to obtain a hash value, and then determine the number of devices accessing the network slice based on the correspondence between the hash value and the number of devices. In this case, when allocating a network slice identifier, the value of the specified field may correspond to a value from 0 to n-1 by hash calculation, and each value represents an order of magnitude corresponding to the number of devices.

[0067] In one embodiment of the present application, the attribute information of the network slice may also be determined directly according to the value indicated by the designated field in the identification information. For example, if the attribute information of the network slice includes the frequency information of the network slice, then the value of the designated field may indicate a frequency identifier (such as a frequency number); if the attribute information of the network slice includes the load information of the network slice, then the value of the designated field may indicate a load level; if the attribute information of the network slice includes the number of devices connected to the network slice, then the value of the designated field may indicate an order of magnitude corresponding to the number of devices.

[0068] Continue to refer to Figure 2 As shown, in step S220, the attribute information of the target network slice that needs to be accessed is determined based on the attribute information of the network slice.

[0069] In one embodiment of the present application, the UE may predict the target network slice to be accessed, and after acquiring the attribute information of the network slice, the attribute information of the target network slice may be determined accordingly. Alternatively, the UE may directly select a target network slice to be accessed based on the acquired attribute information of the network slice, and determine its attribute information.

[0070] In step S230, if the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user equipment, the access process is initiated to the target network slice.

[0071] In one embodiment of the present application, if the attribute information of the network slice includes frequency information, then if the frequency of the target network slice is suitable for processing the service of the user device, then it can be determined that the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user device; if the attribute information of the network slice includes load information of the network slice, then if the load of the target network slice is small and the load limit will not be reached when processing the service of the user device, then it can be determined that the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user device; if the attribute information of the network slice includes the number of devices that have been connected to the network slice, then if the number of devices that have been connected to the target network slice is small, then it can be determined that the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user device.

[0072] Figure 2 The technical solution of the illustrated embodiment enables the user device to determine whether the attribute information of the target network slice to be accessed matches the service type to be initiated by the user device when the user device is in a non-connected state, and initiate the access process to the target network slice when it matches, thereby accessing the network slice more efficiently, improving the resource efficiency of the network slice, and avoiding the waste of connection resources caused by first establishing a signaling connection with the network side and then releasing the connection after determining that a network slice cannot be accessed.

[0073] Figure 6 A flow chart of a network access method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. The network access method may be executed by a network device, which may be a base station, etc. Figure 6 As shown, the network access method at least includes steps S610 to S620, which are described in detail as follows:

[0074] In step S610, system information of the access layer is generated, and the system information includes the association relationship between the network slice and the attribute information.

[0075] In one embodiment of the present application, the attribute information of the network slice may include at least one of the following information: frequency information of the network slice, load information of the network slice, and the number of devices currently connected to the network slice.

[0076] In step S620, system information is broadcast so that the user equipment determines the attribute information of the target network slice that needs to be accessed based on the association relationship, and initiates the access process to the target network slice when the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user equipment.

[0077] In one embodiment of the present application, the attribute information of the network slice may include the frequency information of the network slice, and the network device may broadcast the system information only on one frequency to notify the UE of the attribute information of the network slices supported on each frequency. For example, if the frequency f1 supports network slices S1 and S2, the frequency f2 supports network slice S3, and the frequency f3 supports network slices S4 and S5, then the network device may broadcast the system information on one of the frequencies f1, f2, and f3, and the system information includes the attribute information of the network slice S1, the attribute information of the network slice S2, the attribute information of the network slice S3, the attribute information of the network slice S4, and the attribute information of the network slice S5.

[0078] In one embodiment of the present application, the network device may also broadcast system information on multiple frequency points, and the system information broadcast on each frequency point only includes the attribute information of the network slice supported on the current frequency point. For example, if frequency point f1 supports network slices S1 and S2, frequency point f2 supports network slice S3, and frequency point f3 supports network slices S4 and S5, then the network device may include the attribute information of network slice S1 and network slice S2 in the system information broadcast on frequency point f1, the attribute information of network slice S3 in the system information broadcast on frequency point f2, and the attribute information of network slice S4 and network slice S5 in the system information broadcast on frequency point f3.

