GTP-U tunnel validity detection method and device, communication equipment, storage medium and computer program product

Abstract

The invention relates to a GTP-U tunnel validity detection method and device, communication equipment, a storage medium and a computer program product. The method comprises the steps that under the condition that detection conditions are met, at least one detection message is sent to a GTP-U receiving end in a detection period, and tunnel information of a target GTP-U tunnel is carried in the detection message; receiving a response message sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the detection message, and determining a detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message; and based on each detection result in the detection period, determining a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel, and when the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, performing exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel. By adopting the method, the resource waste caused by maintaining the invalid GTP-U tunnel can be reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a GTP-U tunnel validity detection method, apparatus, communication equipment, storage medium and computer program product. Background Art

[0002] The GTP-U protocol (GPRS Tunneling Protocol for the User Plane, where GPRS refers to General Packet Radio Service) is a protocol for user plane data transmission. Currently, according to the relevant standards of 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), the control plane network element is responsible for managing the establishment and release of the GTP-U tunnel.

[0003] In scenarios such as N4 inertial retention or other factors that cause inconsistency in PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session data (including GTP-U tunnel information) between control plane or user plane network elements, the GTP-U entity cannot receive the release signaling of the GTP-U tunnel notified by the upper control plane, and cannot quickly perceive that the GTP-U entity at the other end no longer supports the GTP-U tunnel. The GTP-U entity of the user plane network element will always retain the invalid GTP-U tunnel, resulting in residual or waste of GTP-U tunnel resources. Summary of the invention

[0004] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a GTP-U tunnel validity detection method, device, communication equipment, storage medium and computer program product to address the above technical problems.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a GTP-U tunnel validity detection method, which is applied to a GTP-U sending end and includes:

[0006] When the detection condition is met, at least one detection message is sent to the GTP-U receiving end within one detection cycle, wherein the detection message carries tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel;

[0007] receiving a response message sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the detection message, and determining a detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message;

[0008] Based on each of the detection results in the detection period, a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel is determined, and when the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, an exception process is performed on the target GTP-U tunnel.

[0009] In one embodiment, the detection result includes an abnormal result and a normal result, and determining the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on each of the detection results within the detection period includes:

[0010] If each of the normal results satisfies the validity determination condition, then determining that the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid; or,

[0011] If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel is judged to be valid in any detection cycle before the detection cycle, and each of the abnormal results meets the invalidity judgment condition, then the validity judgment result is determined to be that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

[0012] In one of the embodiments, determining the detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message includes:

[0013] In a case where the response message carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel, determining that the detection result is a normal result; or,

[0014] When the response message does not carry the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel, it is determined that the detection result is the abnormal result.

[0015] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0016] In a case where the response message is not received, the detection result is determined to be the abnormal result.

[0017] In one of the embodiments, determining the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on each of the detection results in the detection period further includes:

[0018] If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel has not been judged to be valid in all detection cycles before the detection cycle, and each of the abnormal results meets the invalidity judgment condition, then the GTP-U tunnel validity detection process is terminated.

[0019] In one of the embodiments, determining the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on each of the detection results in the detection period further includes:

[0020] If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, and each of the abnormal results does not meet the invalid judgment condition, then the validity judgment result is determined to be that the validity of the target GTP-U tunnel is to be determined, and the process jumps to the step of sending at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within one detection cycle when the detection condition is met.

[0021] In one of the embodiments, the detection condition at least includes that the GTP-U sending end does not send a service message to the GTP-U receiving end within a preset time period, and the GTP-U sending end and the GTP-U receiving end can communicate with each other.

[0022] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0023] Sending a GTP-U echo request to the GTP-U receiving end;

[0024] Upon receiving a GTP-U echo response sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the GTP-U echo request, it is determined that communication is possible between the GTP-U sending end and the GTP-U receiving end.

[0025] In one of the embodiments, the tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the detection message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of a GTP-U echo request header.

[0026] In one of the embodiments, the performing exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel includes:

[0027] Release the communication resources corresponding to the target GTP-U tunnel, and / or report the abnormality of the target GTP-U tunnel to the control plane network element corresponding to the GTP-U sending end.

[0028] In a second aspect, the present application provides a GTP-U tunnel validity detection method, which is applied to a GTP-U receiving end and includes:

[0029] receiving at least one detection message sent by the GTP-U sending end within a detection period, and parsing the detection message to obtain tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel;

[0030] Determine a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the tunnel information;

[0031] Generate a first response message based on the validity determination result, and send the first response message to the GTP-U sending end.

[0032] In one embodiment, the generating a first response message based on the validity determination result includes:

[0033] If the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid, using the target response message as the first response message, the target response message carrying the tunnel information; or

[0034] When the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, a GTP error indication is used as the first response message.

[0035] In one of the embodiments, the detection message is generated based on a GTP-U echo request, and the method further includes:

[0036] In the case where the detection message cannot be parsed, a second response message is sent to the GTP-U sending end, where the second response message is a GTP-U echo response.

[0037] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0038] If the GTP-U echo request is not supported, the detection message is discarded.

[0039] In one of the embodiments, the tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the target response message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of a GTP-U echo response header.

[0040] In a third aspect, the present application further provides a GTP-U tunnel validity detection device for a GTP-U transmitting end. The device comprises:

[0041] A first sending module, configured to send at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within a detection cycle when the detection condition is met, wherein the detection message carries tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel;

[0042] A receiving module, configured to receive a response message sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the detection message, and determine a detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message;

[0043] The first determination module is used to determine the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on each of the detection results within the detection period, and perform exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel when the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

[0044] In one embodiment, the detection result includes an abnormal result and a normal result, and the first determination module is further used to:

[0045] If each of the normal results satisfies the validity determination condition, then determining that the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid; or,

[0046] If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel is judged to be valid in any detection cycle before the detection cycle, and each of the abnormal results meets the invalidity judgment condition, then the validity judgment result is determined to be that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

[0047] In one embodiment, the receiving module is further used for:

[0048] In a case where the response message carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel, determining that the detection result is a normal result; or,

[0049] When the response message does not carry the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel, it is determined that the detection result is the abnormal result.

[0050] In one embodiment, the device further comprises:

[0051] The second determining module is used to determine that the detection result is the abnormal result when the response message is not received.

[0052] In one embodiment, the first determining module is further used to:

[0053] If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel has not been judged to be valid in all detection cycles before the detection cycle, and each of the abnormal results meets the invalidity judgment condition, then the GTP-U tunnel validity detection process is terminated.

[0054] In one embodiment, the first determining module is further used to:

[0055] If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, and each of the abnormal results does not meet the invalid judgment condition, then the validity judgment result is determined to be that the validity of the target GTP-U tunnel is to be determined, and the process jumps to the step of sending at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within one detection cycle when the detection condition is met.

[0056] In one of the embodiments, the detection condition at least includes that the GTP-U sending end does not send a service message to the GTP-U receiving end within a preset time period, and the GTP-U sending end and the GTP-U receiving end can communicate with each other.

[0057] In one embodiment, the device further comprises:

[0058] A second sending module, used to send a GTP-U echo request to the GTP-U receiving end;

[0059] The third determination module is used to determine that communication can be carried out between the GTP-U sending end and the GTP-U receiving end when a GTP-U echo response is received from the GTP-U receiving end in response to the GTP-U echo request.

[0060] In one of the embodiments, the tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the detection message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of a GTP-U echo request header.

[0061] In one embodiment, the first determining module is further used to:

[0062] Release the communication resources corresponding to the target GTP-U tunnel, and / or report the abnormality of the target GTP-U tunnel to the control plane network element corresponding to the GTP-U sending end.

