Message forwarding method and apparatus, communication device, medium and program product

Abstract

The application relates to a message forwarding method and device, a communication device, a medium and a program product. The method comprises the following steps: in the process of switching between a 4G network and a 5G network, receiving an initial PFCP message for creating an inter-transit tunnel issued by a session management function entity, and in the case that the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of a user plane function entity, performing reconstruction processing on the initial PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message, the target PFCP message being adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic; and issuing the target PFCP message to the user plane function entity. The method can decouple the PFCP interface and ensure the creation of the inter-transit tunnel in the process of switching between the 4G network and the 5G network.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and in particular to a message forwarding method and device, a communication device, a medium and a program product. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the switching process of 4G network and 5G network, an indirect data forwarding tunnel (also referred to as an indirect tunnel) is defined to ensure communication quality. Currently, there are two schemes for establishing an indirect tunnel, which are implemented by "newly establishing an independent PFCP session" and "modifying an original PFCP session", respectively. In this process, a session management function entity needs to send a PFCP message to a user plane function entity through a PFCP interface.

[0003] However, in the related art, there are cases where the user plane function entity cannot normally receive the PFCP message issued by the session management function entity, and the PFCP interface cannot be decoupled, resulting in the failure of the creation of the indirect tunnel. SUMMARY

[0004] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a message forwarding method, device, communication device, medium and program product capable of realizing PFCP interface decoupling and ensuring the smooth creation of an indirect tunnel to solve the above technical problems.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a message forwarding method for a communication device, comprising:

[0006] In the switching process of 4G network and 5G network, an initial PFCP message for creating an indirect tunnel issued by a session management function entity is received, and in the case where the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of a user plane function entity, the initial PFCP message is reconstructed to obtain a target PFCP message, which is adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic; and the target PFCP message is issued to the user plane function entity.

[0007] In one of the embodiments, reconstructing the initial PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message comprises: determining the PFCP message issuing logic according to the message type field included in the initial PFCP message; and reconstructing the initial PFCP message according to the PFCP message issuing logic to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0008] In one of the embodiments, the PFCP message issuing logic is determined according to a message type field included in the initial PFCP message, including: if the message type indicated by the message type field included in the initial PFCP message is a PFCP session modification request, it is determined that the PFCP message issuing logic is a logic of creating an interworking tunnel through modifying an original PFCP session; if the message type indicated by the message type field included in the initial PFCP message is a PFCP session establishment request, it is determined that the PFCP message issuing logic is a logic of creating an interworking tunnel through newly establishing an independent PFCP session.

[0009] In one of the embodiments, the target PFCP message is obtained by reconstructing the initial PFCP message according to the PFCP message issuing logic, including: if the PFCP message issuing logic is the logic of creating an interworking tunnel through modifying an original PFCP session, the message type indicated by the message type field is reconstructed from a PFCP session modification request to a PFCP session establishment request; the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field are migrated to a newly established PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0010] In one of the embodiments, the method further includes: receiving a first session creation response fed back by the user plane function entity; the first session creation response is used to represent that the user plane function entity responds to create an interworking tunnel; reconstructing the first session creation response into a first session modification response, and sending the first session modification response to the session management function entity.

[0011] In one of the embodiments, the target PFCP message is obtained by reconstructing the initial PFCP message according to the PFCP message issuing logic, including: if the PFCP message issuing logic is the logic of creating an interworking tunnel through newly establishing an independent PFCP session, the message type indicated by the message type field is reconstructed from a PFCP session establishment request to a PFCP session modification request; the original session ID corresponding to the user equipment ID is determined according to the user equipment ID included in the initial PFCP message, and the original PFCP message is determined according to the original session ID; the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field are migrated to the original PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0012] In one of the embodiments, the method further includes: receiving a second session modification response fed back by the user plane function entity; the second session modification response is used to represent that the user plane function entity responds to modify the interworking tunnel; reconstructing the second session modification response into a second session creation response, and sending the second session creation response to the session management function entity.

[0013] In one of the embodiments, in the case that the PFCP message sending logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity, the initial PFCP message is reconstructed to obtain a target PFCP message, including: determining whether the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message, and if yes, reconstructing the initial PFCP message in the case that the PFCP message sending logic is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0014] In one of the embodiments, the initial PFCP message includes PDR data and FAR data; determining whether the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message includes: determining whether the source interface in the PDR data and the destination interface in the FAR data are base station direction data; if yes, determining that the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message.

[0015] In a second aspect, the present application provides a message forwarding device, which includes:

[0016] The reconstruction module is configured to, in the process of switching between the 4G network and the 5G network, receive an initial PFCP message for creating an inter-transit tunnel sent by a session management function entity, and reconstruct the initial PFCP message in the case that the PFCP message sending logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of a user plane function entity to obtain a target PFCP message, wherein the target PFCP message is adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic.

[0017] The sending module is configured to send the target PFCP message to the user plane function entity.

[0018] In one of the embodiments, the reconstruction module is specifically configured to: determine the PFCP message sending logic according to a message type field included in the initial PFCP message; and reconstruct the initial PFCP message according to the PFCP message sending logic to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0019] In one of the embodiments, the reconstruction module is specifically configured to: if the message type indicated by the message type field included in the initial PFCP message is a PFCP session modification request, determine that the PFCP message sending logic is a logic of creating an inter-transit tunnel by modifying an original PFCP session; and if the message type indicated by the message type field included in the initial PFCP message is a PFCP session establishment request, determine that the PFCP message sending logic is a logic of creating an inter-transit tunnel by newly establishing an independent PFCP session.

[0020] In one of the embodiments, the reconstructing module is specifically configured to: if the PFCP message issuing logic is the logic of creating an inter-transit tunnel by modifying an original PFCP session, reconstruct the message type indicated by the message type field from a PFCP session modification request to a PFCP session establishment request; and migrate the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field to a newly created PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0021] In one of the embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

[0022] The first response module is configured to receive a first session creation response fed back by the user plane function entity, wherein the first session creation response is used to represent that the user plane function entity responds to the creation of the inter-transit tunnel; reconstruct the first session creation response into a first session modification response, and send the first session modification response to the session management function entity.

