Online recovery method of user equipment, network side device, electronic device and medium

Abstract

The application provides an online recovery method of a user equipment, a network side device, an electronic device and a medium, and the method comprises the following steps: in the case that a first user plane function (UPF) is detected to be faulty, a session management function (SMF) identifies a user equipment (UE) which performs data transmission with the first UPF; in the case that the UE is identified to be an online recovery user equipment, the SMF initiates a session establishment process to a second UPF, so as to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE. According to the application, when the UPF is faulty, a new session can be established to ensure that the user equipment does not go offline and the service recovery can be ensured, the recovery time is shortened compared with the prior art, and the online recovery method in the application is not affected by the functions or configurations of the network periphery, and can be applied to various UPF deployment scenarios.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to an online recovery method for user equipment, network-side equipment, electronic equipment, and media. Background Technology

[0002] like Figure 1 As shown, the SMF (Service Management Function) and UPF (User Port Function) can form a Full-Mesh connection. The SMF is deployed in the regional area, while the UPF is deployed as needed in cities or industrial parks. If the UPF is deployed in a city, it is currently deployed in pairs, generally with load sharing. If the UPF is deployed in an industrial park, the decision to deploy a pair or a single unit depends on the vendor's business needs and cost considerations. If a pair is deployed, it is currently generally a primary / backup configuration using a UPF hot standby solution. If a single unit is deployed, a UPF cold standby solution is used.

[0003] While existing UPF cold standby solutions can be applied to various scenarios, they require users to go offline and then come back online, resulting in longer fault recovery times. Furthermore, some IoT terminals cannot be re-enabled after going offline, leading to service recovery failures. On the other hand, while existing UPF hot standby solutions allow service recovery without user offline, they are limited by the functionality and configuration of the surrounding network. Therefore, they can only be used on shared UPFs at the city level and can only be deployed on in-home UPFs, meaning the application scenarios for UPF hot standby solutions are relatively limited. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention provides an online recovery method for user equipment, network-side equipment, electronic equipment, and media to solve the problems in the prior art where the UPF cold standby solution requires the user equipment to be taken offline and then put back online before recovery, or the application scenarios of the UPF hot standby solution are relatively limited.

[0005] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention is implemented as follows:

[0006] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present invention provide an online recovery method for a user equipment, the method comprising: when a fault is detected in a first user plane function (UPF), the SMF identifies a user equipment (UE) that transmits data with the first UPF; and when the UE is identified as an online recovery user equipment, the SMF initiates a session establishment procedure to a second UPF to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE.

[0007] Secondly, embodiments of the present invention provide a network-side device applied to an SMF, comprising: an identification module, configured to identify a UE transmitting data with the first UPF when a fault is detected in the first UPF; and a session establishment module, configured to initiate a session establishment process to a second UPF to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE when the UE is identified as an online recovery user equipment.

[0008] Thirdly, embodiments of the present invention provide a network-side device, including a transceiver and a processor. The processor is configured to identify a UE transmitting data with the first UPF when a fault is detected in the first User Plane Function (UPF). The transceiver is configured to initiate a session establishment process to a second UPF to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE when the UE is identified as an online recovery user equipment.

[0009] Fourthly, embodiments of the present invention provide an electronic device, including: a processor, a memory, and a program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein when the program is executed by the processor, it implements the steps of the online recovery method for user equipment as described in the first aspect above.

[0010] Fifthly, embodiments of the present invention provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the online recovery method for user equipment as described in the first aspect above.

[0011] In this embodiment of the invention, if the UE transmitting data with the first UPF is an online recovery user when the first UPF fails, the SMF initiates a session establishment process with the second UPF to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE. Therefore, this application can establish a new session when a UPF fails, ensuring service recovery without disconnecting the user equipment. Compared to existing UPF cold standby solutions, this shortens the recovery time. Furthermore, this application only needs to identify the user equipment corresponding to the currently faulty UPF as an online recovery user equipment to restore it. Compared to existing UPF hot standby solutions, this is not affected by the functions or configurations of the surrounding network and does not require additional route identification, making it applicable to various UPF deployment scenarios, including shared and in-home deployments. Attached Figure Description

