Policy and charging control method, device, electronic device and storage medium

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application disclose a policy and charging control method, device, electronic device and storage medium, which are applied to a policy control function network element or a session management function network element, and the policy and charging control method includes: obtaining the current access network information of the terminal device; determining the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, the policy control function network element or the session management function network element includes a plurality of access network information and a PCC policy corresponding to each access network information; and controlling the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy. The embodiments provided by the present application can improve the efficiency of the policy and charging control of the terminal device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of computer technology, and in particular to a policy and charging control method, device, electronic device and storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In the 5G environment, network elements can implement policy and billing control on user access based on multiple dimensions such as location, time, access service, DNN (Data Network Name), contract information, etc., and can provide a variety of capabilities such as QoS (Quality of Service), access control, and routing. More and more Internet business platforms hope to be able to call on these capabilities to provide users with more services. Currently, operators' policy and billing control of terminal devices is inefficient. Summary of the invention

[0003] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application provide a policy and charging control method, a policy and charging control device, an electronic device and a storage medium, which can improve the efficiency of policy and charging control of terminal devices.

[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 policy and charging control method is provided, which is applied to a policy control function network element or a session management function network element, including obtaining current access network information of a terminal device; determining a target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, the policy control function network element or the session management function network element including multiple access network information and a PCC policy corresponding to each access network information; and controlling the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy.

[0006] Exemplarily, acquiring the current access network information of the terminal device includes: receiving a switching message for the access network information of the terminal device, the switching message including the current access network information of the terminal device.

[0007] Exemplarily, the switching message is generated when the terminal device migrates from the first communication base station to the second communication base station, and the access network information supported by the first communication base station and the second communication base station is different.

[0008] Exemplarily, the method is applied to a policy control function network element. Before determining the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, the method also includes: receiving request information sent by the application function network element, the request information including multiple access network information adapted to the terminal device and the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information; and configuring the corresponding PCC policy for each access network information based on the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information.

[0009] Exemplarily, after configuring the corresponding PCC policy for each access network information based on the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information, the method also includes: constructing a correspondence table including each access network information and the PCC policy corresponding to each access network information, so as to determine the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information through the correspondence table.

[0010] Exemplarily, the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information in the request information is generated based on the subscription information.

[0011] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a policy and charging control system is provided, including a session management function network element and a policy control function network element connected to the session management function network element; the policy control function network element is used to determine a target PCC policy corresponding to current access network information, the policy control function network element includes multiple access network information and a PCC policy corresponding to each access network information, and the session management function network element is used to control a data flow of a terminal device based on the target PCC policy.

[0012] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a policy and charging control device is provided, including: an acquisition module for acquiring current access network information of a terminal device; a determination module for determining a target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information; and a control module for controlling a data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy.

[0013] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, an electronic device is provided, including a processor and a memory, wherein computer-readable instructions are stored in the memory, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed by the processor, the above-mentioned policy and billing control method are implemented.

[0014] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which computer-readable instructions are stored. When the computer-readable instructions are executed by a processor of a computer, the computer executes the policy and billing control method provided above.

[0015] According to one aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a computer program product or a computer program is provided, the computer program product or the computer program includes computer instructions, and the computer instructions are stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of a computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the computer device executes the policy and charging control method provided in the above various optional embodiments.

[0016] In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the current access network information of the terminal device is obtained; the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information is determined, and the policy control function network element or the session management function network element includes a plurality of access network information and a PCC policy corresponding to each access network information; the data flow of the terminal device is controlled based on the target PCC policy. This embodiment configures different PCC policies based on the access network information as a dimension, and performs policy-to-policy and billing control on the terminal device based on the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information of the terminal device, so as to avoid the failure of the terminal device to establish a dedicated carrier with the session management function network element due to the mismatch between the current access network information and the pre-configured PCC policy when the terminal device switches the access network information, thereby improving the efficiency of the policy and billing control of the terminal device.