[0079] In one embodiment of the present application, a user device determines attribute information of a target network slice that needs to be accessed based on an association relationship, and initiates an access process to the target network slice when the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user device. The detailed description refers to the technical solution of the aforementioned embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0080] In summary, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is mainly to allow the UE to obtain the attribute information of the network slice (such as frequency information, which is described below using frequency information as an example) in a non-connected state, such as an idle state and an inactive state, to determine whether it is suitable to access the network slice, thereby avoiding the problem of inefficient network slice access caused by first accessing the network and then determining whether a certain network slice is suitable. Among them, the UE can obtain the information by explicitly broadcasting the association information between the network slice and the frequency, or by implicitly obtaining the information, as follows:

[0081] 1. Explicitly broadcast the association information between network slices and frequencies:

[0082] In one embodiment of the present application, the system information can be enhanced at the AS (Access Stratum) layer, specifically RRC signaling and system information broadcasting. Regardless of whether the UE has configured Allowed NSSAI and RFSP, the UE can receive system information broadcasts. Therefore, broadcasting the association information of network slices and frequencies in the system information enables the UE to determine whether it can access the current network. However, since the network may support many slices and the capacity of the system information is limited, the slice and frequency association information in the system information broadcast can be reasonably designed with parameters and content as well as ASN.1 coding to reduce the amount of data occupied. The specific processing flow of the UE is as follows: Figure 7 As shown, the following steps are included:

[0083] Step S710, the UE predicts the network slice identifier to be accessed.

[0084] In one embodiment of the present application, it is assumed that the UE already knows the network slice information that it needs to access, but does not know the frequency information associated with the network slice.

[0085] Step S720, the UE receives a system information broadcast. The system information includes the association between network slices and frequencies. For a scenario where the network supports a relatively small number of slices, the identification lists of network slices on different frequencies can be broadcast in full; if the network supports a large number of slices, the identification lists of network slices on different frequencies can only broadcast a selected part, such as selecting network slices with a small load or a small number of connected devices.

[0086] Step S730, determine whether the network slice identifier to be accessed is in the broadcast list to decide whether to access the cell.

[0087] In one embodiment of the present application, if the network slice identifier that the UE wants to access is in the broadcast list, then the frequency information corresponding to the network slice identifier that the UE wants to access can be obtained, and then it is determined whether it matches the service type of the UE based on the frequency information. If it matches, it is determined to access the network slice.

[0088] 2. Implicitly realize the correspondence between frequency points and network slices:

[0089] In this embodiment, the identification information of the network slice is not directly notified to the UE by broadcasting system information, but is notified to the UE in an implicit manner. The specific process is as follows: Figure 8 As shown, including:

[0090] Step S810, the UE and the network preset the mapping rules between the network slice identifier and the frequency point.

[0091] In one embodiment of the present application, it is assumed that the UE has predicted the network slice information that it needs to access, and the network slice information may be all or part of the SST and SD. The UE and the network can determine the frequency information based on a part of the field of the SST or SD through the predicted algorithm and mapping rules. Although the network can support many slices, the number of frequencies is limited. Assuming that the number of frequencies of the area that the UE needs to access within a specific range is N (N≥1), a part of the bits of the SST and SD can be implicitly corresponded to the number of frequencies according to a certain algorithm rule. For example, when the slice identifier is allocated, some fields of the SST+SD can correspond to the values ​​​​from 0 to N-1 by hash calculation, and each value corresponds to a frequency identifier. Of course, there may be other ways, such as introducing a new frequency information field in the slice identifier, and the frequency information field is used to indicate the frequency identifier.

[0092] Step S820: The UE scans multiple frequency points.

[0093] Step S830: The UE determines the frequency of the network slice based on the network slice identifier to decide whether to access the cell.

[0094] In one embodiment of the present application, after the UE determines the frequency of the network slice according to the network slice identifier, it can determine whether it matches the service type of the UE based on the frequency information. If it matches, it determines to access the network slice.