[0012] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments of the present invention will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0013] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating the network relationship between SMF and UPF;

[0014] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of a UPF cold standby solution in the existing technology;

[0015] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a UPF hot standby solution in the prior art;

[0016] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of the online recovery method for user equipment provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 5 This is a flowchart of the user online process provided in this embodiment of the invention - adding PCF contract for user online recovery;

[0018] Figure 6 This is a flowchart of the UPF fault handling process provided in the embodiments of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the network-side device provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0021] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0022] First, the UPF cold standby scheme and UPF hot standby scheme involved in this application will be explained.

[0023] 1) UPF cold standby solution: such as Figure 2 As shown, considering the general case (non-residential campus), after a UPF failure, the SMF detects the UPF failure through the heartbeat message of the N4 interface. The SMF then initiates the deactivation of the user activated on the UPF. When the user is reactivated, the SMF selects another available UPF to activate the user.

[0024] 2) UPF hot standby solution: such as Figure 3 As shown, a pair of UPFs are deployed with primary and backup configurations, and the primary and backup UPFs synchronize context. Under normal circumstances, the primary UPF handles service processing, while the backup UPF only synchronizes context information and does not process services; in the event of a failure, the backup UPF takes over the services. Since the primary and backup UPFs use the same N3, N4, N6, and N9 addresses, it is possible to achieve the effect of users remaining online and recovering within seconds. However, due to the static routing between the SPN (Slicing Packet Network) and the DCGW (Data Center-Gateway), the SPN network cannot recognize the routes advertised by the primary and backup UPFs. As a result, after the primary UPF fails, services cannot be switched to the backup UPF, failing to achieve the expected effect. Therefore, the hot standby function is currently only applicable to edge-based scenarios, and has many limitations in application scenarios.

[0025] See Figure 4 , Figure 4 This is a flowchart of an online recovery method for user equipment provided in an embodiment of the present invention, such as... Figure 4 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0026] Step 401: If a fault is detected in the first UPF, the SMF identifies the user equipment (UE) that is transmitting data with the first UPF.

[0027] In this embodiment, UE identification refers to whether the UE currently transmitting data with the first UPF is an online recovery UE. An online recovery UE refers to the UE's service subscription content in the PCF (Policy Control function). For UEs with subscriptions, the PCF has an online recovery identifier for that UE, allowing for online recovery. It should be noted that for UEs without an online recovery identifier, after a UPF failure, the existing method of deleting and rebuilding the session will be used. This method ensures that high-priority UEs (i.e., UEs with an online recovery identifier) ​​are processed first, avoiding signaling congestion caused by all UEs undergoing online recovery.

[0028] Before a UPF failure occurs, during the UE session establishment process, the SMF will receive an online recovery indication flag in the signaling from the PCF. When maintaining the UE session context, the SMF will add UE recovery method information and the UPF information to the UE session context. Therefore, after the SMF identifies a UPF failure, it can identify the UE based on the UPFID and the UE online recovery flag.

[0029] Step 402: If the UE is identified as an online recovery user equipment, the SMF initiates a session establishment procedure to the second UPF to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE.

[0030] As can be seen, in this embodiment, when the first UPF fails, if the UE transmitting data with the first UPF is an online recovery user, the SMF initiates a session establishment process to the second UPF to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE. Therefore, this application can establish a new session when a UPF fails, ensuring service recovery without disconnecting the user equipment. Compared to existing UPF cold standby solutions, this shortens the recovery time. Furthermore, this application only needs to identify the user equipment corresponding to the currently failed UPF as an online recovery user equipment to restore it. Compared to existing UPF hot standby solutions, this is not affected by the functions or configurations of the surrounding network and does not require additional route identification, making it applicable to various UPF deployment scenarios.

[0031] In an optional embodiment of this application, before the SMF identifies the UE transmitting data with the first UPF in step 401, the method of this application may further include:

[0032] Step 301: The SMF sends a session management policy control request to the policy control function (PCF).

[0033] In a specific example, the session management policy control request could be...