[0023] In one of the embodiments, the reconstructing module is specifically configured to: if the PFCP message issuing logic is the logic of creating an inter-transit tunnel by newly creating an independent PFCP session, reconstruct the message type indicated by the message type field from a PFCP session establishment request to a PFCP session modification request; determine an original session ID corresponding to the user equipment ID according to the user equipment ID included in the initial PFCP message, and determine an original PFCP message according to the original session ID; migrate the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field to the original PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0024] In one of the embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

[0025] The second response module is configured to receive a second session modification response fed back by the user plane function entity, wherein the second session modification response is used to represent that the user plane function entity responds to the modification of the inter-transit tunnel; reconstruct the second session modification response into a second session creation response, and send the second session creation response to the session management function entity.

[0026] In one of the embodiments, the reconstructing module is specifically configured to: determine whether the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message, and if yes, perform reconstructing processing on the initial PFCP message in the case that the PFCP message issuing logic is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0027] In one of the embodiments, the initial PFCP message comprises PDR data and FAR data; the reconstruction module is specifically configured to: determine whether the source interface in the PDR data and the destination interface in the FAR data are base station direction data; if yes, determine that the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message.

[0028] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a transmitter, a receiver, a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer program;

[0029] The receiver is configured to receive an initial PFCP message for creating an inter-transit tunnel issued by a session management function entity in the process of switching between a 4G network and a 5G network.

[0030] The processor executes the computer program, and is configured to perform reconstruction processing on the initial PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message in the case that the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of a user plane function entity, the target PFCP message being adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic.

[0031] The transmitter is configured to issue the target PFCP message to the user plane function entity.

[0032] In a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the message forwarding method in any of the first aspect.

[0033] In a fifth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product. The computer program product comprises a computer program, and the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the message forwarding method in any of the first aspect.

[0034] In a sixth aspect, the present application further provides a chip. The chip comprises a programmable logic circuit and / or program instructions, and the chip implements the message forwarding method in any of the first aspect when running.

[0035] The message forwarding method, device, communication device, medium and program product described above, in the process of switching between the 4G network and the 5G network, an initial PFCP message for creating an inter-transfer tunnel is received, which is issued by a session management function entity, and in the case that the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of a user plane function entity, the initial PFCP message is reconstructed to obtain a target PFCP message, which is adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic; and the target PFCP message is issued to the user plane function entity. In this way, although the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity, the target PFCP message adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity is obtained by reconstructing the initial PFCP message, so that the user plane function entity can still normally receive and identify the target PFCP message, and the PFCP interface is decoupled. Accordingly, the user plane function entity can successfully respond to the creation of the inter-transfer tunnel based on the target PFCP message, and the communication quality in the process of switching between the 4G network and the 5G network is ensured. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0036] Figure 1 An application environment diagram of a message forwarding method in an embodiment;

[0037] Figure 2 A flowchart of a message forwarding method in an embodiment;

[0038] Figure 3 A flowchart of a reconstruction process in an embodiment;

[0039] Figure 4 A flowchart of a reconstruction process in another embodiment;

[0040] Figure 5 A flowchart of a response process in an embodiment;

[0041] Figure 6 A flowchart of a reconstruction process in another embodiment;

[0042] Figure 7 A flowchart of a response process in another embodiment;

[0043] Figure 8 An application environment diagram of a method for establishing an inter-transfer tunnel by using a C-IWF to realize heterogeneous SMF and UPF networking in an embodiment;

[0044] Figure 9 A flowchart of a PFCP message forwarding process in an embodiment;

[0045] Figure 10A flowchart of another PFCP message forwarding process in an embodiment;

[0046] Figure 11 A structural block diagram of a message forwarding device in an embodiment;

[0047] Figure 12 An internal structural diagram of a communication device in another embodiment;

[0048] Figure 13 An internal structural diagram of a chip in an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] In order to make the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and should not be used to limit the present application.

[0050] In the handover process of 4G network and 5G network, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standardization defines to establish an indirect data forwarding tunnel to avoid packet loss and improve service experience. At present, there are usually two schemes for establishing an indirect tunnel in the industry: "newly establishing an independent PFCP session" and "modifying the original PFCP session". Among them, PFCP is the abbreviation of Packet Forwarding Control Protocol, which refers to packet forwarding control protocol.

[0051] However, in the related art, there is a case that the user plane function entity cannot normally receive the PFCP message issued by the session management function entity, and the PFCP interface cannot be decoupled, resulting in that the indirect tunnel cannot be created.

[0052] Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, a customized signaling interworking gateway can be set between the user plane function entity and the session management entity, which is used to forward the PFCP message issued by the session management entity while adapting the PFCP message according to the receiving logic of the user plane function entity, so as to realize the establishment of the indirect data forwarding tunnel in the heterogeneous session management entity and user plane function entity scenario.

[0053] The message forwarding method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to, for example, Figure 1The application environment shown. Among them, the communication device 101 is in communication connection with the session management function entity 102 and the user plane function entity 103, the communication device 101 can receive the PFCP message sent by the session management function entity 102, and send the target PFCP message obtained by the reconstruction processing to the user plane function entity 103. And the communication device 101 can also receive the response feedback by the user plane function entity 103, and send the reconstructed response to the session management function entity 102.

[0054] Among them, the communication device 101 can be a gateway device, for example, it can be a C-IWF (Customized-InterWorking Function, customized signaling interworking gateway). The session management function entity 102 can be an SMF (Session Management Function, session management function) in a 5G network and / or a PGW-C (Packet Data Network Gateway Control Plane, packet data network gateway control plane) and SGW-C (Serving Gateway Controler, serving gateway control plane) in a 4G network. The user plane function entity 103 can be a UPF (User Plane Function, user plane function) in a 5G network and / or a PGW-U (Packet Data Network Gateway User, packet data network gateway user plane) and SGW-U (Serving Gateway User, serving gateway user plane) in a 4G network.

[0055] It should be noted that the beneficial effects brought about by the embodiments of the present application or the technical problems solved are not limited to this, but also other implicit or related problems, which can be referred to the description of the following embodiments.

[0056] The technical solutions of the present application and how the technical solutions of the present application solve the above technical problems will be described in detail below. The following specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described in detail in some embodiments. The embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0057] In one embodiment, as Figure 2 shown, a message forwarding method is provided, and the method is applied to the communication device 101 in Figure 1 for example, including the following steps:

[0058] Step 201, in the process of switching between the 4G network and the 5G network, an initial PFCP message for creating an interworking tunnel is received, which is issued by a session management function entity, and in the case that the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of a user plane function entity, the initial PFCP message is reconstructed to obtain a target PFCP message. The target PFCP message is adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic.

