User plane network element test system and method, storage medium and electronic device
Through data twin technology and digital UPF protocol message conversion, the reliability problem during physical UPF innovation function testing and verification is solved, and higher test accuracy and network stability are achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202310760865.7
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-06-26
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-27
AI Technical Summary
In 5G networks, the innovative functional test and verification of physical user surface network elements (UPFs) is less reliable, which may lead to network interruption or paralysis and affect user experience.
Through data twin technology, digital twin front-end connection between digital UPF and physical UPF is built to convert and adapt the protocol packets of interface data, and simulate real scene data to test the innovative functions of physical UPF.
It improves the testing reliability and accuracy of the innovative UPF functions of the entity, reduces the failure rate, and predicts network failures in advance to conduct analysis of UPF energy saving and consumption reduction.
Smart Images
Figure CN119211076A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of 5G technology, and more specifically, to a test system, method, storage medium and electronic device for a user-plane network element. Background Art
[0002] A digital twin is a digital virtual body of a physical entity created in a digital way. It uses data to simulate the operation of the physical entity in the real environment to add or expand new capabilities to the physical entity.
[0003] As a user-plane network element of the 5G network, UPF mainly supports functions such as packet routing and forwarding, service identification, policy execution, session management, and QoS management. With the large-scale application of 5G networks, on the ToC side, with the emergence of various new terminals, the use scenarios of personal services have increased dramatically; on the ToB side, with the construction of 5G private networks, more new industry scenarios are constantly emerging. In order to meet the endless new scenarios, UPF needs to continue to evolve on the basis of its original functions, add new functions, and improve network service capabilities.
[0004] Since innovative functions are directly tested and verified on real UPF, it may cause network interruption, network paralysis and other faults, affecting user experience, so simulation verification can only be performed by constructing scenarios. First, simulation verification cannot reflect real data in terms of data, and secondly, some scenarios may not be constructed. Moreover, it cannot be cross-verified with other functions on site, and cannot reflect the actual operation effect in terms of function implementation.
[0005] Therefore, there is a problem of low reliability when testing and verifying the innovative functions of the physical UPF. Summary of the invention
[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a user plane network element testing system, method, storage medium and electronic device to at least solve the technical problem of low reliability when testing and verifying the innovative functions of the physical UPF in the related art.
[0007] According to one embodiment of the present application, a test system for a user plane network element is provided, including: a data twin machine, connected to a digital twin front-end machine, for obtaining first interface data, and sending the first interface data to the digital twin front-end machine, wherein the first interface data includes: interface data corresponding to the user plane network element UPF sent to the physical network, and interface data sent by the physical UPF; the digital twin front-end machine, connected to the data twin machine, for performing protocol message conversion on the first interface data to obtain second interface data, and sending the second interface data to the digital UPF; the digital UPF, connected to the digital twin front-end machine, for testing the function of the digital UPF according to the second interface data, wherein the digital UPF is the digital virtual body of the physical UPF.
[0008] In an exemplary embodiment, the digital twin front-end includes: a conversion module, wherein the conversion module is used to, when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data, N6 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, perform network protocol message conversion on the N3 interface data and the N6 interface data to obtain converted N3 interface data and converted N6 interface data, and perform PFCP protocol message conversion on the N4 interface data to obtain converted N4 interface data; the conversion module is used to, when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, perform network protocol message conversion on the first interface data to obtain converted N3 interface data and N6 interface data, and perform PFCP protocol message conversion on the N4 interface data to obtain converted N4 interface data.
[0009] In an exemplary embodiment, the conversion module is further used to convert the converted N3 interface data into N6 interface data according to a standard format of N6 interface data when the first interface data includes N3 interface data and N4 interface data.
[0010] In an exemplary embodiment, when the number of data interfaces of the digital twin front-end is less than a first preset threshold, the data twin includes: multiple first sub-data twins, and a second sub-data twin connected to the first sub-data twin, wherein the multiple first sub-data twins are used to respectively receive the first interface data sent by different network elements and copy the first interface data; the second sub-data twin is used to obtain the copied first interface data and send the copied first interface data to the digital twin front-end, wherein the data information of the copied first interface data is the same as that of the first interface data.
[0011] In an exemplary embodiment, the first sub-data twin machine includes: a mirror switch or an optical splitter; the second sub-data twin machine includes: a mirror switch or an optical splitter.
[0012] In an exemplary embodiment, the system also includes: a deployment module, wherein the deployment module is used to obtain the deployment data and data planning configuration file of the physical UPF, and deploy the digital UPF according to the deployment data and data planning configuration file, wherein the deployment data is used to indicate the hardware configuration data and software configuration data of the physical UPF; the data planning configuration file is used to indicate the business configuration data and operating system configuration data of the physical UPF.
