Network cloud deployment method and device, storage medium and electronic equipment

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a network cloud deployment method, a network cloud deployment device, a computer storage medium and an electronic device, and relates to the technical field of computers. The network cloud deployment method comprises: receiving, by a user plane editing management function entity based on a user plane, a session creation request for a target service issued by an SMF of a control plane; wherein the user plane and the control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud; determining forwarding path information from a routing topology according to the session creation request of the target service; and sending service data of the target service to a data forwarding device corresponding to the forwarding path information for data forwarding, so that the data forwarding device transmits the service data. The present disclosure can improve the utilization rate of network resources and the flexibility of cloud deployment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of computer technology, and in particular to a network cloud deployment method, network cloud deployment device, computer storage medium, and electronic device. Background Technology

[0002] The 5G network architecture, as defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), enables the cloudification and virtualization of the 5G network user plane, allowing it to be deployed in public or enterprise clouds.

[0003] Currently, User Plane Function (UPF) devices are not yet deployed in the cloud; instead, they connect to other networks via leased lines through N3 / N4 interfaces. This lack of cloud-based deployment of UPF devices prevents dynamic, on-demand deployment of UPF resources, resulting in low network resource utilization efficiency and poor flexibility. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This disclosure provides a network cloud deployment method, network cloud deployment device, computer storage medium, and electronic device, thereby improving the utilization rate of network resources and the flexibility of cloud deployment.

[0005] In a first aspect, one embodiment of this disclosure provides a network cloud deployment method, the method comprising: a user plane editing and management function entity receiving a session creation request for a target service issued by a session management function entity (SMF) of the control plane; wherein the user plane and the control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud; determining forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the routing topology according to the session creation request; and sending the forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit the service data.

[0006] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, determining the forwarding path information corresponding to a target service from the routing topology based on a session creation request includes: obtaining service-aware information of the target service and determining the quality of service policy of the target service based on the service-aware information; and determining the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the routing topology based on the session creation request and the quality of service policy.

[0007] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the session creation request further includes network quality parameters required for transmitting service data of the target service; wherein, before determining the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the routing topology according to the session creation request, the method further includes: obtaining resource information of each general routing device in the general resource pool, the resource information including at least one of communication resources and computing resources; determining the data forwarding device for transmitting service data according to the network quality parameters required for the service data of the target service and the resource information of each general routing device; generating forwarding path information based on the data forwarding device, and adding the forwarding path information to the routing topology.

[0008] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes: receiving a registration request initiated by a data forwarding device, wherein the registration request is initiated when the data forwarding function of the data forwarding device is first started; if the registration is successful, sending a registration success response to the data forwarding device and adding the forwarding path information generated by the data forwarding device to the routing topology; or, receiving a deregistration request initiated by a data forwarding device, wherein the deregistration request is initiated when the data forwarding function of the data forwarding device is taken offline; if the deregistration is successful, sending a deregistration success response to the data forwarding device and removing the forwarding path information generated by the data forwarding device from the routing topology.

[0009] In one optional embodiment of this disclosure, forwarding path information is sent to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit service data. This includes: sending forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit service data based on the target communication protocol; wherein the target communication protocol includes the Fast UDP Internet Connection (QUIC) protocol and the Segment Routing (SRv6) protocol based on the IPv6 forwarding plane.

[0010] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the session creation request further includes network quality parameters required for transmitting service data of the target service, and the network quality parameters required for transmitting service data of the target service are added to the extension header of the SRv6 protocol.

[0011] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, after sending the forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device, the method further includes: sending the address of the data forwarding device corresponding to the forwarding path information to the SMF of the control plane.

[0012] Secondly, one embodiment of this disclosure provides a network cloud deployment apparatus, which includes: a request receiving module, configured to receive a session creation request for a target service issued by a session management function entity (SMF) of the control plane based on a user plane editing and management function entity; wherein the user plane and the control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud; a path determination module, configured to determine forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the routing topology according to the session creation request; and an information sending module, configured to send the forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit service data.

[0013] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the path determination module is configured to obtain service-aware information of the target service, and determine the quality of service policy of the target service based on the service-aware information; and determine the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the routing topology according to the session creation request and the quality of service policy.

[0014] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the session creation request further includes network quality parameters required for transmitting service data of the target service; the apparatus also includes an information acquisition module, specifically used to acquire resource information of each general routing device in the general resource pool, the resource information including at least one of communication resources and computing resources; a path determination module, used to determine the data forwarding device for transmitting service data based on the network quality parameters required for the service data of the target service and the resource information of each general routing device; generate forwarding path information based on the data forwarding device, and add the forwarding path information to the routing topology.

