Method for terminal capability-based functional network element discovery and related device

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a terminal capability-based function network element discovery method, and relates to the field of communication, which comprises the following steps: receiving an information request for a target function network element initiated by a user terminal; obtaining terminal capability of the user terminal; forwarding the information request and the terminal capability to a session management function network element; and receiving information of the target function network element determined by the session management function network element according to the terminal capability and forwarding the information to the user terminal. The method of the present disclosure does not need to massively upgrade all network devices in the existing network, but only needs to upgrade the capability of a small number of devices according to business requirements, greatly reducing the difficulty of upgrading network devices, and effectively improving the efficiency of terminal discovery function network elements and user experience.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method for discovering functional network elements based on terminal capabilities, access and mobility management functional network elements, session management functional network elements, computer-readable storage media, and electronic devices. Background Technology

[0002] In existing functional network element discovery methods, users with different terminal capabilities are indiscriminately connected to the same functional network element pool. On the one hand, when deploying new services, it is necessary to upgrade and transform all functional network element devices in the existing network, which involves hardware upgrades for media processing and huge investments, greatly increasing the difficulty of deployment and causing resource waste. On the other hand, due to the increased difficulty of deployment, some functional network element devices may fail to provide services due to untimely upgrades, resulting in a decline in user experience.

[0003] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the background section above is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of this disclosure, and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this disclosure is to provide a method for discovering functional network elements based on terminal capabilities, access and mobility management functional network elements, session management functional network elements, computer-readable storage media, and electronic devices, so as to at least solve the problems in related technologies where deploying new services requires upgrading and transforming all functional network element devices in the existing network, involving hardware upgrades for media processing, huge investments, greatly increasing the difficulty of deployment work, causing resource waste, and poor user experience.

[0005] Other features and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part from practice of this disclosure.

[0006] The technical solution disclosed herein is as follows:

[0007] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a method for discovering functional network elements based on terminal capabilities is provided, applied to access and mobility management functional network elements, comprising: receiving an information request for a target functional network element initiated by a user terminal; obtaining the terminal capabilities of the user terminal; forwarding the information request and the terminal capabilities to a session management functional network element; and receiving information of a target functional network element determined by the session management functional network element based on the terminal capabilities, and forwarding it to the user terminal.

[0008] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the information request is a bearer establishment request for the IP multimedia system data network name, used to request information on the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device, and the terminal capabilities of the user terminal include terminal capabilities that support the IP multimedia system data channel.

[0009] In some embodiments of this disclosure, before the step of obtaining the terminal capabilities of the user terminal, the method further includes: receiving the terminal capabilities sent by the user terminal; obtaining the terminal capabilities of the user terminal supporting the IP Multimedia System data channel based on the terminal capabilities; and storing the terminal capabilities of the user terminal supporting the IP Multimedia System data channel.

[0010] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the terminal capability is carried by the 4th spare bit of the octet 3 of the voice domain preference and terminal usage setting parameters, which carries the terminal's channel capability for IP multimedia system data. The step of obtaining the terminal capability of the user terminal to support the IP multimedia system data channel based on the terminal capability includes: when the 4th spare bit of the octet 3 of the voice domain preference and terminal usage setting parameters is 0 or 1, it indicates that the user terminal supports the terminal capability of the IP multimedia system data channel.

[0011] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a method for discovering functional network elements based on terminal capabilities is provided, applied to a session management function network element. The method includes: receiving an information request for a target functional network element initiated by a user terminal and the terminal capabilities supported by the user terminal, sent by an access and mobility management function network element; determining information of the target functional network element based on the terminal capabilities; and sending the information of the target functional network element to the user terminal via the access and mobility management function network element.

[0012] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the method further includes: the step of determining the information of the target functional network element based on the terminal capability further includes: establishing a mapping between the terminal capability and the target functional network element; obtaining the information of the target functional network element corresponding to the terminal capability based on the mapping; and if the number of target functional network elements mapped by the terminal capability is greater than 1, then arranging the target functional network elements according to priority to obtain a list of target functional network elements as the information of the target functional network element.

[0013] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the information request is a bearer establishment request for the IP multimedia system data network name, used to request information on the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device, and the terminal capabilities of the user terminal include terminal capabilities that support the IP multimedia system data channel.

[0014] According to another aspect of this disclosure, an access and mobility management function network element is provided, the function network element comprising: a request receiving module for receiving an information request to a target function network element initiated by a user terminal; a capability acquisition module for acquiring the terminal capabilities of the user terminal; a request forwarding module for forwarding the information request and the terminal capabilities to a session management function network element; and an information receiving module for receiving information of a target function network element determined by the session management function network element based on the terminal capabilities, and forwarding it to the user terminal.

[0015] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a session management function network element is provided, the network element comprising: a capability receiving module, configured to receive an information request for a target function network element initiated by a user terminal and terminal capabilities supported by the user terminal, sent by an access and mobility management function network element; a network element information determining module, configured to determine information of the target function network element based on the terminal capabilities; and a network element information sending module, configured to send the information of the target function network element to the user terminal via the access and mobility management function network element.