[0013] According to another embodiment of the present application, a method for testing a user plane network element is provided, including: receiving first interface data sent by a data twin, wherein the first interface data includes: interface data corresponding to the user plane network element UPF sent to the physical network, and interface data sent by the physical UPF; performing protocol message conversion on the first interface data to obtain second interface data; sending the second interface data to a digital UPF to test the function of the digital UPF according to the second interface data, wherein the digital UPF is a digital virtual body of the physical UPF.
[0014] In an exemplary embodiment, the first interface data is converted into a protocol message to obtain the second interface data, including: when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data, N6 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, the N3 interface data and the N6 interface data are converted into network protocol messages to obtain converted N3 interface data and converted N6 interface data, and the N4 interface data is converted into PFCP protocol messages to obtain converted N4 interface data; when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, the first interface data is converted into a network protocol message to obtain converted N3 interface data and N6 interface data, and the N4 interface data is converted into PFCP protocol messages to obtain converted N4 interface data.
[0015] In an exemplary embodiment, the first interface data is converted into a network protocol message to obtain N6 interface data, including: when the first interface data includes N3 interface data and N4 interface data, converting the converted N3 interface data into the N6 interface data according to the standard format of the N6 interface data.
[0016] According to another embodiment of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps in any of the above method embodiments are implemented.
[0017] According to another embodiment of the present application, an electronic device is provided, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the steps of any of the above method embodiments when executing the computer program.
[0018] The data twin of the present application obtains the interface data corresponding to the physical network user plane network element UPF and the interface data sent by the physical UPF, and sends the interface data to the digital UPF, so as to test the innovative functions of the digital UPF. Since the digital UPF is the digital virtual body of the physical UPF, when the innovative functions of the digital UPF are tested, the innovative functions of the physical UPF can also be tested. That is, the innovative functions of the physical UPF are tested through real scene data in the embodiment of the present application, thus solving the technical problem of low reliability in testing and verifying the innovative functions of the physical UPF in the related art, and thus achieving the technical effect of reliability and accuracy of testing the newly added functions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] Figure 1 It is a hardware structure block diagram of a computer terminal of a user plane network element testing system according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0020] Figure 2 is a structural block diagram of a user plane network element testing system according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0021] Figure 3a A network architecture of a user plane network element test system according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0022] Figure 3b A network architecture of a user plane network element test system according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0023] Figure 4 is a flow chart of a method for testing a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0024] Figure 5 is a structural block diagram of a test device for a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0025] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of building a digital UPF according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0026] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a method for testing a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0027] Figure 8 is a timing diagram (I) of a method for testing a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0028] Fig. 9 is a timing diagram (II) of a method for testing a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application;
[0029] Fig.10 It is a structural block diagram of the digital twin front-end in the embodiment of the present application (I);
[0030] Fig.11 This is the structural block diagram of the digital twin front-end processor in the embodiment of the present application (II). DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0031] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in combination with the embodiments.
[0032] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of this application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence.
[0033] The method embodiments provided in the embodiments of the present application can be executed in a mobile terminal, a computer terminal or a similar computing device. Taking running on a mobile terminal as an example, Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a hardware structure block diagram of a computer terminal of a user plane network element test system according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the computer terminal may include one or more ( Figure 1 Only one is shown in the figure) a processor 102 (the processor 102 may include but is not limited to a processing device such as a microprocessor (Central Processing Unit, MCU) or a programmable logic device (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA)) and a memory 104 for storing data, wherein the above-mentioned computer terminal may also include a transmission device 106 and an input and output device 108 for communication functions. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that Figure 1 The structure shown is only for illustration and does not limit the structure of the above-mentioned computer terminal. Figure 1 More or fewer components as shown, or with Figure 1 Different configurations are shown.
[0034] The memory 104 can be used to store computer programs, for example, software programs and modules of application software, such as a computer program corresponding to a method for testing a user-plane network element in an embodiment of the present application. The processor 102 executes various functional applications and data processing by running the computer program stored in the memory 104, that is, implementing the above method. The memory 104 may include a high-speed random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic storage devices, flash memory, or other non-volatile solid-state memory. In some instances, the memory 104 may further include a memory remotely arranged relative to the processor 102, and these remote memories may be connected to a computer terminal via a network. Examples of the above-mentioned network include, but are not limited to, the Internet, an intranet, a local area network, a mobile communication network, and combinations thereof.
[0035] The transmission device 106 is used to receive or send data via a network. The specific example of the above network may include a wireless network provided by a communication provider of a computer terminal. In one example, the transmission device 106 includes a network adapter (Network Interface Controller, referred to as NIC), which can be connected to other network devices through a base station so as to communicate with the Internet. In one example, the transmission device 106 can be a radio frequency (RF) module, which is used to communicate with the Internet wirelessly.
