A method and related device for UPF overload control processing

Abstract

The present application discloses a method and related device for UPF overload control processing, belonging to the technical field of 5G core network communication. The disclosed method includes: obtaining overload control information from a first UPF network element; determining a first number of connected users to be reduced from the connected users of the first UPF network element according to the overload control information; determining idle users among the connected users of the first UPF network element, and selecting a corresponding number of target idle users from the idle users according to the first number; determining at least one second UPF network element that meets the load condition from the communication network; migrating each target idle user from the first UPF network element to the at least one second UPF network element, and controlling each target idle user migrated to the corresponding second UPF network element to be in an idle state. The present application quickly solves the overload problem of the UPF, and at the same time minimizes the proportion of user session update process failures as much as possible.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the technical field of 5G core network communication, and particularly relates to a method and related device for UPF overload control processing. Background Art

[0002] In the 5G core network, the SMF (Session Management Function) and the UPF (User Plane Function) are important network elements on the control plane and the user plane respectively. Among them, the SMF is mainly responsible for the session management of users, and selects a suitable UPF network element for the user equipment to establish a user plane tunnel. The UPF is responsible for the transmission of user plane data.

[0003] When UPF overload (overload) occurs, the traditional SMF strategy is to reduce the access of new users to the overloaded UPF to relieve the load of the overloaded UPF. However, if the users on the UPF are online for a long time (that is, even if the users do not use the data network and enter the idle state, and the radio resources are released, as long as the users do not turn off the network, the users on the core network side are online, and this situation often occurs in practice), then the number of users on the UPF will not decrease significantly in a short time, resulting in a slow process for the UPF overload to recover, making the UPF in an overloaded state for a long time, unable to quickly solve the UPF overload problem, and at the same time, it will also increase the proportion of session update process failures due to too long overload time, thus affecting the user experience. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, this application provides a method and related device for UPF overload control processing, which are used to solve the problems existing in the traditional overload processing solution, make the relief of UPF overload more real-time, reduce the proportion of session update process failures caused by overload, and improve the user experience.

[0005] The specific technical solutions are as follows:

[0006] A method for UPF overload control processing includes:

[0007] Obtain overload control information from a first UPF network element, where the overload control information is at least used to indicate that the first UPF network element is currently in an overloaded state;

[0008] Determine a first quantity of the connected users to be reduced from the connected users of the first UPF network element according to the overload control information;

[0009] Determine the idle users among the accessed users of the first UPF network element who are in the idle state of not using the communication network, and select the corresponding number of target idle users from the idle users according to the first quantity;

[0010] Determine at least one second UPF network element that meets the load condition from the communication network; the load condition is used to characterize that the UPF network element is in a low load state;

[0011] Migrate the corresponding number of target idle users from the first UPF network element to the at least one second UPF network element.

[0012] Optionally, the determining the first quantity of the accessed users to be reduced from the accessed users of the first UPF network element according to the overload control information includes:

[0013] Determine the first quantity of the accessed users to be reduced from the accessed users of the first UPF network element according to the total number of the accessed users of the first UPF network element and the ratio of the expected load decrease of the first UPF network element included in the overload control information.

[0014] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0015] Monitor the usage status of the accessed users of each UPF network element in the communication network;

[0016] Store the user information of the idle users among the accessed users of each UPF network element in the record unit created for the UPF network element to which it belongs; wherein, if the user information of the corresponding idle user recorded in the record unit corresponding to the UPF network element enters the active state, the user information of the user entering the active state is removed from the corresponding record unit.

[0017] Optionally, the determining the idle users among the accessed users of the first UPF network element who are in the idle state of not using the communication network includes:

[0018] Determine the idle users among the accessed users of the first UPF network element who are in the idle state according to the user information recorded in the first record unit corresponding to the first UPF network element;

[0019] The selecting the corresponding number of target idle users from the idle users according to the first quantity includes:

[0020] If the number of idle users characterized by the user information in the first record unit is not less than the first quantity, select the first quantity of idle users from the idle users characterized by the user information in the first record unit as the target idle users;

[0021] If the number of idle users characterized by the user information in the first recording unit is lower than the first number, select all the idle users characterized by the user information in the first recording unit as the target idle users.

[0022] Optionally, when the number of idle users characterized by the user information in the first recording unit is lower than the first number, the method further includes:

[0023] Select a second number of idle users from the idle users that subsequently enter the idle state and are correspondingly recorded in the first recording unit, and supplement them to the target idle users;

[0024] Wherein, the second number is the difference between the first number and the number of all idle users characterized by the user information in the first recording unit currently.