[0015] In one optional embodiment of this disclosure, the path determination module is configured to receive a registration request initiated by the data forwarding device, the registration request being initiated when the data forwarding function of the data forwarding device is first started; if the registration is successful, a registration success response is sent to the data forwarding device, and the forwarding path information generated by the data forwarding device is added to the routing topology; or, the information receiving module is configured to receive a deregistration request initiated by the data forwarding device, the deregistration request being initiated when the data forwarding function of the data forwarding device is taken offline; if the deregistration is successful, a deregistration success response is sent to the data forwarding device, and the forwarding path information generated by the data forwarding device is removed from the routing topology.

[0016] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the information sending module is used to send forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit service data based on the target communication protocol; wherein, the target communication protocol includes the Fast UDP Internet Connection (QUIC) protocol and the Segment Routing (SRv6) protocol based on the IPv6 forwarding plane.

[0017] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes a data addition module, which adds the network quality parameters required for transmitting the service data of the target service to the extension header of the SRv6 protocol, in addition to the network quality parameters required for transmitting the service data of the target service that are also included in the session creation request.

[0018] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the information sending module is used to send the address of the data forwarding device corresponding to the forwarding path information to the SMF of the control plane.

[0019] Thirdly, one embodiment of this disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the above-described network cloud deployment method.

[0020] Fourthly, one embodiment of this disclosure provides an electronic device, including: a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to perform the above-described network cloud deployment method by executing the executable instructions.

[0021] The technical solution disclosed herein has the following beneficial effects: The aforementioned network cloud deployment method receives a session creation request for a target service from the Session Management Function (SMF) of the control plane via a user plane-based user plane editing and management function entity. The user plane and control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud. Based on the session creation request, the method determines the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the routing topology and sends this forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device for data transmission. This method allows the SMF to send only a session creation request to the user plane, while the user plane can confirm the forwarding path information based on the received request. This avoids the technical problems of low data forwarding efficiency and low network resource utilization caused by the control plane's SMF issuing forwarding routing schemes and the user plane only performing data forwarding, which prevents the user plane and control plane from sharing the cloud after cloud deployment. This method improves both data forwarding efficiency and network resource utilization. Furthermore, this method does not require UPF devices but uses general-purpose equipment, thus increasing deployment flexibility.

[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 schematic diagram illustrates a 5G standard network architecture defined by 3GPP in this exemplary embodiment. Figure 2 This illustration schematically depicts a network virtualization deployment in this exemplary embodiment; Figure 3 This schematic diagram illustrates a mobile network architecture corresponding to a network cloud deployment in this exemplary embodiment. Figure 4 This illustration schematically depicts an application scenario of network cloud deployment in this exemplary embodiment. Figure 5 This illustration schematically depicts another application scenario of network cloud deployment in this exemplary embodiment; Figure 6 This schematically illustrates a flowchart of a network cloud deployment method in this exemplary embodiment; Figure 7 This schematic diagram illustrates an N3 interface protocol stack between UPFs in this exemplary embodiment. Figure 8 This schematic diagram illustrates a user plane protocol stack in this exemplary embodiment. Figure 9 This schematic diagram illustrates an SRv6 protocol in this exemplary embodiment. Figure 10 This schematic diagram illustrates the structure of a network cloud deployment device in this exemplary embodiment. Figure 11 The schematic diagram illustrates the structure of an electronic device in this exemplary embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0025] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, exemplary embodiments can be implemented in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided to make this disclosure more comprehensive and complete, and to fully convey the concept of exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a full understanding of embodiments of this disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the technical solutions of this disclosure can be practiced with one or more specific details omitted, or other methods, components, apparatus, steps, etc., can be employed. In other instances, well-known technical solutions are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring various aspects of this disclosure.

[0026] 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.

[0027] The flowchart shown in the attached diagram is merely an illustrative example and does not necessarily include all steps. For example, some steps may be broken down, while others may be combined or partially combined; therefore, the actual execution order may change depending on the specific circumstances.

[0028] To help those skilled in the art better understand the technical solutions of this disclosure, the relevant content involved in the technical solutions of this disclosure will be introduced below.

[0029] 1) Segment Routing over IPv6 (SRv6): This is a new generation of Internet Protocol Address (IP) that uses existing IPv6 forwarding technology and enables network programmability through flexible IPv6 extension headers. SRv6 technology has advantages such as greater flexibility, scalability, security, reliability, and rich functionality.

[0030] 2) Quality of Service (QoS): refers to a network's ability to provide better service for specified network communications by utilizing various basic technologies. It is a network security mechanism and a technology used to solve problems such as network latency and congestion.

