Network slicing configuration methods and related products

Abstract

The embodiment of the present application provides a method for configuring a network slice and related products. The method for configuring a network slice includes: receiving an access request forwarded by a wireless access device, the access request carrying device information of a terminal device; requesting a core network element to allocate a target slice identifier based on the device information, and determining a target Internet Protocol IP address allocated to the terminal device based on the access request; establishing a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier; and sending a routing policy to the wireless access device, the routing policy including a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, the mapping relationship being used by the wireless access device to forward data packets sent by the terminal device using the target IP address to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. The embodiment of the present application can achieve end-to-end connectivity of network slices.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and specifically to a network slicing configuration method and related products. Background Art

[0002] Standalone (SA) network slicing is the core technology of the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication network to empower vertical industries. It divides a physical network into multiple virtual end-to-end networks. Each virtual network, including the terminal devices, access network, transmission network and core network within the network, is logically independent.

[0003] To implement network slicing end-to-end, both the terminal side and the operator network side need to support slicing scenarios. Currently, there is no mature end-to-end SA network slicing solution, and SA network slicing technology has not yet achieved end-to-end connectivity on the terminal device side and the operator network side. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a network slicing configuration method and related products, which can achieve end-to-end connection of network slices.

[0005] A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a method for configuring a network slice, which is applied to a third-party network element and includes:

[0006] receiving an access request forwarded by a wireless access device, wherein the access request carries device information of a terminal device;

[0007] Requesting a core network element to allocate a target slice identifier according to the device information, and determining a target Internet Protocol IP address allocated to the terminal device according to the access request;

[0008] Establishing a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier;

[0009] A routing policy is sent to the wireless access device, where the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, and the mapping relationship is used by the wireless access device to forward the data packet sent by the terminal device using the target IP address to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier.

[0010] A second aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a method for configuring a network slice, which is applied to a wireless access device and includes:

[0011] receiving an access request from a terminal device, the access request carrying device information of the terminal device;

[0012] Forwarding the access request to a third-party network element, where the access request is used by the third-party network element to determine a target IP address based on the access request and to request allocation of a target slice identifier from the core network element based on the device information;

[0013] receiving a routing policy from the third-party network element, where the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier;

[0014] The target IP address is sent to the terminal device, where the target IP address is used by the terminal device to send a data message to the wireless access device using the target IP address.

[0015] A third aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice configuration device, which is applied to a third-party network element and includes:

[0016] A first communication unit is configured to receive an access request forwarded by a wireless access device, wherein the access request carries device information of a terminal device;

[0017] The first communication unit is further configured to request allocation of a target slice identifier from a core network element according to the device information;

[0018] a determining unit, configured to determine a target Internet Protocol (IP) address to be allocated to the terminal device according to the access request;

[0019] An establishing unit, configured to establish a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier;

[0020] The first communication unit is also used to send a routing policy to the wireless access device, wherein the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, and the mapping relationship is used by the wireless access device to forward the data packet sent by the terminal device using the target IP address to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier.

[0021] A fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice configuration device, the device being applied to a wireless access device, the device including:

[0022] A second communication unit is configured to receive an access request from a terminal device, wherein the access request carries device information of the terminal device;

[0023] The second communication unit is further configured to forward the access request to a third-party network element, where the access request is used by the third-party network element to determine a target IP address according to the access request, and to request allocation of a target slice identifier from the core network element according to the device information;

[0024] The second communication unit is further configured to receive a routing policy from the third-party network element, where the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier;

[0025] The second communication unit is further configured to send the target IP address to the terminal device, where the target IP address is used by the terminal device to send a data message to the wireless access device.

[0026] The fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a network element device, including a processor and a memory, the memory is used to store a computer program, the computer program includes program instructions, and the processor is configured to call the program instructions to execute the step instructions in the first aspect of the embodiment of the present application.

[0027] A sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless access device, including a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the computer program includes program instructions, and the processor is configured to call the program instructions to execute the step instructions in the second aspect of the embodiment of the present application.

[0028] The seventh aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program for electronic data exchange, and the computer program includes program instructions, which, when executed by a processor, enable the processor to execute the step instructions in the first aspect or the second aspect of the embodiments of the present application.

[0029] In an embodiment of the present application, a third-party network element receives an access request forwarded by a wireless access device, where the access request carries device information of a terminal device; a target slice identifier is allocated to a core network element based on the device information, and a target Internet Protocol IP address allocated to the terminal device based on the access request is determined; a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier is established; and a routing policy is sent to the wireless access device, where the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, and the mapping relationship is used by the wireless access device to forward a data packet sent by the terminal device using the target IP address to a network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. The network slice configuration method of the embodiment of the present application is that the third-party network element can allocate a target IP address and a target slice identifier to the terminal device based on the access request from the terminal device forwarded by the wireless access device, establish a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, and send a routing policy to the wireless access device. The routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier. For the data packet sent by the terminal device using the target IP address, the wireless access device can forward the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. The data packet on the terminal device side can be connected to the slice network through the third-party network element and the wireless access device, thereby realizing data connection from the terminal device to the network slice and realizing end-to-end connection of the network slice. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0031] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a network architecture for implementing network slicing provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of a method for configuring a network slice provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of another method for configuring network slicing provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of another method for configuring network slicing provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 5 This is a flowchart of another method for configuring network slicing provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 6 This is a structural diagram of a network slicing configuration device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 7 This is a structural diagram of another network slicing configuration device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network element device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 9 This is a structural diagram of a wireless access device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0041] The terms "first," "second," and the like in the specification and claims of this application and the accompanying drawings are used to distinguish between different objects, not to describe a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "including," "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements but may optionally include steps or elements not listed, or may optionally include other steps or elements inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0042] References to "embodiments" in this application mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it constitute an independent or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described in this application may be combined with other embodiments.