[0025] Optionally, migrating the corresponding number of target idle users from the first UPF network element to the at least one second UPF network element includes:

[0026] If the first UPF network element is an anchor UPF, send a session deletion request to the first UPF network element to instruct the first UPF network element to delete the session of the target idle user and release the dynamic routing of the user address of the target idle user; and send a session creation request to the second UPF network element to instruct the second UPF network element to create a session for the target idle user based on the user address carried in the session creation request and publish the dynamic routing for the target idle user; the user address carried in the session creation request is the address recently assigned by the SMF network element to the target idle user;

[0027] If the first UPF network element is an intermediate UPF, send a session deletion request to the first UPF network element to instruct the first UPF network element to delete the session of the target idle user; and send a session creation request to the second UPF network element to instruct the second UPF network element to create a session for the target idle user.

[0028] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0029] Delete the user information of the target idle users that have completed the migration from the first recording unit corresponding to the first UPF network element and write it into the second recording unit corresponding to the second UPF network element.

[0030] An apparatus for UPF overload control processing includes:

[0031] An acquisition module, configured to obtain overload control information from a first UPF network element, where the overload control information is at least used to indicate that the first UPF network element is currently in an overloaded state;

[0032] A first determination module, configured to determine a first quantity of access users to be reduced from the access users of the first UPF network element according to the overload control information;

[0033] A selection module, configured to determine idle users in an idle state that are not using the communication network among the access users of the first UPF network element, and select a corresponding quantity of target idle users from the idle users according to the first quantity;

[0034] A second determination module, configured to determine at least one second UPF network element that meets the load condition from the communication network; the load condition is used to characterize that the UPF network element is in a low-load state;

[0035] A migration module, configured to migrate the corresponding quantity of target idle users from the first UPF network element to the at least one second UPF network element, and control each of the target idle users migrated to the corresponding second UPF network element to be in an idle state.

[0036] A network element device, comprising:

[0037] A memory, configured to store a computer program;

[0038] A processor, configured to implement the method for UPF overload control processing as described in any one of the above by calling and executing the computer program in the memory.

[0039] A computer-readable medium, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, it can be used to implement the method for UPF overload control processing as described in any one of the above.

[0040] According to the above solution, in the method and related device for UPF overload control processing provided by this application, after obtaining the overload control information from the first UPF network element, the first quantity of the connected users to be reduced from the connected users of the first UPF network element is determined according to the overload control information, and the idle users among the connected users of the first UPF network element are determined, and the corresponding quantity of target idle users is selected from the idle users according to the first quantity. On this basis, each selected target idle user is migrated to at least one second UPF network element in the communication network that is in a low-load state. It can be seen that this application proposes and implements a solution for dynamically reducing the load in real time to balance the load among different UPFs when the UPF is overloaded and working properly, without relying on and waiting for the offline of the online users in the overloaded UPF. The load of the overloaded UPF can be reduced without the users noticing by migrating the idle users, so that this application quickly solves the UPF overload problem, avoids the UPF being in an overloaded state for a long time, and at the same time reduces the failure ratio of the user session update process as much as possible by avoiding the UPF being in an overloaded state for a long time. Description of the Drawings

[0041] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only the embodiments of this application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the provided drawings without creative efforts.

[0042] Figure 1 is the communication network architecture diagram provided by this application;

[0043] Figure 2 is the flowchart of the method for UPF overload control processing provided by this application;

[0044] Figure 3 is the interactive timing diagram of the session creation process provided by this application;

[0045] Figure 4 is the interactive timing diagram of the UPF overload control processing provided by this application;

[0046] Figure 5 is the interactive timing diagram of the air interface release process provided by this application;

[0047] Figure 6 is the composition structure diagram of the device for UPF overload control processing provided by this application;

[0048] Figure 7 is the composition structure diagram of the network element device provided by this application. Detailed implementation manners

[0049] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0050] In the 5G core network, SMF and UPF are important network elements in the control plane and user plane respectively. SMF is mainly responsible for the session management of users, and selects a suitable UPF network element for the user equipment to establish a user plane tunnel. UPF is responsible for the transmission of user plane data.

[0051] Refer to Figure 1 the shown communication network architecture diagram. UPF and SMF use the N4 interface reference point for communication.

[0052] Generally, one SMF will manage multiple UPFs. SMF will allocate a suitable UPF for the user according to information such as the DNN ( , data network), slice, and UPF load of the accessing user, and send a session creation request to the allocated UPF. The UPF performs a session creation response and feeds back information to the SMF to indicate successful creation, and at the same time carries the user plane tunnel information (such as the user plane IP address of the UPF and the tunnel ID allocated for the created session) in the feedback information.