[0016] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a terminal capability-based functional network element discovery system is provided. The system includes: a user terminal, an access and mobility management (AML) functional network element, and a session management (SML) functional network element. The user terminal initiates an information request for a target functional network element to the AML. The AML receives the information request from the user terminal; acquires the terminal capabilities of the user terminal; and forwards the information request and the terminal capabilities to the SML. The SML receives the information request for the target functional network element initiated by the user terminal and the terminal capabilities supported by the user terminal, sent by the AML. The SML determines the target functional network element based on the terminal capabilities and sends the information of the target functional network element to the AML. The AML receives the information of the target functional network element and forwards it to the user terminal.

[0017] According to another aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to perform the above-described terminal capability-based functional network element discovery method by executing the executable instructions.

[0018] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the above-described terminal capability-based functional network element discovery method.

[0019] The method in this disclosure does not require large-scale modification and upgrade of all existing network devices. It only requires modification of a small number of devices according to business needs, which greatly reduces the difficulty of modifying network devices and effectively improves the efficiency of terminal discovery function network elements, thereby improving user experience.

[0020] Furthermore, by enhancing the software functions of network elements for access and mobility management and session management, and by extending the interface parameters, system deployment and maintenance costs are reduced without the need for hardware modifications. This approach is practical, simple, and highly versatile.

[0021] Furthermore, in the future, the development of diverse new media services such as immersive and multi-sensory experiences on the network will not require upgrading or transforming the existing network elements, laying the foundation for the deployment of new services on the functional network elements.

[0022] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not intended to limit this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0023] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure. It is obvious that the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of this disclosure, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without any inventive effort.

[0024] Figure 1 This diagram illustrates a network architecture of an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 2 This illustration shows a flowchart of a terminal capability-based functional network element discovery method applied to access and mobility management functional network elements according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 3 This diagram illustrates a flowchart of an access and mobility management function network element's ability to store user terminal capabilities in an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0027] Figure 4 This illustration shows a flowchart of a terminal capability-based functional network element discovery method applied to a session management function network element according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 5 This diagram illustrates a flowchart of a method for determining a target functional network element using a session management function network element, as described in an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0029] Figure 6 and Figure 7This section provides an extended description of a voice domain preference and terminal usage settings parameters in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 8 This illustration shows a flowchart of a user registering terminal capability information on a session management function network element according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 9 This illustration shows a schematic diagram of the IMSDNN bearer establishment process for implementing a terminal capability-based functional network element discovery method in an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0032] Figure 10 This diagram illustrates the structure of a network element for access and mobility management functions in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 11 This diagram illustrates the structure of a session management function network element in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 12 This diagram illustrates an electronic device using a terminal capability-based functional network element discovery method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0035] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, these exemplary embodiments can be implemented in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, they are provided so that this disclosure will be more comprehensive and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0036] Furthermore, the accompanying drawings are merely illustrative of this disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, and therefore repeated descriptions of them will be omitted. Some block diagrams shown in the drawings are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities may be implemented in software, in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different network and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0037] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this disclosure, "multiple" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0038] To address the technical problems existing in the aforementioned related technologies, this disclosure provides a method for discovering functional network elements based on terminal capabilities, an access and mobility management functional network element, a session management functional network element, an electronic device, and a computer-readable storage medium, to solve at least one or all of the aforementioned technical problems.

[0039] Figure 1 A schematic diagram is shown of a network architecture supporting an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) that implements an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] The terminal equipment UE 102 in the network architecture 100 may include: various handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, as well as various forms of terminals, such as mobile stations (MS), terminals, user equipment (UE), soft terminals, etc., for example, water meters, electricity meters, sensors, etc.

[0041] The wireless subsystem in network architecture 100 mainly includes NR 104 (New Radio, next-generation wireless base station).

[0042] The core network subsystem of network architecture 100 mainly includes UDM 106 (Unified Data Management) network element, AMF 108 (Access Management Function) network element, SMF 110 (Session Management Function) network element, UPF 112 (User Plane Function) network element, and PCF 114 (Policy Control Function) network element.

[0043] UDM Functional Element 106: Assigns reference information to network elements, such as SMF or NEF network elements.

[0044] AMF Functional Element 108: Responsible for mobility management and access management, it implements functions of the mobility management entity (MME) other than session management. For example, it is responsible for maintaining and managing terminal status information, authenticating terminal devices, selecting network slices, and selecting SMF network elements.

[0045] SMF Functional Element 110: Establishes sessions for terminal devices, assigns session identifiers (ID), manages or terminates sessions; selects User Plane Function (UPF) network elements; selects Network Exposure Function (NEF) network elements.

[0046] UPF Functional Element 112: Provides functions such as session and bearer management, IP address allocation, etc.; for example, it is responsible for filtering data packets of terminal devices, data transmission / forwarding, rate control, and generating billing information.