[0036] The present application embodiment can be run on Figure 3a , 3b The network architecture shown.
[0037] like Figure 3a As shown, the network architecture includes: a digital network user plane network element (User Plane Fuction, referred to as UPF), a digital twin front-end, a splitter, a mirror switch, and an intermediate switch, wherein the digital UPF is connected to the digital twin front-end to test the function of the digital UPF according to the N3, N4, and N6 interface data. In this network architecture, a splitter is added to the N3 interface and the N6 interface, and a mirror switch is added to the N4 interface. The digital UPF obtains the mirror data of the N3 interface, the N4 interface, and the N6 interface through the intermediate switch.
[0038] In an embodiment of the present application, the N3 interface data and the N6 interface data of the real UPF are mirrored to the intermediate switch through a splitter, and the intermediate switch then sends the message to the digital UPF through the digital twin front-end machine by routing, and the N4 interface data of the real UPF is mirrored to the intermediate switch through a mirror switch, and the intermediate switch then sends the message to the digital UPF through the digital twin front-end machine by routing.
[0039] like Figure 3b As shown, the network architecture includes: digital UPF, digital twin front-end, optical splitter, mirror switch, and intermediate switch, wherein the digital UPF is connected to the digital twin front-end to test the function of the digital UPF according to the N3, N4, and N6 interface data. In this network architecture, only the optical splitter is added to the N3 interface, and the mirror switch is added to the N4 interface. The digital UPF obtains the mirror data of the N3 interface, the N4 interface, and the N6 interface through the intermediate switch.
[0040] The N3 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF mirror the N3 and N4 interface received data of the real UPF to the intermediate switch, and the intermediate switch then sends the message to the digital UPF through the digital twin front-end by routing, and the digital UPF decapsulates the mirrored N3 interface data through the digital twin front-end, converts the N3 interface data into N6 interface data, and sends the N6 interface data to the digital UPF through the digital twin front-end.
[0041] In this embodiment, a user plane network element testing system is provided, which is used to solve the technical problems and preferred implementation methods existing in the above-mentioned prior art embodiments.
[0042] Figure 2 is a structural block diagram of a user plane network element test system according to an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 2 As shown, the structure of the system may include:
[0043] The data twin machine 22 is connected to the digital twin front-end machine 24, and is used to obtain the first interface data and send the first interface data to the digital twin front-end machine 24, wherein the first interface data includes: the interface data corresponding to the user plane network element UPF sent to the physical network, and the interface data sent by the physical UPF;
[0044] A digital twin front-end 24, connected to the data twin 22, is used to convert the first interface data into a protocol message to obtain second interface data, and send the second interface data to the digital UPF 26;
[0045] The digital UPF 26 is connected to the digital twin front-end 24 and is used to test the function of the digital UPF 26 according to the second interface data, wherein the digital UPF 26 is a digital virtual entity of the physical UPF.
[0046] In the embodiment of the present application, the function of the digital UPF is tested by mapping the real running UPF data through the digital UPF.
[0047] Through the above embodiments, since the data twin machine is connected to the digital twin front-end machine, it is used to obtain the first interface data and send the first interface data to the digital twin front-end machine, wherein the first interface data includes: the interface data corresponding to the physical network user plane network element UPF, and the interface data sent by the physical UPF; the digital twin front-end machine is connected to the data twin machine, and is used to convert the first interface data into a protocol message to obtain the second interface data, and send the second interface data to the digital UPF; the digital UPF is connected to the digital twin front-end machine, and is used to test the function of the digital UPF according to the second interface data, wherein the digital UPF is the digital virtual body of the physical UPF. That is, the innovative function of the physical UPF is tested by real scene data in the embodiment of the present application, therefore, the technical problem of low reliability in testing and verifying the innovative function of the physical UPF in the related technology is solved, thereby achieving the technical effect of reliability and accuracy of testing the newly added functions.
[0048] Since the N3 / N4 / N6 interface data cannot be directly applied to the digital UPF, the protocol data conversion and adaptation must be performed first. If the protocol data conversion process is completed through the digital UPF, it will increase its complexity and reduce the independence of the digital UPF. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application performs corresponding protocol data conversion through the conversion module of the digital twin front-end.
[0049] Optionally, the above-mentioned digital twin front-end includes: a conversion module, wherein the conversion module is used to, when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data, N6 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, perform network protocol message conversion on the N3 interface data and the N6 interface data to obtain converted N3 interface data and converted N6 interface data, and perform PFCP protocol message conversion on the N4 interface data to obtain converted N4 interface data; the conversion module is used to, when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, perform network protocol message conversion on the N3 interface data to obtain converted N3 interface data and N6 interface data, and perform PFCP protocol message conversion on the N4 interface data to obtain converted N4 interface data.
