A network resource configuration method and apparatus, a network device, and a storage medium

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application disclose a network resource configuration method and device, network equipment and a storage medium. The method comprises: a network exposure function receiving a first request sent by an edge computing platform, the first request being used for requesting network capability exposure for a first application; the first request comprising first information related to policy control and charging control of the first application; when it is determined that the first information satisfies a condition, sending a second request to a policy control function, the second request comprising second information related to policy control and charging control of the first application, the second information being used for the policy control function to formulate and issue a first policy to a session management function for monitoring traffic conditions of the first application, the monitored traffic conditions being used for screening an accessed terminal, and the policy control and charging rules being formulated for the screened terminal.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, in particular to a network resource configuration method and device, network equipment and storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0002] Mobile edge computing (MEC) is one of the key technologies for 5G evolution, and is an Internet technology (IT) general platform with wireless network application programming interface (API) interaction capability, as well as computing, storage, and analysis functions. Relying on MEC, traditional external applications can be pulled into the mobile interior, closer to users, to provide localized services, thereby improving user experience and bringing more value to the edge network.

[0003] In the architecture of the combination of 5G core network (5GC) and MEC, in order to enable low-latency, high-bandwidth, and high-reliability edge applications in vertical industries, the user plane function (UPF) in 5GC is sunk to the park near MEC, and the application function (AF) is sunk to the edge computing platform (MEP) and connected with the network exposure function (NEF) of the core network, to provide better data control policies for applications (App) deployed on MEP.

[0004] In addition, the policy control and charging (PCC) in the third generation partnership project (3GPP) can be used to implement quality of service (QoS) policy control and charging control for specific App. However, the current QoS policy control and charging control method needs to be preconfigured for specific App, and cannot dynamically control the QoS policy and charging control for specific App without preconfiguration. SUMMARY

[0005] To solve the existing technical problems, the embodiments of the present application provide a network resource configuration method and device, network equipment and storage medium.

[0006] To achieve the above purpose, the technical scheme of the embodiments of the present application is as follows:

[0007] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network resource configuration method, the method is applied to a network exposure function; the method comprises:

[0008] receiving a first request sent by an edge computing platform, the first request being used for requesting network capability exposure of a first application; the first request comprising first information related to policy control and charging control of the first application;

[0009] when it is determined that the first application meets a condition, sending a second request to a policy control function, the second request comprising second information related to policy control and charging control of the first application, the second information being used for the policy control function to formulate and issue a first policy to a session management function, the first policy being used for monitoring traffic of the first application, and the monitored traffic being used for screening an accessed terminal to formulate policy control and charging rules for the screened terminal.

[0010] In the above scheme, the first information comprises at least one of the following: a first identifier indicating a region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier indicating a regional limit of network capability exposure, a third identifier indicating an identity of the first application deployed in the edge computing platform, and time information indicating that the first application usage monitoring is requested.

[0011] In the above scheme, the first information further comprises a fourth identifier indicating that traffic reduction is requested and / or a fifth identifier indicating that quality of service adjustment is requested.

[0012] In the above scheme, the second information is further used for the policy control function to formulate and issue a second policy to a network data analysis function, the second policy being used for monitoring network status.

[0013] In the above scheme, the determination that the first application meets the condition comprises: when the application represented by the third identifier in the first information is a specified application or the type of the corresponding application is a specified application type, it is determined that the first application meets the condition.

[0014] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network resource configuration method, the method is applied to a policy control function; the method comprises:

[0015] receiving a second request sent by a network exposure function, the second request comprising second information related to policy control and charging control of a first application;

[0016] sending first indication information to a session management function based on the second information, the first indication information comprising a first policy used for monitoring traffic of the first application; the monitored traffic being used for screening an accessed terminal;

[0017] receiving third indication information sent by the network data analysis function, the third indication information including filtered terminal information;

[0018] formulating policy control and charging rules for the filtered terminal, and sending fourth indication information to the session management function, the fourth indication information including the policy control and charging rules.