[0053] The session-level processes between SMF and UPF, including the creation, update, and release processes of the session, are all requests sent by the SMF to the UPF, and the UPF responds to the requests of the SMF. The applicant found that in the traditional technology, once the session of a certain user is created on a certain UPF, then the subsequent session update process and release process of this user have to be sent to this UPF for processing. The UPF can carry the load information and overload information of this UPF in the response message for the SMF to use as a reference to select a suitable UPF for the subsequent new users to create sessions. When the SMF selects a UPF for new users, it will try to select a UPF with a low load as much as possible to balance the load among multiple UPFs.

[0054] Since the selection of the UPF only occurs in the access process of new users, the decrease in the number of overloaded UPF users in the traditional technology depends to a certain extent on the offline of the already connected users. When the user goes offline and then goes online again, it may be selected to other UPFs, and the network side cannot determine the online and offline behavior of the user. This results in a slow process for the recovery of UPF overload in the traditional technology, making the UPF in an overloaded state for a long time and unable to quickly solve the UPF overload problem.

[0055] When overload occurs, the common strategy of the SMF is to reduce the number of new users accessing the overloaded UPF. However, for the users already connected to this UPF, session messages of the update or release type can only be processed by this UPF. To reduce the message volume, the SMF needs to discard some messages, and the release process has a higher priority and should not be discarded. As a result, update-type messages are often discarded, which often leads to the failure of a certain amount of session update processes. In the traditional technology, the long-term overload state of the UPF will obviously further increase the proportion of update process failures, thus further affecting the user experience.

[0056] In the field of UPF overload, although there are some other solutions, these solutions still aim to improve the load balancing problem among multiple UPFs by more reasonably selecting UPFs for newly connected users, and cannot quickly solve the overload problem of the overloaded UPF.

[0057] Based on this, the embodiments of the present application provide a method and related device for UPF overload control processing. After the UPF reports overload control information to the SMF, the SMF is triggered to actively and dynamically migrate the connected users between UPFs in real time, so that the alleviation of UPF overload can be more real-time, and at the same time, the proportion of session update process failures caused by overload is reduced.

[0058] Optionally, the method for UPF overload control processing provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the SMF network element in a communication network.

[0059] See Figure 2 In the method flow schematic diagram shown, the method for UPF overload control processing provided by the embodiments of the present application can at least include the following steps 201 to 205, and these steps will be described in detail below.

[0060] Step 201: Obtain overload control information from the first UPF network element, where the overload control information is at least used to indicate that the first UPF network element is currently in an overloaded state.

[0061] Optionally, the overload control information from the first UPF network element may include the ratio of the expected load decrease of the first UPF network element. Exemplarily, specifically according to the 3GPP29.244 protocol, an OCI (Overload Control Information) field is carried in the message sent by the UPF to the SMF, and in the case of UPF overload, the corresponding field in the OCI, such as the metric field, is used to represent the ratio of the expected load decrease of the UPF.

[0062] In implementation, without limitation thereto, the amount by which the overloaded UPF expects its load to decrease may also be carried in the overload control information.

[0063] In addition, optionally, duration information Timer may also be carried in the overload control information to indicate the effective duration of the metric, such as indicating that the message volume is expected to be reduced by 20% within 10 minutes and restored after 10 minutes.

[0064] In a communication network, usually an SMF manages multiple UPFs. In the embodiment of the present application, when there are too many users accessing the first UPF network element in the communication network, resulting in overload, the first UPF network element may send overload control information to its affiliated SMF network element through a session-level message between them, so as to request the affiliated SMF network element to trigger the overload control process for the first UPF network element.

[0065] Step 202: Determine a first quantity of the accessed users to be reduced from the accessed users of the first UPF network element according to the overload control information.

[0066] After receiving the overload control information from the first UPF network element, the SMF network element may determine a first quantity of the accessed users to be reduced from the accessed users of the first UPF network element according to the ratio of the expected load decrease indicated by the first UPF network element in the overload control information and the total number of the accessed users of the first UPF network element.

[0067] Step 203: Determine the idle users in the accessed users of the first UPF network element that are in the idle state of not using the communication network, and select a corresponding number of target idle users from the idle users according to the first quantity.

[0068] In the embodiment of the present application, a corresponding record unit is created for each UPF network element in advance to record the idle user information of the UPF network element. The created record unit may be implemented in, but not limited to, forms such as a queue, an array, etc. For example, a queue for storing the idle user information of each UPF network element is created for each UPF network element.