[0047] PCF Functional Element 114: Assigns reference information to network elements, such as SMF or NEF elements.

[0048] Data network (DN): Provides external data network services.

[0049] like Figure 1 As shown, the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) portion of the network architecture 100 may include, but is not limited to: Proxy-Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF) / Border Access Controller (BAC) 118, Interrogating Call Session Control Function (I-CSCF) 120, Serving-Call Session Control Function (S-CSCF) 120, and Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 122.

[0050] Among them, BAC / P-CSCF118, I-CSCF120, and S-CSCF120 can work together to process requests from user-side devices such as UE102 and messaging terminals in the IMS network architecture 100, so as to meet the network requirements of user-side devices.

[0051] The I-CSCF can act as a relay node, directly interacting with the S-CSCF and BAC / P-CSCF118. Simultaneously, the BAC / P-CSCF118 connects to UE102, receiving network service requests from the UE and forwarding them to the I-CSCF. These network service requests include, but are not limited to, various types of registration requests, which can be configured according to the application scenario. The S-CSCF acts as a registration server in the IMS subsystem, receiving and processing network service requests from the UE102. In another embodiment, as... Figure 1 As shown, the IMS subsystem may also include, but is not limited to, HSS122. Multiple HSS122s can be configured. HSS122 acts as a storage server and can be used to store and provide address information of each S-CSCF and user subscription information corresponding to each UE102 to I-CSCF, S-CSCF, etc. In specific application scenarios, HSS works with BAC / P-CSCF118, I-CSCF, and S-CSCF to realize request processing in the IMS network.

[0052] When the IP multimedia system refresh cycle negotiation method provided in the embodiments of this application is applied to Figure 1 In the IMS system architecture shown, a process can be as follows: User terminal UE102 initiates an information request to the target functional network element AMF108; AMF108 receives the information request from UE102; obtains the terminal capabilities of UE102; forwards the information request and terminal capabilities to Session Management Function (SMF110); and SMF110 receives the information from AMF102. AMF108 sends an information request for the target functional network element initiated by user terminal UE102 and the terminal capabilities supported by user terminal UE102; determines the target functional network element P-CSCF / BAC118 based on the terminal capabilities; sends the information of the target functional network element P-CSCF / BAC118 to the access and mobility management function network element AMF108; the access and mobility management function network element AMF108 receives the information of the target functional network element P-CSCF / BAC118 and forwards it to user terminal UE102.

[0053] It should be noted that the nouns or terms used in the embodiments of this application can be referenced from each other and will not be repeated here.

[0054] The following will describe in more detail each step of a terminal capability-based functional network element discovery method in this exemplary embodiment, with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0055] Figure 2 This diagram illustrates a flowchart of a terminal capability-based functional network element discovery method applied to access and mobility management function network elements according to an embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 2 As shown, this method is applied to network elements with access and mobility management functions, such as... Figure 1 In the AMF functional network element, method 200 may include the following steps:

[0056] In step S210, an information request for the target functional network element initiated by the user terminal is received.

[0057] Here, a target function network element is one or more network elements of a target type, used to provide a specific type of service. Information requests may include requesting address information for the target function network element, such as an IPv6 or IPv4 address. The specific type of service can be any of several media types, such as IMS Data Channel (IMSDC), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Extended Reality (XR), etc.

[0058] In step S220, the terminal capabilities of the user terminal are obtained.

[0059] In step S230, the information request and terminal capability are forwarded to the session management function network element.

[0060] In some embodiments of this disclosure, if the access and mobility management function network element determines that the user terminal's terminal capabilities include the specific type of service, it forwards the information request and terminal capabilities to the session management function network element; otherwise, it does not forward them.

[0061] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the access and mobility management function network element can send terminal capabilities to the session management function network element by adding parameters. The parameter can be expressed in the form of, for example, media capability="IMSData Channel supported", and other capabilities can precede "supported".

[0062] In step S240, the information of the target function network element determined by the session management function network element based on the terminal capability is received and forwarded to the user terminal.

[0063] The information of the target functional network element may include the address information of one or more target functional network elements, such as IPv4 or IPv6 addresses. Furthermore, the information of multiple target functional network elements may be arranged into a list.

[0064] The method in this disclosure does not require large-scale modification and upgrade of all existing network devices. It only requires modification of a small number of devices according to business needs, which greatly reduces the difficulty of modifying network devices and effectively improves the efficiency of terminal discovery function network elements, thereby improving user experience.

[0065] Furthermore, by enhancing the software functions of network elements for access and mobility management and session management, and by extending the interface parameters, system deployment and maintenance costs are reduced without the need for hardware modifications. This approach is practical, simple, and highly versatile.

[0066] Furthermore, in the future, the development of diverse new media services such as immersive and multi-sensory experiences on the network will not require upgrading or transforming the existing network elements, laying the foundation for the deployment of new services on the functional network elements.

[0067] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the information request may also be a bearer establishment request for the IP Multimedia System Data Network Name (IMSDNN), used to request information on the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device. Correspondingly, the user terminal's terminal capability is the terminal capability that supports the IP Multimedia System data channel.