[0063] In a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a GTP-U tunnel validity detection device, which is used at a GTP-U receiving end. The device comprises:

[0064] A receiving module, configured to receive at least one detection message sent by a GTP-U sending end within a detection period, and parse the detection message to obtain tunnel information of a target GTP-U tunnel;

[0065] A determination module, configured to determine a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the tunnel information;

[0066] The first sending module is used to generate a first response message based on the validity determination result, and send the first response message to the GTP-U sending end.

[0067] In one embodiment, the first sending module is further used for:

[0068] If the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid, using the target response message as the first response message, the target response message carrying the tunnel information; or

[0069] When the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, a GTP error indication is used as the first response message.

[0070] In one of the embodiments, the detection message is generated based on a GTP-U echo request, and the apparatus further includes:

[0071] The second sending module is used to send a second response message to the GTP-U sending end when the detection message cannot be parsed, and the second response message is a GTP-U echo response.

[0072] In one embodiment, the device further comprises:

[0073] The discarding module is used to discard the detection message when the GTP-U echo request is not supported.

[0074] In one of the embodiments, the tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the target response message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of a GTP-U echo response header.

[0075] In a fifth aspect, the present application also provides a communication device, which is applied to a GTP-U transmitting end and includes a transmitter, a processor, and a receiver;

[0076] The processor is configured to control the transmitter to send at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within a detection cycle when the detection condition is met, wherein the detection message carries tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel;

[0077] The receiver is used to receive a response message sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the detection message;

[0078] The processor is further configured to determine a detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message;

[0079] The processor is further configured to determine a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on each of the detection results within the detection cycle, and to perform exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel when the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

[0080] In a sixth aspect, the present application also provides a communication device, which is applied to a GTP-U receiving end and includes a transmitter, a processor, and a receiver;

[0081] The receiver is used to receive at least one detection message sent by the GTP-U sending end within a detection cycle;

[0082] The processor is used to parse the detection message to obtain tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel;

[0083] The processor is further configured to determine a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the tunnel information;

[0084] The processor is further configured to generate a first response message based on the validity determination result, and control the transmitter to send the first response message to the GTP-U transmitting end.

[0085] In a seventh aspect, the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program implements any of the above methods when executed by a processor.

[0086] In an eighth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product, wherein the computer program product comprises a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, any of the above methods is implemented.

[0087] The above-mentioned GTP-U tunnel validity detection method, device, communication equipment, storage medium and computer program product enable the GTP-U sending end to send a detection message to the GTP-U receiving end, and carry the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel in the detection message; after the GTP-U receiving end sends a response message in response to the detection message, the GTP-U sending end determines the detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message, and when each of the detection results within the detection period indicates that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, the target GTP-U tunnel is subjected to abnormal processing. The embodiment of the present application enables the GTP-U sending end to actively send a detection message to the GTP-U receiving end to detect the validity of the GTP-U tunnel, and when it is detected that the GTP-U tunnel is invalid, the GTP-U tunnel can be actively subjected to abnormal processing without relying on the release signaling of the control plane network element, which can reduce the waste of resources caused by maintaining an invalid GTP-U tunnel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0088] Figure 1 is an architecture diagram of a 5G system in one embodiment;

[0089] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for detecting the validity of a GTP-U tunnel in an embodiment;

[0090] Figure 3 The figure is a schematic diagram of a process of determining a detection result at a GTP-U transmitting end in one embodiment;

[0091] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a process for determining whether a GTP-U receiving end is reachable in one embodiment;

[0092] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for detecting the validity of a GTP-U tunnel in an embodiment;

[0093] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for detecting the validity of a GTP-U tunnel in an embodiment;

[0094] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for detecting the validity of a GTP-U tunnel in an embodiment;

[0095] Figure 8 The figure is a flow chart of signaling interaction between a GTP-U transmitter, a receiver, and a control plane network element in one embodiment;

[0096] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of detecting particle size in one embodiment;

[0097] Fig.10 It is a structural block diagram of a GTP-U tunnel validity detection device in an embodiment;

[0098] Fig.11 It is a structural block diagram of a GTP-U tunnel validity detection device in an embodiment;

[0099] Fig.12 is an internal structure diagram of a communication device in one embodiment;

[0100] Fig.13 FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the internal structure of a communication device in one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0101] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present application more clearly understood, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and are not used to limit the present application.

[0102] GTP-U protocol entity (GTP-U Entity) is widely used in communication equipment such as PGW (PDN Gateway, where PDN refers to Packet Data Network), SGW (Serving Gateway), ePDG (Evolved Packet Data Gateway), eNodeB (Evolved Node B, base station in LTE (Long Term Evolution) network), gNB (next Generation Node B, base station in 5G network), N3IWF (Non-3GPP InterWorking Function), UPF (User Plane Function). Taking the 5G system as an example, the GTP-U entity is used in the base station and UPF network element on the R (AN) (Radio Access Network) side. Different GTP-U tunnels provide tunnel encapsulation services for different service flows on the network element path of the N3 reference point (the interface between the UPF and the DN (Data Network)) and the N9 reference point (the interface between two UPFs). Figure 1 , which is a 5G system framework diagram. The boxes in the figure are network elements, and the labels such as N1, N2, and Nnssf on the lines between the boxes are the names of the interfaces between the two network elements.

[0103] According to the 3GPP TS29.281 standard, the GTP-U protocol entity of the network element (hereinafter referred to as the GTP-U transmitter) can detect the path reachability of the GTP-U protocol entity of the other end (hereinafter referred to as the GTP-U receiver) based on the GTP-U echo request / response message (GTP-U Echo Request / Response). This method is called coarse-grained detection of the GTP-U protocol entity, which can detect whether the GTP-U receiver can communicate normally with the GTP-U transmitter.

[0104] In addition, after receiving the service message encapsulated in the GTP-U tunnel, the GTP-U receiving end can determine whether the service message is legal locally at the GTP-U receiving end, that is, whether the local area supports the GTP-U tunnel corresponding to the service message, based on the TEID (Tunnel End Point identifier) ​​field of the GTP-U header message in the service message. If it is legal, the service is processed, otherwise a GTP Error Indication message is returned to the sending end. This method is called a fine-grained detection method for the GTP-U tunnel. Because it relies on the service flow encapsulated in GTP-U, it can be called passive detection or indirect detection of the GTP-U tunnel. If the GTP-U sending end does not send the service flow message encapsulated in GTP-U, this passive detection will not run.

[0105] Regardless of which detection method is used, after the GTP-U sender detects that an error has occurred in the GTP-U tunnel, it needs to rely on the control plane network element to manage the release of the GTP-U tunnel. Therefore, the existing detection methods have the problems of (1) relying on service messages to detect the validity of the GTP-U tunnel; and (2) relying on the upper-layer control plane network element to release the GTP-U tunnel. When the PDU session has actually ended (no new service messages will be generated), but the GTP-U sender has not received the release signaling of the GTP-U tunnel for various reasons, the GTP-U sender cannot firstly perceive whether the GTP-U tunnel is still valid through the service message, and thus cannot report the invalidity of the GTP-U tunnel to the control plane network element and trigger the release signaling of the control plane network element again; secondly, since the GTP-U tunnel is in a state of being released from the perspective of the control plane network element, the control plane network element will not actively send the release signaling again. Therefore, the GTP-U sender will always retain the invalid GTP-U tunnel, resulting in residual or waste of GTP-U tunnel resources.