[0069] In the embodiments of the present application, the SMF network element monitors in real time the usage status of the connected users of each UPF network element it is responsible for on the communication network. And the idle user information of the connected users in each UPF network element that is in the idle state is stored in the record unit created for this UPF network element. For example, the idle user information of each UPF network element is stored in the queue corresponding to this UPF network element. Among them, if the corresponding idle users recorded in the record unit such as the queue of the UPF network element enter the active state, the user information of the users entering the active state is removed from the corresponding record unit such as the queue, so as to ensure that the record unit such as the queue corresponding to each UPF network element always records the user information of its idle users.

[0070] On this basis, for the overload control information from the first UPF network element, specifically, the idle users in the connected users of the first UPF network element that are in the idle state of not using the communication network can be determined according to the user information recorded in the first record unit corresponding to the first UPF network element. For example, according to the user information in the first queue corresponding to the first UPF network element, each idle user connected to the first UPF network element is determined.

[0071] And the corresponding number of target idle users can be selected from each of the idle users connected to the first UPF network element according to the first quantity.

[0072] Among them, if the number of idle users characterized by the user information in the first record unit corresponding to the first UPF network element is not less than the first quantity, the first quantity of idle users can be selected from the idle users characterized by the user information in the first record unit as the target idle users.

[0073] On the contrary, if the number of idle users characterized by the user information in the first record unit corresponding to the first UPF network element is less than the first quantity, all the idle users characterized by the user information in the first record unit are selected as the target idle users. In this case, the number of the selected target idle users is less than the first quantity that the first UPF network element expects to reduce. For this situation, in implementation, optionally, the second quantity of idle users can be further selected from the idle users that subsequently enter the idle state and are correspondingly recorded in the first record unit, and the selected second quantity of idle users can be supplemented to the target idle users to make up the first quantity that the first UPF network element expects to reduce.

[0074] Among them, the second quantity is the difference between the first quantity and the number of all idle users characterized by the user information in the current first record unit.

[0075] Step 204: Determine at least one second UPF network element that meets the load condition from the communication network.

[0076] The load condition is used to characterize that the UPF network element is in a low load state, and specifically can be but is not limited to any one of the following: the number of connected users of the UPF network element is lower than a preset number threshold, and the proportion of connected users of the UPF network element (the proportion between the number of connected users and the set full load number) is lower than a preset proportion threshold.

[0077] Specifically, based on the set load condition, the SMF network element can determine at least one second UPF network element in a low load state from the communication network to receive each target idle user migrated from the first UPF network element.

[0078] Step 205: Migrate the corresponding number of target idle users from the first UPF network element to the at least one second UPF network element, and control each target idle user migrated to the corresponding second UPF network element to be in an idle state.

[0079] UPF is divided into an anchor UPF and an intermediate UPF.

[0080] If the first UPF network element is an anchor UPF, the process of migrating the corresponding number of target idle users from the first UPF network element to the at least one second UPF network element can be implemented as follows: the SMF network element sends a session deletion request to the first UPF network element to instruct the first UPF network element to delete the session of the target idle user and release the dynamic route of the user address of the target idle user; and sends a session creation request to the second UPF network element to instruct the second UPF network element to create a session for the target idle user based on the user address carried in the session creation request and publish a dynamic route for the target idle user.

[0081] The user address carried in the session creation request is the address that the SMF network element recently assigned to the target idle user in history. For example, specifically, it can be but is not limited to the IP (Internet Protocol) address assigned by the SMF network element to the UE of the target idle user when the first UPF network element creates a session for the target idle user.

[0082] In this case, the SMF network element and the UPF network element can specifically implement the migration of the target idle user through the following cooperation process:

[0083] 1) The SMF network element sends a session deletion request (i.e., a session release request) to the first UPF network element.

[0084] 2) The first UPF network element responds to the session deletion request, deletes the session of the target idle user, and releases the dynamic route of the user address of the target idle user.

[0085] Although the first UPF network element is overloaded at this time, the session release process is usually given priority, not only because the session release process itself has a higher priority, but also because releasing the session is helpful in alleviating the overload of the first UPF network element itself.

[0086] 3) The SMF network element sends a session creation request to the selected second UPF network element in a low-load state, and carries the previously allocated UE address (for example, when the first UPF network element creates a session for the target idle user, the IP address allocated by the SMF network element to the UE of the target idle user).

[0087] 4) The second UPF network element responds to the session creation request to create a session for the target idle user and publishes a dynamic route for the user.