[0068] Furthermore, in some embodiments of this disclosure, step S210 of method 200 may further include: receiving a proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device information request for the data network name of the IP multimedia system initiated by the user terminal; step S220 may further include: obtaining the user terminal's support capability for the data channel of the IP multimedia system; step S230 may further include: forwarding the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device information request and support capability information to the session management function network element; and step S240 may further include: receiving information on the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device that supports the data channel of the IP multimedia system determined by the session management function network element based on the support capability information, and forwarding it to the user terminal.

[0069] The method of this disclosure does not require large-scale modification and upgrade of all existing network devices. It only requires a small number of network elements / edge access control devices that support the IMS data channel proxy call session control function. It does not require modification of a large number of existing network elements / edge access control devices that support the proxy call session control function, which greatly reduces the difficulty of deploying new media services.

[0070] Furthermore, in some embodiments of this disclosure, the method of this embodiment may also include, for example: Figure 3 This diagram illustrates a process for a network element with access and mobility management functions to store user terminal capabilities. (For example...) Figure 3 As shown, method 300 may include the following steps:

[0071] In step S310, the terminal capabilities sent by the user terminal are received.

[0072] In step S320, the terminal capability of the user terminal to support the data channel of the IP multimedia system is obtained based on the terminal capability.

[0073] In step S330, the terminal capability of the user terminal to support the data channel of the IP multimedia system is stored.

[0074] The method of this disclosure improves discovery efficiency and significantly reduces signaling overhead by adding a terminal capability storage function to the AMF and sending the stored terminal DC support capabilities to the SMF during the P-CSCF functional network element discovery process.

[0075] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the terminal capability is carried by the 4th spare bit of octet 3 of the Voice domain preference and UE's usage setting, specifically, for example... Figure 6 and Figure 7 This section provides an extended explanation of voice domain preferences and terminal usage settings parameters. For example... Figure 6 As shown, the voice domain preferences and terminal usage settings parameters include three octets. Octet 1 is the Information Element Identifier (IEI) for the voice domain preferences and terminal usage settings; octet 2 is the length of the voice domain preferences and the content of the terminal usage settings associated with the IEI; and the first four bits of octet 3 are the length of the voice domain preferences and the terminal usage settings parameters, respectively set to the E-UTRAN voice domain preferences, terminal usage settings, and IMS data channel capabilities. The IMS data channel capability is as follows... Figure 7 As shown, the length of the voice domain preference and the fourth bit of the terminal usage settings parameters are set to IMS data channel capability, where 0 indicates that IMS data channel is not supported and 1 indicates that IMS data channel is supported. In other embodiments, 1 may indicate that IMS data channel is not supported and 0 may indicate that IMS data channel is supported.

[0076] Based on the aforementioned parameter extensions, step S320 in method 300 may further include: when the 4th spare bit of the octet 3 of the voice domain preference and terminal usage setting parameters is 0 or 1, it indicates that the user terminal supports the terminal capability of the IP Multimedia System data channel. Specifically, if setting 0 indicates that the user terminal supports the terminal capability of the IP Multimedia System data channel, then setting 1 indicates that the terminal capability of the IP Multimedia System data channel is not supported; if setting 1 indicates that the user terminal supports the terminal capability of the IP Multimedia System data channel, then setting 0 indicates that the terminal capability of the IP Multimedia System data channel is not supported. This is achieved by enhancing the AMF function, carrying terminal capability information in the existing signaling parameters without needing to extend the signaling parameters.

[0077] This disclosure also proposes a method for discovering functional network elements based on terminal capabilities, applied to session management functional network elements, such as... Figure 4 The method 400 shown may include the following steps:

[0078] In step S410, the system receives an information request from the access and mobility management function network element, initiated by the user terminal, to the target function network element, and the terminal capabilities supported by the user terminal.

[0079] In some embodiments of this disclosure, terminal capabilities may be expressed in parameter form.

[0080] In step S420, the target functional network element is determined based on the terminal capabilities.

[0081] In step S430, the information of the target functional network element is sent to the user terminal through the access and mobility management function network element.

[0082] The information of the target functional network element may include the address information of one or more target functional network elements, such as IPv4 or IPv6 addresses. Furthermore, the information of multiple target functional network elements may be arranged into a list.

[0083] The method in this disclosure does not require large-scale modification and upgrade of all existing network devices. It only requires modification of the capabilities of a small number of devices according to business needs, which greatly reduces the difficulty of deploying new services.

[0084] Furthermore, by enhancing the software functions of network elements for access and mobility management and session management, and by extending the interface parameters, system deployment and maintenance costs are reduced without the need for hardware modifications. This approach is practical, simple, and highly versatile.

[0085] Furthermore, in the future, the development of diverse new media services such as immersive and multi-sensory experiences on the network will not require upgrading or transforming the existing network elements and equipment, laying the foundation for the deployment of such new services.