[0059] The session management function entity can be an SMF, or in the fusion scenario of the 4G network and the 5G network, the PGW-C and the SGW-C are both arranged in the SMF and jointly serve as the session management function entity. The user plane function entity can be a UPF, or in the fusion scenario of the 4G network and the 5G network, the PGW-U and the SGW-U are arranged in the UPF and jointly serve as the user plane function entity.

[0060] The communication device is arranged between the session management function entity and the user plane function entity and is respectively connected to the session management function entity and the user plane function entity.

[0061] The session management function entity and the user plane function entity are connected through a PFCP interface, and therefore the session management function issues a PFCP message to the user plane function entity through the PFCP interface.

[0062] In the process of switching between the 4G network and the 5G network, in order to avoid packet loss and ensure communication quality, an interworking tunnel needs to be established. In the embodiment of the present application, in order to ensure that the user plane function entity can normally respond to the creation of the interworking tunnel according to the received PFCP message, the communication device obtains the initial PFCP message issued by the session management function entity, and reconstructs the initial PFCP message in the case that the PFCP message issuing logic and the PFCP message receiving logic are inconsistent, so as to ensure the decoupling of the PFCP interface.

[0063] The PFCP message issuing logic and the PFCP message receiving logic can be the logic of modifying the original PFCP session to create the interworking tunnel or the logic of creating the interworking tunnel through a newly created independent PFCP session.

[0064] Optionally, the communication device can be pre-configured with whether the session management function entity and the user plane function entity are logically heterogeneous or logically homogeneous. If the two are logically heterogeneous, the PFCP message issuing logic and the PFCP message receiving logic are opposite; if the two are logically homogeneous, the PFCP message issuing logic and the PFCP message receiving logic are the same. Optionally, the communication device can determine the PFCP message issuing logic according to the received initial PFCP message, and determine the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity according to the response message fed back by the user plane function entity in the past.

[0065] Therefore, the communication device determines whether the explicit PFCP message issuing logic and the PFCP message receiving logic are consistent, and if not, the user plane function entity cannot normally receive and identify the initial PFCP message to respond to the creation of the inter-transit tunnel, and thus the initial PFCP message needs to be reconstructed.

[0066] Optionally, the communication device can determine the PFCP message issuing logic according to the initial PFCP message, and in the case where the explicit PFCP message issuing logic and the PFCP message receiving logic are inconsistent, the PFCP message receiving logic can be known, and thus a target PFCP message adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic can be reconstructed.

[0067] In step 202, the target PFCP message is issued to the user plane function entity.

[0068] The communication device interfaces with the user plane function entity, and thus it can normally issue the target PFCP message to the user plane function entity. At this time, since the user plane function entity is the PFCP message receiving logic, and the target PFCP message is adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic, the user plane function entity can normally identify the target PFCP message, and the decoupling of the PFCP interface is achieved. Moreover, the user plane function entity can respond to the creation of the inter-transit tunnel based on the target PFCP message, and the establishment of the indirect data forwarding tunnel in the heterogeneous session management function entity and user plane function entity scenario is achieved.

[0069] The above message forwarding method, in the process of switching between the 4G network and the 5G network, receives an initial PFCP message for creating an inter-transit tunnel issued by a session management function entity, and in the case where the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity and the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity are inconsistent, reconstructs the initial PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message, which is adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic; and issues the target PFCP message to the user plane function entity. In this way, although the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity and the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity are inconsistent, the target PFCP message adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity is obtained by reconstructing the initial PFCP message, so that the user plane function entity can still normally receive and identify the target PFCP message, and the decoupling of the PFCP interface is ensured. Correspondingly, the user plane function entity can successfully respond to the creation of the inter-transit tunnel based on the target PFCP message, and the communication quality in the process of switching between the 4G network and the 5G network is ensured.

[0070] In one embodiment, in the case that the PFCP message sending logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity, the initial PFCP message is reconstructed to obtain a target PFCP message, including: determining whether the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message, and if so, reconstructing the initial PFCP message in the case that the PFCP message sending logic is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0071] In order to ensure the accuracy and efficiency of data processing of the communication device, the communication device can determine whether the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message, and if so, reconstruct the initial PFCP message in the case that the PFCP message sending logic is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0072] In one optional implementation, the communication device can determine whether the initial PFCP message is a message for indicating inter-transit tunnel establishment according to a session identifier carried in the initial PFCP message.

[0073] In another optional implementation, the communication device can parse each field in the initial PFCP message, and determine whether the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message according to specific data of each field. In one embodiment, determining whether the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message includes: determining whether the source interface in the PDR data and the destination interface in the FAR data are base station direction data; and if so, determining that the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message.

[0074] The initial PFCP message includes PDR (Packet Detection Rule) data and FAR (Forwarding Action Rules) data.

[0075] Specifically, if the first creation logic of the session management function entity is to request to create a new PFCP session to create an inter-transit tunnel, a set of PDR data and FAR data need to be created in the newly created PFCP session, and therefore, the initial PFCP message includes a set of PDR data and FAR data. If the first creation logic of the session management function entity is to request to modify an original PFCP session to create an inter-transit tunnel, a pair of PDR data and FAR data need to be added to the original PFCP session, and therefore, the session management function entity generates a set of PDR data and FAR for the creation of the inter-transit tunnel.

[0076] PDR data includes a source interface, which the communication device can identify whether the source interface is data from the base station direction. For example, the communication device can identify whether the field of the source interface is Access; if so, it indicates that the source interface is data from the base station direction. FAR data includes a destination interface, which the communication device can identify whether the destination interface is data from the base station direction. For example, the communication device can identify whether the field of the destination interface is Access; if so, it indicates that the source interface is data from the base station direction.

[0077] If both the source interface in the PDR data and the destination interface in the FAR data are determined to be Access fields, then the initial PFCP message is identified as an indirect tunnel establishment message. Otherwise, the initial PFCP message is a PFCP message with other functions. If it is an indirect tunnel establishment message, and the communication device's PFCP message sending logic is inconsistent with its PFCP message receiving logic, it will reconstruct the initial PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message and then send the target PFCP message to the user plane functional entity.

[0078] In this embodiment of the application, by identifying whether the initial PFCP message is an indirect tunnel establishment message, it is determined whether the initial PFCP message needs to be reconstructed, thus avoiding invalid processing and ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the communication device's processing of the initial PFCP message.

[0079] The reconstruction process is explained below.