[0034] The Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Request or Npcf_SMPolicyControl_CreateRequest can be used to request an online recovery identifier. These requests can also include information such as SUPI (User Identifier), PDU (Protocol Data Unit) SessionID, and IPv4 address.

[0035] Step 302: The SMF receives the session management policy control response sent by the PCF; wherein the session management policy control response carries an online recovery identifier for online recovery.

[0036] In a specific example, the session management policy control response could be...

[0037] The responses are either Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Response or Npcf_SMPolicyControl_CreateResponse. In addition to carrying the online recovery identifier, these responses may also include information related to the UE, such as PCC (Policy Control and Charging) rules and service-level QoS (Quality of Service).

[0038] It should be noted that in this embodiment, the SMF and PCF transmit data services through the N7 interface. It should also be noted that in existing UPF hot standby schemes, the primary and backup UPFs use the same N3, N4, N6, and N9 addresses. Therefore, in this embodiment, the online recovery identifier is issued based on the N7 interface. If the current user equipment is not currently recovering online, the existing methods can be used to restore the user equipment.

[0039] Furthermore, in a specific example, steps 301 and 302 described above could be performed during the user session establishment process, whereby the identifier is transmitted via the Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Response message through the N7 interface between the PCF and SMF based on the user's online resumption of subscription information on the PCF. Figure 5 As shown, the process for establishing this session includes:

[0040] Step 501: The UE sends a PDU Session Establishment Request to the AMF;

[0041] Step 502, AMF performs SMF selection;

[0042] Step 503: AMF sends an Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request to UPF;

[0043] Step 505: SMF and UDM (Unified Data Management) perform subscription retrieval or subscription update (susbscription retrieval / susbscription for update);

[0044] Step 505: SMF sends Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Response to AMF;

[0045] Step 506, SMF performs PCF selection;

[0046] Step 507: SMF sends an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create Request to PCF;

[0047] Step 508: PCF sends an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create Response to SMF;

[0048] Step 509: SMF performs UPF (User Plane Function) selection;

[0049] Step 510: The SMF sends a Session Management Policy Control Update Request (Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Request) to the PCF;

[0050] Step 511: PCF sends a Session Management Policy Control Update Response (Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Response) to SMF, which carries a disaster recovery feature identifier: online recovery;

[0051] It should be noted that steps 501 and 511 correspond to steps 201 and 202 above.

[0052] Step 512: The SMF sends a PFCP (Packet Forwarding Control Protocol) session establishment request to the UPF.

[0053] Step 513: UPF sends a PFCP session establishment response to SMF;

[0054] Step 514: SMF and AMF perform Namf_communication_N1N2MessageTransfer;

[0055] Step 515: The AMF sends a PDU Session Resource Setup Request to the RAN (Radio Access Network);

[0056] Step 516: The RAN sends an An-specific resource setup to the UE;

[0057] Step 517: The RAN sends a PDU session establishment response to the UPF.

[0058] Step 518: The UE establishes the first uplink data with the UPF;

[0059] Step 519: AMF sends an Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request to SMF;

[0060] Step 520: SMF sends a PFCP Session Establishment Request to UPF;

[0061] Step 521: UPF sends a PFCP session establishment response to SMF;

[0062] Step 522: The UPF establishes the first downlink data with the UE;

[0063] Step 523: SMF sends Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Response to AMF.

[0064] As can be seen, steps 501 to 523 above constitute the process of establishing a user session. Based on this, this application adds a PCF contract for online recovery of the user in the user online process and transmits it to the SMF through the N7 interface so that the SMF has the function of online recovery of user equipment.

[0065] In an optional embodiment of this application, the method of the SMF initiating a session establishment process to the second UPF to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE in step 302 above may further include:

[0066] Step 11: The SMF sends a PFCP (Packet Forwarding Control Protocol) session establishment request to the second UPF. The information carried in the PFCP session establishment request is consistent with the information in the user equipment's initial registration.