[0106] Based on this, the present application proposes a solution for the GTP-U sender to actively detect the validity of the GTP-U tunnel, so that the GTP-U sender can clean up invalid GTP-U tunnel resources in a timely manner.

[0107] In one embodiment, Figure 2 As shown, a GTP-U tunnel validity detection method is provided. This embodiment is described by applying the method to a GTP-U transmitting end, and includes the following steps:

[0108] Step 202: When the detection condition is met, at least one detection message is sent to the GTP-U receiving end within a detection cycle, and the detection message carries tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel.

[0109] In the embodiment of the present application, the detection condition is used to determine whether to start the GTP-U tunnel validity detection process. The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the detection condition, and it can be set by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, the detection condition can be set to a preset time after the last validity detection (the preset time can be set to 1 minute, 5 minutes, etc., and the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this), or the detection condition can also be set to the GTP-U transmitter being unable to communicate with the control plane network element for any reason.

[0110] The length of the detection cycle and the number of detection messages sent in each detection cycle can also be determined by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, the detection cycle can be set to 1 minute, and a detection message is sent every 10 seconds in each detection cycle, that is, a total of 6 detection messages are sent in each detection cycle.

[0111] The detection message carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel. The tunnel information can be any information that can identify a unique GTP-U tunnel. For example, F-TEID (Fully Qualified TEID) in the GTP-U protocol, or it can also be newly defined information by technical personnel in this field. The tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel is used to enable the GTP-U receiving end to identify which target GTP-U tunnel the detection message is targeting after receiving the detection message.

[0112] Step 204: Receive a response message sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the detection message, and determine a detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message.

[0113] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving the detection message, the GTP-U receiving end returns a response message to the GTP-U sending end. The response message at least includes a response message indicating that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid, and a response message indicating that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid. In addition, the response message may also include a response message indicating that the GTP-U receiving end cannot parse the detection message, a response message indicating that an error occurs during the process of checking whether the target GTP-U tunnel is valid, a response message indicating that the target GTP-U tunnel cannot be found, and the like. The specific possible response message categories are determined by the relevant configuration of the GTP-U receiving end.

[0114] The GTP-U transmitter can determine the detection result according to the type of response message. For example, the GTP-U transmitter can determine that the detection result is a normal result after receiving a response message indicating that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid. After receiving a response message indicating that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, the detection result is determined to be an abnormal result. After receiving other types of response messages, the detection result is determined to be an abnormal result or other results. Normal results are used to characterize that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid in this detection, abnormal results are used to characterize that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid in this detection, and other results are used to characterize that other situations occur in this detection, and it is impossible to determine whether the target GTP-U tunnel is valid.

[0115] It should be noted that the above detection result is only a possible example. In fact, other types of detection results can be defined according to actual needs, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0116] Step 206: Determine the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on each detection result in the detection period, and perform exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel when the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

[0117] In the embodiment of the present application, after a detection cycle is completed, the GTP-U transmitter summarizes the detection results corresponding to each detection message in the detection cycle to determine the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel. The validity determination result includes the result that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid and the result that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid.

[0118] Exemplarily, the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel can be determined based on any one of the number of abnormal results, the proportion of the number of abnormal results in all detection results, the number of normal results, and the proportion of the number of normal results in all detection results. When determining the validity determination result based on the abnormal result, the condition for the target GTP-U tunnel to be determined as invalid is relatively strict, which can improve the accuracy of determining the invalidity of the target GTP-U tunnel, and avoid that some tunnels that can actually be used normally but are temporarily abnormal due to temporary disconnection, abnormality of the GTP-U receiving end, etc. are determined to be invalid. When determining the validity determination result based on the normal result, the condition for the target GTP-U tunnel to be determined as invalid is relatively loose, and the above-mentioned temporarily abnormal tunnel can also be processed abnormally, so as to save the communication resources of the GTP-U sending end to the maximum extent.

[0119] If the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, the GTP-U transmitter initiates exception handling for the target GTP-U tunnel. This may include: marking the target GTP-U tunnel invalid and notifying the GTP-U receiver so that the GTP-U transmitter and receiver no longer communicate through the target GTP-U tunnel; releasing the communication resources of the target GTP-U tunnel locally; notifying the control plane network element corresponding to the GTP-U transmitter that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, etc. It should be noted that the control plane network element corresponding to the GTP-U transmitter here refers to the control plane network element responsible for managing the GTP-U transmitter. Taking the 5G system as an example, the control plane network element corresponding to the RAN is AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function), and the control plane network element corresponding to the UPF is SMF (Session Management Function). The control plane network element corresponding to the GTP-U transmitter in other networks can be deduced by analogy.

[0120] The GTP-U tunnel validity detection method provided in the embodiment of the present application enables the GTP-U transmitter to send a detection message to the GTP-U receiver, and carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel in the detection message; after the GTP-U receiver sends a response message in response to the detection message, the GTP-U transmitter determines the detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message, and when each detection result within the detection period indicates that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, the target GTP-U tunnel is subjected to abnormal processing. The embodiment of the present application enables the GTP-U transmitter to actively send a detection message to the GTP-U receiver to detect the validity of the GTP-U tunnel, and when it is detected that the GTP-U tunnel is invalid, the GTP-U tunnel can be actively subjected to abnormal processing, without relying on the release signaling of the control plane network element, which can reduce the waste of resources caused by maintaining an invalid GTP-U tunnel.

[0121] In one embodiment, the detection result includes an abnormal result and a normal result. In step 106, based on each detection result in the detection period, determining the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel includes:

[0122] If each normal result satisfies the validity determination condition, then the validity determination result is determined to be that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid; or,

[0123] If each normal result does not meet the validity determination condition, the target GTP-U tunnel is determined to be valid in any detection cycle before the detection cycle, and each abnormal result meets the invalid determination condition, then the validity determination result is determined to be that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

[0124] In an embodiment of the present application, it is first determined based on the normal result whether the target GTP-U tunnel meets the validity determination condition. If the target GTP-U tunnel cannot be determined to be valid based on the normal result, the invalid determination process is entered to determine whether the target GTP-U tunnel meets the invalid determination condition based on the abnormal result.

[0125] The invalid determination condition and the valid determination condition can be determined by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, the invalid determination condition can be that the number of abnormal results is greater than the first preset number threshold, the detection results corresponding to the first preset number threshold of detection messages are all abnormal results, and more than the first preset number threshold of abnormal results appear within a preset time length, etc. The valid determination condition can be that the number of normal results is greater than the second preset number threshold, the detection results corresponding to the second preset number threshold of detection messages are all normal results, and more than the second preset number threshold of normal results appear within a preset time length, etc.

[0126] The first preset quantity threshold and the second preset quantity threshold can be determined according to the total number of probe messages sent in each probe cycle. Exemplarily, the first preset quantity threshold can be the smallest integer greater than 1 / 2 of the total number of probe messages. For example, if 5 probe messages are sent in each probe cycle, the first preset quantity threshold can be set to 3. The second preset quantity threshold can be 0 (that is, the target GTP-U tunnel is determined to be valid when 1 normal result appears), or any other value, for example, it can also be the smallest integer greater than 1 / 2 of the total number of probe messages.

[0127] It should be noted that when the abnormal result meets the invalidity judgment condition, it cannot be determined whether this is because the GTP-U receiving end does not support the detection message proposed in the embodiment of the present application, resulting in an abnormal detection result, or whether the target GTP-U tunnel is indeed abnormal. Therefore, the condition for determining that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid can be set to that the target GTP-U tunnel is determined to be valid in any detection cycle before the detection cycle (that is, the GTP-U receiving end can indeed identify the detection message and has previously replied to a normal response message according to the rules), and the abnormal result meets the invalidity judgment condition.