[0031] 3) User Plane Function (UPF): A crucial component of the 3GPP 5G core network system architecture, the UPF is primarily responsible for routing and forwarding user plane data packets, data and service identification, and action and policy execution within the 5G core network. The UPF serves as the anchor point between the 5G network and multi-access edge computing; all core network data must be forwarded by the UPF before flowing to external networks. Furthermore, the UPF can interact with the SMF via the N4 interface, allowing it to be directly controlled and managed by the SMF, and to execute service flow processing according to various policies (such as path planning policies and QoS management policies) issued by the SMF.

[0032] To facilitate understanding of the relevant technical solutions by those skilled in the art, the following will be combined with... Figure 1 , Figure 2 Explain the existing technical solutions.

[0033] Figure 1 This schematic diagram illustrates a 3GPP-defined 5G standard network architecture in this exemplary embodiment. The 3GPP-defined 5G standard network architecture is as follows: Figure 1 As shown, the user plane UPF device has not yet been deployed to the cloud (i.e., it has not been virtualized), but is connected via a leased line through the N3 or N4 interface.

[0034] based on Figure 1 Regarding the 5G standard network architecture shown, Figure 2 This is an illustrative explanation from the perspective of cloud deployment. Figure 2 This schematic diagram illustrates a network virtualization deployment in this exemplary embodiment, such as... Figure 2As shown, this mobile network architecture includes User Equipment (UE), Access Network (AN), User Plane, and Control Plane. Control plane functional entities are deployed in the control cloud, while the User Plane UPF is deployed in the forwarding cloud to better separate the control plane from the user plane (the User Plane UPF can be virtualized and deployed in the forwarding cloud, or deployed independently by the device in a non-cloudified state). Control plane functional entities may include, for example, Session Management Function (SMF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Policy Control Function (PCF), and other functional entities, which are not exhaustively listed in this embodiment.

[0035] It should be noted that since the user plane UPF in 5G is a traditional device form, it can be virtualized and deployed in a public cloud or enterprise cloud. Alternatively, the UPF can be deployed independently as a non-cloudified device and connected to the cloudified control plane functional entity via a dedicated line for data forwarding.

[0036] exist Figure 2 In the mobile network architecture shown, the SMF is responsible for configuring the UPF's flow control to route traffic to its destination. Specifically, the SMF is responsible for planning forwarding paths and determining routing schemes, and then distributing these schemes to the UPF. The UPF then uses these routing schemes to forward and route data packets on the user plane. This method necessitates that the control plane and user plane be deployed in different virtual clouds. For example... Figure 2 The user plane UPF shown is deployed in the forwarding cloud, while the control plane is deployed in the control cloud.

[0037] The above technical solution has at least the following technical problems: Firstly, UPF solutions that are not deployed in the cloud cannot dynamically deploy UPF resources on demand, resulting in low network resource utilization efficiency and poor flexibility. Furthermore, the location of UPF deployment is far from business resources, affecting network forwarding efficiency. In addition, UPF does not support general network devices, making network deployment costs high.

[0038] Secondly, the virtualized user plane UPF and control plane functional entities are not in the same cloud, requiring cross-cloud processing between the forwarding plane and the control plane, and between different devices on the forwarding plane. This results in high network deployment complexity, high latency, and consequently low network forwarding efficiency.

[0039] This exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure addresses the aforementioned issues and proposes a network cloud deployment method. This method involves a user plane editing and management function entity receiving a session creation request for a target service issued by a control plane session management function entity (SMF). The session creation request includes at least the service data of the target service. Based on the session creation request of the target service, forwarding path information is determined from the routing topology. The service data of the target service is then sent to the data forwarding device corresponding to the forwarding path information for data forwarding. The user plane and control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud.

[0040] This method differs from traditional 5G network architectures where the cloud-based SMF (Service Management Function) entity in the control plane plans forwarding paths and allocates routing schemes, and the user plane UPF (User Plane User Frame) executes data forwarding according to the received routing schemes. Instead, the control plane SMF sends a session creation request to the user plane. Upon receiving the request, the user plane uses a newly added user plane editing and management entity to uniformly allocate data forwarding devices, achieving data forwarding path planning and routing management. In the mobile network architecture provided by this solution, the dedicated user plane UPF equipment in traditional 5G network architecture is updated to a user plane editing and management entity that supports unified routing information management. General-purpose data forwarding devices are used for data forwarding, allowing the control plane and user plane to be deployed within the same virtual cloud. This improves data forwarding efficiency and reduces network resource utilization. Furthermore, the use of general-purpose data forwarding devices lowers deployment costs.

[0041] To address the aforementioned issues, this disclosure proposes a network cloud deployment method and apparatus, which can be applied to... Figure 3 The mobile network architecture shown is an exemplary application environment. This mobile network architecture can support forwarding plane devices to access the cloud, thereby realizing a fully cloud-based mobile network architecture.