[0080] In one embodiment, such as Figure 3 The diagram illustrates a flowchart of a reconstruction process provided in an embodiment of this application. The initial PFCP message is reconstructed to obtain a target PFCP message, including:

[0081] Step 301: Determine the PFCP message delivery logic based on the message type field included in the initial PFCP message.

[0082] As mentioned above, the PFCP message delivery logic can be either the logic of creating an indirect tunnel by modifying an existing PFCP session or the logic of creating an indirect tunnel by creating a new independent PFCP session. The communication device can determine the PFCP message delivery logic by identifying the message type field included in the initial PFCP message. The message type field is the Message Type field in the initial PFCP message.

[0083] In one embodiment, the PFCP message issuing logic is determined according to a message type field included in the initial PFCP message, including: if the message type indicated by the message type field included in the initial PFCP message is a PFCP session modification request (PFCP Session Modification Request), it is determined that the PFCP message issuing logic is a logic of creating an inter-transit tunnel by modifying an original PFCP session. If the message type indicated by the message type field included in the initial PFCP message is a PFCP session establishment request (PFCP Session Establishment Request), it is determined that the PFCP message issuing logic is a logic of creating an inter-transit tunnel by newly establishing an independent PFCP session.

[0084] In step 302, the initial PFCP message is reconstructed according to the PFCP message issuing logic to obtain a target PFCP message.

[0085] As mentioned above, whether the session management function entity and the user plane function entity in the communication device are logically heterogeneous or logically isomorphic, if they are logically heterogeneous, that is, the PFCP message issuing logic is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic, at this time, since the PFCP message issuing logic is determined and it is clear that the two logics are heterogeneous, the PFCP message receiving logic can be known, and accordingly, the initial PFCP message can be reconstructed to obtain a target PFCP message adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic.

[0086] In one implementable manner, as shown in Figure 4 Another flowchart of the reconstruction process provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown. The initial PFCP message is reconstructed according to the PFCP message issuing logic to obtain a target PFCP message, including:

[0087] In step 401, if the PFCP message issuing logic is a logic of creating an inter-transit tunnel by modifying an original PFCP session, the message type indicated by the message type field is reconstructed from a PFCP session modification request to a PFCP session establishment request.

[0088] If it is determined that the PFCP message issuing logic is the logic of creating an inter-transit tunnel by modifying the original PFCP session, the message type field in the initial PFCP message is a PFCP session modification request (PFCP Session Modification Request), and correspondingly, since the session management function entity and the user plane function entity are logically heterogeneous, the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity is the logic of creating an inter-transit tunnel by newly creating an independent PFCP session, and therefore, the message type indicated by the message type field needs to be reconstructed to a PFCP session establishment request (PFCP Session Establishment Request).

[0089] In step 402, the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field are migrated to the newly created PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message.

[0090] The communication device can generate a newly created PFCP message, and migrate the reconstructed message type field (PFCP session establishment request) to the newly created PFCP message.

[0091] The initial PFCP message also includes other parameters, in order to ensure that the target PFCP message is normally recognized by the user plane function entity, and to ensure that the target PFCP message has the same effect as the initial PFCP message, the parameter binding relationship of the other parameters in the initial PFCP message needs to be migrated to the newly created PFCP message. For example, as mentioned above, the initial PFCP message includes a set of PDR data and FAR data, and the two are bound, and therefore, the PDR data and the FAR data in the initial PFCP message can be migrated to the newly created PFCP message, and the newly created PFCP message after the data migration is taken as the target PFCP message and sent to the user plane function entity.

[0092] In addition, the newly created PFCP message is used to request the user plane device to create a new PFCP session. Optionally, the communication device can also generate a new SEID (Session Endpoint Identifier) in the newly created PFCP message, to identify the newly created independent PFCP session.

[0093] In the embodiments of the present application, the message type indicated by the message type field is reconstructed from the PFCP session modification request to the PFCP session establishment request; the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field are migrated to the newly created PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message. In this way, when the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is to modify the original PFCP session and the PFCP message receiving logic is to create a new PFCP session, the message type field is reconstructed, and the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message is migrated, so as to realize the decoupling of the PFCP interface. Without complex modification of the existing network, the user plane function entity can receive the PFCP message, the interworking tunnel can be created, the communication quality in the 4G network and 5G network switching process can be ensured to be normal and stable, so as to improve the flexibility of the fixed value network deployment and the diversity of the equipment selection, and promote the overall development of the 5G ToB industry ecology.

[0094] In addition, when the user plane function entity responds to the creation of the interworking tunnel, the user plane function entity will feed back the response to the session management function entity, and when the user plane function entity and the session management function entity are logically heterogeneous, the communication device also needs to reconstruct the response to ensure that the session management function entity successfully receives the response.

[0095] Please refer to Figure 5 which shows a flowchart of a response processing provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method further comprises:

[0096] Step 501, receiving a first session creation response fed back by the user plane function entity.

[0097] The first session creation response is used to represent that the user plane function entity responds to the creation of the interworking tunnel. That is, when the user plane function entity receives the target PFCP message obtained based on the newly created PFCP message and responds to the creation process of the interworking tunnel, it will feed back the response information to the session management function entity, and the response information is the first session creation response.

[0098] Step 502, reconstructing the first session creation response into a first session modification response, and sending the first session modification response to the session management function entity.

[0099] It can be understood that when the PFCP message issuing logic is to create the interworking tunnel by modifying the original PFCP session, the session management function entity cannot normally identify the first session creation response, therefore, the communication device can reconstruct the first session creation response into the first session modification response, so that the session management function entity can successfully receive the response information fed back by the user plane function entity.

[0100] Exemplarily, the first session creation response can be a PFCP Session Establishment Response, and the reconstructed first session modification response can be a PFCP Session Modification Response.

[0101] In the embodiments of the present application, the first session creation response is reconstructed into the first session modification response, and the first session modification response is sent to the session management function entity, so that the session management function entity can successfully receive the response information fed back by the user plane function entity, ensure the normal creation of the interworking tunnel, avoid repeated creation, ensure the normal communication in the 4G network and 5G network switching process, realize the establishment of the interworking tunnel in the heterogeneous logical scenario, ensure the normal business processing, and avoid lag.

[0102] In another implementable manner, as shown in Figure 6 Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of another reconstruction processing provided by the embodiments of the present application. According to the PFCP message issuing logic, the initial PFCP message is reconstructed to obtain the target PFCP message, including:

[0103] In step 601, if the PFCP message issuing logic is the logic of creating the interworking tunnel by newly creating an independent PFCP session, the message type indicated by the message type field in the initial PFCP message is reconstructed from the PFCP session establishment request to the PFCP session modification request.