[0095] The technical solutions of the above embodiments of the present application can support UE to access network slices more efficiently, avoid redundant and unnecessary signaling and establishment of data connections, and for scenarios where 5G is used for massive Internet of Things and the number of connections surges, can improve the resource efficiency of 5G slices and enhance user experience.

[0096] The following describes an embodiment of the device of the present application, which can be used to execute the network access method in the above embodiment of the present application. For details not disclosed in the embodiment of the device of the present application, please refer to the embodiment of the network access method in the above embodiment of the present application.

[0097] Fig. 9 A block diagram of a network access device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown, and the network access device can be set inside a UE.

[0098] Reference Fig. 9 As shown, a network access device 900 according to an embodiment of the present application includes: an acquisition unit 902 , a determination unit 904 and a processing unit 906 .

[0099] Among them, the acquisition unit 902 is configured to acquire the attribute information of the network slice when it is in a non-connected state; the determination unit 904 is configured to determine the attribute information of the target network slice that needs to be accessed based on the attribute information of the network slice; the processing unit 906 is configured to initiate an access process to the target network slice when the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user equipment.

[0100] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the acquisition unit 902 is configured to: receive system information broadcast by the network device; obtain the association relationship between the network slices and the attribute information from the system information, so as to determine the attribute information of each network slice based on the association relationship.

[0101] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the attribute information includes frequency information of the network slice; the acquisition unit 902 is configured to: scan multiple frequency points to receive the system information at one of the frequency points, and the system information includes identifiers of the network slices supported respectively at the multiple frequency points.

[0102] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the attribute information includes frequency information of the network slice; the acquisition unit 902 is configured to: scan at least one frequency point to receive the system information at each frequency point, and the system information received at each frequency point includes an identifier of the network slice supported at the current frequency point.

[0103] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the acquisition unit 902 is configured to: obtain identification information of the network slice; and obtain attribute information of the network slice from a specified field in the identification information of the network slice.

[0104] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the attribute information includes frequency information of the network slice; the acquisition unit 902 is configured to: perform a hash calculation on the value of the specified field in the identification information to obtain a hash value; and determine the frequency information of the network slice based on the correspondence between the hash value and the frequency information.

[0105] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the attribute information includes load information of the network slice; the acquisition unit 902 is configured to: perform a hash calculation on the value of the specified field in the identification information to obtain a hash value; and determine the load information of the network slice based on the correspondence between the hash value and the load level.

[0106] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the acquisition unit 902 is configured to: determine the attribute information of the network slice according to the value indicated by the specified field in the identification information.

[0107] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the designated field is located in the slice service type SST field in the identification information, or in the slice differentiator SD field in the identification information, or in a partial field of the SST and a partial field of the SD.

[0108] Fig.10 A block diagram of a network access device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown, and the network access device can be set inside a network device.

[0109] Reference Fig.10 As shown, a network access device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application includes: a generating unit 1002 and a broadcasting unit 1004 .

[0110] Among them, the generation unit 1002 is configured to generate system information of the access layer, and the system information includes the association relationship between the network slice and the attribute information; the broadcast unit 1004 is configured to broadcast the system information so that the user equipment determines the attribute information of the target network slice to be accessed according to the association relationship, and initiates an access process to the target network slice when the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user equipment.

[0111] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the aforementioned scheme, the attribute information includes at least one of the following: frequency information of the network slice, load information of the network slice, and the number of devices currently connected to the network slice.

[0112] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of the structure of a computer system suitable for implementing an electronic device of an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0113] It should be noted that Fig.11 The computer system 1100 of the electronic device shown is only an example and should not bring any limitation to the functions and scope of use of the embodiments of the present application.

[0114] like Fig.11As shown, the computer system 1100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 1101, which can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to the program stored in the read-only memory (ROM) 1102 or the program loaded from the storage part 1108 to the random access memory (RAM) 1103, such as executing the method described in the above embodiment. In the RAM 1103, various programs and data required for system operation are also stored. The CPU 1101, the ROM 1102 and the RAM 1103 are connected to each other through the bus 1104. The input / output (I / O) interface 1105 is also connected to the bus 1104.