[0043] The terminal devices involved in the embodiments of the present application may include various handheld devices with communication functions, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, as well as various forms of user equipment (UE), mobile stations (MS), etc.

[0044] Standalone (SA) network slicing is a core technology used by fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication networks to empower vertical industries. It divides a physical network into multiple virtual end-to-end networks. Each virtual network, including the terminal devices, access network, transport network, and core network within it, is logically independent. Based on the three major 5G application scenarios, network slicing can be divided into three types: slicing for enhanced mobile broadband (eMMBB), slicing for ultra-reliable low-latency communication (uRLLC), and slicing for massive machine-type communication (mMTC). In layman's terms, 5G network slicing technology can be likened to a highway with lanes for vehicles of varying speeds.

[0045] To implement network slicing end-to-end, both the terminal and the operator network must support slicing scenarios. Currently, there is no mature end-to-end SA network slicing solution, and SA network slicing technology has not yet achieved end-to-end connectivity between the terminal device and the operator network. Although slicing function deployment based on network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) has been implemented on the operator network side, there is no mature implementation solution for how the terminal side connects the corresponding data traffic to a specific network slice for forwarding based on the user route selection policy (URSP) rules issued by the operator network side.

[0046] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a network architecture for implementing network slicing provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1As shown, the network architecture may include terminal devices, wireless access devices, third-party network elements, base stations, and a core network. The base stations and core network belong to the operator network side, which can also be referred to as the network side. Third-party network elements can interact with core network elements deployed on the operator network side. The deployment of third-party network elements can be managed by the operator. Terminal devices can be devices such as mobile phones and tablets that can access the network through wireless access devices. Wireless access devices are routing devices with network access capabilities, also known as wireless routing devices. Examples include customer premises equipment (CPE) and mobile Wi-Fi routers (MIFI). CPE is commonly used for indoor / short-range communication network switching. Wireless access devices can connect to 5G networks. Terminal devices can access networks (e.g., 5G networks) through wireless access devices. A wireless access device can connect to multiple terminal devices, and multiple terminal devices can access the network through the wireless access device. Terminal devices can also be referred to as downstream devices.

[0047] The third-party network element can support Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and support requesting the core network element to allocate slice identifiers. The third-party network element can interact with the core network element to obtain slice identifiers. The third-party network element can be a server with the function of allocating IP addresses and requesting the core network element to allocate slice identifiers. For example, the third-party network element can be a virtual customer premises equipment (virtual CPE, vCPE), and the vCPE can be deployed in the cloud. The core network network elements may include access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, the network slice selection function (NSSF) network elements, the network exposure function (NRF) network elements, etc.

[0048] The terminal device can send an access request to the wireless access device, and the wireless access device forwards the access request to a third-party network element. The third-party network element allocates an IP address to the terminal device based on the device information in the access request. The third-party network element interacts with the core network element to request a slice identifier. When the slice identifier request is successful, the third-party network element generates a routing policy based on the requested slice identifier and the allocated IP address. The routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the requested slice identifier and the allocated IP address. The third-party network element sends the routing policy to the wireless access device, and the wireless access device sends the IP address to the terminal device for application. The wireless access device sends a data bearer establishment request to the operator network side. The data bearer establishment request is used to request the creation of a network slice corresponding to the slice identifier and establish a data bearer between the wireless access device and the network slice corresponding to the slice identifier. The terminal device can use the IP address to send a data message to the wireless access device. The wireless access device forwards the data message to the network slice corresponding to the slice identifier through the data bearer based on the above-mentioned mapping relationship.

[0049] In an embodiment of the present application, a third-party network element can assign a target IP address and a target slice identifier to the terminal device based on the access request from the terminal device forwarded by the wireless access device, establish a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, and send a routing policy to the wireless access device. The routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier. For data packets sent by the terminal device using the target IP address, the wireless access device can forward the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. The data packet on the terminal device side can be connected to the slice network through the third-party network element and the wireless access device, thereby realizing data connection from the terminal device to the network slice and realizing end-to-end connection of the network slice.

[0050] See also Figure 2 , Figure 2 This is a flow chart of a method for configuring a network slice provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 As shown, the method may include the following steps.

[0051] 201. A third-party network element receives an access request forwarded by a wireless access device. The access request carries device information of a terminal device.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present application, the access request may be a request for allocation of an IP address and a slice identifier. Exemplarily, the access request may be a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) request or a domain name system (DNS) request. The device information of the terminal device carried in the access request may include: a vendor identifier of the terminal device, a media access control address (MAC) address, etc.

[0053] For example, if the access request is a DHCP request, the DHCP request may carry device information such as Option 60 and Option 61. Option 60 is the vendor category (e.g., vendor category identifier), which can be used to determine whether the terminal device is legitimate and, if so, allocate an IP address in the domain corresponding to the vendor category. Option 61 is the client identifier, such as a MAC address.

[0054] The third-party network element can determine the device category of the terminal device based on the device information carried in the access request. For example, all devices belonging to the same vendor can be classified into a domain based on the vendor category and mapped to the same network slice. The access request sent by the terminal device can be sent by the client on the terminal device.

[0055] 202. The third-party network element requests the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier based on the device information, and determines the target Internet Protocol IP address allocated to the terminal device based on the access request.

[0056] In one embodiment, the third-party network element can send device information to the core network element, and the device information is used by the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier to the terminal device based on the device information and the available slice resources of the core network element.

[0057] In another embodiment, a third-party network element can determine the device category of the terminal device based on the device information, and send the device category of the terminal device to the core network network element. The device category of the terminal device is used by the core network network element to allocate a target slice identifier to the terminal device based on the device category of the terminal device and the available slice resources of the core network network element.

[0058] The terminal device category can be the category of the terminal device's vendor identifier or the client category of the terminal device. The available slice resources of the core network element are the slice resources currently available to the core network element. The core network load changes dynamically with the number of access devices, and the available slice resources of the core network also change dynamically.