[0067] It should be noted that the PFCP session establishment request can be constructed based on the user session context to ensure consistency with the information in the user equipment's initial registration. Furthermore, the information carried in the PFCP session establishment request may include: CP SEID (Control Plane Session Endpoint Identifier), Create PDR (Packet Detection Rule), PDR ID, Source Interface (distinguishing uplink from downlink), Create FAR (Forwarding Action Rules), Create URR (Usage Reporting Rule), Create QER (QoS Enforcement Rules), UEIP address, and Destination Interface (used to distinguish uplink from downlink).

[0068] Step 12: The SMF receives the PFCP SessionEstablishment Response returned by the second UPF, in which the PFCP SessionEstablishment Response carries the updated TEID-U (TunnelEndpoint Identity-User).

[0069] In the embodiments of this application, the first UPR is equivalent to the primary UPF and the second UPF is equivalent to the backup UPF. Therefore, when the primary UPF fails, it is necessary to establish a data channel between the RAN and the second UPF to restore data transmission between the UE and the UPF. Based on this, after the SMF sends a PFCP session establishment request to the second UPF, it will return the TEID-U used for data channel establishment to the SMF so that the subsequent data channel can be established.

[0070] Step 13: The SMF updates the GTP (GPRS Tunneling Protocol) tunnel of the Radio Access Network (RAN) based on the updated TEID-U and the IP of the second UPF to establish a data channel between the RAN and the second UPF. The updated GTP tunnel includes the updated TEID-U and the IP of the second UPF.

[0071] In a specific example, this could be the SMF sending to the AMF.

[0072] The `Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransferRequest` updates the TEID-U and UPF IP in the `N1messageContainer`. Then, it sends a `PDUSessionResourceSetupRequest` to the `RAN` via the `AMF` to update the gTP tunnel, including the UPF-side IP address and TEID. These two signaling messages are not modified; they mainly revise the relevant information. Therefore, the requirement for the `RAN` and `UPF` sides is to re-establish the connection according to the updated address and open the data channel. Since the first UPF has failed, the original channel is automatically invalidated.

[0073] Based on this, after the SMF identifies the online recovery user equipment on the faulty UPF, it can initiate a session establishment process to the second UPF, thereby realizing the data service transmission between the second UPF and the UE. This enables the online recovery of the data service transmission between the UE and the second UPF after the data service between the UE and the first UPF is interrupted. This method is also not limited by the influence of surrounding functions / configurations.

[0074] The method of updating the RAN's GTP tunnel based on the updated TEID-U and the second UPF's IP, as mentioned in step 13 above, can further include:

[0075] Step 21: The SMF sends an N1N2 information transmission request to the Authentication Management Function (AMF).

[0076] (Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransferRequest) updates the IPs of TEID-U and UPF in the N1 message container. The N1N2 message transfer request is used to cause the AMF to send a Protocol Data Unit Session Resource Establishment Request to the RAN to update the GTP tunnel after updating the IPs of TEID-U and UPF in the N1 message container, so as to establish a data channel between the RAN and the second UPF.

[0077] It should be noted that the two signaling messages involved in step 21 do not add any new fields; they only replace the relevant address information. Specifically, Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransferRequest can include N2 SM Information sent to the RAN, which contains information such as QFI (QoS Flow Identifier), QoS Profile, and CN (Core Network) tunnel endpoint; and N1 SM Container sent to the UE, which contains information such as PDU session establishment acceptance and UE IP address, notifying the RAN and UE to establish a PDU session.

[0078] As can be seen, in this embodiment of the application, when the SMF identifies an online recovery user on the faulty UPF, after the SMF initiates a session establishment process to the second UPF and obtains the changed TEID-U, it is also necessary to update the IP and TEID-U of the UPF in the RAN so that the RAN can establish a data channel, thereby realizing the data service transmission between the UE and the second UPF, and restoring the data transmission between the UE and the UPF online.

[0079] In an optional embodiment of this application, the method by which the SMF identifies the User Equipment (UE) based on the faulty first UPF involved in step 301 above may further include:

[0080] Step 31: The SMF determines whether the UE is an online recovery user equipment based on the ID of the first UPF obtained from the PCF and the subscription information.