[0115] The following components are connected to the I / O interface 1105: an input section 1106 including a keyboard, a mouse, etc.; an output section 1107 including a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and a speaker, etc.; a storage section 1108 including a hard disk, etc.; and a communication section 1109 including a network interface card such as a LAN (Local Area Network) card, a modem, etc. The communication section 1109 performs communication processing via a network such as the Internet. A drive 1110 is also connected to the I / O interface 1105 as needed. A removable medium 1111, such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, etc., is installed on the drive 1110 as needed so that a computer program read therefrom is installed into the storage section 1108 as needed.

[0116] In particular, according to an embodiment of the present application, the process described above with reference to the flowchart can be implemented as a computer software program. For example, an embodiment of the present application includes a computer program product, which includes a computer program carried on a computer-readable medium, and the computer program includes a computer program for executing the method shown in the flowchart. In such an embodiment, the computer program can be downloaded and installed from a network through a communication section 1109, and / or installed from a removable medium 1111. When the computer program is executed by a central processing unit (CPU) 1101, various functions defined in the system of the present application are executed.

[0117] It should be noted that the computer-readable medium shown in the embodiment of the present application may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium or any combination of the above two. The computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, - but not limited to - an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device or device, or any combination of the above. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to: an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above. In the present application, a computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program, which may be used by an instruction execution system, device or device or used in combination with it. In the present application, a computer-readable signal medium may include a data signal propagated in a baseband or as part of a carrier wave, wherein a computer-readable computer program is carried. Such propagated data signals may take a variety of forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination of the above. Computer-readable signal media may also be any computer-readable medium other than computer-readable storage media, which may send, propagate, or transmit programs for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer program contained on the computer-readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to: wireless, wired, etc., or any suitable combination of the above.

[0118] The flowchart and block diagram in the accompanying drawings illustrate the possible architecture, functions and operations of the system, method and computer program product according to various embodiments of the present application. Wherein, each box in the flowchart or block diagram can represent a module, a program segment, or a part of the code, and the above-mentioned module, program segment, or a part of the code contains one or more executable instructions for realizing the specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions marked in the box can also occur in a different order from the order marked in the accompanying drawings. For example, two boxes represented in succession can actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they can sometimes be executed in the opposite order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each box in the block diagram or flowchart, and the combination of boxes in the block diagram or flowchart can be implemented with a dedicated hardware-based system that performs a specified function or operation, or can be implemented with a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0119] The units involved in the embodiments described in this application may be implemented by software or hardware, and the units described may also be set in a processor. The names of these units do not, in some cases, constitute limitations on the units themselves.

[0120] As another aspect, the present application also provides a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the electronic device described in the above embodiment; or may exist independently without being assembled into the electronic device. The above computer-readable medium carries one or more programs, and when the above one or more programs are executed by an electronic device, the electronic device implements the method described in the above embodiment.

[0121] It should be noted that, although several modules or units of the equipment for action execution are mentioned in the above detailed description, this division is not mandatory. In fact, according to the embodiments of the present application, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above can be embodied in one module or unit. On the contrary, the features and functions of one module or unit described above can be further divided into being embodied by multiple modules or units.

[0122] Through the description of the above implementation methods, it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the example implementation methods described here can be implemented by software or by combining software with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solution according to the implementation methods of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (which can be a CD-ROM, a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, etc.) or on a network, and includes several instructions to enable a computing device (which can be a personal computer, a server, a touch terminal, or a network device, etc.) to execute the method according to the implementation methods of the present application.

[0123] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate other embodiments of the present application after considering the specification and practicing the embodiments disclosed herein. The present application is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the present application, which follow the general principles of the present application and include common knowledge or customary technical means in the art that are not disclosed in the present application.

[0124] It should be understood that the present application is not limited to the precise structures that have been described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present application is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A network access method, characterized in that: The network access method is performed by a user equipment, and the network access method includes: When the user equipment is in a non-connected state, acquiring attribute information of the network slice; Determine, according to the acquired attribute information of the network slice, the attribute information of the target network slice that the user equipment needs to access; If the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user equipment, an access process is initiated to the target network slice; Among them, the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user equipment, including: the frequency of the target network slice is suitable for processing the service to be initiated by the user equipment.