[0128] If the normal result meets the validity determination condition, the GTP-U sender can determine that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid.

[0129] In one embodiment, in step 104, determining the detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message includes:

[0130] In the case where the response message carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel, determining that the detection result is a normal result; or,

[0131] When the response message does not carry the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel, it is determined that the detection result is an abnormal result.

[0132] In the embodiment of the present application, it is pre-set that the GTP-U receiving end replies with a response message carrying the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel when the target GTP-U tunnel is normal. Therefore, if the response message carries the tunnel information, it can be determined that the detection result is a normal result. If the response message does not carry the tunnel information, it can be determined that the detection result is an abnormal result.

[0133] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0134] When no response message is received, it is determined that the detection result is an abnormal result.

[0135] In the embodiment of the present application, the failure to receive a response message may refer to the GTP-U transmitter not receiving a response message within a preset time after sending a detection message. The preset time can be set by a person skilled in the art. If the GTP-U receiver does not receive any response message to the detection message, the detection result is determined to be an abnormal result.

[0136] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0137] If each normal result does not meet the validity judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel has not been judged as valid in all detection cycles before the detection cycle, and each abnormal result meets the invalid judgment condition, then the GTP-U tunnel validity detection process is terminated.

[0138] In an embodiment of the present application, the situation in which the target GTP-U tunnel is not determined to be valid in all detection cycles before the detection cycle means that the GTP-U receiving end has never replied to any response message to the GTP-U sending end, or the GTP-U receiving end has never replied to any response message carrying tunnel information to the GTP-U sending end.

[0139] In this case, if the GTP-U receiving end does not reply to the response message in the detection of this cycle, or the GTP-U receiving end does not reply to the response message carrying the tunnel information, which meets the invalid judgment condition, it can be considered that the GTP-U receiving end does not support the detection message. At this time, it is meaningless to perform GTP-U tunnel validity detection in subsequent detection cycles, so the GTP-U tunnel validity detection process can be terminated.

[0140] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0141] If each normal result does not meet the validity judgment condition, and each abnormal result does not meet the invalid judgment condition, then the validity judgment result is determined to be that the validity of the target GTP-U tunnel is to be determined, and jumps to the step of sending at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within one detection cycle when the detection conditions are met.

[0142] In an embodiment of the present application, if each abnormal result does not meet the invalidity judgment condition, and each normal result does not meet the valid judgment condition, the GTP-U sending end may determine that the validity judgment result is to be determined, that is, it neither determines that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid nor that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid, and waits again until the detection condition is met, and then performs the GTP-U tunnel validity detection in the next detection cycle.

[0143] See also Figure 3 As shown, it is a summary of the process of determining the detection result when the GTP-U transmitter receives different response messages in the above-mentioned multiple embodiments. After sending the detection message, the GTP-U transmitter first determines whether a response message is received. If not, the detection result corresponding to this detection message is marked as an abnormal result.

[0144] If the GTP-U transmitter receives the response message, it checks whether the response message carries tunnel information. If so, the detection result corresponding to this detection message is marked as a normal result. If not, the detection result corresponding to this detection message is marked as an abnormal result.

[0145] The GTP-U sender summarizes the abnormal results and normal results. If the normal result meets the validity judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel is judged to be valid, and the detection of the next detection cycle is entered after the detection condition is met again.

[0146] If the normal result does not meet the validity judgment condition and the abnormal result does not meet the invalid judgment condition, the validity of the target GTP-U tunnel is determined to be pending and the detection of the next detection cycle is entered.

[0147] If the abnormal result meets the invalid judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel is judged to be valid before. If so, the target GTP-U tunnel is judged to be invalid. If not, the GTP-U receiving end is judged to not support the detection message, and the detection is terminated.

[0148] The GTP-U tunnel validity detection method provided in the embodiment of the present application, according to whether the target GTP-U tunnel has been valid, regards the validity determination result when the abnormal result meets the invalid determination condition as the target GTP-U tunnel invalid and the GTP-U receiving end does not support the detection message, and terminates the GTP-U tunnel validity detection process when the GTP-U receiving end does not support the detection message. Therefore, it can avoid the situation where the target GTP-U tunnel is mistakenly judged to be invalid because the GTP-U receiving end does not support the detection message, thereby discarding the detection message or not replying to the message carrying tunnel information according to the rules, thereby improving the accuracy of the detection result determination.

[0149] In one embodiment, the detection condition at least includes that the GTP-U transmitter does not send a service message to the GTP-U receiver within a preset time period, and the GTP-U transmitter and the GTP-U receiver can communicate with each other.

[0150] In an embodiment of the present application, since the passive detection of the GTP-U tunnel mentioned above can be automatically performed when the GTP-U sender sends a service message to the GTP-U receiver, the GTP-U sender does not need to start the GTP-U tunnel validity detection process when there is a service message to be sent.

[0151] If the GTP-U sender cannot communicate normally with the GTP-U receiver, the GTP-U receiver cannot reply to any detection message, and there is no need to start the GTP-U tunnel validity detection process.

[0152] The fact that the GTP-U transmitter does not send a service message to the GTP-U receiver within a preset time period can be used as a precondition for determining whether the GTP-U transmitter and the GTP-U receiver can communicate. That is, the GTP-U transmitter first determines whether the preset time period has passed after the last service message was sent. If so, it then determines whether the GTP-U transmitter and the GTP-U receiver can communicate.

[0153] In one embodiment, Figure 4 As shown, the above method also includes:

[0154] Step 402, sending a GTP-U echo request to the GTP-U receiver;

[0155] Step 404: upon receiving a GTP-U echo response sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the GTP-U echo request, determining that the GTP-U sending end and the GTP-U receiving end can communicate with each other.

[0156] In the embodiment of the present application, when determining whether the GTP-U transmitter and the GTP-U receiver can communicate, the above-mentioned coarse-grained detection is performed. That is, the GTP-U transmitter actively sends a GTP-U echo request to the GTP-U receiver, and if a GTP-U echo response is received, it is considered that the path between the GTP-U transmitter and the GTP-U receiver is reachable, and the GTP-U transmitter and the GTP-U receiver can communicate.

[0157] In one embodiment, the tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the detection message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of the GTP-U echo request header.

[0158] In the embodiment of the present application, the F-TEID (Full Tunnel Endpoint Identifier) ​​is inserted into the extension field of the GTP-U echo request header to obtain a detection message.

[0159] The following is an introduction to the format of the GTP-U echo request. According to the definition of 3GPP TS 29.281, the basic format of the GTP-U header can be found in Table 1:

[0160] Table 1

[0161]

[0162] In the above fields:

[0163] message type = 1: indicates that the message is a GTP-U echo request.

[0164] message type = 2: indicates that the message is a GTP-U echo response.

[0165] message type = 26, indicating that the message is GTP error indication (GTP-U error indication).

[0166] According to 3GPP TS29.281, GTP-U echo request / response can carry vendor private extension fields. 3GPP TS29.281 defines the format of private extension fields as shown in Table 2:

[0167] Table 2

[0168]

[0169] The Extension Identifier is the Private Enterprise Number. The Extension Value field uses F-TEID, and its format is as shown in Table 3:

[0170] Table 3

[0171]

[0172] Among them, the highest bit of the type field is 1, indicating a private type field, length is the field length, V4 and V6 are the lower two bits indicating the validity of the corresponding optional field. When V4 is valid, it indicates that the content of the IPv4 address in the field needs to be read, and the GTP-U tunnel uses the IPv4 address. When V6 is valid, it indicates that the content of the IPv6 address in the field needs to be read, and the GTP-U tunnel uses the IPv6 address.