[0104] If it is determined that the PFCP message issuing logic is the logic of creating the interworking tunnel by newly creating an independent PFCP session, the message type field in the initial PFCP message is the PFCP session establishment request (PFCP Session Establishment Request), and correspondingly, since the session management function entity and the user plane function entity are logically heterogeneous, the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity is the logic of creating the interworking tunnel by modifying the original PFCP session, and therefore, the message type indicated by the message type field needs to be reconstructed to the PFCP session modification request (PFCP Session Modification Request).

[0105] In step 602, the original session ID corresponding to the user equipment ID is determined according to the user equipment ID included in the initial PFCP message, and the original PFCP message is determined according to the original session ID.

[0106] The initial PFCP message can further include a user equipment ID (UE ID). For example, the session management function entity can be connected with a mobility management entity (MME), and the mobility management entity can request the session management function entity to establish an inter-transit tunnel and attach the user equipment ID. The session management function entity generates the initial PFCP message based on the user equipment ID.

[0107] In addition, in a scenario that is not a 4G network and a 5G network switching scenario, that is, in a 4G network or a 5G network, the communication device can normally transmit the PFCP message sent by the session management function entity to the user plane function entity. Therefore, the communication device can store the PFCP message corresponding to the user equipment ID and identified by the original session ID, and the PFCP message corresponding to the user equipment ID is the original PFCP message. That is, the original PFCP message can refer to the PFCP message of the UE establishing a session.

[0108] Therefore, the communication device can determine the original session ID (also referred to as an original SEID) corresponding to the user equipment ID included in the initial PFCP message, determine the original PFCP message according to the original session ID, and then obtain the target PFCP message by using the original PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field.

[0109] In step 603, the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field are migrated to the original PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0110] The communication device can migrate the reconstructed message type field to the original PFCP message.

[0111] The initial PFCP message further includes other parameters. To ensure that the target PFCP message is normally identified by the user plane function entity and ensure that the target PFCP message has the same effect as the initial PFCP message, the parameter binding relationship of the other parameters in the initial PFCP message needs to be migrated to the original PFCP message. For example, as described above, the initial PFCP message includes a set of PDR data and FAR data, and the two are bound. Therefore, the PDR data and the FAR data in the initial PFCP message and the binding relationship can be migrated to the original PFCP message. In this way, the original PFCP message after the data migration is taken as the target PFCP message and is sent to the user plane function entity. Further, the user plane function entity can modify the original independent PFCP session corresponding to the original session ID after identifying the target PFCP message to create an inter-transit tunnel.

[0112] In the embodiments of the present application, the message type field indicated by the message type is reconfigured from the PFCP session establishment request to the PFCP session modification request, the original session ID corresponding to the user equipment ID is determined according to the user equipment ID included in the initial PFCP message, and the original PFCP message is determined according to the original session ID. The parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconfigured message type field are migrated to the original PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message. The user plane function entity can normally receive the target PFCP message to realize the decoupling of the PFCP interface. Without complex modification of the existing network, the user plane function entity can receive the PFCP message, the creation of the interworking tunnel is realized, and the communication quality in the 4G network and 5G network switching process is ensured to be normal and stable.

[0113] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 7 Another flowchart of the response processing provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown. The method further includes:

[0114] Step 701, receiving the second session modification response fed back by the user plane function entity.

[0115] The second session modification response is used to represent the response of the user plane function entity to the modification of the interworking tunnel. That is, when the user plane function entity receives the target PFCP message obtained based on the original PFCP message and responds to the creation process of the interworking tunnel, it will feed back response information to the session management function entity, and the response information is the second session modification response.

[0116] Step 702, reconfigure the second session modification response into a second session creation response, and send the second session creation response to the session management function entity.

[0117] When the PFCP message delivery logic is to create an interworking tunnel through a newly created independent PFCP session, the session management function entity cannot normally identify the second session modification response. Therefore, the communication device can reconfigure the second session modification response into a second session creation response, so that the session management function entity can successfully receive the response information fed back by the user plane function entity.

[0118] For example, the second session modification response can be PFCP Session Modification Response, and the reconfigured second session creation response can be PFCP Session Establishment Response.

[0119] In the embodiments of the present application, the second session modification response is reconstructed as a second session creation response, and the second session creation response is sent to the session management function entity, so that the session management function entity can successfully receive the response information fed back by the user plane function entity, ensure the creation of the interworking tunnel, avoid repeated creation, ensure normal communication in the 4G network and 5G network switching process, realize the establishment of the interworking tunnel in the heterogeneous logical scenario, ensure normal business processing, and avoid lag.

[0120] The method proposed in the embodiments of the present application will be specifically described below in a specific communication scenario. The method provided in the embodiments of the present application is a method for establishing an interworking tunnel between heterogeneous SMF and UPF by using C-IWF. The method can be applied in an application environment as shown in Figure 8 The method includes the following contents:

[0121] The C-IWF identifies the PFCP message while forwarding the PFCP message of the PFCP interface, and the identification content is specifically as follows:

[0122] According to the Source Interface included in the PDR in the PFCP message, the Destination Interface included in the FAR, and the Message Type field in the PFCP message, it is judged whether the PFCP message is an interworking tunnel message and the establishment scheme of the interworking tunnel.

[0123] The specific process of PFCP message judgment and reconstruction is as follows:

[0124] (1) When the Source Interface of the PDR and the Destination Interface of the FAR are both Access, it is judged that the message is an interworking tunnel establishment message, otherwise it is other PFCP message.

[0125] (2) When the Message Type is PFCP Session Establishment Request, the establishment scheme of the interworking tunnel is the "newly create an independent PFCP session" scheme; when the Message Type is PFCP Session Modification Request, the establishment scheme of the interworking tunnel is the "modify the original PFCP session" scheme.

[0126] (3) When the SMF and the UPF are homogeneous, the C-IWF directly transmits the PFCP message; when the SMF and the UPF are heterogeneous, the C-IWF reconstructs the PFCP message.