2. The network access method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Get the attribute information of the network slice, including: Receive system information broadcast by network devices; The association relationship between the network slices and the attribute information is obtained from the system information to determine the attribute information of each network slice based on the association relationship.

3. The network access method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The attribute information includes frequency information of the network slice; Receive system information broadcast by network devices, including: Scan multiple frequency points to receive the system information at one of the frequency points, where the system information includes identifiers of network slices supported respectively at the multiple frequency points.

4. The network access method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The attribute information includes frequency information of the network slice; Receive system information broadcast by network devices, including: Scan at least one frequency point to receive the system information at each frequency point, wherein the system information received at each frequency point includes an identifier of the network slice supported at the current frequency point.

5. The network access method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Get the attribute information of the network slice, including: Obtain identification information of the network slice; Obtain attribute information of the network slice from a specified field in the identification information of the network slice.

6. The network access method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The attribute information includes frequency information of the network slice; Acquiring attribute information of the network slice from a specified field in the identification information of the network slice, including: Performing hash calculation on the value of the specified field in the identification information to obtain a hash value; Based on the correspondence between the hash value and the frequency information, the frequency information of the network slice is determined.

7. The network access method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The attribute information includes load information of the network slice; Acquiring attribute information of the network slice from a specified field in the identification information of the network slice, including: Performing hash calculation on the value of the specified field in the identification information to obtain a hash value; Based on the correspondence between the hash value and the load level, the load information of the network slice is determined.

8. The network access method according to claim 5, characterized in that: Acquiring attribute information of the network slice from a specified field in the identification information of the network slice, including: Determine the attribute information of the network slice according to the value indicated by the specified field in the identification information.

9. The network access method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that: The designated field is located in the slice service type SST field in the identification information, or in the slice differentiator SD field in the identification information, or in a partial field of the SST and a partial field of the SD.

10. A network access method, characterized in that: include: Generate system information of the access layer, wherein the system information includes an association relationship between the network slice and the attribute information; Broadcasting the system information so that the user equipment determines the attribute information of the target network slice to be accessed according to the association relationship, and initiating an access process to the target network slice when the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user equipment; Among them, the attribute information includes frequency information of the network slice; the attribute information of the target network slice matches the type of service to be initiated by the user equipment, including: the frequency of the target network slice is suitable for processing the service to be initiated by the user equipment.

11. The network access method according to claim 10, characterized in that: The attribute information also includes at least one of the following: load information of the network slice and the number of devices currently connected to the network slice.

12. A network access device, characterized in that: include: An acquisition unit, configured to acquire attribute information of the network slice when the user equipment is in a non-connected state; A determining unit, configured to determine, according to the acquired attribute information of the network slice, the attribute information of the target network slice that the user equipment needs to access; A processing unit, configured to initiate an access process to the target network slice if the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user equipment; Among them, the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user equipment, including: the frequency of the target network slice is suitable for processing the service to be initiated by the user equipment.

13. A network access device, characterized in that: include: A generating unit configured to generate system information of an access layer, wherein the system information includes an association relationship between a network slice and attribute information; A broadcast unit configured to broadcast the system information so that the user equipment determines the attribute information of the target network slice to be accessed according to the association relationship, and initiates an access process to the target network slice when the attribute information of the target network slice matches the service type to be initiated by the user equipment; Among them, the attribute information includes frequency information of the network slice; the attribute information of the target network slice matches the type of service to be initiated by the user equipment, including: the frequency of the target network slice is suitable for processing the service to be initiated by the user equipment.

14. A computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the network access method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is implemented; or the network access method according to any one of claims 10 to 11 is implemented.

15. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: one or more processors; A storage device for storing one or more programs, which, when executed by the one or more processors, enables the one or more processors to implement the network access method as described in any one of claims 1 to 9; or implement the network access method as described in any one of claims 10 to 11.

16. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes a computer program, which is stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The processor of the electronic device reads and executes the computer program from the computer-readable storage medium, so that the electronic device executes the network access method described in any one of claims 1 to 9; or implements the network access method described in any one of claims 10 to 11.

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