[0173] In one embodiment, performing exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel includes:

[0174] Release the communication resources corresponding to the target GTP-U tunnel, and / or report the target GTP-U tunnel abnormality to the control plane network element corresponding to the GTP-U sending end.

[0175] In an embodiment of the present application, when the GTP-U sending end performs exception processing, the communication resources allocated to the target GTP-U tunnel can be released locally, or the target GTP-U tunnel exception can be reported to the control plane network element that manages the GTP-U sending end, or both steps can be performed simultaneously.

[0176] Releasing resources locally can prevent the GTP-U sender from continuing to send service traffic, causing the GTP-U receiver to continue to reply with GTP-U error indications to form a "continuous attack". Reporting the target GTP-U tunnel anomaly can instruct the control plane network element to release the abnormal GTP-U tunnel and clean up the invalid GTP-U tunnel in time.

[0177] Reference Figure 5 As shown, this is the processing logic when the GTP-U sender executes the GTP-U tunnel validity detection method in this case. After the GTP-U sender obtains the tunnel information (F-TEID) of the newly added target GTP-U tunnel from the upper-layer control plane network element, it waits for the detection condition to be met. If the GTP-U sender does not send a service message to the GTP-U receiver within the preset duration (N seconds of the timer), the GTP-U sender sends a GTP-U echo request to the GTP-U receiver, and after the GTP-U receiver replies with a GTP-U echo response, it determines that the GTP-U sender and the GTP-U receiver can communicate and meet the detection condition.

[0178] If, after the above determination process, it is determined that the GTP-U sender has sent a service message to the GTP-U receiver within the preset time, or that the GTP-U sender and the GTP-U receiver cannot communicate, then this detection cycle can be skipped and whether the detection conditions are met can be re-determined in the next detection cycle.

[0179] After the detection conditions are met, the GTP-U sender sends at least one GTP-U echo request carrying F-TEID in the custom extension field to the GTP-U receiver in a detection cycle, that is, a detection message. Then the GTP-U sender asynchronously waits for the response from the GTP-U receiver. If any GTP-U echo response carrying F-TEID is received during this detection cycle, the detection result of this detection is considered to be a normal result. Figure 5 The validity determination condition is set to that the number of normal results is greater than 0, so determining any one normal result can determine that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid.

[0180] If no response message is received, or a response message is received but the response message does not carry F-TEID, the detection result of this detection is considered to be an abnormal result, and the process of whether the abnormal result meets the invalidity judgment condition is entered. Figure 5 The invalid judgment condition is set as a preset number (K ​​times) of abnormal results appearing continuously within a preset time (N seconds), that is, the GTP-U receiving end does not reply with a response message or replies with a response message that does not carry F-TEID to the preset number of detection messages sent by the GTP-U sending end within the preset time. If the invalid judgment condition is not met, the validity of the target GTP-U tunnel is determined to be pending, and the next cycle of the target GTP-U tunnel validity detection is entered.

[0181] If the invalidity determination condition is met, it is further determined whether the target GTP-U tunnel has been previously determined to be valid. If so, the target GTP-U tunnel is determined to be invalid, and the subsequent GTP-U tunnel validity detection process is terminated after exception handling. If not, it is determined that the GTP-U receiving end does not support the detection message, and the subsequent GTP-U tunnel validity detection process is terminated.

[0182] In one embodiment, Figure 6 As shown, a GTP-U tunnel validity detection method is provided. This embodiment is described by applying the method to a GTP-U receiving end, and includes the following steps:

[0183] Step 602: Receive at least one detection message sent by the GTP-U sending end within a detection cycle, and parse the detection message to obtain tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel.

[0184] In the embodiment of the present application, the GTP-U receiving end receives a detection message. The detection message carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel. If the GTP-U receiving end can parse the detection message, the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel can be obtained.

[0185] Step 604: Determine the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the tunnel information.

[0186] In an embodiment of the present application, the GTP-U receiving end may match the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel with the tunnel information of each GTP-U tunnel supported by the GTP-U receiving end to determine whether the target GTP-U tunnel is supported locally.

[0187] If supported, the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel may be determined as the target GTP-U tunnel being valid. If not supported, the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel may be determined as the target GTP-U tunnel being invalid.

[0188] Step 606: Generate a first response message based on the validity determination result, and send the first response message to the GTP-U transmitter.

[0189] In an embodiment of the present application, the GTP-U receiving end may generate different first response messages based on the validity determination result. If the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid, a first response message indicating that the target GTP-U tunnel is normal may be generated, so that the GTP-U sending end determines that the detection result is a normal result based on the response message. If the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, a first response message indicating that the target GTP-U tunnel is abnormal may be generated, so that the GTP-U sending end determines that the detection result is an abnormal result based on the response message. The GTP-U sending end may then determine whether the target GTP-U tunnel is valid based on each detection result within the detection cycle according to the process of the aforementioned embodiment.

[0190] The GTP-U tunnel validity detection method provided in the embodiment of the present application enables the GTP-U transmitter to send a detection message to the GTP-U receiver, and carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel in the detection message; after the GTP-U receiver sends a response message in response to the detection message, the GTP-U transmitter determines the detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message, and when each detection result within the detection period indicates that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, the target GTP-U tunnel is subjected to abnormal processing. The embodiment of the present application enables the GTP-U transmitter to actively send a detection message to the GTP-U receiver to detect the validity of the GTP-U tunnel, and when it is detected that the GTP-U tunnel is invalid, the GTP-U tunnel can be actively subjected to abnormal processing, without relying on the release signaling of the control plane network element, which can reduce the waste of resources caused by maintaining an invalid GTP-U tunnel.

[0191] In one embodiment, in step 606, generating a first response message based on the validity determination result includes:

[0192] If the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid, the target response message is used as the first response message, and the target response message carries the tunnel information;

[0193] When the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, a GTP error indication is used as the first response message.

[0194] In the embodiment of the present application, the target response message is a response message carrying tunnel information. If the target GTP-U tunnel is valid, the GTP-U receiving end uses the target response message as the first response message to indicate to the GTP-U sending end that the GTP-U receiving end has successfully parsed the detection message and successfully determined that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid.

[0195] If the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, the GTP-U receiver sends a GTP Error Indication as the first response message. The GTP Error Indication does not carry tunnel information.

[0196] In one embodiment, the detection message is generated based on the GTP-U echo request, and the method further includes:

[0197] In the case where the detection message cannot be parsed, a second response message is sent to the GTP-U sending end, where the second response message is a GTP-U echo response.

[0198] In an embodiment of the present application, if the GTP-U receiving end does not support a customized GTP-U echo request (a probe message carrying tunnel information in this case), a GTP-U echo response can be returned to the GTP-U sending end as a response message in accordance with the standard process of the GTP-U echo request / response, so as to indicate to the GTP-U sending end that it has received the probe message but cannot parse the probe message.

[0199] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0200] If GTP-U echo request is not supported, the probe message is discarded.

[0201] In the embodiment of the present application, some GTP-U receiving ends may not support the GTP-U echo request / response mechanism. In this case, the GTP-U receiving end may discard the detection message, that is, not reply to the response message.

[0202] In one embodiment, the tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the target response message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of the GTP-U echo response header.

[0203] In the embodiment of the present application, F-TEID is used as tunnel information. Similar to the GTP-U echo request, user-defined information can also be inserted into the GTP-U echo response. The header fields of the GTP-U echo response and the GTP-U echo request are similar, so the specific insertion position of the F-TEID in the GTP-U echo response and the format of the F-TEID can refer to the description of the GTP-U echo request in the aforementioned embodiment, and the embodiment of the present application will not be repeated.