[0088] See also Figure 3 , provides an interactive sequence diagram of the implementation process of creating a session for a user, where UE represents user equipment, gNB (the next Generation Node B) represents a base station, SMF represents an SMF network element, and UPF1 and UPF2 represent different UPF network elements. Figure 3 As shown in the figure, the process of creating a session for a user mainly includes:

[0089] 1) The UE initiates a session creation request to the network side. The message eventually reaches the SMF, and the SMF selects an available UPF for the user.

[0090] 2) SMF initiates a session creation request to the selected UPF, which carries the IP address allocated by SMF to the user.

[0091] 3) UPF creates a session and responds to SMF that the session has been created successfully. The response message carries the uplink tunnel information.

[0092] Optionally, the uplink tunnel information includes the UPF user plane IP address and the tunnel ID (Identity document) assigned to the currently created session.

[0093] 4) SMF replies to the UE with a response message indicating that the session was successfully created.

[0094] 5) The SMF initiates a session creation request to the base station to obtain downlink tunnel information and inform the base station UPF of the uplink tunnel information.

[0095] 6) The base station creates a session and responds to the SMF that the session has been created successfully. The response message carries the downlink tunnel information.

[0096] Optionally, the downlink tunnel information includes the base station user plane IP address and a tunnel ID allocated for the currently created session.

[0097] 7) SMF passes the downlink tunnel information to UPF.

[0098] 8) UPF responds successfully, and the uplink and downlink tunnels are connected, and the session creation is completed.

[0099] If the first UPF network element is an intermediate point UPF, the SMF network element sends a session deletion request to the first UPF network element to instruct the first UPF network element to delete the session of the target idle user; and sends a session creation request to the second UPF network element to instruct the second UPF network element to create a session for the target idle user.

[0100] That is to say, the method of the embodiment of the present application is suitable for overload processing of both anchor point UPF and intermediate point UPF. However, the intermediate point UPF does not assign addresses to users. Therefore, the create session request message sent to the new UPF (second UPF network element) does not need to carry the assigned user address, and the intermediate point UPF does not need to publish routes for users. These differences are related to the properties of the UPF itself.

[0101] The interaction between SMF network elements and UPF network elements can be achieved through N4 sessions based on the N4 interface.

[0102] See also Figure 4 , shows the interactive timing diagram of the UPF overload control processing in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the specific process is as follows Figure 4 As shown, this process is consistent with the implementation process of each step of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application and will not be repeated here. In this figure, UPF1 represents the first UPF network element, UPF2 represents the second UPF network element, and other objects such as UE and gNB can be referred to the explanation above.

[0103] It is worth noting that the embodiment of the present application selects idle users for migration because these users have characteristics such as temporarily no data traffic and fast migration speed, which supports migrating them to the new UPF in a very short time without affecting the user experience. Typically, in a communication network with a large number of users, there will always be a certain proportion of idle users at any time, which also provides a feasibility basis for the solution of the embodiment of the present application.

[0104] According to the above solution, the method for UPF overload control processing provided in this application, after obtaining the overload control information from the first UPF network element, determines the first number of connected users to be reduced from the connected users of the first UPF network element according to the overload control information, and determines the idle users among the connected users of the first UPF network element, and selects the corresponding number of target idle users from the idle users according to the first number. On this basis, each selected target idle user is migrated to at least one second UPF network element in a low load state in the communication network. It can be seen that this application proposes and implements a solution to dynamically reduce the load of UPF in real time and balance the load among different UPFs when UPF is overloaded and working normally, without relying on and waiting for the offline of the online users in the overloaded UPF. The load of the overloaded UPF can be reduced without the users noticing by migrating the idle users, so that this application quickly solves the overload problem of UPF, avoids the UPF being in an overloaded state for a long time, and at the same time reduces the failure rate of the user session update process as much as possible by avoiding the UPF being in an overloaded state for a long time.

[0105] In an optional embodiment, after migrating each target idle user of the first UPF network element to the corresponding second UPF network element in a low load state, each target idle user migrated to the second UPF network element can be controlled to be in the idle state, and at the same time, the user information of the target idle user that has completed the migration is deleted from the first recording unit corresponding to the first UPF network element and written into the second recording unit corresponding to the second UPF network element. For example, the user information of the target idle user that has completed the migration is deleted from the first queue corresponding to the first UPF network element and written into the second queue corresponding to the second UPF network element.

[0106] Through the above processing in this embodiment, it can be ensured that each recording unit can correctly record the idle user information on the UPF network element it corresponds to, realizing the information synchronization of the idle users between each recording unit and the UPF network element it corresponds to in the user migration scenario, providing support for the normal operation and maintenance of the subsequent communication network.