[0042] Figure 3 This schematically illustrates a mobile network architecture diagram corresponding to a network cloud deployment in this exemplary embodiment, such as... Figure 3As shown, this mobile network architecture includes: UE, base station, AN access network, control plane (for carrying signaling or control messages), and user plane (also known as forwarding plane or data plane, for carrying data traffic). The user plane contains a newly added user plane editing and management function entity (hereinafter referred to as the user plane editing manager). This user plane editing manager includes multiple functional modules such as path planning and editing, data routing management, service awareness and measurement, service forwarding quality management, and network resource awareness and management. The path planning and editing module is used to plan forwarding paths according to the forwarding requirements of the SMF in the control plane and distributes the generated path forwarding rules to the data forwarding module for execution. The data forwarding module is a data forwarding device composed of a resource pool of general-purpose hardware, used to implement the forwarding function of service data. The data routing management module is used to register the data forwarding module and maintain the forwarding routing table. The service forwarding quality management module is used to generate forwarding policies for data packets according to service forwarding quality requirements and network monitoring, and distributes the forwarding policies along with the path forwarding rules to the data forwarding module for execution, thereby ensuring the quality of the corresponding data forwarding. The computing network resource awareness and management module is used to perceive and manage the communication and computing resources of the resource pool composed of general-purpose hardware, thereby forming the corresponding data forwarding module as needed.

[0043] Depend on Figure 3 It can be seen that the aforementioned AN access network, control plane, and user plane are all deployed within the same virtual cloud (e.g., all deployed within a public cloud or enterprise cloud), thereby achieving single-point access on the wireless side while the entire network is virtualized. It should be understood that... Figure 3 The SMF, AMF, NRF, and PCF included in the control plane are merely illustrative. Depending on the functional requirements, other control plane functional entities may be included, and this disclosure does not impose any special limitations on this. Figure 3 In this context, DN refers to Data Network.

[0044] For example, in one exemplary embodiment, a user initiates a service subscription request for a target service through the UE, and a session creation request for the target service is issued by the SMF in the control plane. The user plane receives the session creation request issued by the SMF in the control plane based on the user plane editing management function entity. The session creation request contains at least the service data of the target service. The forwarding path information is determined from the routing topology according to the session creation request of the target service. The service data of the target service is sent to the data forwarding device corresponding to the forwarding path information for data forwarding. In this embodiment, the user plane and the control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud.

[0045] The network cloud deployment method, apparatus and Figure 3The mobile network system architecture shown can be applied to the following exemplary application scenarios, for example, Figure 4 The diagram illustrates network deployment and user plane creation in hotspot areas, as well as... Figure 5 This demonstrates how to implement network deployment and user plane creation in edge regions. Figure 4 , Figure 5 It is known that wireless signals enter the cloud by accessing the network, and the control plane functions, user plane editing manager and data forwarding devices are all in a resource pool, which makes the allocation of network resources more flexible and data forwarding more efficient.

[0046] However, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the above application scenarios are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of this exemplary embodiment.

[0047] The following example illustrates how the cloud-based deployment method of the network can be applied to the aforementioned user-face editing and management function entity. Figure 6 A flowchart illustrating a network cloud deployment method in this exemplary embodiment is shown below. Figure 6 The network cloud deployment method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps S601-S603: S601, The user plane editing and management function entity based on the user plane receives a session creation request for the target service issued by the session management function entity SMF of the control plane; wherein, the user plane and the control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud.

[0048] S602. Determine the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the routing topology based on the session creation request of the target service.

[0049] S603. Send the forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit the service data of the target service.

[0050] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the technical solutions provide that the user plane editing and management function entity receives a session creation request for a target service issued by the session management function entity (SMF) of the control plane. The user plane and control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud. Based on the session creation request, the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service is determined from the routing topology. The forwarding path information is then sent to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit the service data. This method allows the SMF to send only a session creation request to the user plane, while the user plane can confirm the forwarding path information based on the received request. This avoids the technical problems of low data forwarding efficiency and low network resource utilization caused by the control plane's SMF issuing forwarding routing schemes and the user plane only performing data forwarding work, which prevents the user plane and control plane from sharing the cloud after cloud deployment. This method achieves the technical effect of improving data forwarding efficiency and network resource utilization. Furthermore, this method does not require the use of a UPF device but uses a general-purpose device, thereby improving deployment flexibility.

[0051] The following will describe in conjunction with specific embodiments Figure 6 The specific implementation methods of each step in the illustrated embodiment are described in detail below: In S601, the user plane editing and management function entity based on the user plane receives a session creation request for the target service issued by the session management function entity SMF of the control plane; wherein, the user plane and the control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud.

[0052] For example, in a traditional 5G mobile network architecture, the SMF on the control plane needs to confirm the routing scheme and send it to the UPF on the user plane so that the UPF can forward data according to the sent routing scheme.