[0204] Reference Figure 7 As shown, the processing logic when the GTP-U receiving end executes the GTP-U tunnel validity detection method in this case. When the GTP-U receiving end receives the GTP-U echo request (detection message) carrying F-TEID, the GTP-U receiving end first determines whether it supports the GTP-U echo request / response mechanism. If not, the GTP-U receiving end discards the detection message and does not reply to the response message.

[0205] If supported, the GTP-U receiving end parses the detection message. In view of the fact that F-TEID is added to the standard GTP-U echo request in the embodiment of the present application, not all GTP-U receiving ends support the GTP-U echo request with the added custom information, so it is possible that the GTP-U receiving end cannot parse the detection message. If the GTP-U receiving end cannot parse the detection message, it replies with a standard GTP-U echo response. The standard GTP-U echo response does not carry F-TEID.

[0206] If the GTP-U receiver can parse the probe message, it reads the F-TEID from the probe message to determine whether the F-TEID is valid locally. If it is valid, it replies with a GTP-U echo response carrying the F-TEID. If it is invalid, it replies with a GTP-U error indication. The GTP-U error indication does not carry the F-TEID.

[0207] Reference Figure 8 As shown in the figure, it is the overall signaling interaction process taking the GTP-U sender as UPF, the GTP-U receiver as gNB or UPF, and the upper control plane network element as SMF as an example. When the GTP-U sender performs normal business, it will first send a PFCP Session Establishment Request (PFCF session establishment request, where PFCP refers to Packet Forwarding Control Protocol) to SMF, triggering SMF to reply with a PFCP Session Establishment Response (PFCF session establishment response) and send the F-TEID to UPF. If the information of the GTP-U tunnel changes later, the SMF can notify the UPF through a PFCP Session Modification Request (PFCF session modification request), and the UPF can respond through a PFCP Session Modification Response (PFCF session modification response).

[0208] After obtaining the F-TEID, the UPF can start to execute the validity detection process in the embodiment of the present application. The UPF periodically sends a GTP-U echo request carrying the F-TEID of the target GTP-U tunnel to the GTP-U receiving end. The GTP-U receiving end can reply with a GTP-U echo response carrying the F-TEID of the target GTP-U tunnel if it is determined that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid. If it is determined that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, a GTP-U error indication is replied without the F-TEID.

[0209] When the UPF determines that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, it can handle it locally or send a PFCPSession Report Request (PFCF session report request) to the SMF, carrying an identifier representing the request type as a GTP-U tunnel error (that is, report type: ERIR), to report that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid. The SMF can send a PFCPSession Report Response (PFCF session report response) to the UPF in reply.

[0210] Based on the technical solution provided by this application, the following can be formed: Fig. 9 The two granularity detections shown. When determining whether the detection conditions are met, the present application can perform the coarse-grained detection for determining the reachability of the GTP-U receiving end as described above. Then, based on the GTP-U tunnel validity detection method proposed in the present application, an active detection for determining the validity of the GTP-U tunnel can be formed.

[0211] The GTP-U tunnel validity detection method provided in the embodiment of the present application is based on the GTP-U tunnel granularity, actively detects the legitimacy of the GTP-U tunnel information recognized by the GTP-U receiving end, and cooperates with the passive detection of the GTP-U tunnel granularity to balance the load overhead caused by fine-grained detection and the timeliness of detection. At the same time, to support the active detection mechanism, the scalability of the GTP-U echo request / response defined by 3GPP that can carry the manufacturer's private extension field is utilized, and a custom GTP-U tunnel information field is carried to indicate which GTP-U tunnel to detect before the GTP-U receiving end.

[0212] The GTP-U tunnel validity detection method provided in the embodiment of the present application can achieve the following effects:

[0213] 1. Compatibility with the standard GTP-U echo mechanism. The GTP-U receiver that does not support private field docking can ignore the private field (3GPP TS29.281 defines that such fields can be ignored) and reply with a standard GTP-U echo response.

[0214] 2. The fine-grained active detection method for GTP-U tunnels proposed in this solution avoids the limitation that the detection of GTP-U tunnel granularity must passively rely on the triggering of business flow forwarding behavior. At the same time, in conjunction with passive detection, the processing load of the fine-grained detection agent of the GTP-U entity can be reduced.

[0215] 3. Timely and proactive detection and determination of the validity of the GTP-U tunnel to prevent the local GTP-U entity from continuing to use invalid tunnel information to encapsulate and send service traffic, thereby attacking the peer GTP-U entity.

[0216] 4. The GTP-U entity promptly and proactively determines and clears invalid GTP-U tunnel resources.

[0217] 5. The GTP-U entity promptly reports the invalid GTP-U tunnel to the control plane network element, which helps the control plane to quickly repair or release the service of the PDU session.

[0218] It should be understood that, although the various steps in the flowcharts involved in the above-mentioned embodiments are displayed in sequence according to the indication of the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in sequence according to the order indicated by the arrows. Unless there is a clear explanation in this article, the execution of these steps does not have a strict order restriction, and these steps can be executed in other orders. Moreover, at least a part of the steps in the flowcharts involved in the above-mentioned embodiments can include multiple steps or multiple stages, and these steps or stages are not necessarily executed at the same time, but can be executed at different times, and the execution order of these steps or stages is not necessarily to be carried out in sequence, but can be executed in turn or alternately with other steps or at least a part of the steps or stages in other steps.

[0219] Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiment of the present application also provides a GTP-U tunnel validity detection device for implementing the GTP-U tunnel validity detection method involved above. The implementation scheme for solving the problem provided by the device is similar to the implementation scheme recorded in the above method, so the specific limitations in one or more GTP-U tunnel validity detection device embodiments provided below can refer to the limitations of the GTP-U tunnel validity detection method above, and will not be repeated here.

[0220] In one embodiment, Fig.10 As shown, a GTP-U tunnel validity detection device 1000 is provided, which is applied to a GTP-U transmitting end, and includes: a first transmitting module 1002, a receiving module 1004, and a first determining module 1006, wherein:

[0221] A first sending module 1002 is configured to send at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within a detection cycle when the detection condition is met, wherein the detection message carries tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel;

[0222] The receiving module 1004 is used to receive a response message sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the detection message, and determine the detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message;

[0223] The first determination module 1006 is used to determine the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on each of the detection results within the detection period, and perform exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel when the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

[0224] The GTP-U tunnel validity detection device provided in the embodiment of the present application enables the GTP-U transmitter to send a detection message to the GTP-U receiver, and carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel in the detection message; after the GTP-U receiver sends a response message in response to the detection message, the GTP-U transmitter determines the detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message, and performs exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel when each of the detection results within the detection period indicates that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid. The embodiment of the present application enables the GTP-U transmitter to actively send a detection message to the GTP-U receiver to detect the validity of the GTP-U tunnel, and actively perform exception processing on the GTP-U tunnel when it is detected that the GTP-U tunnel is invalid, without relying on the release signaling of the control plane network element, which can reduce the waste of resources caused by maintaining invalid GTP-U tunnels.

[0225] In one embodiment, the detection result includes an abnormal result and a normal result, and the first determination module 1006 is further used to:

[0226] If each of the normal results satisfies the validity determination condition, then determining that the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid; or,

[0227] If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel is judged to be valid in any detection cycle before the detection cycle, and each of the abnormal results meets the invalidity judgment condition, then the validity judgment result is determined to be that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

[0228] In one embodiment, the receiving module 1004 is further used for:

[0229] In a case where the response message carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel, determining that the detection result is a normal result; or,

[0230] When the response message does not carry the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel, it is determined that the detection result is the abnormal result.