[0081] In this embodiment, UE identification refers to whether the UE currently transmitting data with the first UPF is an online recovery UE. An online recovery UE refers to the UE's service subscription content in the PCF (Policy Control function). For a subscribed UE, the PCF has an online recovery identifier for that UE, thus enabling online recovery for that UE. In other words, if the subscription information contains the UE's online recovery identifier, the SMF can identify the UE based on both the UPFID and the UE's online recovery identifier after detecting a UPF fault.

[0082] As can be seen, in this application embodiment, for online recovery of user equipment, it must first be determined that the user equipment is an online recovery user equipment, so that online recovery can be performed based on the method in this application embodiment. If the current user equipment is an offline recovery user, recovery can be performed using the methods in the prior art.

[0083] The UPF online recovery process in this application is explained below with reference to specific examples of embodiments thereof. In this specific example, a fault handling process is provided—an online recovery process for a specific user group based on an identifier on the SMF side, such as... Figure 6 As shown, the steps of this process include:

[0084] Step 601, UPF1 (corresponding to the first UPF mentioned above) malfunctions;

[0085] Step 602, SMF detected a UPF1 fault;

[0086] Step 603: SMF identifies the online recovery user on the faulty UPF;

[0087] Step 604: SMF sends a PFCP Session Establishment Request to UPF2 (corresponding to the second UPF mentioned above);

[0088] The request may include information constructed by SMF based on the user session context and consistent with the information in the user's initial registration.

[0089] Step 604: UPF returns a PFCP Session Establishment Response to SMF, in which the TEID-U returned by UPF changes;

[0090] Step 605, SMF sends to AMF

[0091] Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransferRequest updates the TEID-U and UPF IP in N1messageContainer.

[0092] Step 606: AMF sends a PDUSESsionResourceSetupRequest to RAN to update gTPTunnel, including the UPF-side IP address and TEID.

[0093] Step 607: RAN and UPF2 establish a data channel;

[0094] Step 608: User data is restored to normal.

[0095] Through steps 601 to 608 above, the information transmission of the disaster recovery feature identifier between PCF and SMF on the N7 interface is first combined. Then, when SMF detects a UPF failure, it identifies users on the faulty UPF who need to be restored online and selects a backup UPF to establish a session for these users. This achieves the goal of not requiring users to go offline and come back online, and the method of this application embodiment is applicable to various UPF deployment scenarios.

[0096] See Figure 7 , Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network-side device provided in an embodiment of the present invention, such as... Figure 7 As shown, this network-side device is used in SMF and includes:

[0097] The identification module 702 is used to identify the UE that is transmitting data with the first UPF when a fault is detected in the first user plane function UPF.

[0098] The session establishment module 704 is used to initiate a session establishment process to the second UPF when the UE is identified as an online recovery user equipment, so as to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE.

[0099] As can be seen, in this embodiment, if the UE transmitting data with the first UPF is an online recovery user when the first UPF fails, the SMF initiates a session establishment process with the second UPF to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE. Therefore, this application only needs to identify the user equipment corresponding to the currently faulty UPF as an online recovery user equipment to restore it. Compared to existing UPF hot standby solutions, this is not affected by the functions or configurations of the surrounding network and does not require additional route identification, making it applicable to various UPF deployment scenarios such as shared or in-home deployments.

[0100] Optionally, the session establishment module 704 in the embodiment of this application includes: a sending unit, configured to send a Packet Switching Control Protocol (PFCP) session establishment request to the second UPF, wherein the information carried in the PFCP session establishment request is consistent with the information in the user equipment's initial registration; a receiving unit, configured to receive a PFCP session establishment response returned by the second UPF, wherein the PFCP session establishment response carries an updated User Plane Tunnel Terminal Identifier (TEID-U); and an updating unit, configured to update the Radio Access Network (RAN) GTP tunnel based on the updated TEID-U and the IP of the second UPF, to establish a data channel between the RAN and the second UPF, wherein the updated GTP tunnel includes the updated TEID-U and the IP of the second UPF.

[0101] Optionally, the update unit in this application embodiment includes: a sending subunit, configured to send an N1N2 information transmission request to the AMF to update the IPs of TEID-U and UPF in the N1 message container, wherein the N1N2 information transmission request is used to cause the AMF to send a Protocol Data Unit Session Resource Establishment Request to the RAN for updating the GTP tunnel after updating the IPs of TEID-U and UPF in the N1 message container, so as to establish a data channel between the RAN and the second UPF.