[0053] However, the aforementioned traditional methods result in the user plane and control plane not sharing the same cloud during cloud deployment. To address this, embodiments of this disclosure add a user plane editing and management function entity to the user plane. This user plane editing and management function entity allows the control plane's SMF to simply issue a session creation request, while the user plane editing and management function entity performs the forwarding path planning.

[0054] In S602, the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service is determined from the routing topology based on the session creation request.

[0055] The routing topology contains multiple forwarding path information, which refers to the routing devices that the service data passes through during the forwarding process. For example, in the route: Sending device—A1—B1—B2—C1—Destination device, the forwarding path information in the network process is A1—B1—B2—C1.

[0056] For example, when the user plane editing and management function entity receives a session creation request from the control plane SMF, it can select forwarding path information that meets the target service requirements from the network topology based on the session creation request.

[0057] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, when performing step S602, service awareness information of the target service can also be obtained, and the quality of service policy of the target service can be determined based on the service awareness information; the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service can be determined from the routing topology according to the session creation request and the quality of service policy.

[0058] Among them, business-aware information refers to information used to detect the quality of service required by the business in order to formulate corresponding QoS strategies (i.e., service quality strategies).

[0059] For example, with Figure 3 Using the mobile network architecture shown as an example, after receiving the session creation request from the SMF, the user plane editing and management function entity can send a service management policy request to the service forwarding quality management function module based on the path planning and editing function module. This allows the service forwarding quality management function module to obtain service-aware information from the service awareness and measurement function module, determine the QoS policy (i.e., quality of service policy) for the target service based on the service-aware information, and send it to the path planning and editing function module. The path planning and editing function module can then select the corresponding data forwarding device (i.e., the corresponding...) based on the QoS policy. Figure 3 The data forwarding module shown in the figure then obtains the forwarding path information.

[0060] In this embodiment, since the user plane editing and management function entity and the data forwarding device are both in the same resource pool, the user plane editing and management function entity can flexibly allocate network resources, thereby improving the efficiency of service data forwarding. Furthermore, the user plane editing and management function entity can also formulate QoS policies based on real-time acquired service-aware information, and then determine the planning of forwarding paths based on the QoS policies, thus ensuring the reliability of service transmission and the quality of forwarding.

[0061] In one embodiment, the user plane editing and management function entity provided in this disclosure can determine the forwarding path (i.e., forwarding path information) based on the session creation request issued by the SMF, which mainly includes two embodiments: In one optional embodiment, if the forwarding path information corresponding to the target task is determined to be contained in the network topology of data forwarding, then the user plane editing and management function entity can transmit service data based on the forwarding path information existing in the existing network topology.

[0062] In another optional embodiment, if it is determined that the forwarding path information corresponding to the target task is not included in the network topology of data forwarding, then the user plane editing and management function entity needs to construct new forwarding path information and add it to the current network topology to update the network topology.

[0063] When the user plane editing and management function entity constructs new forwarding path information, it can obtain the resource information of each general routing device in the general resource pool; determine the data forwarding device for transmitting service data based on the network quality parameters required by the service data of the target service and the resource information of each general routing device; generate forwarding path information based on the data forwarding device and add the forwarding path information to the routing topology.

[0064] The general resource pool is a resource pool composed of general-purpose hardware. Each general-purpose hardware can act as a routing device for forwarding. The resource information of each general-purpose resource includes at least one of communication resources and computing resources.

[0065] For example, in Figure 3 In the mobile network architecture shown, the user plane editing and management function entity can be accessed through... Figure 3 The network resource perception and management module shown in the diagram perceives and manages the communication and computing resources of each routing device in the general resource pool. This allows it to select data forwarding devices from the general resource pool that meet the network quality parameters required by the target service's service data based on the network quality parameters required by the target service's service data, thereby forming forwarding path information.

[0066] In this embodiment, based on the network quality parameters required by the target service's business data and the resource information of each general routing device, the forwarding path is planned according to the requirements of the target service. This process not only ensures the forwarding quality of the data, but also enables the user plane to perform path planning, thereby facilitating the co-cloudification of the user plane and control plane after cloudification, so as to reduce data forwarding latency and improve forwarding efficiency.

[0067] In the above embodiments, after the newly added forwarding path information is successfully created, it is necessary to add the newly added forwarding path information to the routing topology. At the same time, in order to reduce the complexity of the network topology and improve its availability, it is also necessary to remove the forwarding path information that is no longer in use so as to continuously update the existing network topology.

[0068] 1) For the case where new forwarding path information is added to the routing topology: In one optional embodiment of this disclosure, a registration request initiated by a data forwarding device is received; if the registration is successful, a registration success response is sent to the data forwarding device, and the forwarding path information generated by the data forwarding device is added to the routing topology.

