Method, apparatus and terminal for selecting network slice, and computer readable storage medium

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a network slice selection method, which comprises the following steps: determining a corresponding first access network according to an application when the application is started; switching from a second access network to the first access network, and performing communication through the first access network; the first access network and the second access network correspond to different network slices respectively; and based on the correspondence between the application and the different access networks, the correspondence between the application, the access network and the network slice is realized in some implementation processes, and then the correspondence between the application and the network slice is realized. The terminal can flexibly select an access network according to the application, and then the effect of flexibly selecting a network slice according to the application is achieved, and the problem that the terminal can only select an electronic device to access a network according to the signal strength of a WLAN network, which is too single and cannot flexibly access a specific network slice, is avoided.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present application relate to, but are not limited to, the field of communications, in particular, relate to, but are not limited to, a network slice selection method, apparatus and terminal, and a computer readable storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0002] Mobile communication is developing rapidly and penetrating into all aspects of people's work, social interaction and life, bringing great influence on people's lifestyle, work style, and social politics, economy and other aspects. Human society has entered the information age, and business application demands in various aspects have shown explosive growth. In the future mobile network, not only will it provide communication between people, but also will provide services for a large number of Internet of Things devices. For example, virtual reality, high-definition video and other services with super-high-rate service requirements, the rate can be 10-100 times of the present; for example, vehicle networking and other services with low-latency service requirements, the end-to-end latency can be shortened by 5 times; the Internet of Things can access 1000 times the number of services now, and the battery life can be extended to 10 times of the present, etc.

[0003] 5G (5th Generation) services will show multi-scene and differentiated characteristics, such as mobile Internet business focusing on bandwidth, autonomous driving business requiring low latency and high reliability guarantee, and Internet of Things business supporting huge number of connections. For this, the radio access network and core network of 5G have been restructured, the physical deployment position of device processing units is changed according to the type of service, and through slicing, an independent end-to-end logical network is constructed on the same physical network for different types of services.

[0004] 5G is an open network that can provide application requirements for vertical industries and rental services, and 5G bearer network is part of the 5G end-to-end service path, so the bearer network is required to support the service isolation and independent operation requirements of 5G slicing, and different types of services are allocated different bearer network slices.

[0005] Network slicing is to create multiple virtual networks, or slices, on a shared physical network resource using virtualization technology. Network slicing can slice the physical network into corresponding virtual networks according to different types of bearer services or different tenants (for example, according to government and enterprise customers, home customers, and 5G eMBB (Enhanced Mobile Broadband) services, uRLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communications) services, and mMTC (massive machine type of communication) services), thereby meeting different types of service requirements.

[0006] Different network slices provide different types of services, one network slice constitutes a virtual network to provide a specific mobile network access service for a UE (user equipment); however, in the related art, the terminal can only select the network to which the electronic device accesses according to the signal strength of the WLAN (wireless local area networks) network, which is too single and cannot flexibly access a specific network slice. SUMMARY

[0007] The network slice selection method, device and terminal and computer readable storage medium provided by the embodiments of the present application mainly solve the technical problem that in the related art, the terminal can only select the network to which the electronic device accesses according to the signal strength of the WLAN network, which is too single and cannot flexibly access a specific network slice.

[0008] To solve the above technical problem, the embodiments of the present application provide a network slice selection method, comprising:

[0009] When an application is started, determining a corresponding first access network according to the application;

[0010] Switching from a second access network to the first access network and communicating through the first access network;

[0011] The first access network and the second access network correspond to different network slices, respectively.

[0012] The embodiments of the present application also provide a network slice selection device, comprising:

[0013] A determination module configured to determine a corresponding first access network according to an application when the application is started;

[0014] A switching module configured to switch from a second access network to the first access network and communicate through the first access network; the first access network and the second access network correspond to different network slices, respectively.

[0015] The embodiments of the present application also provide a terminal, comprising a processor, a memory and a communication bus;

[0016] The communication bus is configured to realize the connection and communication between the processor and the memory;

[0017] The processor is configured to execute one or more computer programs stored in the memory to realize the steps of the network slice selection method as described above

[0018] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer storage medium, which stores one or more programs, and the one or more programs can be executed by one or more processors to implement the steps of the network slice selection method.