[0019] In the above scheme, the method further includes: sending second indication information to the network data analysis function based on the second information, the second indication information including a second policy for monitoring network status.

[0020] In the above scheme, the second information includes at least one of the following: a first identifier indicating a region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier indicating a regional limit of network capability exposure, a third identifier indicating an identity of a first application deployed on the edge computing platform, and time information requesting to perform usage monitoring of the first application.

[0021] In the above scheme, the second information further includes a fourth identifier indicating a request for traffic reduction and / or a fifth identifier indicating a request for quality of service adjustment.

[0022] In the above scheme, the first indication information and the second indication information each further include at least one of the following: a second identifier indicating a regional limit of network capability exposure, time information requesting to perform usage monitoring of the first application, and a third identifier indicating an identity of a first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

[0023] In the above scheme, the policy control and charging rules include at least one of the following information:

[0024] a quality of service template associated, a charging control policy, a usage monitoring policy, and a conditional policy.

[0025] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a network resource configuration method, the method being applied to a session management function; the method includes:

[0026] receiving first indication information sent by a policy control function, the first indication information including a first policy for monitoring traffic conditions of a first application;

[0027] sending fifth indication information to a selected user plane function, the fifth indication information including the first policy, the fifth indication information being used to instruct the user plane function to perform traffic monitoring on the traffic conditions of the first application;

[0028] receive the traffic monitoring information sent by the user plane function, and send the traffic monitoring information to a network data analysis function, the traffic monitoring information being used for screening of an accessed terminal;

[0029] receive fourth indication information sent by a policy control function, the fourth indication information including policy control and charging rules related to the screened terminal;

[0030] send sixth indication information including the policy control and charging rules related to the screened terminal to the user plane function, the sixth indication information being used for instructing the user plane function to process according to the policy control and charging rules.

[0031] In the above scheme, the first indication information and the fifth indication information further include at least one of the following: a second identifier representing a regional restriction of network capability opening, time information requesting the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier representing the identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

[0032] In the above scheme, the traffic monitoring information includes at least one of the following information related to the first application deployed on the edge computing platform: application usage time information and application generated traffic information.

[0033] In the above scheme, the policy control and charging rules include at least one of the following information:

[0034] a related quality of service template, a charging control policy, a usage monitoring policy, and a conditional policy.

[0035] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a network resource configuration method, which is applied to a network data analysis function; the method comprises:

[0036] receiving traffic monitoring information from a user plane function, the traffic monitoring information being obtained based on traffic monitoring of a first application by a first policy sent to the user plane function;

[0037] obtaining terminal information meeting a condition based on the traffic monitoring information, and sending third indication information to a policy control function, the third indication information including screened terminal information, the screened terminal information being used for the policy control function to formulate policy control and charging rules for the screened terminal.

[0038] In the above scheme, the method further comprises: receiving second indication information sent by the policy control function, the second indication information including a second policy used for monitoring of a network state.

[0039] In the scheme, the second indication information further includes at least one of the following: a second identifier indicating a region limit of network capability exposure, time information requesting the first application to use the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier indicating an identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

[0040] In the scheme, the traffic monitoring information includes at least one of the following information related to the first application deployed on the edge computing platform: application usage time information and application generated traffic information.

[0041] The terminal information satisfying the condition is obtained based on the traffic monitoring information, and the terminal information satisfying the condition includes:

[0042] When the usage time of the terminal to the first application is greater than a first threshold based on the application usage time information, and / or when the usage traffic of the terminal to the first application is greater than a second threshold based on the application generated traffic information, it is determined that the terminal satisfies the condition, and the terminal information satisfying the condition is obtained.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a network resource configuration method, which is applied to an edge computing platform; the method comprises the following steps:

[0044] A first request is sent to a network exposure function, and the first request is used to request network capability exposure for a first application; the first request includes first information related to policy control and charging control of the first application.