[0069] For example, a registration request is initiated by a data forwarding device when its data forwarding function is first started. That is, when the user plane editing and management function entity constructs a new forwarding path information based on the session creation request issued by the SMF, the data forwarding device in the forwarding path information needs to send a registration request to the user plane editing and management function entity to apply for inclusion in the data forwarding network topology.

[0070] For example, when the user plane editing and management function entity receives a registration request initiated by the data forwarding device in the forwarding path information, it sends a registration response to the data forwarding device.

[0071] If a registration success response is sent to the data forwarding device, the forwarding path information of the data forwarding devices is simultaneously added to the routing topology to update the network topology. Conversely, if registration fails, a registration failure response is sent to the data forwarding device.

[0072] In this embodiment, by receiving a registration request initiated by the data forwarding device during the initial startup, the network topology is updated upon successful registration. This allows the newly added forwarding path information to be quickly located in the network topology and used for data transmission in subsequent uses, thereby improving the efficiency of data forwarding.

[0073] 2) Regarding the forwarding path information for a feature that is no longer in use: In another optional embodiment of this disclosure, a deregistration request initiated by a data forwarding device is received. The deregistration request is initiated when the data forwarding function of the data forwarding device is offline. If the deregistration is successful, a deregistration success response is sent to the data forwarding device, and the forwarding path information generated by the data forwarding device is removed from the routing topology.

[0074] The deregistration request is a request to remove forwarding path information from the network topology.

[0075] For example, for forwarding path information where the data forwarding function is offline, it will no longer be selected subsequently. To simplify the network topology, the aforementioned forwarding path information where the data forwarding function is offline can be removed. During removal, the data forwarding device sending the forwarding path information sends a deregistration request to the user plane editing and management function entity. If deregistration is successful, a deregistration success response is sent to the data forwarding device, and the forwarding path information generated by the data forwarding device is removed from the routing topology. Conversely, if deregistration fails, a deregistration failure response is sent to the data forwarding device for subsequent operations.

[0076] In this embodiment, invalid forwarding path information in the network topology can be removed by deregistration requests, thereby simplifying the network topology and improving the efficiency of determining the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the network topology, thus improving data forwarding efficiency.

[0077] In S603, the forwarding path information is sent to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit the service data of the target service.

[0078] For example, after determining the forwarding path information, the business data of the target service can be sent to the data forwarding device corresponding to the forwarding path information for data forwarding.

[0079] In traditional 5G mobile network architectures, the User Plane Provider (UPF) does not support common network equipment, resulting in high network deployment costs. Furthermore, in traditional 5G mobile architectures, data forwarding between UPFs typically uses the N3 interface protocol stack; see details for further information. Figure 7 .like Figure 6 As shown, UPFs use User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and GPRS Tunneling Protocol - User Plane (GPR-U) as data transmission protocols.

[0080] It should be explained that GTP-U is a user data transmission protocol used in General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks. GTP-U is a protocol that establishes tunnels on the user plane, enabling the transmission of Internet Protocol (IP) data packets from one GPRS Support Node (SGSN) to another GPRS Support Node (GGSN), thereby realizing user data transmission in GPRS networks.

[0081] In order to overcome the above-mentioned technical problems and adapt to Figure 3 The mobile network architecture shown in this disclosure provides a new protocol stack between multiple data forwarding devices, which can be referred to in detail below. Figure 8 .

[0082] In some example embodiments of this disclosure, forwarding path information is sent to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit service data based on the target communication protocol; wherein, the target communication protocol includes the Fast UDP Internet Connection (QUIC) protocol and the Segment Routing (SRv6) protocol based on the IPv6 forwarding plane.

[0083] For example, the QUIC protocol and the SRv6 protocol are used respectively at the TCP / IP layer to replace the N3 interface protocol defined by 3GPP.

[0084] This is because, compared to the traditional UDP protocol, QUIC interweaves negotiation, encryption, and transport handshake to reduce connection establishment latency, resulting in lower latency. It also allows for multiplexing, avoiding congestion, and provides better support for mobility management and enhanced security management capabilities. The SRv6 protocol uses Segment IDs to indicate network paths, fully leveraging IPv6's powerful header extension capabilities to directly identify packet routes in the packet header. Furthermore, the SRv6 protocol has been widely deployed in the bearer network. Using SRv6 on the user plane of the mobile network allows for shared network and equipment usage with the bearer network, achieving hardware commonality.

[0085] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the session creation request further includes network quality parameters required for transmitting service data of the target service, and the network quality parameters required for transmitting service data of the target service are added to the extension header of the SRv6 protocol.

[0086] For example, because SRv6 packets are highly extensible, the network quality parameters (also known as service management QoS policies) required for the service data of the target service can be added to the extension header of the SRv6 protocol to ensure the quality of data forwarding during the data forwarding process.