[0086] In some embodiments of this disclosure, step S420 may further include Figure 5 The diagram illustrates a method for determining target functional network elements within a session management network element. Figure 5 As shown, method 500 may include the following steps:

[0087] In step S510, a mapping between terminal capabilities and target functional network elements is established.

[0088] Each terminal capability corresponds to a different list, and each list includes one or more functional network elements of the same type.

[0089] In step S520, the information of the target functional network element corresponding to the terminal capability is obtained according to the mapping.

[0090] The target functional network element is one or more target-type functional network elements.

[0091] In step S530, if the number of target functional network elements for terminal capability mapping is greater than one, the target functional network elements are arranged according to priority to obtain a list of target functional network elements as the information of the target functional network elements.

[0092] In some embodiments of this disclosure, priority can be determined by the number of terminal capabilities supported by a functional network element; for example, the more terminal capabilities a functional network element in the same list supports, the higher its priority. In other embodiments, priority can also be set based on the configuration level, services carried, etc., among multiple target functional network elements.

[0093] The method in this embodiment classifies terminal capabilities into services. Based on this classification, and combined with the capability attributes of functional network elements, it prioritizes multiple functional network elements corresponding to the terminal capabilities. This aims to improve the terminal's ability to discover functional network elements while ensuring the capability attribute requirements of the functional network elements, thereby guaranteeing network stability.

[0094] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the information request may also be a bearer establishment request for the IP multimedia system data network name, used to request information on the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device, and the user terminal's terminal capabilities include terminal capabilities that support the IP multimedia system data channel.

[0095] Furthermore, in some embodiments of this disclosure, step S410 of method 400 may further include: receiving a proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device information request from the user terminal sent by the access and mobility management function network element and support capability information for the IP multimedia system data channel; step S420 may further include: determining information of the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device that supports the IP multimedia system data channel based on the support capability information; and step S430 may further include: sending the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device information to the user terminal through the access and mobility management function network element.

[0096] Furthermore, in some embodiments of this disclosure, step S510 in method 500 may further include: establishing a mapping between the user terminal's IP multimedia system data channel capability and the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device information; step S520 may further include: obtaining the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device information corresponding to the IP multimedia system data channel capability according to the mapping; step S530 may further include: if there is more than one proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device, then determining the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device information according to the priority of the multiple proxy call session control function network element / edge access control devices.

[0097] This disclosure also provides a schematic diagram of a user registering terminal capability information on a session management function network element. For example... Figure 8 As shown, method 800 may include the following steps:

[0098] In step S810, the terminal supporting the IMS data channel carries the IMS DC support capability in the registration request. It uses the spare fourth bit (bit 4) of the octet 3 of the Voice domain preference and UE's usage setting parameters to carry the terminal's support capability for IMSDC and sends it to the AMF via NR.

[0099] In step S820, NR selects an AMF network element for storing user terminal capabilities.

[0100] In step S830, the NR transmits the registration request to the corresponding AMF network element.

[0101] In step S840, the AMF network element stores the IMSDC support capabilities carried in the registration request.

[0102] The specific execution methods of each step in the above method 800 are similar to those in method 300, and each step in method 300 has been described in detail, so they will not be elaborated here.

[0103] In some embodiments of this disclosure, after step S840, the process of discovering network elements based on terminal capabilities can continue to be executed. Figure 9 A schematic diagram of the IMSDNN bearer establishment process for implementing a terminal-capability-based functional network element discovery method is shown. Figure 9 As shown, method 900 may include the following steps:

[0104] In step S902, the terminal initiates an IMSDNN default bearer establishment request, requesting the network to issue an IPv4 or IPv6 address for the P-CSCF.

[0105] In step S904, the AMF functional network element adds the parameter media capability="IMSData Channel supported" to carry support for IMSDC capability.

[0106] In step S906, the AMF functional network element forwards the request in the form of Namf_PDUSession_CreateSM Context Request and the newly added parameter media capability="IMSData Channel supported" to the selected SMF.

[0107] In step S908, the SMF functional network element creates a session management context service.

[0108] In step S910, the SMF functional network element sends a CreateSMContext request in the form of Namf_PDU Session_CreateSMContext Response to the AMF functional network element.

[0109] In step S912, optional PDU session-assisted authorization authentication.

[0110] In step S914, the SMF functional network element selects the PCF functional network element.

[0111] In step S916, the SMF functional network element performs a session management policy association establishment process to establish a session management policy association with the PCF functional network element and obtain the default PCC rules for the PDU session.

[0112] In step S918, the SMF functional network element selects the UPF functional network element.

[0113] In step S920, the SMF functional network element initiates a modified session management policy association.

[0114] In step S922, the SMF functional network element sends an N4 session establishment / modification request to the UPF functional network element.

[0115] In step S924, the SMF functional network element receives the N4 session establishment / modification response sent by the UPF functional network element.

[0116] In step S926, the SMF functional network element maps the address or address list of the P-CSCF according to the newly added parameter media capability="IMSData Channel supported" received in step S906, and obtains the IPv4 or IPv6 address of the P-CSCF functional network element or a list of IPv4 or IPv6 addresses of multiple P-CSCF functional network elements.