[0045] In a sixth aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a network resource configuration method, which is applied to a user plane function; the method comprises the following steps:

[0046] Fifth indication information is received from a session management function, and the fifth indication information includes the first policy; the fifth indication information is used to instruct the user plane function to perform traffic monitoring on traffic of a first application;

[0047] Based on the fifth indication information, the traffic of the first application is monitored to obtain traffic monitoring information, and the traffic monitoring information is sent to the session management function; the traffic monitoring information is used to screen an accessed terminal, and policy control and charging rules are formulated and delivered for the screened terminal;

[0048] Sixth indication information is received from the session management function, and the sixth indication information includes policy control and charging rules related to the screened terminal.

[0049] In a seventh aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a network resource configuration device, which comprises a first communication unit and a first processing unit; wherein,

[0050] The first communication unit is configured to receive a first request sent by the edge computing platform, the first request being used to request network capability exposure of a first application, and the first request comprising first information related to policy control and charging control of the first application;

[0051] The first processing unit is configured to determine whether the first information meets a condition.

[0052] The first communication unit is further configured to, when the first processing unit determines that the first information meets the condition, send a second request to a policy control function, the second request comprising second information related to network capability exposure of the first application, and the second information being used by the policy control function to formulate and issue a first policy to a session management function, the first policy being used to monitor traffic of the first application, and the monitored traffic being used to screen an accessed terminal, and the policy control function being used to formulate policy control and charging rules for the screened terminal.

[0053] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a network resource configuration device, the device comprising a second communication unit and a second processing unit, wherein

[0054] The second communication unit is configured to receive a second request sent by a network exposure function, the second request comprising second information related to policy control and charging control of a first application, and the second communication unit is further configured to send first indication information to a session management function based on the second information, the first indication information comprising a first policy used to monitor traffic of the first application, and the monitored traffic being used to screen an accessed terminal, and the second communication unit is further configured to receive third indication information sent by a network data analysis function, the third indication information comprising terminal information after screening.

[0055] The second processing unit is configured to formulate policy control and charging rules for the terminal after screening.

[0056] The second communication unit is further configured to send fourth indication information to the session management function, the fourth indication information comprising the policy control and charging rules.

[0057] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a network resource configuration apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a third communication unit configured to receive first indication information sent by a policy control function, the first indication information comprising a first policy for monitoring traffic of a first application; further configured to send fifth indication information to a selected user plane function, the fifth indication information comprising the first policy, the fifth indication information being used to instruct the user plane function to monitor traffic of the first application; further configured to receive traffic monitoring information sent by the user plane function, and send the traffic monitoring information to a network data analysis function, the traffic monitoring information being used to select an accessed terminal; further configured to receive fourth indication information sent by the policy control function, the fourth indication information comprising a policy control and charging rule related to the selected terminal; further configured to send sixth indication information comprising the policy control and charging rule related to the selected terminal to the user plane function, the sixth indication information being used to instruct the user plane function to process according to the policy control and charging rule.

[0058] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a network resource configuration apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a fourth communication unit and a third processing unit; wherein,

[0059] The fourth communication unit is configured to receive traffic monitoring information from a user plane function, the traffic monitoring information being obtained by monitoring traffic of a first application based on a first policy sent to the user plane function;

[0060] The third processing unit is configured to obtain terminal information satisfying a condition based on the traffic monitoring information.

[0061] The fourth communication unit is further configured to send third indication information to a policy control function, the third indication information comprising the selected terminal information, the selected terminal information being used by the policy control function to formulate a policy control and charging rule for the selected terminal.

[0062] In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a network resource configuration apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a fifth communication unit configured to send a first request to a network exposure function, the first request being used to request network capability exposure; the first request comprising first information related to policy control and charging control of a first application.

[0063] In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a network resource configuration apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a sixth communication unit and a fourth processing unit; wherein,

[0064] The sixth communication unit is configured to receive fifth indication information sent by the session management function, wherein the first policy is included in the fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information is used to instruct the user plane function to perform traffic monitoring on the traffic of the first application.