[0107] In an optional embodiment, after a user is connected to the UPF network element, if the user does not use the network for a period of time, the user will automatically enter the idle state to reduce the waste of air interface resources. At this time, the user equipment will enter the idle state based on the air interface release (session release) process.

[0108] See Figure 5 The air interface release flowchart shown, the air interface release process may include:

[0109] 1) The base station or the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) network element initiates an air interface release request for the corresponding user and notifies the SMF.

[0110] 2) The SMF network element notifies the UPF network element to delete the downlink tunnel information saved for the requested user (a user who has not used the network for a period of time), but retains the N4 session of this user.

[0111] Here, retaining the N4 session of this user specifically means that for this user, the session control management channel of the SMF to the UPF is retained to prepare for session control of the UPF when this user has data communication requirements.

[0112] 3) The UPF responds to the notification from the SMF and returns a success response.

[0113] At this time, the resources of the user indicated by the air interface release on the air interface are released. If this user uses the network again later, a service request process will be initiated again to update the base station downlink tunnel information to the UPF again (this process is the session update process), so as to re-establish the uplink and downlink tunnels for this user, and at the same time avoid the process of creating a new session for this user.

[0114] The overall operation process of the communication network system is to continuously repeat the session creation / update / release processes for different users. At the same time, there will always be a part of the users in the idle state at each moment, which provides a feasible basis for the solution of the embodiment of the present application. During the operation of the network system, once it is detected that there is an overloaded UPF, based on the method of the embodiment of the present application, according to the overload control information reported by the overloaded UPF, the load of the overloaded UPF can be dynamically adjusted by actively migrating idle users, so that the overloaded UPF can return to normal in a relatively short time, avoiding the UPF being in an overloaded state for a long time, and at the same time reducing the failure rate of the user session update process as much as possible by avoiding the UPF being in an overloaded state for a long time.

[0115] Corresponding to the above method, the embodiment of the present application also provides a device for UPF overload control processing. Refer to Figure 6 the schematic structural diagram of the composition, and this device includes:

[0116] An obtaining module 601, configured to obtain overload control information from a first UPF network element, where the overload control information is at least used to indicate that the first UPF network element is currently in an overloaded state;

[0117] A first determination module 602, configured to determine a first quantity of the connected users to be reduced from the connected users of the first UPF network element according to the overload control information;

[0118] A selection module 603 is configured to determine idle users in the idle state who are not using the communication network among the users connected to the first UPF network element, and select a corresponding number of target idle users from the idle users according to the first quantity;

[0119] A second determination module 604 is configured to determine at least one second UPF network element that meets the load condition from the communication network; the load condition is used to characterize that the UPF network element is in a low load state;

[0120] A migration module 605 is configured to migrate the corresponding number of target idle users from the first UPF network element to the at least one second UPF network element, and control each target idle user migrated to the corresponding second UPF network element to be in the idle state.

[0121] In an optional implementation manner, the first determination module 602 is specifically configured to:

[0122] Determine a first quantity of connected users to be reduced from the connected users of the first UPF network element according to the total number of connected users of the first UPF network element and the ratio of the expected load reduction of the first UPF network element included in the overload control information.

[0123] In an optional implementation manner, the above device further includes a monitoring and recording module, configured to:

[0124] Monitor the usage status of the connected users of each UPF network element in the communication network;

[0125] Store the user information of the idle users in the idle state among the connected users of each UPF network element into a record unit created for the corresponding UPF network element; wherein, if the user information of the corresponding idle user recorded in the record unit corresponding to the UPF network element enters the active state, the user information of the user entering the active state is removed from the corresponding record unit.

[0126] In an optional implementation manner, when the selection module 603 determines the idle users in the idle state who are not using the communication network among the connected users of the first UPF network element, it is specifically configured to:

[0127] Determine the idle users in the idle state among the connected users of the first UPF network element according to the user information recorded in the first record unit corresponding to the first UPF network element;

[0128] When the selection module 603 selects a corresponding number of target idle users from the idle users according to the first quantity, it is specifically configured to:

[0129] If the number of idle users characterized by the user information in the first recording unit is not lower than the first number, select the first number of idle users from the idle users characterized by the user information in the first recording unit as the target idle users;

[0130] If the number of idle users characterized by the user information in the first recording unit is lower than the first number, select all the idle users characterized by the user information in the first recording unit as the target idle users.