[0117] In step S928, the SMF functional network element sends a message in the form of "Namf_Communication_N1N2Message Transfer" to the AMF functional network element, which carries the IPv4 or IPv6 address of the P-CSCF functional network element or a list of IPv4 or IPv6 addresses of multiple P-CSCF functional network elements.

[0118] In step S930, after the AMF functional network element transmits the IPv4 or IPv6 address of the P-CSCF functional network element to the user terminal via NR, the bearer establishment process is completed according to the existing procedure.

[0119] In summary, this embodiment of the present disclosure enhances the AMF and SMF software functions based on a single IMSDNN bearer establishment process, thereby realizing the discovery of proxy call session control function network elements / edge access control devices based on terminal support capabilities, saving the signaling overhead of additionally performing function network element discovery based on terminal support capabilities.

[0120] This disclosure also provides a network element 1000 with access and mobility management functions, such as... Figure 10 As shown, the functional network element 1000 may include: a request receiving module 1010, used to receive an information request for a target functional network element initiated by a user terminal; a capability acquisition module 1020, used to acquire the terminal capabilities of the user terminal; a request forwarding module 1030, used to forward the information request and terminal capabilities to the session management functional network element; and an information receiving module 1040, used to receive information about the target functional network element determined by the session management functional network element based on the terminal capabilities, and forward it to the user terminal.

[0121] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the information request is a bearer establishment request for the IP multimedia system data network name, used to request information on the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device, and the user terminal's terminal capabilities include terminal capabilities that support the IP multimedia system data channel.

[0122] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the access and mobility management function network element 1000 may further include: a capability receiving module, used to receive terminal capabilities sent by the user terminal; an IMSDC capability acquisition module, used to obtain the terminal capabilities of the user terminal supporting the IP Multimedia System data channel based on the terminal capabilities; and an IMSDC capability storage module, used to store the terminal capabilities of the user terminal supporting the IP Multimedia System data channel.

[0123] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the terminal capability is carried by the fourth spare bit of the octet 3 of the voice domain preference and terminal usage setting parameters, which carries the terminal's channel capability for IP multimedia system data. The IMSDC capability acquisition module can also be used to indicate that the user terminal supports the terminal capability of the IP multimedia system data channel when the fourth spare bit of the octet 3 of the voice domain preference and terminal usage setting parameters is 0 or 1.

[0124] This disclosure also provides a session management function network element 1100, such as Figure 11 As shown, the functional network element 1100 may include: a capability receiving module 1110, used to receive an information request for a target functional network element initiated by a user terminal and the terminal capabilities supported by the user terminal, sent by an access and mobility management function network element; a network element information determining module 1120, used to determine the information of the target functional network element based on the terminal capabilities; and a network element information sending module 1130, used to send the information of the target functional network element to the user terminal through the access and mobility management function network element.

[0125] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the network element information determination module may further include: a mapping establishment module, used to establish a mapping between the terminal capability and the target functional network element; a network element acquisition module, used to obtain information of the target functional network element corresponding to the terminal capability according to the mapping; and a network element determination module, used to arrange the target functional network elements according to priority if the number of target functional network elements mapped by the terminal capability is greater than 1, and obtain a list of target functional network elements as the information of the target functional network element.

[0126] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the information request is a bearer establishment request for the IP multimedia system data network name, used to request information on the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device, and the terminal capabilities of the user terminal include terminal capabilities that support the IP multimedia system data channel.

[0127] This disclosure also provides a terminal capability-based functional network element discovery system, comprising: a user terminal, an access and mobility management functional network element, and a session management functional network element. The system includes: the user terminal initiating an information request for a target functional network element to the access and mobility management functional network element; the access and mobility management functional network element receiving the information request from the user terminal; acquiring the user terminal's terminal capabilities; forwarding the information request and terminal capabilities to the session management functional network element; the session management functional network element receiving the information request for the target functional network element initiated by the user terminal and the terminal capabilities supported by the user terminal sent by the access and mobility management functional network element; determining the target functional network element based on the terminal capabilities; sending the target functional network element's information to the access and mobility management functional network element; and the access and mobility management functional network element receiving the target functional network element's information and forwarding it to the user terminal.

[0128] Regarding the access and mobility management function network element 1000, session management function network element 1100, and terminal capability-based function network element discovery system in the above embodiments, the specific methods by which each function network element and module performs operations have been described in detail in the embodiments related to the method, and will not be elaborated here.

[0129] Those skilled in the art will understand that various aspects of this disclosure can be implemented as a system, method, or program product. Therefore, various aspects of this disclosure can be specifically implemented in the following forms: a completely hardware implementation, a completely software implementation (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or a combination of hardware and software aspects, collectively referred to herein as a "circuit," "module," or "system."