[0065] The fourth processing unit is configured to monitor the traffic of the first application based on the fifth indication information, and obtain traffic monitoring information.

[0066] The sixth communication unit is further configured to send the traffic monitoring information to the session management function, wherein the traffic monitoring information is used to screen the accessed terminal, and the traffic monitoring information is used to screen the accessed terminal, so as to formulate and issue a policy control and charging rule for the screened terminal; and the sixth communication unit is further configured to receive sixth indication information sent by the session management function, wherein the policy control and charging rule related to the screened terminal is included in the sixth indication information.

[0067] In a thirteenth aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, and the program is executed by a processor to implement the steps of the method in any one of the preceding first aspect to the sixth aspect.

[0068] In a fourteenth aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a network device, which comprises a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, and the processor implements the steps of the method in any one of the preceding first aspect to the sixth aspect when executing the program.

[0069] The network resource configuration method, device, network device and storage medium provided by the embodiments of the present application can realize QoS policy control and charging control for the first application by traffic monitoring when a terminal accesses the first application deployed on the MEP by requesting the network capability exposure of the first application from the NEF by the MEP (specifically, the first application deployed in the MEP), and can quickly, flexibly and accurately realize the reduction or preferential treatment of the traffic of the first application when the personal terminal uses the first application, and can adjust the network resource and charging policy of the personal terminal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0070] Figure 1 It is a system architecture schematic diagram of a PCC system;

[0071] Figure 2 It is a system architecture schematic diagram of a 5GC combined with MEC;

[0072] Figure 3 It is a whole architecture schematic diagram of the network resource configuration method of the embodiments of the present application;

[0073] Figure 4 Flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the present application Figure 1 ;

[0074] Figure 5 Flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the present application Figure 2 ;

[0075] Figure 6 Flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the present application Figure 3 ;

[0076] Figure 7 Flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the present application Figure 4 ;

[0077] Figure 8 Flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the present application Figure 5 ;

[0078] Figure 9 Flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the present application Figure 6 ;

[0079] Figure 10 Interaction flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the present application Figure 1 ;

[0080] Figure 11 Interaction flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the present application Figure 2 ;

[0081] Figure 12 Interaction flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the present application Figure 3 ;

[0082] Figure 13 Composition structure of the network resource configuration device of the embodiment of the present application Figure 1 ;

[0083] Figure 14 Composition structure of the network resource configuration device of the embodiment of the present application Figure 2 ;

[0084] Figure 15 Composition structure of the network resource configuration device of the embodiment of the present application Figure 3 ;

[0085] Figure 16 Composition structure of the network resource configuration device of the embodiment of the present application Figure 4 ;

[0086] Figure 17The schematic structural diagram of the network resource configuration device of the embodiment of the present application Figure 5 ;

[0087] Figure 18 The schematic structural diagram of the network resource configuration device of the embodiment of the present application Figure 6 ;

[0088] Figure 19 The schematic structural diagram of the hardware of the network device of the embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0089] The present application will be further described below in conjunction with the drawings and specific embodiments.

[0090] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) system, Long Term Evolution (LTE) system or 5G system, etc. Optionally, the 5G system or 5G network can also be referred to as New Radio (NR) system or NR network.

[0091] For example, the communication system to which the embodiment of the present application is applied can include a network device and a terminal device (also referred to as a terminal, a communication terminal, etc.); the network device can be a device that communicates with the terminal device. Among them, the network device can provide communication coverage in a certain area range, and can communicate with terminals located in the area. Optionally, the network device can be a base station in each communication system, such as an Evolutional Node B (eNB) in the LTE system, and for example, a base station (gNB) in the 5G system or the NR system.

[0092] It should be understood that the devices with communication functions in the network / system in the embodiments of the present application can be referred to as communication devices. The communication devices can include network devices and terminals with communication functions, and the network devices and terminal devices can be the specific devices described above, which will not be described here; the communication devices can also include other devices in the communication system, such as network controllers, mobile management entities and other network entities, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0093] It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably in this paper. The term "and / or" in this paper is only a description of the association relationship between the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the three cases of A alone, A and B together, and B alone. In addition, the character " / " in this paper generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after it.