[0102] Optionally, the identification module in this application embodiment includes: a determination unit, used to determine whether the UE is an online recovery user equipment based on the ID of the first UPF obtained from the PCF and the subscription information.

[0103] Optionally, before the SMF identifies the UE transmitting data with the first UPF, the network-side device in this embodiment further includes: a sending module, configured to send a session management policy control update request to the PCF; and a receiving module, configured to receive a session management policy control update response sent by the PCF, wherein the session management policy control update response carries an online recovery identifier for online recovery.

[0104] Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the SMF and PCF transmit data services through the N7 interface.

[0105] It should be noted that the network-side device provided in this embodiment of the invention is capable of performing the above-described... Figure 4 The apparatus of the online recovery method for user equipment in the embodiments is applicable to the network-side device in all the above-described embodiments of the online recovery method for user equipment, and can achieve the same or similar beneficial effects.

[0106] Optionally, see Figure 8 As shown, this embodiment of the invention also provides an electronic device, including a bus 801, a transceiver 802, an antenna 803, a bus interface 804, a processor 805, and a memory 806.

[0107] The processor 805 is configured to identify the UE that is transmitting data with the first UPF in the event that a fault is detected in the first user plane function UPF;

[0108] Transceiver 802 is used to initiate a session establishment procedure to the second UPF when the UE is identified as an online recovery user equipment, so as to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE.

[0109] Optionally, the electronic device in the embodiments of this application is also used to perform other method steps of the online recovery method for user equipment, and its role is similar, so it will not be described again here.

[0110] exist Figure 8 In this document, a bus architecture (represented by bus 801) is used. Bus 801 can include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, linking various circuits including one or more processors represented by processor 805 and memory represented by memory 806. Bus 801 can also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further herein. Bus interface 804 provides an interface between bus 801 and transceiver 802. Transceiver 802 can be a single element or multiple elements, such as multiple receivers and transmitters, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium. Data processed by processor 805 is transmitted over a wireless medium via antenna 803, which further receives data and transmits data to processor 805.

[0111] The processor 805 manages the bus 801 and handles general processing, and also provides various functions, including timing, peripheral interfaces, voltage regulation, power management, and other control functions. The memory 806 can be used to store data used by the processor 805 during operation.

[0112] Optionally, the processor 805 can be a CPU, ASIC, FPGA, or CPLD.

[0113] This invention also provides an electronic device, including: a processor, a memory, and a program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program, when executed by the processor, implements the above-described functionality. Figure 4 The various processes of the online recovery method embodiment for user equipment shown are all applicable and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, they will not be described again here.

[0114] This invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, performs the above-described functions. Figure 4 The various processes of the online recovery method embodiment for the user equipment shown are all applicable and can achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, to avoid repetition, they will not be described again here. The computer-readable storage medium mentioned includes, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0115] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Unless otherwise specified, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes that element.

[0116] Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented by means of software plus necessary general-purpose hardware platforms. Of course, they can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk), and includes several instructions to cause a terminal (which may be a mobile phone, computer, server, air conditioner, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the various embodiments of the present invention.