[0017] 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

[0018] 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 those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work. In the drawings:

[0019] Figure 1 is a flow chart of a policy and charging control method shown in an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 2 exist Figure 1 A flowchart of a policy and charging control method is shown in an exemplary embodiment based on the embodiment;

[0021] Figure 3 This is a network framework diagram of an exemplary embodiment applied to the policy and charging control method provided in this application;

[0022] Figure 4 This is a network framework diagram of an exemplary embodiment applied to the policy and charging control method provided in this application;

[0023] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a policy and charging control system shown in an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a policy and charging control device shown in an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 7 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

[0026] Here, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements. The implementations described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the present application. Instead, they are only examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the attached claims.

[0027] 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.

[0028] 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.

[0029] It should also be noted that the "multiple" mentioned in this application refers to two or more than two. "And / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0030] It should be noted that the network elements involved in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as functions or functional entities, and this application does not limit this. For example, the access and mobility management function network element may also be referred to as the access and mobility management function or the access and mobility management function entity, and the session management function network element may be referred to as the session management function or the session management function entity, etc. The names of the various network elements are not limited in this application, and those skilled in the art may replace the names of the above network elements with other names and perform the same functions, which are all within the scope of protection of this application.

[0031] It can be understood that the network elements, functions or functional entities involved in this embodiment can be network elements in hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform), and this application does not impose any restrictions.

[0032] There are many types of common access network information, such as the 4th generation mobile communication network technology, the 5th generation mobile communication network technology, the 4th generation mobile communication network technology, fixed network, WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) and others.

[0033] In the Policy and Charging Control (PCC) architecture defined by the 3GPP, the Policy Control Function (PCF) network element can generate PCC rules based on the media flow information and requested bandwidth provided by the Application Function (AF) network element, and send them to the Session Management Function (SMF) network element for execution, so as to trigger the Session Management Function network element to establish a dedicated bearer to the terminal device side.

[0034] After long-term research, the inventor of the present application found that the existing policy and billing control methods for terminal devices do not take into account the differences in different access network information, whether in constructing PCC policies or issuing PCC policies. Since the guaranteed bandwidths that different access network information can support vary greatly, when the terminal device switches the access network information, it fails to establish a dedicated bearer with the session management function network element according to the pre-set PCC policy. For example, when the user is in 5G network technology, the maximum downlink bandwidth of the issued PCC policy is 20Mbps, and a dedicated dedicated bearer is established with the session management function network element accordingly. When the user switches to 4G network technology, the dedicated bearer fails to be established because the 4G network technology does not support the above PCC policy. When the terminal device switches back to 5G network technology, it is necessary to re-issue the PCC policy. Based on this, the embodiment of the present application performs policy and billing control on the terminal device based on the PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, thereby reducing the possibility of failure of the terminal device to establish a dedicated bearer with the session management function network element. In addition, considering that when 6G technology is introduced in the future, there will inevitably be differences in bandwidth and service deployment capabilities in scenarios where multiple access network information exists, it is necessary to support the ability to issue different PCC policies based on different access network information.

[0035] In this embodiment, the terminal device can be a smart phone, a tablet computer, a PC (Personal Computer), an intelligent voice interaction device, a smart home appliance, a car terminal or other electronic equipment, and is not limited here.

[0036] To solve at least the above problems in the prior art, the embodiments of the present application respectively propose a policy and charging control method, a policy and charging control device, an electronic device, and a computer-readable storage medium. These embodiments will be described in detail below.

[0037] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1 1 is a flowchart of a policy and charging control method shown in an exemplary embodiment of the present application. The policy and charging control method provided in this embodiment is applied to a policy control function network element or a session management function network element in a 5G or future 6G core network defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project.

[0038] like Figure 1 As shown, the policy and charging control method provided in this embodiment includes steps S101 to S103, and the detailed description is as follows:

[0039] Step S101: Acquire the current access network information of the terminal device.

[0040] In this embodiment, the current access network information of the terminal device is the access network information supported by the current wireless network accessed by the terminal device. When the terminal device initiates a service, the session management function network element will receive a PDU session establishment request, wherein the request includes the current access network information of the terminal device. After receiving the session request, if the execution subject of this embodiment is the policy control function network element, the session management function network element sends the SM policy association creation or modification to the policy control function network element, which carries the service information of the service initiated by the terminal device and the current access network information of the terminal device. Exemplarily, the session management function network element periodically sends a request instruction to the terminal device, wherein the request instruction is used to instruct the acquisition of the current access network information of the terminal device, so that the terminal device responds to the request instruction and reports its own current access network information to the session management function network element. This embodiment can also obtain the current access network information of the terminal device in a variety of other ways, which are not specifically limited here.