[0059] Exemplarily, the third-party network element requests the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier based on the device information. Specifically, the third-party network element determines the device category of the terminal device based on the device information, and sends the device category of the terminal device to the core network element. The core network element can determine the target slice identifier based on the mapping relationship between the category and the slice identifier of the available slice resource. The target slice identifier is the slice identifier corresponding to the device category of the terminal device. If the core network network element determines that there are no available slice resources corresponding to the device category of the terminal device or the category of the terminal device cannot be identified, a slice identifier will not be allocated to the terminal device. The third-party network element will send a first notification message to the wireless access device. The first notification message is used to notify the terminal device that there are no available slice resources.

[0060] Exemplarily, the third-party network element determines a target Internet Protocol (IP) address to be allocated to the terminal device based on the access request. Specifically, the third-party network element may determine whether the terminal device is legitimate based on the vendor category in the access request. If so, the third-party network element allocates an idle IP address to the terminal device as the target IP address. If not, the third-party network element does not allocate an IP address to the terminal device. The third-party network element then sends a second notification message to the wireless access device, notifying the terminal device that the device is illegitimate and that no IP address will be allocated.

[0061] 203. The third-party network element establishes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier.

[0062] In an embodiment of the present application, after the third-party network element requests to be allocated a target slice identifier and a target IP address, a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier can be established.

[0063] 204. The third-party network element sends a routing policy to the wireless access device. The routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier. The mapping relationship is used by the wireless access device to forward the data packet sent by the terminal device using the target IP address to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier.

[0064] In an embodiment of the present application, a third-party network element sends a routing policy to a wireless access device, where the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between a target IP address and a target slice identifier. The wireless access device may store a routing table, which may include multiple routing policies, and each terminal device may correspond to a routing policy.

[0065] Please refer to Table 1, which is a routing table provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0066] Table 1

[0067] IP address Slice identification IP1 Slice ID 1 IP2 Slice ID 2 … … IPN Slice ID N

[0068] As shown in Table 1, the routing table includes a mapping between IP addresses and slice identifiers. IP1 corresponds to slice identifier 1, IP2 corresponds to slice identifier 2, and IPN corresponds to slice identifier N. It should be noted that Table 1 is only one possible example; the same slice identifier can correspond to one or more IP addresses.

[0069] The terminal device sends a data packet to the wireless access device. The data packet carries the target IP address. The wireless access device forwards the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier based on the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier. Each slice identifier can correspond to a corresponding network slice, and different slice identifiers correspond to different network slices.

[0070] In the network slice of the embodiment of the present application, the third-party network element can allocate a target IP address and a target slice identifier to the terminal device based on the access request from the terminal device forwarded by the wireless access device, establish a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, and send a routing policy to the wireless access device, where the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier. For a data packet sent by the terminal device using the target IP address, the wireless access device can forward the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier, and the data packet on the terminal device side can be connected to the slice network through the third-party network element and the wireless access device, thereby realizing data connection from the terminal device to the network slice and realizing end-to-end connection of the network slice.

[0071] See also Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a flow chart of another method for configuring network slices provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 As shown, the configuration method of the network slice may include the following steps.

[0072] 301. A third-party network element receives an access request forwarded by a wireless access device. The access request carries device information of the terminal device and network requirement information of the terminal device.

[0073] The specific implementation of step 301 can refer to the above step 201 and will not be repeated here.

[0074] 302. The third-party network element requests the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier based on the device information and network demand information, and determines the target Internet Protocol IP address allocated to the terminal device based on the access request.

[0075] In the embodiments of the present application, network demand information is information reflecting the current network requirements of the terminal device. Network demand information may include any one of Quality of Service (QoS), application identity document (ID), domain name, port number, and IP protocol version, or a combination of at least two. QoS includes availability, throughput, latency, latency variation (including jitter and drift), and packet loss rate.

[0076] The network demand information can reflect the network requirements that the terminal device needs to meet. Different network requirements can correspond to different network slices. The embodiment of the present application can add the network demand information of the terminal device, and the core network element can allocate a target slice identifier for the terminal device based on the device information and the network demand information. When the network demand information of the terminal device changes, the allocated slice identifier may be different. At least one slice identifier can be allocated to a terminal device to adapt to the network slicing requirements under different network requirements.

[0077] For example, in 5G, network requirements in the data network name (DNN) can dynamically change based on business needs. Different slices can be customized to meet different business requirements. The same terminal device may use different slices when running different services, thus achieving customized service requirements.

[0078] 303. The third-party network element establishes a mapping relationship between the target IP address, network demand information and the target slice identifier.

[0079] In an embodiment of the present application, after the third-party network element establishes a mapping relationship between the target IP address, network requirement information, and the target slice identifier, the third-party network element sends a routing policy to the wireless access device. The routing policy includes the mapping relationship between the target IP address, network requirement information, and the target slice identifier. The wireless access device may store a routing table, which may include multiple routing policies, and each terminal device may correspond to a routing policy.

[0080] Please refer to Table 2, which is another routing table provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0081] Table 2

[0082] IP address Network requirements information Slice identification IP1 Demand value 1 Slice ID 1 IP1 Demand value 2 Slice ID 2 IP1 Demand value 3 Slice ID 3 IP2 Demand value 1 Slice ID 4 … … …

[0083] As shown in Table 2, the routing table includes a mapping between IP addresses, network demand information, and slice identifiers. When the network demand is 1, IP1 corresponds to slice identifier 1; when the network demand is 2, IP1 corresponds to slice identifier 2; when the network demand is 3, IP1 corresponds to slice identifier 3; and when the network demand is 1, IP2 corresponds to slice identifier 4. The same terminal device can access the network through network slices corresponding to different slice identifiers when different network demands are met, providing more customized network slices and improving the refined management capabilities of network slices.