[0127] (3.1) The SMF is the logic of modifying the original PFCP session, and the UPF is the logic of newly creating an independent PFCP session:

[0128] As shown in Figure 9 , when the SMF issues a PFCP message modifying the logic of the original PFCP session, and the UPF interfaces the logic of the newly established PFCP session, the C-IWF modifies the Message Type field in the PFCP message to PFCP SessionEstablishment Request, and establishes a new SEID for identifying the newly established independent PFCP session, and generates a newly established PFCP message. Then, the PDR and FAR binding relationship in the PFCP message initially issued by the SMF is migrated and re-bound to the newly established PFCP message.

[0129] (3.2) The SMF establishes the logic of the new independent PFCP session, and the UPF establishes the logic of the modified original PFCP session:

[0130] As shown in Figure 10 , when the SMF issues a PFCP message modifying the logic of the original PFCP session, and the UPF interfaces the logic of the newly established PFCP session, the C-IWF modifies the Message Type field in the PFCP message to PFCP SessionEstablishment Request, and establishes a new SEID for identifying the newly established independent PFCP session, and generates a newly established PFCP message. Then, the PDR and FAR binding relationship in the PFCP message initially issued by the SMF is migrated and re-bound to the newly established PFCP message.

[0131] In the embodiments of the present application, the C-IWF realizes the functions of identifying, analyzing and reconstructing the PFCP message of the indirect tunnel establishment, and further solves the problem that the indirect tunnel cannot be established under the condition of heterogeneous SMF and UPF. Specifically, for the two heterogeneous conditions, the corresponding PFCP message reconstruction schemes are proposed. Through the reconstruction of the PFCP message by the C-IWF, in the scene where the deployment of the heterogeneous SMF and UPF is required, without complex modification of the existing network, the PFCP interface decoupling problem can be solved, the establishment of the indirect data forwarding tunnel under the condition of the heterogeneous SMF and UPF is realized, the packet loss in the process of switching between the 4G network and the 5G network is avoided, the business experience is improved, and the overall development of the 5G ToB industry ecology is promoted.

[0132] It should be understood that although the steps in the flowcharts related to the embodiments described above are shown in sequence according to the arrows, the steps are not necessarily executed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless otherwise specified herein, the execution of the steps is not strictly limited in sequence, and the steps can be executed in other sequences. Moreover, at least some of the steps in the flowcharts related to the embodiments described above can include multiple steps or multiple stages, which are not necessarily executed at the same time, but can be executed at different times, and the execution sequence of the steps or stages is not necessarily sequential, but can be executed alternately or alternately with at least part of other steps or steps or stages in other steps.

[0133] Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiments of the present application also provide a message forwarding device for implementing the message forwarding method described above. The implementation scheme for solving the problem provided by the device is similar to the implementation scheme described in the above method, so the specific limitations in one or more message forwarding device embodiments provided below can refer to the limitations of the message forwarding method described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0134] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 11 A message forwarding device 1100 is provided, which includes a reconstruction module 1101 and a delivery module 1102, wherein:

[0135] The reconstruction module 1101 is configured to, in the process of switching between a 4G network and a 5G network, receive an initial PFCP message for creating an inter-transfer tunnel issued by a session management function entity, and in the case that the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of a user plane function entity, perform reconstruction processing on the initial PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message, wherein the target PFCP message is adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic.

[0136] The delivery module 1102 is configured to deliver the target PFCP message to the user plane function entity.

[0137] In one embodiment, the reconstruction module 1101 is specifically configured to determine the PFCP message issuing logic according to a message type field included in the initial PFCP message, and perform reconstruction processing on the initial PFCP message according to the PFCP message issuing logic to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0138] In an embodiment, the reconstructing module 1101 is specifically configured to: if the message type indicated by the message type field in the initial PFCP message is a PFCP session modification request, determine that the PFCP message issuing logic is a logic of creating an interworking tunnel through modifying an original PFCP session; and if the message type indicated by the message type field in the initial PFCP message is a PFCP session establishment request, determine that the PFCP message issuing logic is a logic of creating an interworking tunnel through newly establishing an independent PFCP session.

[0139] In an embodiment, the reconstructing module 1101 is specifically configured to: if the PFCP message issuing logic is the logic of creating an interworking tunnel through modifying an original PFCP session, reconstruct the message type indicated by the message type field from a PFCP session modification request to a PFCP session establishment request; and migrate the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field to a newly established PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0140] In an embodiment, the apparatus further includes:

[0141] The first response module is configured to receive a first session creation response fed back by the user plane function entity, wherein the first session creation response is used to represent that the user plane function entity responds to create an interworking tunnel; reconstruct the first session creation response into a first session modification response, and send the first session modification response to the session management function entity.

[0142] In an embodiment, the reconstructing module 1101 is specifically configured to: if the PFCP message issuing logic is the logic of creating an interworking tunnel through newly establishing an independent PFCP session, reconstruct the message type indicated by the message type field from a PFCP session establishment request to a PFCP session modification request; determine an original session ID corresponding to a user equipment ID according to the user equipment ID included in the initial PFCP message, and determine an original PFCP message according to the original session ID; and migrate the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field to the original PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0143] In an embodiment, the apparatus further includes:

[0144] The second response module is configured to receive a second session modification response fed back by the user plane function entity, wherein the second session modification response is used to represent that the user plane function entity responds to modify the interworking tunnel; reconstruct the second session modification response into a second session creation response, and send the second session creation response to the session management function entity.

[0145] In an embodiment, the reconstructing module 1101 is specifically configured to: determine whether the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message, and if so, perform reconstructing processing on the initial PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message in a case where the PFCP message issuing logic is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic.

[0146] In an embodiment, the initial PFCP message includes PDR data and FAR data; and the reconstructing module 1101 is specifically configured to: determine whether source interface in the PDR data and destination interface in the FAR data are base station direction data; and if so, determine that the initial PFCP message is an inter-transit tunnel establishment message.

[0147] The above modules in the message forwarding apparatus can be implemented by software, hardware, or a combination thereof, in whole or in part. The above modules can be embedded in or independent of a processor in a computer device in hardware form, or stored in a memory in a computer device in software form, so as to be called and executed by a processor to perform operations corresponding to the above modules.

[0148] Figure 12 FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 12 The communication device 1200 shown includes at least one processor 1201, a memory 1202, and at least one network interface 1204. The various components in the communication device 1200 are coupled together by a bus system 1205. It can be understood that the bus system 1205 is used to realize the connection and communication between the components. In addition to including a data bus, the bus system 1205 also includes a power bus, a control bus, and a state signal bus. However, for the sake of clarity, all the buses are marked as the bus system 1205 in the Figure 12 In addition, the embodiment of the present application also includes a transceiver 1206, which can be multiple elements, i.e., includes a transmitter and a receiver, and provides a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium.