[0087] In this embodiment, reference can be made to Figure 9 ,like Figure 9 As shown, the Scalable header field in SRv6 packets supports carrying QoS policy rules for mobile networks, thereby enabling end-to-end forwarding and transmission of rules.

[0088] Finally, in some example embodiments of this disclosure, after executing S603, the address of the data forwarding device corresponding to the forwarding path information is sent to the SMF of the control plane.

[0089] For example, after determining the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service, session creation information can also be returned to the SMF. This session creation information includes the IP addresses of each data forwarding device corresponding to the forwarding path information, and may also include QoS policy rules.

[0090] In this embodiment, by sending the address of the data forwarding device corresponding to the forwarding path information to the SMF of the control plane, the control plane can also grasp the routing scheme, thereby realizing message synchronization between the user plane and the control plane, which facilitates the co-cloud deployment of the user plane and the control plane.

[0091] To implement the above-described network cloud deployment method, one embodiment of this disclosure provides a network cloud deployment apparatus. Figure 10 The schematic diagram illustrates a schematic architecture of a network cloud deployment device.

[0092] The network cloud deployment device 1000 includes a request receiving module 1001, a path determination module 1002, and an information sending module 1003.

[0093] The request receiving module 1001 is used to receive a session creation request for a target service issued by the session management function entity (SMF) of the control plane, based on the user plane editing and management function entity; wherein the user plane and the control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud; the path determination module 1002 is used to determine the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the routing topology according to the session creation request; the information sending module 1003 is used to send the forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit the service data.

[0094] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the path determination module 1002 is used to obtain service awareness information of the target service and determine the quality of service policy of the target service based on the service awareness information; and determine the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the routing topology according to the session creation request and the quality of service policy.

[0095] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the session creation request further includes network quality parameters required for transmitting service data of the target service; the apparatus also includes an information acquisition module, which is specifically used to acquire resource information of each general routing device in the general resource pool, the resource information including at least one of communication resources and computing resources; a path determination module 1002 is used to determine the data forwarding device for transmitting service data based on the network quality parameters required for the service data of the target service and the resource information of each general routing device; generate forwarding path information based on the data forwarding device, and add the forwarding path information to the routing topology.

[0096] In one optional embodiment of this disclosure, the path determination module 1002 is configured to receive a registration request initiated by a data forwarding device, the registration request being initiated when the data forwarding function of the data forwarding device is first started; if the registration is successful, a registration success response is sent to the data forwarding device, and the forwarding path information generated by the data forwarding device is added to the routing topology; or, the information receiving module is configured to receive deregistration requests initiated by each data forwarding device, the deregistration request being initiated when the data forwarding function of the data forwarding device is taken offline; if the deregistration is successful, a deregistration success response is sent to the data forwarding device, and the forwarding path information generated by the data forwarding device is removed from the routing topology.

[0097] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the information sending module is used to send forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit service data based on the target communication protocol; wherein, the target communication protocol includes the Fast UDP Internet Connection (QUIC) protocol and the Segment Routing (SRv6) protocol based on the IPv6 forwarding plane.

[0098] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the apparatus further includes a data addition module, which adds the network quality parameters required for transmitting the service data of the target service to the extension header of the SRv6 protocol, in addition to the network quality parameters required for transmitting the service data of the target service that are also included in the session creation request.

[0099] In an optional embodiment of this disclosure, the information sending module is used to send the address of the data forwarding device corresponding to the forwarding path information to the SMF of the control plane.

[0100] The network cloud deployment device 1000 provided in this embodiment can execute the technical solution of the network cloud deployment method in any of the above embodiments. Its implementation principle and beneficial effects are similar to those of the network cloud deployment method. Please refer to the implementation principle and beneficial effects of the network cloud deployment method. It will not be repeated here.

[0101] 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 embodiments, various aspects of the present invention may also be implemented as a program product comprising 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 the present invention described in the "Exemplary Methods" section above.

[0102] According to embodiments of the present invention, a program product for implementing the above-described method 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 invention is not limited thereto. In this document, a readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that may be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0103] 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, apparatus, 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.

[0104] 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, apparatus, or device.

[0105] The program code contained on the readable medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber, radio frequency (RF), or any suitable combination thereof.

[0106] Program code for performing the operations of this invention 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 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).

[0107] In an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, an electronic device capable of implementing the above-described method is also provided.

[0108] Those skilled in the art will understand that various aspects of the present invention can be implemented as systems, methods, or program products. Therefore, various aspects of the present invention can be specifically implemented in the following forms: entirely in hardware, entirely in software (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or in a combination of hardware and software, collectively referred to herein as “circuit,” “module,” or “system.”