[0050] It can be understood that the important interfaces of UPF include N3, N4, and N6. The N3 interface is the interface between the Radio Access Network (RAN) and UPF, and uses the GTP-U protocol for tunnel transmission of user data. The N4 interface is the interface between the Session Management Function (SMF) and UPF. The control plane is used to transmit node messages and session messages, using the PFCP protocol, and the user plane is used to transmit messages that the SMF needs to receive or send through the UPF, using the GTP-U protocol. The N6 interface is the interface between the UPF and the external data network (DN) (such as Figure 3a The interface between the network and the cloud.
[0051] It should be noted that the digital twin front-end in the embodiment of the present application also includes: a receiving module and a sending module, wherein the receiving module is used to receive the first interface data sent by the data twin machine; the sending module is used to send the second interface data to the digital UPF.
[0052] Optionally, the conversion module of the above-mentioned digital twin front-end is also used to convert the converted N3 interface data into N6 interface data according to the standard format of N6 interface data when the first interface data includes N3 interface data and N4 interface data.
[0053] It can be understood that, when the above-mentioned first interface data includes N3 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, the above-mentioned N3 interface data is converted into N6 interface data according to the standard mode of N6 interface data to obtain the N6 interface data in the actual operation scenario.
[0054] Optionally, when the number of data interfaces of the digital twin front-end is less than a first preset threshold, the data twin includes: multiple first sub-data twins, and a second sub-data twin connected to the first sub-data twin, wherein the multiple first sub-data twins are used to respectively receive the first interface data sent by different network elements and copy the first interface data; the second sub-data twin is used to obtain the copied first interface data and send the copied first interface data to the digital twin front-end, wherein the data information of the copied first interface data is the same as that of the first interface data.
[0055] It can be understood that when the number of data interfaces of the above-mentioned digital twin front-end is less than the first preset threshold, due to the small number of interfaces, the interface data can only be connected to the second sub-data twin machine through the first sub-data twin machine, and then the interface data are gathered together and then sent to the digital twin front-end through the second sub-data twin machine.
[0056] Optionally, the first sub-data twin machine includes: a mirror switch or a splitter; the second sub-data twin machine includes: a mirror switch or a splitter.
[0057] It can be understood that when the amount of historical communication data between the network element and the entity UPF is less than or equal to the second preset threshold, the above-mentioned first sub-data twin machine includes: a mirror switch; when the amount of historical communication data between the network element and the entity UPF is greater than the second preset threshold, the above-mentioned first sub-data twin machine includes: a splitter.
[0058] Optionally, the system also includes: a deployment module, wherein the deployment module is used to obtain the deployment data and data planning configuration file of the physical UPF, and deploy the digital UPF according to the deployment data and data planning configuration file, wherein the deployment data is used to indicate the hardware configuration data and software configuration data of the physical UPF; the data planning configuration file is used to indicate the business configuration data and operating system configuration data of the physical UPF.
[0059] The deployment data in the embodiments of the present application includes at least one of the following: (1) system architecture; (2) hardware foundation, including servers, storage, and network equipment; (3) virtualization platform; (4) business service NFS and service component SC; (5) business software version and hardware version, such as business software package version, image version, server firmware version, switch hardware version, etc.
[0060] The above-mentioned data planning configuration file includes at least one of the following: (1) business configuration and basic configuration of business operation and maintenance, such as initialization data configuration, business function configuration, global configuration, etc.; (2) Rosng data configuration, such as port and address configuration, routing configuration, VRF configuration, etc.
[0061] In this embodiment, a test method running on a user plane network element is also provided. Figure 4 is a flow chart of a method for testing a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 4 As shown, the process includes the following steps:
[0062] Step S402, receiving first interface data sent by the data twin machine, wherein the first interface data includes: interface data corresponding to the user plane network element UPF sent to the physical network, and interface data sent by the physical UPF;
[0063] Step S404, performing protocol message conversion on the first interface data to obtain second interface data;
[0064] Step S406, sending the second interface data to the digital UPF to test the function of the digital UPF according to the second interface data, wherein the digital UPF is a digital virtual entity of the physical UPF.
[0065] Through the above steps, the first interface data sent by the receiving data twin includes: the interface data corresponding to the user plane network element UPF sent to the physical network, and the interface data sent by the physical UPF; the first interface data is converted into a protocol message to obtain the second interface data; the second interface data is sent to the digital UPF to test the function of the digital UPF according to the second interface data, wherein the digital UPF is the digital virtual body of the physical UPF. Through this application, the technical problem that the innovative functions of UPF in the related technology cannot be directly tested and verified by the real UPF is solved, thereby achieving the technical effect of improving the reliability and accuracy of the new function and reducing the failure rate, and data mining can also be performed on the digital UPF to predict possible network failures in advance, and analyze and study UPF energy saving and consumption reduction.