[0131] In an alternative embodiment, the selection module 603 is further configured to, when the number of idle users characterized by the user information in the first recording unit is lower than the first number, select a second number of idle users from the idle users that enter the idle state subsequently and are correspondingly recorded in the first recording unit, and supplement them to the target idle users;

[0132] wherein the second number is the difference between the first number and the number of all idle users characterized by the user information in the current first recording unit.

[0133] In an alternative embodiment, the migration module 605 is specifically configured to:

[0134] If the first UPF network element is an anchor UPF, send a session deletion request to the first UPF network element to instruct the first UPF network element to delete the sessions of the target idle users and release the dynamic routing of the user addresses of the target idle users; and send a session creation request to the second UPF network element to instruct the second UPF network element to create sessions for the target idle users based on the user addresses carried in the session creation request and publish dynamic routing for the target idle users; the user address carried in the session creation request is the address recently assigned by the SMF network element to the target idle users in history;

[0135] If the first UPF network element is an intermediate point UPF, send a session deletion request to the first UPF network element to instruct the first UPF network element to delete the sessions of the target idle users; and send a session creation request to the second UPF network element to instruct the second UPF network element to create sessions for the target idle users.

[0136] In an alternative embodiment, the monitoring and recording module is further configured to:

[0137] Delete the user information of the target idle users that have completed migration from the first recording unit corresponding to the first UPF network element and write it into the second recording unit corresponding to the second UPF network element.

[0138] For the apparatus for UPF overload control processing disclosed in the embodiments of the present application, since it corresponds to the method for UPF overload control processing disclosed in the above method embodiments, the description is relatively simple. For relevant similarities, please refer to the descriptions of the above method embodiments, and details are not repeated here.

[0139] The embodiments of the present application also disclose a network element device, and the composition structure of the network element device is as Figure 7 shown, including at least:

[0140] A memory 10 for storing a computer program.

[0141] A processor 20 for implementing the method for UPF overload control processing provided in any of the above method embodiments by calling and executing the computer program in the memory.

[0142] The processor 20 may be a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a neural network processor (NPU), a deep learning processor (DPU), or other programmable logic devices, etc.

[0143] In addition, the network element device may further include components such as a communication interface and a communication bus. The memory, the processor, and the communication interface complete communication with each other through the communication bus.

[0144] The communication interface is used for communication between the network element device and other devices. The communication bus may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The communication bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc.

[0145] In addition, the present application also provides a computer-readable medium, on which a computer program is stored, and the computer program includes program codes for executing the method for UPF overload control processing disclosed in any of the above method embodiments.

[0146] In the context of the present application, a computer-readable medium (machine-readable medium) can be a tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium can be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium can include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus, or devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the machine-readable storage medium would include electrical connections based on one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0147] It should be noted that the various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner, with each embodiment focusing on the differences from other embodiments. The same or similar parts among the various embodiments can be referred to each other.

[0148] For the sake of convenience of description, when describing the above system or apparatus, it is divided into various modules or units according to functions for separate description. Of course, when implementing the present application, the functions of each unit can be implemented in the same or multiple software and / or hardware.

[0149] From the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the present application can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product can be stored in a storage medium, such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk, etc., and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment or some parts of the embodiments of the present application.

[0150] Finally, it should also be noted that in this text, relational terms such as first, second, third, and target are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the term "comprising", "including" or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not expressly listed, or further includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "comprising a..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the element.

[0151] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present application. It should be pointed out that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principle of the present application, several improvements and refinements can be made, and these improvements and refinements should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for UPF overload control processing, characterized in that, Including: Obtaining overload control information from a first UPF network element, where the overload control information is at least used to indicate that the first UPF network element is currently in an overloaded state; Determining a first quantity of connected users to be reduced from the connected users of the first UPF network element according to the overload control information; Monitoring the usage status of the connected users of each UPF network element in the communication network; Storing the user information of the idle users in the idle state among the connected users of each UPF network element in a record unit created for the corresponding UPF network element; wherein, if a corresponding idle user recorded in the record unit corresponding to the UPF network element enters the active state, the user information of the user entering the active state is removed from the corresponding record unit; Determining the idle users in the idle state among the connected users of the first UPF network element who are not using the communication network, and selecting a corresponding quantity of target idle users from the idle users according to the first quantity; Determining at least one second UPF network element that meets the load condition in the communication network; the load condition is used to characterize that the UPF network element is in a low-load state; By sending a session release request for the target idle users to the first UPF network element and sending a session creation request for the target idle users to the corresponding second UPF network element, migrating the corresponding quantity of target idle users from the first UPF network element to the at least one second UPF network element to perform dynamic migration of the connected users between different UPF network elements. Among them, if the first UPF network element is an anchor UPF, the dynamic migration is implemented based on the user address carried in the session creation request, and the user address carried in the session creation request is the address recently allocated by the SMF network element for the target idle user.