[0117] The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. The specific embodiments described above are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can make many other forms under the guidance of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims, and all of these forms are within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for online recovery of user equipment, characterized in that, The method includes: In the event that a fault is detected in the first user plane function (UPF), the session management function (SMF) identifies the user equipment (UE) that is transmitting data with the first UPF. The SMF identifies the user equipment (UE) that transmits data with the first UPF, including: The SMF determines whether the UE is an online recovery user equipment based on the ID of the first UPF obtained from the policy control function PCF and the subscription information. If the UE is identified as an online recovery user equipment, the SMF initiates a session establishment procedure to the second UPF to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE; The SMF initiates a session establishment procedure to the second UPF to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE, including: The SMF sends a Packet Switching Control Protocol (PFCP) session establishment request to the second UPF, wherein the information carried in the PFCP session establishment request is consistent with the information in the user equipment's initial registration; The SMF receives the PFCP session establishment response returned by the second UPF, wherein the PFCP session establishment response carries the updated user plane tunnel terminal identifier TEID-U; The SMF updates the Generic Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnel of the Radio Access Network (RAN) based on the updated TEID-U and the IP of the second UPF, in order to establish a data channel between the RAN and the second UPF. The updated GTP tunnel includes the updated TEID-U and the IP of the second UPF. Before the first UPF fails, during the UE session establishment process, the method further includes: The SMF sends a session management policy control request to the policy control function PCF; The SMF receives a session management policy control response sent by the PCF, wherein the session management policy control response carries an online recovery identifier for online recovery.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The SMF updates the RAN's GTP tunnel based on the updated TEID-U and the second UPF's IP to establish a data channel between the RAN and the second UPF, including: The SMF sends an N1N2 information transmission request to the Authentication Management Function (AMF) to update the IPs of TEID-U and UPF in the N1 message container. The N1N2 information transmission request is used to cause the AMF to send a Protocol Data Unit Session Resource Establishment Request to the RAN to update the GTP tunnel after updating the IPs of TEID-U and UPF in the N1 message container, so as to establish a data channel between the RAN and the second UPF.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The SMF and the PCF transmit data services through the N7 interface.

4. A network-side device applied to SMF, characterized in that, include: The identification module is used to identify the UE that is transmitting data with the first UPF when a fault is detected in the first user plane function UPF. The determination module is used to determine whether the UE is an online recovery user equipment based on the ID of the first UPF obtained from the policy control function PCF and the subscription information. The session establishment module is used to initiate a session establishment process to the second UPF when the UE is identified as an online recovery user equipment, so as to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE; The sending unit is used to send a Packet Switching Control Protocol (PFCP) session establishment request to the second UPF, wherein the information carried in the PFCP session establishment request is consistent with the information in the user equipment's initial registration. The receiving unit is used to receive the PFCP session establishment response returned by the second UPF, wherein the PFCP session establishment response carries the updated user plane tunnel terminal identifier TEID-U; The update unit is used to update the GTP tunnel of the radio access network RAN ​​based on the updated TEID-U and the IP of the second UPF, so as to establish a data channel between the RAN and the second UPF, wherein the updated GTP tunnel includes the updated TEID-U and the IP of the second UPF. During the UE session establishment process before the first UPF fails; The sending unit sends a session management policy control request to the policy control function (PCF); The receiving unit receives the session management policy control response sent by the PCF, wherein the session management policy control response carries an online recovery identifier for online recovery.

5. A network-side device, characterized in that, include: The processor is configured to identify the UE that is transmitting data with the first UPF in the event of a detected failure of the first user plane function (UPF). The determination module is used to determine whether the UE is an online recovery user equipment based on the ID of the first UPF obtained from the policy control function PCF and the subscription information. The transceiver is used to initiate a session establishment process to the second UPF when the UE is identified as an online recovery user equipment, so as to establish a session between the second UPF and the UE; The sending unit is used to send a Packet Switching Control Protocol (PFCP) session establishment request to the second UPF, wherein the information carried in the PFCP session establishment request is consistent with the information in the user equipment's initial registration. The receiving unit is used to receive the PFCP session establishment response returned by the second UPF, wherein the PFCP session establishment response carries the updated user plane tunnel terminal identifier TEID-U; The update unit is used to update the GTP tunnel of the radio access network RAN ​​based on the updated TEID-U and the IP of the second UPF, so as to establish a data channel between the RAN and the second UPF, wherein the updated GTP tunnel includes the updated TEID-U and the IP of the second UPF. During the UE session establishment process before the first UPF fails; The sending unit sends a session management policy control request to the policy control function (PCF); The receiving unit receives the session management policy control response sent by the PCF, wherein the session management policy control response carries an online recovery identifier for online recovery.

6. An electronic device, characterized in that, include: A processor, a memory, and a program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the online recovery method for a user equipment as described in any one of claims 1 to 3.

7. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the online recovery method for a user equipment as described in any one of claims 1 to 3.

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