[0066] In an exemplary embodiment, the first interface data is converted into a protocol message to obtain the second interface data, including: when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data, N6 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, the N3 interface data and the N6 interface data are converted into network protocol messages to obtain converted N3 interface data and converted N6 interface data, and the N4 interface data is converted into a PFCP protocol message to obtain converted N4 interface data; when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, the first interface data is converted into a network protocol message to obtain converted N3 interface data and N6 interface data, and the N4 interface data is converted into a PFCP protocol message to obtain converted N4 interface data.
[0067] In an exemplary embodiment, the first interface data is converted into a network protocol message to obtain N6 interface data, including: when the first interface data includes N3 interface data and N4 interface data, converting the converted N3 interface data into the N6 interface data according to the standard format of the N6 interface data.
[0068] Through the description of the above implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the method according to the above embodiment can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course it can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as a read-only memory / random access memory (ROM / RAM), a disk, or an optical disk), and includes a number of instructions for a terminal device (which can be a mobile phone, a computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.
[0069] In this embodiment, a test device for a user plane network element is also provided, which is used to implement the above-mentioned embodiments and preferred implementation modes, and the descriptions that have been made will not be repeated. As used below, the term "module" can be a combination of software and / or hardware that implements a predetermined function. Although the devices described in the following embodiments are preferably implemented in software, the implementation of hardware, or a combination of software and hardware, is also possible and conceivable.
[0070] Figure 5 is a structural block diagram of a test device for a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 5 As shown, the device comprises:
[0071] The first receiving module 502 is used to receive the first interface data sent by the data twin machine, wherein the first interface data includes: the interface data corresponding to the user plane network element UPF sent to the physical network, and the interface data sent by the physical UPF;
[0072] A first conversion module 504, configured to perform protocol message conversion on the first interface data to obtain second interface data;
[0073] The first sending module 506 is used to send the second interface data to the digital UPF to test the function of the digital UPF according to the second interface data, wherein the digital UPF is a digital virtual entity of the physical UPF.
[0074] Through the above device, due to receiving the first interface data sent by the data twin machine, wherein the first interface data includes: the interface data corresponding to the user plane network element UPF sent to the physical network, and the interface data sent by the physical UPF; the first interface data is converted into a protocol message to obtain the second interface data; the second interface data is sent to the digital UPF to test the function of the digital UPF according to the second interface data, wherein the digital UPF is the digital virtual body of the physical UPF. Through this application, the technical problem that the innovative functions of UPF in the related technology cannot be directly tested and verified by the real UPF is solved, thereby achieving the technical effect of improving the reliability and accuracy of the new function and reducing the failure rate, and it is also possible to perform data mining on the digital UPF, predict possible network failures in advance, and conduct analysis and research on UPF energy saving and consumption reduction.
[0075] In an exemplary embodiment, the first conversion module 504 is used to perform network protocol message conversion on the N3 interface data and the N6 interface data to obtain converted N3 interface data and converted N6 interface data when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data, N6 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, and perform PFCP protocol message conversion on the N4 interface data to obtain converted N4 interface data; when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, perform network protocol message conversion on the first interface data to obtain converted N3 interface data and N6 interface data, and perform PFCP protocol message conversion on the N4 interface data to obtain converted N4 interface data.
[0076] In an exemplary embodiment, the first conversion module 504 is used to convert the converted N3 interface data into the N6 interface data according to a standard format of N6 interface data when the first interface data includes N3 interface data and N4 interface data.
[0077] In order to better understand the above-mentioned test method of the user plane network element, the test method of the above-mentioned user plane network element is described below in combination with an optional embodiment, but it is not used to limit the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application.
[0078] In this embodiment, a method for building a digital UPF is provided. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of building a digital UPF according to an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 6 As shown, the specific steps are as follows:
[0079] Step S601, obtaining deployment data of real UPF;
[0080] It should be noted that the above deployment data includes but is not limited to:
[0081] (1) System architecture;
[0082] (2) Hardware infrastructure, including servers, storage, and network equipment;
[0083] (3) Virtualization platform;
[0084] (4) Business service NFS and service component SC;
[0085] (5) Service software version and hardware version, such as service software package version, image version, server firmware version, switch hardware version, etc.
[0086] Step S602: deploy the digital UPF according to the deployment data of the real UPF using the same installation method as the real UPF.
[0087] Step S603, obtaining a data planning configuration file of a real UPF;
[0088] It should be noted that the above data planning configuration files include but are not limited to:
[0089] (1) Business configuration: basic configuration of business operation and maintenance, such as initialization data configuration, business function configuration, global configuration, etc.