[0019] The network slice selection method, device and terminal, and computer readable storage medium provided by the embodiment of the present application, by determining the corresponding first access network according to the application when the application is started, switching from the second access network to the first access network, and communicating through the first access network, the first access network and the second access network correspond to different network slices respectively, and the correspondence of "application->access network->network slice" is realized in some implementation processes based on the correspondence between the application and the different access networks, and the correspondence between the application and the network slice is further realized. The terminal can flexibly select the access network according to the application, and the effect of flexibly selecting the network slice according to the application is achieved, and the problem that the terminal can only select the network to which the electronic device accesses according to the signal strength of the WLAN network, which is too single and cannot flexibly access a specific network slice, is avoided.

[0020] Other features and corresponding advantages of the present application are described in the later part of the specification, and it should be understood that at least part of the advantages become apparent from the description of the present application in the specification. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 The basic flowchart of the network slice selection method of the embodiment one of the present application is shown.

[0022] Figure 2 The detailed flowchart of the network slice selection method of the embodiment two of the present application is shown.

[0023] Figure 3 The basic structure diagram of the network slice selection device of the embodiment three of the present application is shown.

[0024] Figure 4 The basic structure diagram of the terminal of the embodiment three of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present application more clear, the embodiment of the present application is further described in detail below with reference to the drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application, and are not used to limit the present application.

[0026] Embodiment one:

[0027] In order to solve the problem that the user can only select the network to which the electronic device accesses according to the signal strength of the WLAN network when using the electronic device, which is too single and cannot flexibly access a specific network slice, please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 The network slice selection method comprises the following steps of:

[0028] S101, when the application is started, determining a corresponding first access network according to the application;

[0029] In some embodiments, the corresponding first access network is determined according to the application, wherein the first access network is one of a plurality of access networks on the network side, different access networks have different SSIDs (Service Set Identifier), and the terminal takes the one access network determined according to the application as the corresponding first access network. It should be understood that one access network corresponds to one network slice, and different network slices have different capabilities. For example, the network slice has high bandwidth network capability; or has high-definition voice network capability; or has low-latency network capability, and so on, and different network slices are divided into game network slices, video network slices, fixed access network slices, automatic control network slices, voice call slices, etc. It should be understood that the above-mentioned plurality of access networks can be issued by the same gateway device or the same network device supporting multiple SSIDs. The above-mentioned plurality of access networks can also be issued by multiple gateway devices and / or multiple network devices respectively.

[0030] In some embodiments, determining the corresponding first access network according to the application comprises any one of the following: determining the corresponding first access network according to the type of the application; determining the corresponding first access network according to the name of the application; determining the corresponding first access network according to the quality of service required by the application.

[0031] In some embodiments, when the corresponding first access network is determined according to the type of the application, the type of the application is first determined, wherein the application type includes but is not limited to: video type, social application type, game type, call communication type, etc. One application type corresponds to one network slice, that is, one access network, and one network slice can correspond to multiple application types. For example, when the application type is video type, the access network corresponding to the network slice with high bandwidth network capability is obtained as the first access network according to the requirement of the video type application for service rate. When the application type is game type, the access network corresponding to the network slice with low-latency network capability is obtained as the first access network. When the application type is call communication type, the access network corresponding to the network slice with high-definition voice network capability is obtained as the first access network.

[0032] In some embodiments, the corresponding first access network is determined according to the application name, and the corresponding network slice is set for each application name, one application name corresponds to one network slice, that is, one access network, and one network slice can correspond to multiple application names; for example, when the application name is Glory of Kings, the access network corresponding to the network slice with low latency network capability is obtained as the first access network.

[0033] In some embodiments, the corresponding first access network is determined according to the service quality required by the application, wherein the service quality includes but is not limited to: latency requirement, bandwidth requirement, one service quality corresponds to one network slice, that is, one access network, and one network slice can correspond to multiple service qualities; for example, when the latency requirement in the service quality required by the application is low latency, the access network corresponding to the network slice with low latency network capability is obtained as the first access network.

[0034] It is necessary to immediately change the network slice corresponding to each application, and the present embodiment is not used to limit the network slice corresponding to each application.

[0035] In some embodiments, before determining the corresponding target access network according to the application, the application corresponding first access network is configured; for example, the application corresponding access network is configured by the type of the application; the application corresponding access network is configured by the name of the application; the application corresponding service name is configured by the service quality required by the application. It should be understood that before determining the corresponding target access network according to the application, the default access network is also configured, and when the corresponding first access network cannot be determined according to the application, the default access network is accessed, and the terminal communicates based on the default access network.

[0036] In some embodiments, the application startup includes but is not limited to: running the application, switching the application to the foreground, etc., for example, starting the application that is not running, switching the application running in the background to the foreground, etc.