[0130] The following reference Figure 12 To describe an electronic device 1200 according to such an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 12 The electronic device 1200 shown is merely an example and should not impose any limitation on the functionality and scope of use of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0131] like Figure 12 As shown, the electronic device 1200 is manifested in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of the electronic device 1200 may include, but are not limited to: at least one processing unit 1210, at least one storage unit 1220, and a bus 1230 connecting different system components (including storage unit 1220 and processing unit 1210).

[0132] The storage unit stores program code that can be executed by the processing unit 1210, causing the processing unit 1210 to perform the steps described in the "Exemplary Methods" section of this specification according to various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. For example, the processing unit 1210 can perform actions such as... Figure 2 The steps shown are as follows: S210, receiving an information request for a target functional network element initiated by a user terminal; S220, obtaining the terminal capabilities of the user terminal; S230, forwarding the information request and the terminal capabilities to the session management function network element; and S240, receiving information about the target functional network element determined by the session management function network element based on the terminal capabilities, and forwarding it to the user terminal.

[0133] Storage unit 1220 may include a readable medium in the form of a volatile storage unit, such as random access memory (RAM) 1221 and / or cache memory 1222, and may further include a read-only memory (ROM) 1223.

[0134] Storage unit 1220 may also include a program / utility 1224 having a set (at least one) of program modules 1225, such program modules 1225 including but not limited to: operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules and program data, each or some combination of these examples may include an implementation of a network environment.

[0135] Bus 1230 can represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory cell bus or memory cell controller, a peripheral bus, a graphics acceleration port, a processing unit, or a local bus using any of the various bus structures.

[0136] Electronic device 1200 can also communicate with one or more external devices 1300 (e.g., keyboard, pointing device, Bluetooth device, etc.), one or more devices that enable a user to interact with electronic device 1200, and / or any device that enables electronic device 1200 to communicate with one or more other computing devices (e.g., router, modem, etc.). This communication can be performed via input / output (I / O) interface 1250. Furthermore, electronic device 1200 can also communicate with one or more networks (e.g., local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and / or public networks, such as the Internet) via network adapter 1260. As shown, network adapter 1260 communicates with other modules of electronic device 1200 via bus 1230. It should be understood that, although not shown in the figures, other hardware and / or software modules can be used in conjunction with electronic device 1200, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems.

[0137] In exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, on which a program product capable of implementing the methods described above is stored. In some possible implementations, various aspects of this disclosure may also be implemented as a program product including program code that, when the program product is run on a terminal device, causes the terminal device to perform the steps of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure described in the "Exemplary Methods" section above.

[0138] The program product for implementing the above-described method according to embodiments of the present disclosure may employ a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) and include program code, and may run on a terminal device, such as a personal computer. However, the program product of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In this document, the readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that may be used or used in conjunction with an instruction execution system, server, terminal, or device.

[0139] The program product may employ any combination of one or more readable media. A readable medium may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. A readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, server, terminal, or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples of readable storage media (a non-exhaustive list) include: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable disk, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0140] Computer-readable signal media may include data signals propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, carrying readable program code. Such propagated data signals may take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. A readable signal medium may also be any readable medium other than a readable storage medium, capable of sending, propagating, or transmitting programs for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, server, terminal, or device.

[0141] The program code contained on the readable medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber, RF, etc., or any suitable combination thereof.

[0142] Program code for performing the operations of this disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java and C++, and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as C or similar languages. The program code can execute entirely on the user's computing device, partially on the user's computing device, as a standalone software package, partially on the user's computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server. In cases involving remote computing devices, the remote computing device can be connected to the user's computing device via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or it can be connected to an external computing device (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0143] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product or computer program is provided, comprising computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of a computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium and executes the computer instructions, causing the computer device to perform the methods provided in various optional implementations of the above embodiments.

[0144] It should be noted that although several modules or units for the device used to perform actions have been mentioned in the detailed description above, this division is not mandatory. In fact, according to embodiments of this disclosure, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above can be embodied in one module or unit. Conversely, the features and functions of one module or unit described above can be further divided and embodied by multiple modules or units.

[0145] Furthermore, although the steps of the method in this disclosure are described in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that the steps must be performed in that specific order, or that all the steps shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. Additional or alternative steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined into one step, and / or a step may be broken down into multiple steps.

[0146] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the exemplary embodiments described herein can be implemented by software or by combining software with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solutions according to the embodiments of this disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, external hard drive, etc.) or on a network, including several instructions to cause a computing device (such as a personal computer, server, mobile terminal, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods according to the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0147] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for terminal capability based functional network element discovery, the method comprising: Applied to network elements for access and mobility management functions, the method includes: Receive information requests from user terminals for target functional network elements; wherein the target functional network element is one or more network elements of a target type, used to provide a specific type of service, wherein the specific type of service is any one of multiple media type services; the information request is a bearer establishment request for the IP multimedia system data network name, used to request information on the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device; The terminal capabilities of the user terminal are obtained; the terminal capabilities of the user terminal include terminal capabilities that support IP multimedia system data channels. Forward the information request and the terminal capability to the session management function network element; and The system receives information about the target function network element determined by the session management function network element based on the terminal's capabilities, and forwards it to the user terminal.