[0090] (2) Rosng data configuration, such as port and address configuration, routing configuration, VRF configuration, etc.
[0091] Step S604, configuring the digital UPF according to the data planning configuration file of the real UPF.
[0092] Step S605: connect the digital UPF to the network management system, and manage and maintain the digital UPF through the network management system.
[0093] Step S606, completing the construction of the digital UPF.
[0094] In this embodiment, a method for testing a user plane network element is provided. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a method for testing a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 7 As shown, the specific steps are as follows:
[0095] Step S701, mirroring N4 interface data through switch configuration.
[0096] Step S702, mirroring N3 interface data through an optical splitter configuration.
[0097] Step S703, mirroring the N6 interface data through the optical splitter configuration.
[0098] Step S704, configuring mirror data for docking with the digital UPF.
[0099] Step S705, connect the digital UPF to the 5G or 6G network.
[0100] Step S706: Perform a functional test on the digital UPF, such as a pull-through test.
[0101] In this embodiment, a method for testing a user plane network element is provided in a scenario where N3 interface data, N6 interface data, and N4 interface data in a real scenario are obtained. Figure 8 is a timing diagram (I) of a method for testing a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 8 As shown, the specific steps are as follows:
[0102] Step S801, SMF sends a PFCP Session Establishment / ModificationRequest message (equivalent to the N4 interface data sent to the physical UPF in the above embodiment) to the real UPF through the real N4 interface;
[0103] Step S802: Mirror the data through the mirror switch and send the mirrored N4 interface data (PFCP SessionEstablishment / Modification Request message) to the digital twin front-end processor;
[0104] It should be noted that if Fig.10 As shown, the digital twin front-end includes a receiving module, a conversion module, and a sending module, among which:
[0105] The conversion module is used for: 1) Network protocol message conversion: The receiving module of the digital twin front-end is responsible for receiving the mirror N3 interface data and the mirror N6 interface data. The conversion module converts the received protocol messages (mainly adapting the MAC address), and the sending module sends the converted messages to the digital UPF; 2) PFCP protocol message conversion: The receiving module of the digital twin front-end is responsible for receiving the mirror N4 interface data. The conversion module converts and adapts the received PFCP protocol messages, and the sending module sends the converted PFCP protocol messages to the digital UPF.
[0106] It should be noted that the mirror switch sends the mirrored N4 interface data to the intermediate switch, and the intermediate switch then sends the mirrored N4 interface data to the digital twin front-end machine through routing.
[0107] Step S803, UPF sends a PFCP Session Establishment / ModificationResponse message (equivalent to the N4 interface data sent by the physical UPF in the above embodiment) to SMF through the N4 interface;
[0108] Step S804: Mirror the data through the switch and send the mirrored N4 interface data (PFCP SessionEstablishment / Modification Response message) to the digital twin front-end processor;
[0109] It should be noted that the mirror switch sends the mirrored N4 interface data to the intermediate switch, and the intermediate switch then sends the mirrored N4 interface data to the digital twin front-end machine through routing.
[0110] Step S805: When the digital twin front-end receives the mirrored N4 interface data, it converts and adapts the mirrored N4 interface data;
[0111] It should be noted that the receiving module of the digital twin front-end is responsible for receiving the mirrored N4 interface data, and the conversion module converts and adapts the received mirrored N4 interface data.
[0112] Step S806, the sending module of the digital twin front-end sends the converted N4 interface data (PFCP Session Establishment / Modification Request, PFCP Session Establishment / Modification Response) to the digital UPF;
[0113] Step S807, the network protocol message sent by the UE (equivalent to the N3 interface data sent to the physical UPF in the above embodiment) is sent to the real UPF through the real N3 interface;
[0114] Step S808, mirroring the data through the optical splitter, and sending the mirrored N3 interface data to the digital twin front-end;
[0115] It should be noted that the splitter sends the mirrored N3 interface data to the intermediate switch, and the intermediate switch then sends the mirrored N3 interface data to the digital twin front-end machine through routing.
[0116] Step S809, the receiving module of the digital twin front-end is responsible for receiving the mirrored N3 interface data, and the conversion module converts and adapts the received mirrored N3 interface data (mainly converting and adapting the MAC address).
[0117] Step S810, the digital twin front-end sends the converted mirrored N3 interface data to the digital UPF;
[0118] Step S811, the digital UPF performs innovative function testing, cross-validation, etc. based on the received converted mirrored N3 interface data.