[0041] Exemplarily, considering that the current access network information of the terminal device may change at any time, exemplarily, the terminal device performs network switching according to the signal strength of the access network information. For example, the terminal device first uses data services within the coverage of the 4G network. When the terminal device subsequently moves outside the coverage area of ​​the 5G network, the terminal device needs to switch from the 4G network to the 5G network. Exemplarily, the terminal device performs network switching according to the access network information priority set by the operator. For example, the terminal device first uses data services in an area covered only by the 4G network. When the terminal device subsequently moves to the coverage area of ​​the 5G network, the user will switch from the 4G network to the 5G network because the 5G network priority set by the operator is higher than the 4G network.

[0042] Therefore, in order to ensure the accuracy of the current access network information of the terminal device, this embodiment receives a switching message for the access network information of the terminal device, and the switching message includes the current access network information of the terminal device. In this way, the current access network information of the terminal device can be updated at any time.

[0043] Exemplarily, a switching message is generated when a terminal device migrates from a first communication base station to a second communication base station. In this embodiment, since different access network information corresponds to different base station types of wireless access systems, when the access network information supported by the first communication base station and the second communication base station is different, it indicates that the terminal device has switched access network information. In this case, a switching message is generated.

[0044] It should be noted that the above-mentioned method of obtaining the current access network information of the terminal device is only an exemplary embodiment. This embodiment can also obtain the current access network information of the terminal device through other methods, for example, obtaining the current access network information based on the network registration update message of the terminal device, which is not specifically limited here.

[0045] Step S102: Determine the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information.

[0046] In this step, the policy control function network element or the session management function network element pre-stores multiple access network information adapted to the terminal device and the PCC policy corresponding to each access network information. Therefore, the acquired current access network information can be matched with the pre-stored multiple access network information to determine the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information.

[0047] Exemplarily, if there is no target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, feedback information indicating a failure to obtain the PCC policy is sent to the terminal device, so that the terminal device sends a service request to the application function network element based on the feedback information, so that the application function network element sends the requested bandwidth corresponding to the current access network information to the policy control function network element, and then the policy control function network element configures the PCC policy for the current access network information based on the requested bandwidth corresponding to the current access network information, and controls the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy.

[0048] Step S103: Control the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy.

[0049] In this embodiment, if the execution subject is a policy control function network element, the target PCC policy is sent to the session management function network element, so that the session management function network element executes the target PCC policy to control the data flow of the terminal device.

[0050] In this embodiment, if the executing entity is a session management function network element, it receives multiple access network information sent by the policy control function network element and the PCC policy corresponding to each access network information, and then determines the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information from the multiple PCC policies obtained, and then controls the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy.

[0051] In this embodiment, the session management function network element establishes a dedicated bearer with the terminal device according to the target PCC rule for transmitting the media stream information of the application function network element that sends the request information, thereby ensuring the transmission of the media stream information of the application function network element.

[0052] Exemplarily, if the execution subject is the policy control function network element, the policy control function network element learns that the current access network information of the terminal device is E-UTRAN (4G), and sends the target PCC rule with an uplink guaranteed bandwidth of 10Mbps and a downlink guaranteed bandwidth of 10Mbps to the session management function network element. After receiving the target PCC rule, the session management function network element establishes a dedicated bearer with an uplink guaranteed bandwidth of 10Mbps and a downlink guaranteed bandwidth of 10Mbps with the terminal device for transmitting the media stream information of the application function network element. Exemplarily, the policy control function network element sends the target PCC policy to the session management function network element through the N7 interface.

[0053] Exemplarily, the policy control function network element or the session management function network element executes the target PCC policy to control the data flow of the terminal device, including QoS (Quality of Service) control, charging control and threshold control of the service flow of the terminal device.