[0109] The following reference Figure 11 To describe an electronic device 1100 according to this embodiment of the present invention. Figure 11 The electronic device 1100 shown is merely an example and should not impose any limitations on the functionality and scope of use of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0110] like Figure 11 As shown, the electronic device 1100 is manifested in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of the electronic device 1100 may include, but are not limited to: at least one processing unit 1110, at least one storage unit 1120, a bus 1130 connecting different system components (including storage unit 1120 and processing unit 1110), and a display unit 1140.

[0111] The storage unit stores program code, which can be executed by the processing unit 1110 to perform the steps described in the "Exemplary Methods" section of this specification according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention. For example, the processing unit 1110 can perform actions such as... Figure 6 S601 to S603 are shown in the figure.

[0112] Storage unit 1120 may include readable media in the form of volatile storage units, such as random access memory (RAM) 11201 and / or cache memory 11202, and may further include read-only memory (ROM) 11203.

[0113] Storage unit 1120 may also include a program / utility 11204 having a set (at least one) program module 11205, such program module 11205 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.

[0114] Bus 1130 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.

[0115] Electronic device 1100 can also communicate with one or more external devices 2000 (e.g., keyboard, pointing device, Bluetooth device, etc.), one or more devices that enable a user to interact with electronic device 1100, and / or any device that enables electronic device 1100 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 1150. Furthermore, electronic device 1100 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 1160. As shown, network adapter 1160 communicates with other modules of electronic device 1100 via bus 1130. 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 1100, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks (RAID) systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems.

[0116] 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, terminal device, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods according to the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0117] Furthermore, the above figures are merely illustrative of the processes included in the method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to be limiting. It is readily understood that the processes shown in the above figures do not indicate or limit the temporal order of these processes. Additionally, it is readily understood that these processes may be executed synchronously or asynchronously, for example, in multiple modules.

[0118] 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.

[0119] 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 embodiments are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the claims.

[0120] It should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the precise structures described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this disclosure is defined only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for deploying a network in a cloud environment, characterized in that, include: The user plane editing and management function entity receives a session creation request for a target service issued by the session management function entity SMF of the control plane; wherein the user plane and the control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud; Based on the session creation request, the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service is determined from the routing topology; The forwarding path information is sent to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit the service data of the target service.

2. The network cloud deployment method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of determining the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the routing topology based on the session creation request includes: Obtain the service awareness information of the target service, and determine the service quality strategy of the target service based on the service awareness information; Based on the session creation request and the quality of service policy, the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service is determined from the routing topology.

3. The network cloud deployment method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The session creation request includes network quality parameters required for transmitting the service data of the target service; The method further includes, before determining the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service based on the session creation request: Obtain resource information of each general routing device in the general resource pool, wherein the resource information includes at least one of communication resources and computing resources; Based on the network quality parameters required for the service data of the target service and the resource information of each general routing device, determine the data forwarding device for transmitting the service data; The forwarding path information of the target service is generated based on the data forwarding device, and the forwarding path information is added to the routing topology.

4. The network cloud deployment method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a registration request initiated by the data forwarding device, wherein the registration request is initiated by the data forwarding device when it first performs the data forwarding function; If registration is successful, a registration success response is sent to the data forwarding device, and the forwarding path information generated by the data forwarding device is added to the routing topology; or, Receive a deregistration request initiated by the data forwarding device, wherein the deregistration request is initiated when the data forwarding function of the data forwarding device is offline; If registration is successful, a registration success response is sent to the data forwarding device, and the forwarding path information generated by the data forwarding device is removed from the routing topology.

5. The network cloud deployment method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Sending the forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit the service data includes: The forwarding path information is sent to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit the service data based on the target communication protocol; wherein, the target communication protocol includes the Fast UDP Internet Connection (QUIC) protocol and the Segment Routing (SRv6) protocol based on the IPv6 forwarding plane.

6. The network cloud deployment method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The session creation request also includes network quality parameters required for transmitting the service data of the target service, and the network quality parameters required for the service data of the target service are added to the extension header of the SRv6 protocol.

7. The network cloud deployment method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After sending the forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device, the method further includes: The address of the data forwarding device corresponding to the forwarding path information is sent to the SMF of the control plane.

8. A network cloud deployment device, characterized in that, The device includes: The request receiving module is used to receive a session creation request for a target service issued by the session management function entity (SMF) of the control plane, based on the user plane editing and management function entity; wherein the user plane and the control plane are deployed in the same virtual cloud; The path determination module is used to determine the forwarding path information corresponding to the target service from the routing topology based on the session creation request. The information sending module is used to send the forwarding path information to the corresponding data forwarding device so that the data forwarding device can transmit the service data of the target service.

9. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the network cloud deployment method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. 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 network cloud deployment method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 by executing the executable instructions.

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