[0149] It is to be appreciated that the memory 1202 in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. Among them, the nonvolatile memory can be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), an Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a Random Access Memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM can be used, such as Static RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM), Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). The memory 1202 of the system and method described in the embodiments of the present application is intended to include, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0150] In some embodiments, the memory 1202 stores data, elements, or modules, or a subset thereof, or a superset thereof, such as an operating system 1221. The operating system 1221 includes various system programs, such as a framework layer, a core library layer, a driver layer, and the like, for implementing various basic services and processing hardware-based tasks.

[0151] In the embodiments of the present application, by calling the programs or instructions stored in the memory 1202, the receiver is configured to receive an initial PFCP message for creating an interworking tunnel issued by a session management function entity in the process of switching between a 4G network and a 5G network; the processor is configured to, in the case that the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity, reconstruct the initial PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message, the target PFCP message being adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic; and the transmitter is configured to issue the target PFCP message to the user plane function entity.

[0152] Part or all of the methods disclosed in the above embodiments of the present application can also be applied to the processor 1201, or implemented by the processor 1201, or implemented by the processor 1201 in cooperation with other elements (for example, a transceiver). The processor 1201 can be an integrated circuit chip having a processing capability. In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by integrated logic circuits or instructions in the form of software in the processor 1201. The above processor 1201 can be a general processor, a digital signal processor (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a field programmable gate array (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component. Each method, step and logic block disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as a hardware code processor for execution, or a combination of hardware and software modules in the code processor for execution. The software module can be located in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read only memory, a programmable read only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register or other mature storage medium in the art. The storage medium is located in the storage 1202, and the processor 1201 reads the information in the storage 1202, and combines the hardware to complete the steps of the above method.

[0153] It can be understood that the embodiments described in the embodiments of the present application can be realized by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode or a combination thereof. For hardware implementation, the processing unit can be implemented in one or more application specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuits, ASICs), digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processing, DSP), digital signal processing devices (DSP Device, DSPD), programmable logic devices (Programmable Logic Device, PLD), field programmable gate arrays (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA), general processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units for executing functions described in the present application or a combination thereof.

[0154] For software implementation, the techniques described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by means of a module (for example, procedures, functions, and so on) for performing the functions described in the embodiments of the present application. Software codes can be stored in a memory and executed by a processor 1201. The memory can be implemented in the processor 1201 or outside the processor 1201.

[0155] In one embodiment, the processor executes the computer program, specifically for determining the PFCP message delivery logic according to the message type field included in the initial PFCP message; and reconstructing the initial PFCP message according to the PFCP message delivery logic to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0156] In one embodiment, the processor executes the computer program, specifically for determining the PFCP message delivery logic as the logic of creating interworking tunnels through modifying original PFCP session creation if the message type indicated by the message type field included in the initial PFCP message is PFCP session modification request; and determining the PFCP message delivery logic as the logic of creating interworking tunnels through newly creating independent PFCP session if the message type indicated by the message type field included in the initial PFCP message is PFCP session establishment request.

[0157] In one embodiment, the processor executes the computer program, specifically for reconstructing the message type indicated by the message type field from PFCP session modification request to PFCP session establishment request if the PFCP message delivery logic is the logic of creating interworking tunnels through modifying original PFCP session creation; and migrating the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field to the newly created PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0158] In one embodiment, the receiver is further configured to receive a first session creation response fed back by the user plane function entity, wherein the first session creation response is used to represent the response of the user plane function entity to create interworking tunnels. The processor executes the computer program, specifically for reconstructing the first session creation response into a first session modification response. The transmitter is further configured to send the first session modification response to the session management function entity.

[0159] In one embodiment, the processor executes the computer program, specifically for reconstructing the message type field indicated by the PFCP message delivery logic as a PFCP session modification request from a PFCP session establishment request if the PFCP message delivery logic is the logic of creating an interworking tunnel through a newly created independent PFCP session; determining an original session ID corresponding to the user equipment ID according to the user equipment ID included in the initial PFCP message, and determining an original PFCP message according to the original session ID; migrating the parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field to the original PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message.

[0160] In one embodiment, the receiver is further configured to receive a second session modification response fed back by the user plane function entity, the second session modification response being used to indicate that the user plane function entity responds to modify the interworking tunnel. The processor executes the computer program, and is further configured to reconstruct the second session modification response into a second session creation response. The transmitter is further configured to send the second session creation response to the session management function entity.

[0161] In one embodiment, the processor executes the computer program, specifically for determining whether the initial PFCP message is an interworking tunnel establishment message, and if so, reconstructing the initial PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message in the case that the PFCP message delivery logic is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic.

[0162] In one embodiment, the processor executes the computer program, specifically for determining whether the source interface in the PDR data and the destination interface in the FAR data are base station direction data, and if so, determining that the initial PFCP message is an interworking tunnel establishment message.

[0163] Those skilled in the art can understand that, Figure 12 The skilled in the art can understand that,

[0164] In one embodiment, a chip is provided, Figure 13 is a schematic structural diagram of the chip provided by the embodiments of the present application. Figure 13 The chip 1300 shown includes a processor 1310, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiments of the present application.

[0165] Optionally, as Figure 13As shown, the chip 1300 can further include a memory 1320. The processor 1310 can invoke and run a computer program from the memory 1320 to implement the method in the embodiments of the present application. The memory 1320 can be a separate device independent of the processor 1310, or can be integrated in the processor 1310.

[0166] Optionally, the chip 1300 can further include an input interface 1330. The processor 1310 can control the input interface 1330 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, can acquire information or data sent by other devices or chips. Optionally, the chip 1300 can further include an output interface 1340. The processor 1310 can control the output interface 1340 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, can output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0167] Optionally, the chip 1300 can be applied to the communication device in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip 1300 can implement the corresponding processes realized by the communication device in each method of the embodiments of the present application. For brevity, details are not repeated here.

[0168] It should be understood that the chip 900 mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as a system chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc. It should be understood that the processor of the embodiments of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capability. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiments can be completed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in the processor or instructions in the form of software. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a field programmable gate array (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component. The disclosed methods, steps and logic block diagrams in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can be any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as a hardware coding processor for execution, or a combination of hardware and software modules in the coding processor for execution. The software module can be located in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory, and combines the hardware to complete the steps of the above method.