[0054] The policy and charging control method provided in this embodiment obtains a target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information based on the current access network information of the terminal device, and controls the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy. This embodiment configures different PCC policies based on the access network information, so as to avoid the situation where the terminal device fails to establish a dedicated bearer with the session management function network element due to the mismatch between the current access network information and the pre-configured PCC policy when switching the access network information, thereby improving the efficiency of the policy and charging control of the terminal device.

[0055] See also Figure 2 , Figure 2 exist Figure 1 A flowchart of a policy and charging control method is shown in an exemplary embodiment based on the embodiment. The policy and charging control method provided in this embodiment is applied to a policy control function network element, such as Figure 2 As shown, before step S101, the policy and charging control method provided in this embodiment further includes steps S201 to S202, and the detailed description is as follows:

[0056] Step S201: receiving request information sent by an application function network element or a capability exposure function network element.

[0057] In this embodiment, the request information includes multiple access network information adapted to the terminal device and the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information. Exemplarily, the interface between the application function network element and the capability exposure function network element, and the interface between the capability exposure function network element and the policy control function network element add access network information such as RatType and AccessType and corresponding policies, so that the application function network element or the capability exposure function network element can smoothly send access network information such as RatType and AccessType and corresponding policies to the policy control function network element. For example, RatType = "NR", qosReference = 1 (corresponding to a maximum bandwidth of 20Mbps), RatType = "EUTRA", qosReference = 2 (corresponding to a maximum bandwidth of 4Mbps); RatType = "WIRELINE", qosReference = 3 (corresponding to a maximum bandwidth of 100Mbps), and so on.

[0058] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, in addition to the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information, the request message may also include the diversion information corresponding to each access network information, etc., which is used to construct the PCC policy corresponding to the corresponding access network information, which is not specifically limited here.

[0059] Exemplarily, each requested bandwidth includes an uplink bandwidth parameter value and a downlink bandwidth parameter value, and one requested bandwidth is applicable to a type of access network information, for example, the uplink requested bandwidth of requested bandwidth 1 = 4Mbps, the downlink requested bandwidth = 4Mbps, and the corresponding access network information is EUTRA (4G); the uplink requested bandwidth of requested bandwidth 2 = 20Mbps, the downlink requested bandwidth = 20Mbps, and the corresponding access network information is NR (5G). In this embodiment, the request information also includes the media stream information requested by the terminal device (the technology of using streaming transmission to play streaming media on the Internet is media streaming), and the media stream information corresponds to the service request sent by the terminal device to the application function network element, wherein the media stream information includes media stream parameters, and the media stream parameters include the IP address and port of the terminal device, QoS information, etc.

[0060] Exemplarily, the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information in the request information is obtained by the application function network element calling the capability exposure function network element. Exemplarily, if the access network information is AccessType1, such as 3GPPaccess, non-3GPP access, etc., then the corresponding charging information (such as rate group, etc.) is Charging Info1, and the QoS information is QoS Profile 1. If the current access network information is AccessType2, then the charging information is Charging Info2 and the QoS information is QoS Profile 2.

[0061] For example, if the access network information is AccessType1, according to the QoS information, i.e., QoS Profile1, the uplink requested bandwidth of requested bandwidth 1 = 4Mbps, and the downlink requested bandwidth = 4Mbps; if the access network information is AccessType2, according to the QoS information, i.e., QoS Profile 2, the uplink requested bandwidth of requested bandwidth 2 = 20Mbps, and the downlink requested bandwidth = 20Mbps.

[0062] Step S202: configuring a corresponding PCC policy for each access network information based on the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information.

[0063] In this embodiment, the PCC policy corresponding to the access network information includes QoS indicators, diversion identifiers, etc. QoS indicators such as maximum uplink bandwidth, maximum downlink bandwidth, etc., diversion identifiers such as DNAI, etc., are not specifically limited here.

[0064] In this embodiment, the policy control function network element configures a corresponding PCC policy for each access network information according to a bandwidth parameter value of a requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information in the request information.