[0119] Step S812: The network protocol message sent by the PDN (equivalent to the N6 interface data sent to the physical UPF in the above embodiment) is sent to the real UPF through the N6 interface;
[0120] Step S813, mirroring the data through the optical splitter, and sending the mirrored N6 interface data to the digital twin front-end;
[0121] It should be noted that the splitter sends the mirrored N6 interface data to the intermediate switch, and the intermediate switch then sends the mirrored N6 interface data to the digital twin front-end machine through routing.
[0122] Step S814, the receiving module of the digital twin front-end is used to receive the mirrored N6 interface data, and the conversion module converts and adapts the received mirrored N6 interface data (mainly converting and adapting the MAC address).
[0123] Step S815, the digital twin front-end sends the converted mirrored N6 interface data to the digital UPF;
[0124] Step S816, the digital UPF performs innovative function testing, cross-validation, etc. based on the received converted mirrored N6 interface data.
[0125] In this embodiment, a method for testing a user plane network element is provided in a scenario where N3 interface data and N4 interface data in a real scenario are obtained. Fig. 9 is a timing diagram (II) of a method for testing a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application, such as Fig. 9 As shown, the specific steps are as follows:
[0126] Step S901, SMF sends a PFCP Session Establishment / ModificationRequest message to the real UPF through the real N4 interface;
[0127] Step S902: Mirror the data through the switch and send the mirrored N4 interface data (PFCP SessionEstablishment / Modification Request message) to the digital twin front-end processor;
[0128] It should be noted that if Fig.11As shown, the digital twin front-end includes a receiving module, a conversion module, and a sending module, among which:
[0129] The conversion module is used for: 1) Network protocol message conversion: The receiving module of the digital twin front-end is responsible for receiving the mirrored N3 interface data, the conversion module converts the received protocol message (mainly adapting the MAC address), and the sending module sends the converted message to the digital UPF; 2) PFCP protocol message conversion: The receiving module of the digital twin front-end is responsible for receiving the mirrored N4 interface data, the conversion module converts and adapts the received PFCP protocol message, and the sending module sends the converted PFCP protocol message to the digital UPF.
[0130] It should be noted that the switch sends the mirrored N4 interface data to the intermediate switch, and the intermediate switch then sends the message to the digital twin front-end machine through routing.
[0131] Step S903, UPF sends a PFCP Session Establishment / ModificationResponse message to SMF via the N4 interface;
[0132] Step S904: Mirror the data through the mirror switch and send the mirrored N4 interface data (PFCP SessionEstablishment / Modification Response message) to the digital twin front-end processor;
[0133] It should be noted that the mirror switch sends the mirrored N4 interface data to the intermediate switch, and the intermediate switch then sends the mirrored N4 interface data to the digital twin front-end machine through routing.
[0134] Step S905: When the digital twin front-end receives the mirrored N4 interface data, it converts and adapts the mirrored N4 interface data;
[0135] It should be noted that the receiving module of the digital twin front-end is responsible for receiving the mirrored N4 interface data, and the conversion module converts and adapts the received mirrored N4 interface data.
[0136] Step S906, the sending module of the digital twin front-end sends the converted mirrored N4 interface data (PFCPSession Establishment / Modification Request, PFCP Session Establishment / Modification Response) to the digital UPF;
[0137] Step S907, the network protocol message sent by the UE is sent to the real UPF through the real N3 interface;
[0138] Step S908: Mirror the data through the optical splitter and send the mirrored N3 interface data to the digital twin front-end;
[0139] It should be noted that the splitter sends the mirrored N3 interface data to the intermediate switch, and the intermediate switch then sends the mirrored N3 interface data to the digital twin front-end machine through routing.
[0140] Step S909, the receiving module of the digital twin front-end is responsible for receiving the mirrored N3 interface data, and the conversion module converts and adapts the received mirrored N3 interface data (mainly converting and adapting the MAC address), and converts the converted mirrored N3 interface data into N6 interface data.
[0141] Step S910, the digital twin front-end sends the converted mirrored N3 interface data and N6 interface data to the digital UPF;
[0142] Step S911, the digital UPF performs innovative function testing, cross-validation, etc. based on the received converted mirrored N3 interface data and N6 interface data.
[0143] It should be noted that the above modules can be implemented by software or hardware. For the latter, it can be implemented in the following ways, but not limited to: the above modules are all located in the same processor; or the above modules are located in different processors in any combination.
[0144] To facilitate the understanding of the technical solution provided by the present application, a detailed explanation will be given below in combination with embodiments of specific scenarios.
[0145] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, wherein the computer program is configured to execute the steps of any of the above method embodiments when running.
[0146] In an exemplary embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to, various media that can store computer programs, such as a USB flash drive, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a mobile hard disk, a magnetic disk or an optical disk.
[0147] An embodiment of the present application further provides an electronic device, including a memory and a processor, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to run the computer program to execute the steps in any one of the above method embodiments.