2. The method for discovering functional network elements based on terminal capabilities according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before the step of obtaining the terminal capabilities of the user terminal, the method further includes: Receive terminal capabilities sent by the user terminal; Based on the terminal capabilities, the user terminal's ability to support IP multimedia system data channels is obtained; The storage device supports the terminal capability of the user terminal to support the data channel of the IP multimedia system.

3. The method for discovering functional network elements based on terminal capabilities according to claim 2, characterized in that, The terminal capability is carried by the 4th spare bit of the octet 3 of the voice domain preference and terminal usage setting parameters, which carries the terminal's channel capability for IP multimedia system data. The steps to obtain the user terminal's support for the IP multimedia system data channel based on the terminal capability include: When the 4th spare bit of the octet 3 of the voice domain preference and terminal usage setting parameters is 0 or 1, it indicates that the user terminal supports the terminal capability of the IP multimedia system data channel.

4. A method for discovering functional network elements based on terminal capabilities, characterized in that, The method, applied to a network element for session management functions, includes: Receives information requests initiated by the user terminal to the target function network element and the terminal capabilities supported by the user terminal, sent by the access and mobility management function network element; Information about the target functional network element is determined based on the terminal capabilities; and The information of the target function network element is sent to the user terminal through the access and mobility management function network element; The target function network element is one or more target type network elements used to provide a specific type of service, wherein the specific type of service is any one of multiple media type services; the information request is a bearer establishment request for the IP multimedia system data network name, used to request information from the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device; the terminal capabilities of the user terminal include terminal capabilities that support the IP multimedia system data channel.

5. The method for discovering functional network elements based on terminal capabilities according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of determining the target functional network element information based on the terminal capabilities further includes: Establish a mapping between the terminal capabilities and the target functional network elements; Information about the target functional network element corresponding to the terminal capability is obtained based on the mapping; and If the number of target functional network elements mapped by the terminal capability is greater than one, the target functional network elements are arranged according to priority to obtain a list of target functional network elements as the information of the target functional network elements.

6. A network element for access and mobility management functions, characterized in that, The functional network elements include: The request receiving module is used to receive information requests for target functional network elements initiated by user terminals; wherein the target functional network element is one or more network elements of a target type, used to provide a specific type of service, wherein the specific type of service is any one of multiple media type services; the information request is a bearer establishment request for the IP multimedia system data network name, used to request information on the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device. The capability acquisition module is used to acquire the terminal capabilities of the user terminal; the terminal capabilities of the user terminal include terminal capabilities that support the data channel of the IP multimedia system. The request forwarding module is used to forward the information request and the terminal capability to the session management function network element; and The information receiving module is used to receive information about the target function network element determined by the session management function network element according to the terminal capability, and forward it to the user terminal.

7. A network element for session management function, characterized in that, The functional network elements include: The capability receiving module is used to receive information requests initiated by the user terminal to a target functional network element and the terminal capabilities supported by the user terminal, sent by the access and mobility management function network element; wherein the target functional network element is one or more network elements of a target type, used to provide a specific type of service, wherein the specific type of service is any one of multiple media type services; the information request is a bearer establishment request for the IP multimedia system data network name, used to request information from the proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device; the terminal capabilities supported by the user terminal include terminal capabilities that support the IP multimedia system data channel; The network element information determination module is used to determine the information of the target functional network element based on the terminal capabilities; and The network element information sending module is used to send the information of the target functional network element to the user terminal through the access and mobility management functional network element.

8. A functional network element discovery system based on terminal capabilities, characterized in that, The system includes: a user terminal, access and mobility management function network elements, and session management function network elements, wherein, The user terminal initiates an information request to the target function network element from the access and mobility management function network element. The access and mobility management function network element receives an information request from the user terminal to a target function network element; obtains the terminal capabilities of the user terminal; and forwards the information request and the terminal capabilities to the session management function network element; wherein the target function network element is one or more network elements of a target type, used to provide a specific type of service, wherein the specific type of service is any one of multiple media type services; the information request is a bearer establishment request for the IP multimedia system data network name, used to request proxy call session control function network element / edge access control device information; the terminal capabilities of the user terminal include terminal capabilities that support the IP multimedia system data channel; The session management function network element receives an information request for a target function network element initiated by the user terminal and the terminal capabilities supported by the user terminal, sent by the access and mobility management function network element; determines the target function network element based on the terminal capabilities; and sends the information of the target function network element to the access and mobility management function network element. The access and mobility management function network element receives the information from the target function network element and forwards it to the user terminal.

9. An electronic device, characterized in that, include: processor; as well as Memory for storing the executable instructions of the processor; The processor is configured to execute the terminal capability-based functional network element discovery method according to any one of claims 1-3 or 4-5 by executing the executable instructions.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the terminal capability-based functional network element discovery method according to any one of claims 1-3 or 4-5.

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