[0065] After long-term research, the inventors of the present application discovered that when the current access network information of a terminal device changes, the policy control function network element needs to perform signaling interaction with the application function network element to obtain the requested bandwidth corresponding to the changed access network information, and then generate a new PCC rule based on the requested bandwidth corresponding to the changed access network information. In the above method, since the policy control function network element only stores one PCC rule corresponding to the current access network information, as the current access network information of the terminal device changes, the application function network element and the policy control function network element need to perform multiple signaling interactions to determine the bandwidth request and generate a new PCC rule. The signaling overhead of the PCC architecture is high, resulting in a waste of network resources.

[0066] Based on this, in this implementation, the policy control function network element receives the request information of the application function network element, the request information includes multiple access network information adapted to the terminal device and the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information, and then multiple PCC rules are determined according to the request information. Therefore, when the current access network information of the terminal device changes, the PCC rule corresponding to the current access network information can be directly determined from the multiple PCC policies stored in the policy control function network element, which reduces the number of signaling interactions between the policy control function network element and the application function network element, thereby reducing the signaling overhead of the PCC architecture and saving network resources.

[0067] Exemplarily, the PCC policy corresponding to each access network information configuration adapted to the terminal device is sent to the session management function network element, so that the session management function network element determines the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, and then controls the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy. For example, the session management function network element receives PCC rule 1 and PCC rule 2 sent by the policy control network element, determines that the current access network information of the terminal device is E-UTRAN (4G), and the PCEF network element selects to execute PCC rule 2 corresponding to the current access network information, and establishes a dedicated bearer with an uplink guaranteed bandwidth of 10Mbps and a downlink guaranteed bandwidth of 10Mbps with the terminal device.

[0068] In the above manner, the target PCC rules corresponding to the changed access network information can be used without reporting the current access network information change event of the terminal device to the policy control function network element, or waiting for the policy control function network element to issue new target PCC rules.

[0069] Exemplarily, in order to make the correspondence between access network information and PCC policy clearer, a correspondence table including each access network information and the PCC policy corresponding to each access network information is constructed, so as to determine the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information through the correspondence table. Specifically, the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information is directly determined by looking up the table, without traversing all access network information and PCC policy pairs, thereby improving the efficiency of determining the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information.

[0070] See also Figure 3 , Figure 3 is a network framework diagram of an exemplary embodiment applied to the policy and charging control method provided in this application, such as Figure 3As shown, in a specific implementation, the AF network element generates request information according to business needs, the request information includes multiple access network information adapted to the terminal device and the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information, the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information in the request information is generated based on the business needs, the NEF network element receives the request information sent by the AF network element, and forwards the request information to the PCF network element, the PCF network element configures the corresponding PCC policy for each access network information according to the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information included in the request information, the PCF network element sends each access network information and the PCC policy corresponding to each access network information to the SMF network element, determines the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, and sends the target PCC policy to the UPF network element, so that the UPF network element controls the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy.

[0071] See also Figure 4 , Figure 4 is a network framework diagram of an exemplary embodiment applied to the policy and charging control method provided in this application, such as Figure 4 As shown, in another specific implementation, the AF network element generates request information according to business needs, the request information includes multiple access network information adapted to the terminal device and the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information, the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information in the request information is generated based on the business needs, the NEF network element receives the request information sent by the AF network element, and forwards the request information to the PCF network element, the PCF network element configures the corresponding PCC policy for each access network information according to the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information included in the request information, determines the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, and sends the target PCC policy to the SMF network element, the SMF network element further sends the target PCC policy to the UPF network element, so that the UPF network element controls the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy.

[0072] In the above two exemplary embodiments, the interface between the AF network element or NEF network element and the PCF network element adds access network information such as RatType and AccessType and corresponding policies, so that the AF network element or NEF network element can smoothly send access network information such as RatType and AccessType and corresponding policies to the PCF network element.

[0073] See also Figure 5 , Figure 5 is a block diagram of a policy and charging control system shown in an exemplary embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 5 As shown, the policy and charging control system 500 includes a PCF network element 502 and an SMF network element 501 connected to the PCF network element 502 .