[0084] Among them, network demand information can be reflected through demand value. The larger the demand value, the higher the network requirements and the higher the performance of the required network slice.

[0085] It should be noted that Table 2 is only a possible example. The same IP address can correspond to multiple slice identifiers. The same slice identifier can also correspond to one or more IP addresses.

[0086] 304. The third-party network element sends a routing policy to the wireless access device. The routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address, network demand information and the target slice identifier. The mapping relationship is used by the wireless access device to forward the data packet sent by the terminal device using the target IP address to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier.

[0087] In an embodiment of the present application, the routing policy sent by the third-party network element to the wireless access device includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address, network demand information, and the target slice identifier. The wireless access device forwards the data message sent by the terminal device using the target IP address to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. The data message on the terminal device side can be connected to the slice network through the third-party network element and the wireless access device, thereby realizing data connection from the terminal device to the network slice and achieving end-to-end connection of the network slice. The data message can also carry the network demand information of the terminal device. The wireless access device can accurately determine the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier based on the demand information and the target IP address, as well as the mapping relationship between the target IP address, network demand information, and the target slice identifier.

[0088] Optionally, in step 302, the third-party network element requests the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier based on the device information and network requirement information, which may include the following steps:

[0089] The third-party network element sends device information and network requirement information to the core network element. The device information and network requirement information are used by the core network element to allocate target slice identifiers to terminal devices based on the device information, network requirement information and the available slice resources of the core network element.

[0090] In an embodiment of the present application, a third-party network element determines the device category of a terminal device based on the device information, and sends the device category and network requirement information of the terminal device to the core network element. The core network element can determine the slice identifier corresponding to the device category of the terminal device based on the mapping relationship between the device category and the slice identifier of the available slice resource. If it is determined that the slice identifier meets the network requirement information, the slice identifier is determined as the target slice identifier. If it is determined that the slice identifier does not meet the network requirement information, the slice identifier is not allocated to the terminal device, and the third-party network element sends a third notification message to the wireless access device. The third notification message is used to notify the terminal device that there are no available slice resources that meet the network requirements.

[0091] Optionally, in step 202 or step 302, the third-party network element determines the target Internet Protocol IP address to be allocated to the terminal device according to the access request, which may include the following steps:

[0092] The third-party network element obtains a target IP address from the IP address pool according to the access request; wherein the target IP address is an idle IP address in the IP address pool, and the target IP address is allocated to the terminal device in the form of a lease.

[0093] In an embodiment of the present application, for DHCP requests, a DHCP server can be run on a third-party network element. When the DHCP server processes the DHCP request of a terminal device, if the terminal device is legal, it obtains an idle IP address from its pre-configured IP address pool and provides it to the terminal device in the form of a lease.

[0094] See also Figure 4 , Figure 4 This is a flow chart of another method for configuring network slices provided by the application embodiment. Figure 4 As shown, the method is applied to a wireless access device. The method may include the following steps.

[0095] 401. The wireless access device receives an access request from a terminal device. The access request carries device information of the terminal device.

[0096] 402. The wireless access device forwards the access request to the third-party network element. The access request is used by the third-party network element to determine the target IP address according to the access request. The device information is used by the third-party network element to request the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier according to the device information.

[0097] In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving an access request from a terminal device, the wireless access device does not process the access request but directly transmits it to a third-party network element.

[0098] Optionally, in step 402, the wireless access device forwards the access request to the third-party network element, including:

[0099] The wireless access device forwards the access request to the third-party network element through the connection channel.

[0100] The connection channel is a connection channel between the wireless access device and the third-party network element, and the connection channel can be established before executing step 401. A connection channel can be established between the wireless access device and the third-party network element, and the wireless access device can forward access requests through the channel, and data transmission through the connection channel is more stable.

[0101] The specific process of the third-party network element issuing routing policies based on the access request can be found in Figure 2 or Figure 3 The embodiments shown are not described in detail here.

[0102] 403. The wireless access device receives a routing policy from a third-party network element, where the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between a target IP address and a target slice identifier.

[0103] 404. The wireless access device sends a target IP address to the terminal device. The target IP address is used by the terminal device to send a data message to the wireless access device.

[0104] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving a routing policy from a third-party network element, the wireless access device can send a target IP address to the terminal device, and the terminal device can subsequently use the target IP address to send data packets. For data packets sent by the terminal device using the target IP address, the wireless access device can forward the data packets to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. The data packets on the terminal device side can be connected to the slice network through the third-party network element and the wireless access device, thereby achieving data connectivity from the terminal device to the network slice and realizing end-to-end connectivity of the network slice.

[0105] Optionally, after executing step 404, the following steps may also be executed:

[0106] 405. The wireless access device receives a data packet from the terminal device, where the data packet carries a target IP address.

[0107] 406. The wireless access device forwards the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier based on the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier.

[0108] In the embodiment of the present application, after the wireless access device sends the target IP address to the terminal device, the terminal device can use the target IP address to send a data message to the wireless access device. The specific implementation of steps 405 to 406 can refer to the above step 204 and Table 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0109] Optionally, the access request also carries the network requirement information of the terminal device. The device information and network requirement information are used by the third-party network element to request the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier based on the device information and network requirement information. Including network requirement information in the access request allows the allocated slice identifier to take the network requirement information into account, thereby providing more customized network slices.

[0110] Optionally, the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address, the network requirement information, and the target slice identifier. The mapping relationship between the target IP address, the network requirement information, and the target slice identifier can be found in Table 2 above. No further details will be given here.

[0111] The data packets of the embodiment of the present application can carry IP addresses and network demand information, thereby mapping to corresponding network slices and providing a more refined network slice forwarding strategy. Optionally, after executing step 404, the following steps may also be performed:

[0112] (11) The wireless access device receives a data packet from the terminal device, which carries the target IP address and network requirement information;

[0113] (12) The wireless access device forwards the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier based on the mapping relationship between the target IP address, network demand information and the target slice identifier.