[0231] In one embodiment, the device further comprises:

[0232] The second determining module is used to determine that the detection result is the abnormal result when the response message is not received.

[0233] In one embodiment, the first determining module 1004 is further configured to:

[0234] If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel has not been judged to be valid in all detection cycles before the detection cycle, and each of the abnormal results meets the invalidity judgment condition, then the GTP-U tunnel validity detection process is terminated.

[0235] In one embodiment, the first determining module 1004 is further configured to:

[0236] If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, and each of the abnormal results does not meet the invalid judgment condition, then the validity judgment result is determined to be that the validity of the target GTP-U tunnel is to be determined, and the process jumps to the step of sending at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within one detection cycle when the detection condition is met.

[0237] In one of the embodiments, the detection condition at least includes that the GTP-U sending end does not send a service message to the GTP-U receiving end within a preset time period, and the GTP-U sending end and the GTP-U receiving end can communicate with each other.

[0238] In one embodiment, the device further comprises:

[0239] A second sending module, used to send a GTP-U echo request to the GTP-U receiving end;

[0240] The third determination module is used to determine that communication can be carried out between the GTP-U sending end and the GTP-U receiving end when a GTP-U echo response is received from the GTP-U receiving end in response to the GTP-U echo request.

[0241] In one of the embodiments, the tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the detection message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of a GTP-U echo request header.

[0242] In one embodiment, the first determining module 1006 is further configured to:

[0243] Release the communication resources corresponding to the target GTP-U tunnel, and / or report the abnormality of the target GTP-U tunnel to the control plane network element corresponding to the GTP-U sending end.

[0244] In one embodiment, Fig.11 As shown, a GTP-U tunnel validity detection device 1100 is provided, which is applied to a GTP-U receiving end, including: a receiving module 1102, a determining module 1104, and a first sending module 1106, wherein:

[0245] A receiving module, configured to receive at least one detection message sent by a GTP-U sending end within a detection period, and parse the detection message to obtain tunnel information of a target GTP-U tunnel;

[0246] A determination module, configured to determine a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the tunnel information;

[0247] The first sending module is used to generate a first response message based on the validity determination result, and send the first response message to the GTP-U sending end.

[0248] The GTP-U tunnel validity detection device provided in the embodiment of the present application enables the GTP-U transmitter to send a detection message to the GTP-U receiver, and carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel in the detection message; after the GTP-U receiver sends a response message in response to the detection message, the GTP-U transmitter determines the detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message, and performs exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel when each of the detection results within the detection period indicates that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid. The embodiment of the present application enables the GTP-U transmitter to actively send a detection message to the GTP-U receiver to detect the validity of the GTP-U tunnel, and actively perform exception processing on the GTP-U tunnel when it is detected that the GTP-U tunnel is invalid, without relying on the release signaling of the control plane network element, which can reduce the waste of resources caused by maintaining invalid GTP-U tunnels.

[0249] In one embodiment, the first sending module 1106 is further configured to:

[0250] If the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid, using the target response message as the first response message, the target response message carrying the tunnel information; or

[0251] When the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, a GTP error indication is used as the first response message.

[0252] In one of the embodiments, the detection message is generated based on a GTP-U echo request, and the apparatus further includes:

[0253] The second sending module is used to send a second response message to the GTP-U sending end when the detection message cannot be parsed, and the second response message is a GTP-U echo response.

[0254] In one embodiment, the device further comprises:

[0255] The discarding module is used to discard the detection message when the GTP-U echo request is not supported.

[0256] In one of the embodiments, the tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the target response message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of a GTP-U echo response header.

[0257] Each module in the above device can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware or a combination thereof. Each module can be embedded in or independent of a processor in a computer device in the form of hardware, or can be stored in a memory in a computer device in the form of software, so that the processor can call and execute operations corresponding to each module.

[0258] In one embodiment, Fig.12 As shown, a communication device is provided, which is applied to the GTP-U sending end, including a receiver 1201, a memory 1202, a processor 1203, at least one communication bus 1204 and a transmitter 1205. The communication bus 1204 is used to realize the communication connection between the components. The memory 1202 may include a high-speed RAM memory, and may also include a non-volatile storage NVM, such as at least one disk memory. Various programs can be stored in the memory 1202 to complete various processing functions and implement the method steps of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the transmitter 1205 can be a radio frequency processing module or a baseband processing module in the access network device, and the receiver 1201 can also be a radio frequency processing module or a baseband processing module in the access network device. The transmitter 1205 and the receiver 1201 can be integrated together to realize a transceiver. The transmitter 1205 and the receiver 1201 can both be coupled to the processor 1203, and can realize the receiving or sending action under the instruction or control of the processor 1203.

[0259] The processor 1203 is configured to control the transmitter 1205 to send at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within a detection cycle when the detection condition is met, wherein the detection message carries tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel;

[0260] The receiver 1201 is used to receive a response message sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the detection message;

[0261] The processor 1203 is further configured to determine a detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message;

[0262] The processor 1203 is further configured to determine a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on each of the detection results within the detection period, and to perform exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel if the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

[0263] In one embodiment, the detection result includes an abnormal result and a normal result; the processor 1203 is further used to determine that the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid if each of the normal results satisfies the validity determination condition; or if each of the normal results does not satisfy the validity determination condition, the target GTP-U tunnel is determined to be valid in any detection cycle before the detection cycle, and each of the abnormal results satisfies the invalid determination condition, then the validity determination result is determined to be that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

[0264] In one of the embodiments, the processor 1203 is further used to determine that the detection result is a normal result when the response message carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel; or to determine that the detection result is the abnormal result when the response message does not carry the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel.

[0265] In one of the embodiments, the processor 1203 is further configured to determine that the detection result is the abnormal result when the response message is not received.

[0266] In one of the embodiments, the processor 1203 is also used to terminate the GTP-U tunnel validity detection process if each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel has not been determined to be valid in all detection cycles before the detection cycle, and each of the abnormal results meets the invalid judgment condition.

[0267] In one embodiment, the processor 1203 is also used to determine that the validity determination result is that the validity of the target GTP-U tunnel is to be determined if each of the normal results does not meet the validity determination condition and each of the abnormal results does not meet the invalid determination condition, and jump to the step of sending at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within one detection cycle when the detection condition is met.

[0268] In one of the embodiments, the detection condition at least includes that the GTP-U sending end does not send a service message to the GTP-U receiving end within a preset time period, and the GTP-U sending end and the GTP-U receiving end can communicate with each other.

[0269] In one of the embodiments, the transmitter 1205 is further configured to send a GTP-U echo request to the GTP-U receiving end;

[0270] The processor 1203 is further configured to determine that communication is possible between the GTP-U sending end and the GTP-U receiving end when the receiver 1201 receives a GTP-U echo response sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the GTP-U echo request.

[0271] In one of the embodiments, the tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the detection message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of a GTP-U echo request header.

[0272] In one of the embodiments, the processor 1203 is also used to release the communication resources corresponding to the target GTP-U tunnel, and / or report the abnormality of the target GTP-U tunnel to the control plane network element corresponding to the GTP-U sending end through the transmitter 1205.

[0273] In one embodiment, Fig.13 As shown, a communication device is provided, which is applied to a GTP-U receiving end, including a receiver 1301, a memory 1302, a processor 1303, at least one communication bus 1304 and a transmitter 1305. The connection relationship of each element and the specific definition of each element can refer to the definition of the communication device in the above embodiment, and the embodiment of the present application will not be repeated here.