[0074] Among them, SMF network element 501 is used to send the current access network information of the terminal device to PCF network element 502, and execute the target PCC policy to control the Internet access of the terminal device; PCF network element 502 is used to determine the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, and send the target PCC policy to SMF network element 501.

[0075] Exemplarily, the policy and charging control system 500 may also include an AF network element 504 and an NEF network element 503 connected to the AF network element 504, wherein the NEF network element 503 is connected to the PCF network element 502, the AF network element 504 is used to send a request message to the NEF network element 503, the NEF network element 503 forwards the request message to the PCF network element 502, the request information includes multiple access network information adapted to the terminal device and the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information, and the PCF network element 502 is also used to receive the request information and configure the corresponding PCC policy for each access network information according to the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information. The AF network element 504 is also used to receive the subscription information corresponding to each access network information, and generate the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information according to the subscription information corresponding to each access network information.

[0076] Exemplarily, the PCF network element 502 is also used to send the PCC policy corresponding to each access network information configuration to the SMF network element 501, and the SMF network element 501 is used to determine the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information and execute the control of the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy. In the above exemplary embodiment, the interface between the AF network element 504 or the NEF network element 503 and the PCF network element adds access network information such as RatType and AccessType and the corresponding policy, so that the AF network element 504 or the NEF network element 503 can smoothly send the access network information such as RatType and AccessType and the corresponding policy to the PCF network element 502.

[0077] See also Figure 6 , Figure 6 is a block diagram of a policy and charging control device shown in an exemplary embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 6 As shown, the policy and charging control device 600 includes an acquisition module 601 , a determination module 602 and a control module 603 .

[0078] Among them, the acquisition module 601 is used to obtain the current access network information of the terminal device; the determination module 602 is used to determine the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information; and the control module 603 is used to control the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy.

[0079] In another exemplary embodiment, the acquisition module 601 is also used to receive a switching message for access network information of a terminal device, the switching message including current access network information of the terminal device, and the switching message is generated when the terminal device migrates from a first communication base station to a second communication base station, and the access network information supported by the first communication base station and the second communication base station are different.

[0080] In another exemplary embodiment, the policy and charging control device 600 further includes a receiving module, a configuration module and a construction module, wherein the receiving module is used to receive request information sent by the application function network element, the request information includes multiple access network information adapted to the terminal device and the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information; the configuration module is used to configure the corresponding PCC policy for each access network information based on the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information. The construction module is used to construct a correspondence table including each access network information and the PCC policy corresponding to each access network information, so as to determine the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information through the correspondence table. The requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information in the request information is generated based on the contract information.

[0081] It should be noted that the device provided in the above embodiment and the method provided in the above embodiment belong to the same concept, wherein the specific manner in which each module and unit performs the operation has been described in detail in the method embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0082] In another exemplary embodiment, the present application provides an electronic device, including a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores computer-readable instructions, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed by the processor, the above-mentioned policy and charging control method are implemented.

[0083] Figure 7 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.

[0084] It should be noted that Figure 7 The computer system 1000 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.

[0085] like Figure 7As shown, the computer system 1000 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 1001, which can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to the program stored in the read-only memory (ROM) 1002 or the program loaded from the storage part 1008 to the random access memory (RAM) 1003, such as executing the information recommendation method in the above embodiment. In the RAM 1003, various programs and data required for system operation are also stored. The CPU 1001, the ROM 1002 and the RAM 1003 are connected to each other through the bus 1004. The input / output (I / O) interface 1005 is also connected to the bus 1004.

[0086] The following components are connected to the I / O interface 1005: an input section 1006 including a keyboard, a mouse, etc.; an output section 1007 including a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and a speaker, etc.; a storage section 1008 including a hard disk, etc.; and a communication section 1009 including a network interface card such as a LAN (Local Area Network) card, a modem, etc. The communication section 1009 performs communication processing via a network such as the Internet. A drive 1010 is also connected to the I / O interface 1005 as needed. A removable medium 1011, such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, etc., is installed on the drive 1010 as needed so that a computer program read therefrom is installed into the storage section 1008 as needed.

[0087] 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 1009, and / or installed from a removable medium 1011. When the computer program is executed by a central processing unit (CPU) 1001, various functions defined in the system of the present application are executed.