[0114] In an embodiment of the present application, the data packet can be forwarded to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier according to Table 2. For example, if the IP address carried by the data packet is IP1 and the network demand information is a demand value of 2, the data packet can be forwarded to the network slice corresponding to slice identifier 2. The wireless access device can forward the data packet based on the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, thereby achieving a connection from the terminal device to the network slice.

[0115] Optionally, after executing step 403, the following steps may also be executed:

[0116] The wireless access device sends a data bearer establishment request to the network side device, where the data bearer establishment request carries a target slice identifier; the target slice identifier is used to instruct the network side device to create a network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier to establish a data bearer between the wireless access device and the network slice;

[0117] The wireless access device forwards the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier according to the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, which may include the following steps:

[0118] The wireless access device forwards the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier through the data bearer based on the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier.

[0119] In the embodiment of the present application, the network side device may be a device on the operator's network side. The network side device may include at least one of an access network element and a core network element.

[0120] After receiving the routing policy from the third-party network element, the wireless access device can establish a data bearer between the wireless access device and the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. After receiving the data packet, if the data packet carries the target IP address, the wireless access device forwards the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier through the data bearer based on the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, thereby achieving end-to-end connectivity of the network slice.

[0121] Optionally, after executing step 403, the following steps may also be executed:

[0122] (21) The wireless access device establishes virtual routing forwarding according to the routing strategy;

[0123] (22) The wireless access device receives the data message from the terminal device and forwards the data message according to the virtual routing forwarding.

[0124] In this embodiment of the present application, virtual routing forwarding (VRF) is a virtual routing table entry that selects the corresponding slice (i.e., the outbound interface) for forwarding based on the source IP address. The routing policy includes a mapping between the target IP address and the target slice identifier. In wireless access devices, this routing policy may not be directly applicable.

[0125] For example, the routing policy issued by the third-party network element is: IP1 (IP address) corresponds to slice identifier 1. According to this routing policy, a correspondence between the IP conversion value and slice identifier 1 can be established. IP1 can be a 32-bit binary number, and the IP conversion value can be an 8-bit or smaller value, which can facilitate the wireless access device to look up the table based on the IP conversion value and slice identifier 1. The conversion relationship between the IP address and the IP conversion value can be converted by a certain conversion algorithm. When using virtual routing forwarding, the target IP address in the data packet can be converted into a target IP value, and the target slice identifier corresponding to the target IP value can be determined based on the correspondence between the IP value and the slice identifier in the virtual routing forwarding, and the data packet can be forwarded to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. Using virtual routing forwarding can reduce the amount of data in the routing table and improve routing lookup efficiency.

[0126] Optionally, before executing step 401 , the following step may be further executed: the wireless access device requests the network side device to establish a default bearer.

[0127] In an embodiment of the present application, for a device whose terminal device category cannot be identified, a default bearer network slice can be used to forward data packets from the device. When a slice identifier cannot be requested, a data transmission channel can be provided to avoid the situation where data packets cannot be forwarded due to an inability to request a slice identifier, thereby improving the user experience.

[0128] The following example uses the wireless access device as CPE, the third-party network element as vCPE, and the access request as a DHCP request. Figure 5 , Figure 5 This is a flow chart of another method for configuring network slices provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 As shown, the method may include the following steps.

[0129] 501. The terminal device initiates a DHCP request to the CPE. The CPE transparently transmits the DHCP request to the vCPE. The DHCP request carries device information.

[0130] Terminal devices, also known as service terminals (such as mobile phones and PADs), use the DHCP protocol for DHCP requests. The DHCP protocol can carry options such as Option 60 and 61 for device identification: Option 60 (class ID) indicates the vendor class; Option 61 (client ID) indicates the client ID. Device information can include the vendor class and client ID.

[0131] 502. The CPE pre-establishes a default bearer with the network-side device.

[0132] 503, the CPE establishes a control connection channel with the vCPE in the cloud.

[0133] The CPE can use technologies such as VXLAN TUNNEL or VPN to establish a control connection channel with the vCPE in the cloud. After the control connection channel is established, the CPE and vCPE can communicate through the control connection channel.

[0134] When receiving the DHCP request from the terminal device in step 501, the CPE itself does not process the DHCP request, but forwards the DHCP request to the vCPE (deployed on the operator side and can interact with the operator side's equipment) through the control connection channel for processing.

[0135] CPE can establish a default bearer with network-side devices. Network-side devices are devices on the operator's side, including access network elements and core network elements.

[0136] Wherein, step 502 and step 503 are performed before step 501.

[0137] 504. The vCPE processes the DHCP request and determines the device type according to the device information carried in the DHCP request.

[0138] Among them, all terminal devices belonging to the same supplier can be classified into one device category and mapped to the same network slice.

[0139] 505. The vCPE coordinates with the core network elements on the network side to allocate a slice identifier to the newly connected terminal device based on the device category.

[0140] The slice identifier may include network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI), and the core network elements may include AMF / NSSF / NRF and other network elements. The vCPE may request the core network elements on the relevant operator side to allocate the slice identifier NSSAI.

[0141] 506. vCPE sends the IP address allocated by the DHCP request and the associated slice identifier as a routing policy to the CPE for application.

[0142] Among them, a DHCP server can run on the vCPE. When the DHCP server processes the DHCP request of the terminal device, if the terminal device is legal, it obtains an idle IP address from its pre-configured IP address pool and provides it to the terminal device in the form of a lease.

[0143] 507, the CPE forwards the allocated IP address to the terminal device for application.

[0144] After receiving the IP address, the terminal device can use the IP address to send data packets to the CPE.

[0145] 508. The CPE requests the network side to establish a data bearer according to the routing policy. The request information carries the slice identifier issued in the routing policy, and requests the network side to create a network slice corresponding to the slice identifier.