[0274] The receiver 1301 is used to receive at least one detection message sent by the GTP-U sending end within a detection cycle;

[0275] The processor 1303 is configured to parse the detection message to obtain tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel;

[0276] The processor 1303 is further configured to determine a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the tunnel information;

[0277] The processor 1303 is further configured to generate a first response message based on the validity determination result, and control the transmitter 1305 to send the first response message to the GTP-U transmitter.

[0278] In one of the embodiments, the processor 1303 is further used to use a target response message as a first response message when the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid, and the target response message carries the tunnel information; or use a GTP error indication as the first response message when the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

[0279] In one of the embodiments, the detection message is generated based on a GTP-U echo request, and the processor 1303 is also used to control the transmitter 1305 to send a second response message to the GTP-U transmitter when the detection message cannot be parsed, and the second response message is a GTP-U echo response.

[0280] In one of the embodiments, the processor 1303 is further configured to discard the detection message when the GTP-U echo request is not supported.

[0281] In one of the embodiments, the tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the target response message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of a GTP-U echo response header.

[0282] In one embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps in the above-mentioned method embodiments are implemented.

[0283] In one embodiment, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program, which implements the steps in the above method embodiments when executed by a processor.

[0284] It should be noted that the user information (including but not limited to user device information, user personal information, etc.) and data (including but not limited to data used for analysis, stored data, displayed data, etc.) involved in this application are all information and data authorized by the user or fully authorized by all parties.

[0285] Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program, and the computer program can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed, it can include the processes of the embodiments of the above-mentioned methods. Among them, any reference to the memory, database or other medium used in the embodiments provided in this application can include at least one of non-volatile and volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can include read-only memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory, optical memory, high-density embedded non-volatile memory, resistive random access memory (ReRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), phase change memory (PCM), graphene memory, etc. Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory, etc. As an illustration and not limitation, RAM can be in various forms, such as static random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The database involved in each embodiment provided in this application may include at least one of a relational database and a non-relational database. Non-relational databases may include distributed databases based on blockchains, etc., but are not limited to this. The processor involved in each embodiment provided in this application may be a general-purpose processor, a central processing unit, a graphics processor, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic device, a data processing logic device based on quantum computing, etc., but are not limited to this.

[0286] The technical features of the above embodiments may be combined arbitrarily. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0287] The above-described embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the present application. It should be pointed out that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the attached claims.

Claims

1. A GTP-U tunnel validity detection method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a GTP-U transmitting end, comprising: When the detection condition is met, at least one detection message is sent to the GTP-U receiving end within one detection cycle, wherein the detection message carries tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel; receiving a response message sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the detection message, and determining a detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message; Based on each of the detection results in the detection period, a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel is determined, and when the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, an exception process is performed on the target GTP-U tunnel.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The detection result includes an abnormal result and a normal result, and determining the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on each of the detection results within the detection period includes: If each of the normal results satisfies the validity determination condition, then determining that the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid; or, If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel is judged to be valid in any detection cycle before the detection cycle, and each of the abnormal results meets the invalidity judgment condition, then the validity judgment result is determined to be that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The determining, based on the response message, a detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel, includes: In a case where the response message carries the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel, determining that the detection result is a normal result; or, When the response message does not carry the tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel, it is determined that the detection result is the abnormal result.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: In a case where the response message is not received, the detection result is determined to be the abnormal result.

5. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The determining, based on each of the detection results within the detection period, a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel further includes: If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, the target GTP-U tunnel has not been judged to be valid in all detection cycles before the detection cycle, and each of the abnormal results meets the invalidity judgment condition, then the GTP-U tunnel validity detection process is terminated.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The determining, based on each of the detection results within the detection period, a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel further includes: If each of the normal results does not meet the validity judgment condition, and each of the abnormal results does not meet the invalid judgment condition, then the validity judgment result is determined to be that the validity of the target GTP-U tunnel is to be determined, and the process jumps to the step of sending at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within one detection cycle when the detection condition is met.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The detection condition at least includes that the GTP-U sending end does not send a service message to the GTP-U receiving end within a preset time period, and the GTP-U sending end and the GTP-U receiving end can communicate with each other.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending a GTP-U echo request to the GTP-U receiving end; Upon receiving a GTP-U echo response sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the GTP-U echo request, it is determined that communication is possible between the GTP-U sending end and the GTP-U receiving end.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the detection message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of a GTP-U echo request header.

10. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The performing exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel includes: Release the communication resources corresponding to the target GTP-U tunnel, and / or report the abnormality of the target GTP-U tunnel to the control plane network element corresponding to the GTP-U sending end.

11. A method for detecting the validity of a GTP-U tunnel, characterized in that: The method is applied to a GTP-U receiving end, comprising: receiving at least one detection message sent by the GTP-U sending end within a detection period, and parsing the detection message to obtain tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel; Determine a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the tunnel information; Generate a first response message based on the validity determination result, and send the first response message to the GTP-U sending end.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The generating a first response message based on the validity determination result includes: If the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is valid, using the target response message as the first response message, the target response message carrying the tunnel information; or When the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid, a GTP error indication is used as the first response message.

13. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The detection message is generated based on the GTP-U echo request, and the method further includes: In the case where the detection message cannot be parsed, a second response message is sent to the GTP-U sending end, where the second response message is a GTP-U echo response.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: If the GTP-U echo request is not supported, the detection message is discarded.

15. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The tunnel information is a full tunnel endpoint identifier, and the target response message is obtained by inserting the full tunnel endpoint identifier into an extension field of a GTP-U echo response header.

16. A GTP-U tunnel validity detection device, characterized in that: Applied to the GTP-U sender, including: A first sending module, configured to send at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within a detection cycle when the detection condition is met, wherein the detection message carries tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel; A receiving module, configured to receive a response message sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the detection message, and determine a detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message; The first determination module is used to determine the validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on each of the detection results within the detection period, and perform exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel when the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

17. A GTP-U tunnel validity detection device, characterized in that: Applied to the GTP-U receiving end, including: A receiving module, configured to receive at least one detection message sent by a GTP-U sending end within a detection period, and parse the detection message to obtain tunnel information of a target GTP-U tunnel; A determination module, configured to determine a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the tunnel information; The first sending module is used to generate a first response message based on the validity determination result, and send the first response message to the GTP-U sending end.

18. A communication device, characterized in that: Applied to the GTP-U sender, including the transmitter, processor, and receiver; The processor is configured to control the transmitter to send at least one detection message to the GTP-U receiving end within a detection cycle when the detection condition is met, wherein the detection message carries tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel; The receiver is used to receive a response message sent by the GTP-U receiving end in response to the detection message; The processor is further configured to determine a detection result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the response message; The processor is further configured to determine a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on each of the detection results within the detection cycle, and to perform exception processing on the target GTP-U tunnel if the validity determination result is that the target GTP-U tunnel is invalid.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: Applied to the GTP-U receiving end, including the transmitter, processor and receiver; The receiver is used to receive at least one detection message sent by the GTP-U sending end within a detection cycle; The processor is used to parse the detection message to obtain tunnel information of the target GTP-U tunnel; The processor is further configured to determine a validity determination result of the target GTP-U tunnel based on the tunnel information; The processor is further configured to generate a first response message based on the validity determination result, and control the transmitter to send the first response message to the GTP-U transmitting end.

20. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 are implemented.

21. A computer program product, comprising a computer program, characterized in that When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 are implemented.

Images