[0088] 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, a system, device or device of electricity, magnetism, light, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor, 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.

[0089] 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.

[0090] 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.

[0091] Another aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the policy and charging control method of any one of the above embodiments.

[0092] Another aspect of the present application also provides a computer program product or computer program, which includes computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of a computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the computer device executes the policy and charging control method provided in each of the above embodiments.

[0093] It should be noted that the computer-readable medium shown in the embodiment of the present application can be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium or any combination of the above two. The computer-readable storage medium can be, for example, 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 can 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 can be any tangible medium containing or storing a program, which can 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 can include a data signal propagated in a baseband or as a 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.

[0094] 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.

[0095] 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.

[0096] The above content is only a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the implementation scheme of the present application. A person skilled in the art can easily make corresponding changes or modifications based on the main concept and spirit of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application shall be based on the scope of protection required by the claims.

Claims

1. A policy and charging control method, applied to a policy control function network element or a session management function network element, characterized in that: include: Obtain the current access network information of the terminal device; Determine a target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, wherein the policy control function network element or the session management function network element includes multiple access network information and a PCC policy corresponding to each access network information; the PCC policy includes diversion information corresponding to each access network information; The PCC policy corresponding to the access network information includes a QoS indicator and a diversion identifier; Controlling the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy; Before determining the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, the method further includes: Receiving request information sent by an application function network element, the request information including multiple access network information adapted to the terminal device and a requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information; Configure a corresponding PCC policy for each access network information based on the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information; The requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information in the request information is obtained by the application function network element calling the capability exposure function network element; The controlling the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy includes: The policy control function network element or the session management function network element executes the target PCC policy to perform QoS control, charging control and threshold control on the service flow of the terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The obtaining of the current access network information of the terminal device includes: A switching message for the access network information of the terminal device is received, wherein the switching message includes the current access network information of the terminal device.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The switching message is generated when the terminal device migrates from a first communication base station to a second communication base station, and the access network information supported by the first communication base station and the second communication base station is different.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: After configuring a corresponding PCC policy for each access network information based on the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information, the method further includes: A correspondence table including each access network information and a PCC policy corresponding to each access network information is constructed, so as to determine a target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information through the correspondence table.

5. A policy and charging control system, characterized in that: It includes a session management function network element and a policy control function network element connected to the session management function network element; The policy control function network element is used to determine the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, and send the target PCC policy to the session management function network element, wherein the policy control function network element includes multiple access network information and the PCC policy corresponding to each access network information; the PCC policy includes the diversion information corresponding to each access network information; before determining the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, the policy control function network element is further used to: receive request information sent by the application function network element, wherein the request information includes multiple access network information adapted to the terminal device and the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information; Configure a corresponding PCC policy for each access network information based on the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information; The requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information in the request information is obtained by the application function network element calling the capability exposure function network element; The session management function network element is used to control the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy; The controlling the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy includes: the policy control function network element or the session management function network element executing the target PCC policy to perform QoS control, charging control and threshold control on the service flow of the terminal device.

6. A policy and charging control device, characterized in that: include: An acquisition module is used to obtain the current access network information of the terminal device; A determination module, configured to determine a target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information; The PCC strategy includes traffic diversion information corresponding to each access network information; The PCC policy corresponding to the access network information includes a QoS indicator and a diversion identifier; Before determining the target PCC policy corresponding to the current access network information, the determination module is further used to: receive request information sent by an application function network element, the request information including multiple access network information adapted to the terminal device and a requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information; Configure a corresponding PCC policy for each access network information based on the requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information; The requested bandwidth corresponding to each access network information in the request information is obtained by the application function network element calling the capability exposure function network element; A control module is used to control the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy, wherein the control of the data flow of the terminal device based on the target PCC policy includes: executing the target PCC policy to perform QoS control, charging control and threshold control on the service flow of the terminal device.

7. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: a memory storing computer-readable instructions; A processor reads the computer-readable instructions stored in the memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

8. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: Computer-readable instructions are stored thereon, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed by a processor of a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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