[0146] The order of step 507 and step 508 is not limited, and they can be executed simultaneously or not. Step 507 and step 508 are both executed after step 506.

[0147] Among them, the CPE can establish virtual routing forwarding for this routing strategy, and the routing exit is associated with the network slice created by the above-mentioned specified slice identifier.

[0148] 509. The terminal device performs data communication based on the allocated IP.

[0149] Among them, subsequent data packets of the terminal device are forwarded through the VRF forwarding table of the CPE and forwarded to the network slice corresponding to the slice identifier through the data bearer.

[0150] In this embodiment of the present application, vCPE is deployed on the network side and can directly interact with the network elements on the operator side, associate policy information, and solve the problem of network slicing technology that the network-side and terminal-side slicing policies cannot be connected. The CPE can be controlled according to the routing policy issued by the vCPE and use VRF to direct data traffic from terminal devices to different network slices. The deployment of vCPE can be managed by the operator side, and the operator can achieve end-to-end network slicing management.

[0151] In the embodiment of the present application, the vCPE deployed on the operator side is used, and the vCPE is used to interact with the relevant network elements such as AMF / NSSF / NRF on the operator side and then associate the NSSAI slicing strategy to achieve true end-to-end connection of the network slicing function. Network slicing can be supported on the operator side (that is, support slicing on the transmission pipeline), and slicing must also be supported at the data inlet. By introducing data traffic from terminal devices into different slices, end-to-end connection can be achieved. Without support at the data inlet (that is, CPE), data traffic cannot enter the corresponding network slice of the operator.

[0152] For terminal devices that cannot be classified using DHCP options, network slicing forwarding can be used using the default bearer. vCPE is deployed using software, which is very flexible (only software upgrades are required), and the slice association strategy can be further refined according to changing needs. vCPE is controlled by software and is decoupled from the hardware. If the CPE needs change, only the software version needs to be updated, and there is no need to replace the hardware at the user's home. For example, if slicing can be performed at the traffic ingress CPE in the future based on other option information or other access control technologies, only the vCPE software version needs to be upgraded in the cloud, making the upgrade more convenient.

[0153] The above mainly introduces the solution of the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the execution process of the method side. It is understandable that, in order to realize the above functions, the electronic device includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiment provided herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in a hardware or computer software driven hardware manner depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0154] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional units of the electronic device according to the above method example. For example, each functional unit can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing unit. The above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units. It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0155] See also Figure 6 , Figure 6 This is a structural diagram of a network slice configuration device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The network slice configuration device 600 is applied to a third-party network element. The network slice configuration device 600 may include a first communication unit 601, a determination unit 602 and an establishment unit 603.

[0156] The first communication unit 601 is configured to receive an access request forwarded by a wireless access device, where the access request carries device information of a terminal device;

[0157] The first communication unit 601 is further configured to request allocation of a target slice identifier from a core network element according to the device information;

[0158] A determining unit 602 is configured to determine a target Internet Protocol (IP) address to be allocated to the terminal device according to the access request;

[0159] An establishing unit 603 is configured to establish a mapping relationship between a target IP address and a target slice identifier;

[0160] The first communication unit 601 is also used to send a routing policy to the wireless access device. The routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier. The mapping relationship is used by the wireless access device to forward the data packet sent by the terminal device using the target IP address to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier.

[0161] Optionally, the access request also carries network requirement information of the terminal device, and the first communication unit 601 is also used to request the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier based on the device information and network requirement information.

[0162] Establishing unit 603 establishes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, including: establishing a mapping relationship between the target IP address, network demand information and the target slice identifier.

[0163] Optionally, the determination unit 602 determines the target Internet Protocol IP address allocated to the terminal device based on the access request, including: obtaining the target IP address from the IP address pool based on the access request; wherein the target IP address is an idle IP address in the IP address pool, and the target IP address is allocated to the terminal device in the form of a lease.

[0164] Optionally, the first communication unit 601 requests the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier based on the device information, including: sending device information to the core network element, and the device information is used by the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier to the terminal device based on the device information and the available slice resources of the core network element.

[0165] Optionally, the first communication unit 601 requests the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier based on the device information and network requirement information, including: sending device information and network requirement information to the core network element, and the device information and network requirement information are used by the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier to the terminal device based on the device information, network requirement information and available slice resources of the core network element.

[0166] Among them, the first communication unit 601 in the embodiment of the present application can be a communication module in the network element device, and the determination unit 602 and the establishment unit 603 can be processors in the network element device.

[0167] Figure 6 The specific implementation of the network slice configuration device 600 shown can be found in Figure 2 、 Figure 3 or Figure 5 The method embodiment shown will not be described in detail here.

[0168] In an embodiment of the present application, a third-party network element can assign a target IP address and a target slice identifier to the terminal device based on the access request from the terminal device forwarded by the wireless access device, establish a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, and send a routing policy to the wireless access device. The routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier. For data packets sent by the terminal device using the target IP address, the wireless access device can forward the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. The data packet on the terminal device side can be connected to the slice network through the third-party network element and the wireless access device, thereby realizing data connection from the terminal device to the network slice and realizing end-to-end connection of the network slice.

[0169] See also Figure 7 , Figure 7 This is a structural diagram of another network slice configuration device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The network slice configuration device 700 is applied to a wireless access device, and the network slice configuration device 700 may include a second communication unit 701.

[0170] The second communication unit 701 is configured to receive an access request from a terminal device, where the access request carries device information of the terminal device;

[0171] The second communication unit 701 is further configured to forward an access request to a third-party network element, where the access request is used by the third-party network element to determine a target IP address based on the access request and to request allocation of a target slice identifier from the core network element based on the device information;

[0172] The second communication unit 701 is further configured to receive a routing policy from a third-party network element, where the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between a target IP address and a target slice identifier;

[0173] The second communication unit 701 is further configured to send a target IP address to the terminal device.