[0037] S102, switching from the second access network to the first access network, and communicating through the first access network;

[0038] It should be understood that the second access network is the network currently used for communication, which can be the above-mentioned default access network, and the first access network and the second access network correspond to different network slices, respectively; wherein the first access network and the second access network can be different access networks issued by the same gateway device or the same network device with support for multiple SSIDs, or different access networks issued by multiple gateway devices and / or multiple network devices, respectively.

[0039] In some embodiments, switching from the second access network to the first access network and communicating through the first access network comprises: keeping the connection of the second access network, switching the current communication network from the second access network to the first access network, and communicating through the first access network. For example, after the terminal determines the corresponding first access network, when connecting to the first access network, the connection with the second access network is kept, the terminal is connected to the second access network and the first access network at the same time, the current communication network is switched from the second access network to the first access network, and communication is performed through the first access network.

[0040] In some embodiments, switching from the second access network to the first access network and communicating through the first access network comprises: disconnecting the connection of the second access network, taking the first access network as the current communication network, and communicating through the first access network. For example, after the terminal determines the corresponding first access network, when connecting to the first access network, the connection of the second access network is directly disconnected, only the first access network is connected, and then the first access network is taken as the current communication network and communication is performed through the first access network.

[0041] In some embodiments, the network slice selection method further comprises: when the application is exited, switching from the first access network to a default access network and communicating through the default access network. For example, the application is closed, or the application is switched to run in the background, or the time of switching the application to the background reaches a preset threshold.

[0042] The network slice selection method provided by the embodiments of the present application comprises: when the application is started, determining the corresponding first access network according to the application; switching from the second access network to the first access network and communicating through the first access network; the first access network and the second access network correspond to different network slices respectively, and the corresponding relationship of "application-> access network-> network slice" is realized based on the corresponding relationship between the application and the different access networks, so that the correspondence between the application and the network slice is realized. The terminal can flexibly select the access network according to the application, and the network slice can be flexibly selected according to the application, so that the problem that the terminal can only select the network to which the electronic device accesses according to the signal strength of the WLAN network and is too single and cannot flexibly access a specific network slice is avoided.

[0043] Embodiment two:

[0044] In order to better understand the present application, a more specific example is provided to describe the above network slice selection method, please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 The network slice selection method flowchart is shown in the figure, which comprises:

[0045] S201, the gateway device performs multi-slice establishment;

[0046] In some embodiments, the gateway-type device establishes different network slices based on the support of network slices and the interaction with the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) core network, each network slice corresponds to a different slice function, and each slice function corresponds to a different QoS (Quality of Service), which includes but is not limited to any of the following: high-bandwidth network capability, high-definition voice network capability, low-latency network capability, etc., thereby dividing the different network slices into game network slices, video network slices, fixed access network slices, automatic control network slices, voice call slices, etc.

[0047] It should be understood that when multiple slices are established, it is also necessary to confirm whether the multiple slices are successfully established. If the multiple slices fail to be established, the failure information is fed back to the user or the administrator. Factors affecting the establishment of multiple slices include the subscription of the device and the support of the current network.

[0048] S202, the gateway-type device establishes multiple SSIDs;

[0049] In some embodiments, the gateway-type device establishes a number of SSIDs corresponding to the number of network slices through the multiple-SSID function of the gateway-type device, each SSID has a different name, for example, the established names can be: "ZTE_SSID_NORMAL", "ZTE_SSID_GAME", and "ZTE_SSID_video", etc. It should be understood that when the SSIDs are established, it is also necessary to confirm whether the multiple SSIDs are successfully established. If the multiple SSIDs fail to be established, the failure information is fed back to the user or the administrator. The number of SSIDs supported depends on the support of the gateway-type device. The more SSIDs supported, the more network slices can be supported.

[0050] S203, the gateway-type device maps each SSID to a different network slice;

[0051] In some embodiments, it is required to establish the routing correspondence of the "SSID network interface" and the "network slice network interface" through the routing table, that is, to perform routing configuration by mapping each SSID to different network slices, different SSIDs representing different network ports, that is, to configure independent routing for different network ports; for example, mapping the SSID "ZTE_SSID_GAME" to the game network slice with low-latency network capability, mapping the SSID "ZTE_SSID_video" to the video network slice with high-rate network capability, and mapping "ZTE_SSID_NORMAL" to the fixed access network slice, which can be used as the default network slice. When there is no application configured with a corresponding network slice or no application is started, the default network slice is used as the current communication network. It should be understood that when mapping, it is also required to confirm whether the mapping is successful. If the mapping fails, the failure information is fed back to the user or administrator.