[0169] In one embodiment, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer program;

[0170] The receiver is configured to receive an initial PFCP message for creating an interworking tunnel issued by a session management function entity during switching between a 4G network and a 5G network;

[0171] The processor executes the computer program to perform reconstruction processing on the initial PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message in a case where PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with PFCP message receiving logic of a user plane function entity, the target PFCP message being adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic;

[0172] The transmitter is configured to issue the target PFCP message to the user plane function entity.

[0173] In one embodiment, the processor, when executing the computer program, can also control the transmitter and the receiver to implement the steps in the above method embodiments.

[0174] In one embodiment, the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the above method embodiments.

[0175] In one embodiment, the present application further provides a computer program product. The computer program product comprises a computer program, and the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the above method embodiments.

[0176] Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program. The computer program can be stored in a non-volatile computer readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed, the processes of the above-mentioned embodiments of the methods can be included. Any reference to memory, database or other medium used in the embodiments provided in the present application can include at least one of non-volatile and volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can include read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory, optical storage, high-density embedded non-volatile memory, resistive memory (ReRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory, MRAM), ferroelectric memory (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory, FRAM), phase change memory (Phase Change Memory, PCM), graphene memory, etc. Volatile memory can include random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) or external cache memory, etc. As an illustration but not limitation, RAM can be in various forms, such as static random access memory (Static Random Access Memory, SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (Dynamic Random Access Memory, DRAM), etc. The database involved in the embodiments provided in the present application can include at least one of a relational database and a non-relational database. The non-relational database can include a distributed database based on a block chain, etc., without being limited thereto. The processor involved in the embodiments provided in the present application can be a general-purpose processor, a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic device, a data processing logic device based on quantum computing, etc., without being limited thereto.

[0177] Any combination of the technical features of the above embodiments can be made. In order to make the description simple, all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described, however, as long as the combination of the technical features does not exist contradictory, it should be considered as the scope of the present application.

[0178] The above embodiments only express several implementation manners of the present application, and the description is more specific and detailed, but it should not be understood as a limitation on the scope of the patent of the present application. It should be pointed out that for ordinary skilled in the art, without departing from the concept of the present application, a number of modifications and improvements can be made, which are within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A message forwarding method characterized by, A method for a communication device, the method comprising: In the process of switching between a 4G network and a 5G network, receiving an initial PFCP message for creating an interworking tunnel issued by a session management function entity, and in the case that a PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with a PFCP message receiving logic of a user plane function entity, reconstructing the initial PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message, the target PFCP message being adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic; Issuing the target PFCP message to the user plane function entity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The reconstructing the initial PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message comprises: Determining the PFCP message issuing logic according to a message type field included in the initial PFCP message; Reconstructing the initial PFCP message according to the PFCP message issuing logic to obtain the target PFCP message.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The determining the PFCP message issuing logic according to a message type field included in the initial PFCP message comprises: If a message type indicated by the message type field included in the initial PFCP message is a PFCP session modification request, determining that the PFCP message issuing logic is a logic of creating an interworking tunnel by modifying an original PFCP session; If a message type indicated by the message type field included in the initial PFCP message is a PFCP session establishment request, determining that the PFCP message issuing logic is a logic of creating an interworking tunnel by newly creating an independent PFCP session.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The reconstructing the initial PFCP message according to the PFCP message issuing logic to obtain the target PFCP message comprises: If the PFCP message issuing logic is the logic of creating an interworking tunnel by modifying an original PFCP session, reconstructing a message type indicated by the message type field from a PFCP session modification request to a PFCP session establishment request; Migrating a parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field to a newly created PFCP message to obtain the target PFCP message.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The method further comprises: Receiving a first session creation response fed back by the user plane function entity, the first session creation response being used to represent that the user plane function entity responds to create an interworking tunnel; Reconstructing the first session creation response into a first session modification response, and sending the first session modification response to the session management function entity.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein, The reconstructing the initial PFCP message according to the PFCP message issuing logic to obtain the target PFCP message comprises: If the PFCP message issuing logic is the logic of creating an interworking tunnel by newly creating an independent PFCP session, reconstructing a message type indicated by the message type field from a PFCP session establishment request to a PFCP session modification request; determine a raw session ID corresponding to the user equipment ID according to the user equipment ID included in the initial PFCP message, and determine a raw PFCP message according to the raw session ID; migrate a parameter binding relationship in the initial PFCP message and the reconstructed message type field to the raw PFCP message, to obtain the target PFCP message.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The method further includes: receiving a second session modification response fed back by the user plane function entity, the second session modification response being used to represent a response of the user plane function entity to the modification of the interworking tunnel; reconstructing the second session modification response into a second session creation response, and sending the second session creation response to the session management function entity.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, In the case that the PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic of the user plane function entity, the initial PFCP message is reconstructed to obtain a target PFCP message, including: determining whether the initial PFCP message is an interworking tunnel establishment message, and if yes, in the case that the PFCP message issuing logic is inconsistent with the PFCP message receiving logic, the initial PFCP message is reconstructed to obtain the target PFCP message.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The initial PFCP message includes PDR data and FAR data; the determination of whether the initial PFCP message is an interworking tunnel establishment message includes: determining whether a source interface in the PDR data and a destination interface in the FAR data are base station direction data; if yes, determining that the initial PFCP message is an interworking tunnel establishment message.

10. A message forwarding device, characterized by The apparatus includes: a reconstruction module configured to, in the process of switching between a 4G network and a 5G network, receive an initial PFCP message for creating an interworking tunnel issued by a session management function entity, and in the case that a PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with a PFCP message receiving logic of a user plane function entity, reconstruct the initial PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message, the target PFCP message being adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic; an issuing module configured to issue the target PFCP message to the user plane function entity.

11. A communication device, characterized by including: a transmitter, a receiver, a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer program; the receiver is configured to, in the process of switching between a 4G network and a 5G network, receive an initial PFCP message for creating an interworking tunnel issued by a session management function entity; the processor executes the computer program and is configured to, in the case that a PFCP message issuing logic of the session management function entity is inconsistent with a PFCP message receiving logic of a user plane function entity, reconstruct the initial PFCP message to obtain a target PFCP message, the target PFCP message being adapted to the PFCP message receiving logic; the transmitter is configured to issue the target PFCP message to the user plane function entity.

12. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, characterized in that, The computer program, which when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.

13. A computer program product comprising a computer program, characterized in that, The computer program, which when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.

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