[0174] Optionally, the second communication unit 701 is also used to receive a data packet from a terminal device, where the data packet carries a target IP address; and forward the data packet to a network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier based on a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier.

[0175] Optionally, the access request also carries the network requirement information of the terminal device. The device information and network requirement information are used by the third-party network element to request the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier based on the device information and network requirement information.

[0176] The routing strategy includes the mapping relationship between the target IP address, network demand information and the target slice identifier.

[0177] Optionally, the second communication unit 701 is also used to receive a data packet from the terminal device after sending the target IP address to the terminal device, where the data packet carries the target IP address and network demand information; and forward the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier based on the mapping relationship between the target IP address, network demand information and target slice identifier.

[0178] Optionally, the second communication unit 701 is further configured to establish a connection channel between the wireless access device and a third-party network element;

[0179] Optionally, the second communication unit 701 forwards the access request to the third-party network element, including: forwarding the access request to the third-party network element through a connection channel.

[0180] Optionally, the second communication unit 701 is further configured to, after receiving a routing policy from a third-party network element, send a data bearer establishment request to the network side device, where the data bearer establishment request carries a target slice identifier; the target slice identifier is used to instruct the network side device to create a network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier to establish a data bearer between the wireless access device and the network slice;

[0181] The second communication unit 701 forwards the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier according to the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, including: forwarding the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier through the data bearer according to the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier.

[0182] Optionally, the second communication unit 701 is further configured to receive a routing policy from a third-party network element, establish virtual routing forwarding according to the routing policy, receive a data packet from a terminal device, and forward the data packet according to the virtual routing forwarding.

[0183] Optionally, the second communication unit 701 is further configured to request the network side device to establish a default bearer.

[0184] Optionally, the wireless access device includes a customer terminal device CPE, the third-party network element includes a virtual client device vCPE, the core network element includes at least one of an access and mobility management function AMF, a network slice selection function NSSF, and a network warehousing function NRF, and the access request includes a dynamic host configuration protocol DHCP request.

[0185] The second communication unit 701 in the embodiment of the present application may be a communication module in a wireless access device.

[0186] Figure 7 The specific implementation of the network slice configuration device 700 shown can be found in Figure 4 or Figure 5The method embodiment shown will not be described in detail here.

[0187] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving a routing policy from a third-party network element, the wireless access device can send a target IP address to the terminal device, and the terminal device can subsequently use the target IP address to send data packets. For data packets sent by the terminal device using the target IP address, the wireless access device can forward the data packets to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. The data packets on the terminal device side can be connected to the slice network through the third-party network element and the wireless access device, thereby achieving data connectivity from the terminal device to the network slice and realizing end-to-end connectivity of the network slice.

[0188] See also Figure 8 , Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network element device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 As shown, the network element device 800 includes a processor 801 and a memory 802. The processor 801 and the memory 802 can be connected to each other via a communication bus 803. The communication bus 803 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The communication bus 803 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Figure 8 The memory 802 is used to store computer programs, which include program instructions. The processor 801 is configured to call program instructions. The program includes instructions for executing Figure 2 、 Figure 3 or Figure 5 Some or all of the steps in the method shown.

[0189] The processor 801 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the above program.

[0190] The memory 802 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to this. The memory can exist independently and be connected to the processor via a bus. The memory can also be integrated with the processor. In an embodiment of the present application, the memory in the network element device can be used as a memory for storing program code.

[0191] The network element device may further include a communication module 804 , through which the device may communicate with the wireless access device and may also communicate with the core network element. Figure 8 The network element device shown may be the third-party network element mentioned above, and the network element device may be a server running a service end.

[0192] In an embodiment of the present application, a third-party network element can assign a target IP address and a target slice identifier to the terminal device based on the access request from the terminal device forwarded by the wireless access device, establish a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, and send a routing policy to the wireless access device. The routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier. For data packets sent by the terminal device using the target IP address, the wireless access device can forward the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. The data packet on the terminal device side can be connected to the slice network through the third-party network element and the wireless access device, thereby realizing data connection from the terminal device to the network slice and realizing end-to-end connection of the network slice.

[0193] See also Figure 9 , Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a wireless access device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 9As shown, the wireless access device 900 includes a processor 901 and a memory 902. The processor 901 and the memory 902 can be connected to each other via a communication bus 903. The communication bus 903 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The communication bus 903 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Figure 9 The memory 902 is used to store computer programs, which include program instructions. The processor 901 is configured to call program instructions. The program includes instructions for executing Figure 4 or Figure 5 Some or all of the steps in the method shown.

[0194] The processor 901 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the above program.

[0195] The memory 902 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to this. The memory can exist independently and be connected to the processor via a bus. The memory can also be integrated with the processor. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory in the wireless access device can be used as a memory for storing program code.

[0196] The wireless access device may further include a communication module 904 , through which the device may communicate with the terminal device, and may also communicate with a third-party network element. Figure 9 The wireless access device shown may be the aforementioned CPE, MIFI, etc.

[0197] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving a routing policy from a third-party network element, the wireless access device can send a target IP address to the terminal device, and the terminal device can subsequently use the target IP address to send data packets. For data packets sent by the terminal device using the target IP address, the wireless access device can forward the data packets to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier. The data packets on the terminal device side can be connected to the slice network through the third-party network element and the wireless access device, thereby achieving data connectivity from the terminal device to the network slice and realizing end-to-end connectivity of the network slice.

[0198] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program for electronic data exchange, and the computer program enables a computer to execute part or all of the steps of any one of the network slice configuration methods described in the above method embodiments.

[0199] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, wherein the computer program product includes a computer program, the computer program includes program instructions, and the computer program enables a computer to execute part or all of the steps of any network slicing configuration method recorded in the above method embodiments.