[0052] S204, the terminal configures an SSID corresponding to an application;

[0053] In some embodiments, the terminal configuring the corresponding SSID of the application includes but is not limited to: configuring the access network corresponding to the application by the type of the application; configuring the access network corresponding to the application by the name of the application; configuring the service name corresponding to the application by the quality of service required by the application; for example, there are two applications on the terminal, which are Glory of Kings and shipin respectively, the access network corresponding to the application is configured as ZTE_SSID_GAME according to the application name Glory of Kings, and the access network corresponding to the application is configured as ZTE_SSID_VIDEO according to the application name shipin; for example, the terminal sets the network slice corresponding to different application types, when the type of the application is game, the access network corresponding to the application type is configured as ZTE_SSID_GAME, when the type of the application is video, the access network corresponding to the application type is configured as ZTE_SSID_VIDEO, that is, when it is judged that the type of the application Glory of Kings is game, the access network corresponding to the application is ZTE_SSID_GAME, and when it is judged that the type of the application shipin is video, the access network corresponding to the application is ZTE_SSID_VIDEO; for another example, when it is judged that the application Glory of Kings requires low-latency quality of service, the access network corresponding to the application Glory of Kings is configured as ZTE_SSID_GAME, and when it is judged that the application shipin requires high-speed quality of service, the access network corresponding to the application shipin is configured as ZTE_SSID_VIDEO. Thus, the effect that the specific application communicates through the specified network slice is achieved, for example, Glory of Kings -> ZTE_SSID_GAME -> "game network slice with low-latency network capability".

[0054] S205, the terminal determines the corresponding SSID according to the application when the application is started, and connects;

[0055] In some embodiments, the terminal defaults to connecting to "ZTE_SSID_NORMAL". The terminal performs default communication services based on the SSID. When the terminal runs the application "Toutiao", since the APP does not have a separate SSID configuration, the terminal continues to use the default "ZTE_SSID_NORMAL" for communication. At this time, the data flow is: "Toutiao" <-> ZTE_SSID_NORMAL <-> "fixed access network slice". When the terminal switches applications and runs "Glory of Kings", the application checks for a custom SSID when it starts, triggering the connection to the custom SSID, which is "ZTE_SSID_GAME". At this time, the data flow is: "Glory of Kings" <-> ZTE_SSID_GAME <-> "game network slice with low latency network capability". It should be understood that when the terminal supports multiple Wi-Fi connections, it can maintain the connection to "ZTE_SSID_NORMAL" while connecting to "ZTE_SSID_GAME" to perform "Glory of Kings" communication. When the terminal continues to switch applications and runs "shipin", the application checks for a custom SSID when it starts, triggering the connection to the custom SSID, which is "ZTE_SSID_VIDEO". At this time, the data flow is: "shipin" <-> ZTE_SSID_VIDEO <-> "video network slice with high-speed quality of service". It should be understood that each application is bound to the "network port" corresponding to the corresponding SSID. For example, on a Linux-based operating system, the SO_BINDTODEVICE of the socket can be used to achieve this.

[0056] S206, when the terminal application is closed, the corresponding SSID connection is disconnected.

[0057] In some embodiments, when the terminal exits the application configured with the SSID, it triggers the disconnection of the configured SSID and returns to the default connection. For example, when the terminal exits "Glory of Kings", the application exits, checks for a configured SSID, triggers the disconnection of the configured SSID, which is "ZTE_SSID_GAME", and reconnects to "ZTE_SSID_NORMAL".

[0058] In the embodiment, multi-slice establishment is performed by the gateway-type device, multi-SSID establishment is performed, and finally each SSID is mapped to different network slices. The terminal configures the corresponding SSID, and when the application is started, the corresponding SSID is determined according to the application, and connection is made. When the application is closed, the corresponding SSID connection is disconnected. Different SSIDs are mapped to different network slices by the gateway-type device based on multiple SSIDs. The terminal realizes the correspondence of "application-> SSID-> network slice" based on the correspondence between the application and the SSID, and realizes the correspondence between the application and the network slice. The terminal can flexibly select the network slice according to the application, and the problem that the terminal can only select the electronic device to access a certain network according to the signal strength of the WLAN network, which is too single and cannot flexibly access a specific network slice, is avoided.