[0148] In an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device may further include a transmission device and an input / output device, wherein the transmission device is connected to the processor, and the input / output device is connected to the processor.
[0149] For specific examples in this embodiment, reference may be made to the examples described in the above embodiments and exemplary implementation modes, and this embodiment will not be described in detail herein.
[0150] Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that the above modules or steps of the present application can be implemented by a general computing device, they can be concentrated on a single computing device, or distributed on a network composed of multiple computing devices, they can be implemented by a program code executable by a computing device, so that they can be stored in a storage device and executed by the computing device, and in some cases, the steps shown or described can be executed in a different order from that herein, or they can be made into individual integrated circuit modules, or multiple modules or steps therein can be made into a single integrated circuit module for implementation. Thus, the present application is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.
[0151] The above description is only the preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. For those skilled in the art, the present application may have various modifications and variations. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the principles of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.
Claims
1. A user plane network element testing system, characterized in that: include: The data twin machine is connected to the digital twin front-end machine, and is used to obtain the first interface data and send the first interface data to the digital twin front-end machine, wherein the first interface data includes: the interface data corresponding to the user plane network element UPF sent to the physical network, and the interface data sent by the physical UPF; The digital twin front-end is connected to the data twin, and is used to perform protocol message conversion on the first interface data to obtain second interface data, and send the second interface data to the digital UPF; The digital UPF is connected to the digital twin front-end and is used to test the function of the digital UPF according to the second interface data, wherein the digital UPF is the digital virtual entity of the physical UPF.
2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The digital twin front-end includes: a conversion module, wherein: The conversion module is used for, when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data, N6 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, performing network protocol message conversion on the N3 interface data and the N6 interface data to obtain converted N3 interface data and converted N6 interface data, and performing PFCP protocol message conversion on the N4 interface data to obtain converted N4 interface data; The conversion module is used to, when the first interface data includes: N3 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, perform network protocol message conversion on the N3 interface data to obtain converted N3 interface data and N6 interface data, and perform PFCP protocol message conversion on the N4 interface data to obtain converted N4 interface data.
3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that include: The conversion module is further configured to, when the first interface data includes N3 interface data and N4 interface data, convert the converted N3 interface data into N6 interface data according to a standard format of N6 interface data.
4. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that When the number of data interfaces of the digital twin front-end is less than a first preset threshold, the data twin includes: a plurality of first sub-data twins, and a second sub-data twin connected to the first sub-data twins, wherein: The multiple first sub-data twin machines are used to respectively receive the first interface data sent by different network elements and copy the first interface data; The second sub-data twin machine is used to obtain the copied first interface data and send the copied first interface data to the digital twin front-end machine, wherein the data information of the copied first interface data is the same as that of the first interface data.
5. The system according to claim 4, characterized in that include: The first sub-data twin machine includes: a mirror switch or a splitter; the second sub-data twin machine includes: a mirror switch or a splitter.
6. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The system further comprises: a deployment module, wherein: The deployment module is used to obtain the deployment data and data planning configuration file of the physical UPF, and deploy the digital UPF according to the deployment data and data planning configuration file, wherein the deployment data is used to indicate the hardware configuration data and software configuration data of the physical UPF; the data planning configuration file is used to indicate the business configuration data and operating system configuration data of the physical UPF.
7. A method for testing a user plane network element, characterized in that: include: Receive first interface data sent by the data twin, wherein the first interface data includes: interface data corresponding to the user plane network element UPF sent to the physical network, and interface data sent by the physical UPF; Performing protocol message conversion on the first interface data to obtain second interface data; The second interface data is sent to the digital UPF to test the function of the digital UPF according to the second interface data, wherein the digital UPF is a digital virtual entity of the physical UPF.
8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that Performing protocol message conversion on the first interface data to obtain second interface data includes: In a case where the first interface data includes: N3 interface data, N6 interface data, and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, performing network protocol message conversion on the N3 interface data and the N6 interface data to obtain converted N3 interface data and converted N6 interface data, and performing PFCP protocol message conversion on the N4 interface data to obtain converted N4 interface data; When the first interface data includes: N3 interface data and N4 interface data sent to the UPF, the first interface data is converted into a network protocol message to obtain converted N3 interface data and N6 interface data, and the N4 interface data is converted into a PFCP protocol message to obtain converted N4 interface data.
9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first interface data is converted into a network protocol message to obtain N6 interface data, including: In the case where the first interface data includes N3 interface data and N4 interface data, the converted N3 interface data is converted into the N6 interface data according to a standard format of N6 interface data.
10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, wherein the computer program implements the steps of the method described in any one of claims 7 to 9 when executed by a processor.
11. An electronic device comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that: When the processor executes the computer program, the steps of the method described in any one of claims 7 to 9 are implemented.