[0200] It should be noted that for the aforementioned method embodiments, for the sake of simplicity, they are all expressed as a series of action combinations, but those skilled in the art should be aware that this application is not limited by the order of the actions described, because according to this application, certain steps can be performed in other orders or simultaneously. Secondly, those skilled in the art should also be aware that the embodiments described in the specification are all preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily required by this application.

[0201] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, please refer to the relevant description of other embodiments. In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed device can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the above units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical or other forms.

[0202] The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment. In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The above-mentioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software program modules.

[0203] If the above-mentioned integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software program module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable memory. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a memory and includes a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned memory includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a mobile hard disk, a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0204] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps in the various methods of the above embodiments can be completed by instructing related hardware through a program, and the program can be stored in a computer-readable memory, which may include: a flash drive, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc.

[0205] The above is a detailed introduction to the embodiments of the present application. Specific examples are used herein to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present application. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method and core idea of ​​the present application. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, according to the idea of ​​the present application, there may be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

Claims

1. A network slice configuration method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a third-party network element, and the method includes: receiving an access request forwarded by a wireless access device, wherein the access request carries device information of a terminal device; Requesting a core network element to allocate a target slice identifier according to the device information, and determining a target Internet Protocol IP address allocated to the terminal device according to the access request; Establishing a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier; A routing policy is sent to the wireless access device, where the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, and the mapping relationship is used by the wireless access device to forward the data packet sent by the terminal device using the target IP address to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The access request also carries network requirement information of the terminal device, and the method includes: requesting allocation of a target slice identifier from a core network element according to the device information and the network requirement information; The establishing of the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier includes: establishing a mapping relationship between the target IP address, the network demand information and the target slice identifier.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining, according to the access request, a target Internet Protocol (IP) address allocated to the terminal device comprises: A target IP address is obtained from an IP address pool according to the access request; wherein the target IP address is an idle IP address in the IP address pool, and the target IP address is allocated to the terminal device in the form of a lease.

4. A method for configuring a network slice, characterized in that: The method is applied to a wireless access device, and the method includes: receiving an access request from a terminal device, the access request carrying device information of the terminal device; Forwarding the access request to a third-party network element, where the access request is used by the third-party network element to determine a target IP address based on the access request and to request allocation of a target slice identifier from the core network element based on the device information; receiving a routing policy from the third-party network element, where the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier; The target IP address is sent to the terminal device, where the target IP address is used by the terminal device to send a data message to the wireless access device using the target IP address.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that After sending the target IP address to the terminal device, the method further includes: receiving a data packet from the terminal device, the data packet carrying the target IP address; According to the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, the data packet is forwarded to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The access request also carries the network requirement information of the terminal device, and the device information and the network requirement information are used by the third-party network element to request the core network element to allocate a target slice identifier based on the device information and the network requirement information; the routing strategy includes the mapping relationship between the target IP address, the network requirement information and the target slice identifier.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that After sending the target IP address to the terminal device, the method further includes: receiving a data packet from the terminal device, the data packet carrying the target IP address and the network demand information; According to the mapping relationship between the target IP address, the network demand information and the target slice identifier, the data packet is forwarded to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier.

8. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that Before forwarding the access request to the third-party network element, the method further includes: Establishing a connection channel between the wireless access device and the third-party network element; The forwarding the access request to the third-party network element includes: The access request is forwarded to a third-party network element through the connection channel.

9. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that After receiving the routing policy from the third-party network element, the method further includes: Sending a data bearer establishment request to the network side device, where the data bearer establishment request carries the target slice identifier; the target slice identifier is used to instruct the network side device to create a network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier, so as to establish a data bearer between the wireless access device and the network slice; The forwarding the data packet to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier according to the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier includes: According to the mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, the data packet is forwarded to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier through the data bearer.

10. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that After receiving the routing policy from the third-party network element, the method further includes: Establishing virtual routing forwarding according to the routing strategy; Receive a data message from the terminal device, and forward the data message according to the virtual routing forwarding.

11. The method according to claim 1 or 4, characterized in that The wireless access device includes a customer terminal device CPE, the third-party network element includes a virtual client device vCPE, the core network element includes at least one of an access and mobility management function AMF, a network slice selection function NSSF, and a network warehousing function NRF, and the access request includes a dynamic host configuration protocol DHCP request.

12. A network slice configuration device, characterized in that: The device is applied to a third-party network element, and the device includes: A first communication unit is configured to receive an access request forwarded by a wireless access device, wherein the access request carries device information of a terminal device; The first communication unit is further configured to request allocation of a target slice identifier from a core network element according to the device information; a determining unit, configured to determine a target Internet Protocol (IP) address to be allocated to the terminal device according to the access request; An establishing unit, configured to establish a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier; The first communication unit is also used to send a routing policy to the wireless access device, wherein the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier, and the mapping relationship is used by the wireless access device to forward the data packet sent by the terminal device using the target IP address to the network slice corresponding to the target slice identifier.

13. A network slice configuration device, characterized in that: The device is applied to a wireless access device, and includes: A second communication unit is configured to receive an access request from a terminal device, wherein the access request carries device information of the terminal device; The second communication unit is further configured to forward the access request to a third-party network element, where the access request is used by the third-party network element to determine a target IP address according to the access request, and to request allocation of a target slice identifier from the core network element according to the device information; The second communication unit is further configured to receive a routing policy from the third-party network element, where the routing policy includes a mapping relationship between the target IP address and the target slice identifier; The second communication unit is further configured to send the target IP address to the terminal device, where the target IP address is used by the terminal device to send a data message to the wireless access device.

14. A network element device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the computer program comprises program instructions, and the processor is configured to call the program instructions to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

15. A wireless access device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the computer program comprises program instructions, and the processor is configured to call the program instructions to execute the method according to any one of claims 4 to 11.

16. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, wherein the computer program includes program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by a processor, the processor is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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