[0059] Embodiment three

[0060] The embodiment also provides a network slice selection device, as shown in Figure 3 The device comprises:

[0061] A determination module is configured to determine the corresponding first access network according to the application when the application is started.

[0062] A switching module is configured to switch from the second access network to the first access network and perform communication through the first access network. The first access network and the second access network correspond to different network slices, respectively.

[0063] The embodiment also provides a terminal, as shown in Figure 4 The terminal comprises a processor 401, a memory 402, and a communication bus 403, wherein:

[0064] The communication bus 103 is configured to realize the connection and communication between the processor 401 and the memory 402.

[0065] The processor 401 is configured to execute one or more computer programs stored in the memory 402 to realize at least one step in the network slice selection method in the above-mentioned embodiment one and embodiment two.

[0066] The embodiments also provide a computer-readable storage medium including a volatile or non-volatile, removable or non-removable medium implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, computer program modules or other data. The computer-readable storage medium includes, but is not limited to, RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable read only memory), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory), digital versatile discs (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by a computer.

[0067] The computer-readable storage medium in the embodiments can be used to store one or more computer programs, and the stored one or more computer programs can be executed by a processor to implement at least one step of the network slice selection method in the above-mentioned embodiment one and embodiment two.

[0068] It can be seen that all or some steps in the method disclosed above, the functions of the modules / units in the system and the device can be implemented as software (which can be implemented by computer program codes executable by a computing device), firmware, hardware and appropriate combinations thereof. In the hardware implementation, the division between the functional modules / units mentioned in the above description does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, one physical component can have multiple functions, or one function or step can be performed by several physical components in cooperation. Some or all of the physical components can be implemented as software executed by a processor such as a central processing unit, a digital signal processor or a microprocessor, or as hardware, or as an integrated circuit such as an application-specific integrated circuit.

[0069] In addition, it is well known to those skilled in the art that communication media typically includes computer readable instructions, data structures, computer program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and can include any information delivery media. Therefore, the present application is not limited to any particular hardware and software combination.

[0070] The above is a further detailed description of the embodiments of the present application in combination with specific embodiments, and cannot be deemed as limitation of the specific implementation of the present application to these descriptions. For those skilled in the art to which the present application belongs, without departing from the concept of the present application, a number of simple deductions or replacements can be made, and all of them shall be deemed as falling within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for selecting network slices, characterized in that, The application is applied to a terminal, and comprises the following steps: configuring a service set identifier (SSID) corresponding to an application according to the name of the application, and mapping the SSID to a corresponding first access network; when the application is started, determining the corresponding first access network according to the SSID corresponding to the name of the application; switching from a second access network to the first access network, and performing communication through the first access network; the first access network and the second access network correspond to different network slices respectively; the method further comprises the following steps: 2.The method of selecting a network slice according to claim 1, wherein, when an application is started, determining the first access network corresponding to the started application as a default access network, in response to the started application not being configured with a corresponding SSID. 3.The method of selecting a network slice according to claim 2, wherein, the first access network and the second access network are different access networks on the same network device. the step of switching from the second access network to the first access network, and performing communication through the first access network comprises the following steps: 4.The method of selecting a network slice according to claim 2, wherein, maintaining the connection of the second access network, switching the current communication network from the second access network to the first access network, and performing communication through the first access network. the step of switching from the second access network to the first access network, and performing communication through the first access network comprises the following steps: 5.The method of selecting a network slice according to any one of claims 2-4, wherein, disconnecting the connection of the second access network, taking the first access network as the current communication network, and performing communication through the first access network. the method further comprises the following steps: when the application is exited, switching from the first access network to a default access network, and performing communication through the default access network.

6. A network slice selection apparatus, comprising: a determining module configured to configure a service set identifier (SSID) corresponding to an application according to the name of the application, and map the SSID to a corresponding first access network; when the application is started, determining the corresponding first access network according to the SSID corresponding to the name of the application; a switching module configured to switch from a second access network to the first access network, and perform communication through the first access network; the first access network and the second access network correspond to different network slices respectively; the determining module is further configured to determine the first access network corresponding to a started application as a default access network, in response to the started application not being configured with a corresponding SSID.

7. A terminal, comprising a processor, a memory and a communication bus; the communication bus is configured to realize the connection communication between the processor and the memory; 8. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, the processor is configured to execute one or more computer programs stored in the memory, so as to realize the steps of the network slice selection method according to any one of claims 1 to 5. the computer readable storage medium stores one or more computer programs, which can be executed by one or more processors, so as to realize the steps of the network slice selection method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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