2. The method for UPF overload control processing according to claim 1, wherein The determining, according to the overload control information, a first quantity of connected users to be reduced from the connected users of the first UPF network element includes: Determining a first quantity of connected users to be reduced from the connected users of the first UPF network element according to the total quantity of the connected users of the first UPF network element and the ratio of the expected load reduction of the first UPF network element included in the overload control information.

3. The method for UPF overload control processing according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining the idle users in the idle state among the connected users of the first UPF network element who are not using the communication network includes: Determining the idle users in the idle state among the connected users of the first UPF network element according to the user information recorded in the first record unit corresponding to the first UPF network element; The selecting a corresponding quantity of target idle users from the idle users according to the first quantity includes: If the quantity of idle users characterized by the user information in the first record unit is not less than the first quantity, selecting the first quantity of idle users from the idle users characterized by the user information in the first record unit as the target idle users; If the number of idle users represented by the user information in the first recording unit is lower than the first number, select all the idle users represented by the user information in the first recording unit as the target idle users.

4. The method for UPF overload control processing according to claim 3, characterized in that, When the number of idle users represented by the user information in the first recording unit is lower than the first number, it further includes: Select a second number of idle users from the idle users that enter the idle state subsequently and are correspondingly recorded in the first recording unit, and supplement them to the target idle users; Wherein, the second number is the difference between the first number and the number of all idle users represented by the user information in the first recording unit currently.

5. The method for UPF overload control processing according to claim 1, characterized in that, Migrating the target idle users with the corresponding number from the first UPF network element to the at least one second UPF network element includes: If the first UPF network element is an anchor UPF, send a session deletion request to the first UPF network element to instruct the first UPF network element to delete the sessions of the target idle users and release the dynamic routing of the user addresses of the target idle users; and send a session creation request to the second UPF network element to instruct the second UPF network element to create sessions for the target idle users based on the user addresses carried in the session creation request and publish dynamic routing for the target idle users; If the first UPF network element is an intermediate UPF, send a session deletion request to the first UPF network element to instruct the first UPF network element to delete the sessions of the target idle users; and send a session creation request to the second UPF network element to instruct the second UPF network element to create sessions for the target idle users.

6. The method for UPF overload control processing according to claim 5, wherein It further includes: Delete the user information of the target idle users that have completed the migration from the first recording unit corresponding to the first UPF network element and write it into the second recording unit corresponding to the second UPF network element.

7. An apparatus for UPF overload control processing, characterized in that, It includes: An acquisition module, configured to obtain overload control information from a first UPF network element, where the overload control information is at least used to indicate that the first UPF network element is currently in an overloaded state; A first determination module, configured to determine a first number of connected users to be reduced from the connected users of the first UPF network element according to the overload control information; A monitoring and recording module, configured to monitor the usage status of the connected users of each UPF network element in the communication network; store the user information of the idle users in the connected users of each UPF network element that are in the idle state in the recording unit created for the UPF network element to which they belong; wherein, if the corresponding idle users recorded in the recording unit corresponding to the UPF network element enter the active state, remove the user information of the users entering the active state from the corresponding recording unit; A selection module, configured to determine the idle users in the connected users of the first UPF network element that are in the idle state of not using the communication network, and select the target idle users with the corresponding number from the idle users according to the first number; A second determination module, configured to determine at least one second UPF network element that meets the load condition from a communication network; the load condition is used to characterize that the UPF network element is in a low-load state; A migration module, configured to migrate the corresponding number of target idle-state users from the first UPF network element to the at least one second UPF network element by sending a session release request for the target idle-state user to the first UPF network element and sending a session creation request for the target idle-state user to the corresponding second UPF network element, so as to perform dynamic migration of the accessed users between different UPF network elements. Wherein, if the first UPF network element is an anchor UPF, the dynamic migration is implemented based on the user address carried in the session creation request, and the user address carried in the session creation request is the address recently assigned by the SMF network element to the target idle-state user in history; and control each target idle-state user migrated to the corresponding second UPF network element to be in an idle state.

8. A network element device, characterized in that, Comprising: A memory, configured to store a computer program; A processor, configured to implement the method for UPF overload control processing according to any one of claims 1-6 by calling and executing the computer program stored in the memory.

9. A computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by the processor, it can be used to implement the method for UPF overload control processing according to any one of claims 1-6.

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