[0094] The terms "first", "second", and the like, in the description and in the claims of this application are used for distinguishing between similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the use of such terms is not made with the intention of limiting the scope of the application to the particulars of the application described but that the application is capable of being practiced otherwise than as specifically described. Also, the terms "comprise", "comprising", and the like, are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive sense, so that any listed steps can be comprised of another step and / or steps between the steps that are symmetrically implied. Also, the terms "include", "including", and the like, are defined in the same manner as "comprise" and "comprising".

[0095] Before the embodiments of the present application are explained in detail, the conventional related information is briefly described.

[0096] The operator can provide the tilt of network resources and the preferential treatment in charging for specific users. Currently, the QoS policy control and charging control can be realized based on the PCC in 3GPP, for example, the QoS policy and charging control for the specified App, so that the operator can monitor, rationally allocate and effectively control the service capability of the network, facilitate to improve the user service experience, and develop new tariff policy.

[0097] The PCC can dynamically formulate the QoS policy and charging rules in combination with at least one of the person, time, location and service type, for example:

[0098] 1. Formulate the policy according to different users:

[0099] The level of the user, whether it is a VIP user;

[0100] Whether the user is in arrears, is a pre-paid or post-paid user;

[0101] The package subscribed by the user, such as 58 yuan package, 598 yuan package;

[0102] The information of the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of the user.

[0103] 2. Formulate the policy according to different time:

[0104] Idle time policy and busy time policy; for example: in busy time, the QoS can be adjusted appropriately; when it is idle time, the idle time policy is automatically switched.

[0105] 3. Formulate strategies according to different locations:

[0106] Busy cell and idle cell strategy (or key area guarantee strategy); for example: when entering a busy cell, the QoS can be adjusted appropriately; when entering an idle cell, the QoS can be automatically restored or improved.

[0107] 4. Formulate strategies according to different services accessed by user equipment (UE, User Equipment):

[0108] Different strategies can be formulated for different services (or Apps) detected, and over-limit control can be performed for different services (or Apps). For example, a voice over new radio (VoNR) builds a dedicated QoS flow to ensure, and WeChat phonebook is a non-GBR (non-guaranteed bit rate) default QoS flow.

[0109] The policy control function (PCF) can subscribe to the access and mobility management function (AMF) and the session management function (SMF) for real-time location information, real-time access network type information, real-time public land mobile network (PLMN), whether there are App start and stop events, whether the IP address of the UE has changed, whether it has left or entered a specific area, whether the time zone of the UE has changed, whether the core network element of the service has changed, and other events, to understand the real-time state of the network and the user, and dynamically formulate and adjust the strategy.

[0110] Currently, the PCC architecture of 5G is as shown in Figure 1

[0111] With PCF as the center, the main functions of each interface are as follows:

[0112] N5: PCF and application layer server interaction, receiving the requirements of the application layer to dynamically formulate strategies;

[0113] N23: PCF receives network status reports from NWDAF to dynamically formulate strategies;

[0114] N36: User data is stored in the back-end unified data storage (UDR);

[0115] N30: Used for capability exposure, receiving requests from external AF through NEF;​

[0116] N40: Charging function (CHF) user charging information is combined, and dynamic policy is formulated;

[0117] N15: PCF issues access management and UE policy to AMF (UE policy is transmitted to UE);

[0118] N7: PCF issues session management policy to SMF;

[0119] N29: For network capability opening, SMF can receive the request and event subscription of external AF through NEF;

[0120] N4: SMF issues the policy received from PCF to the UPF, which is executed by the UPF.

[0121] On the other hand, the system architecture of 5GC combined with MEC can refer to Figure 2 As shown, mainly including two parts:

[0122] 1) In order to enable vertical industry low latency, high bandwidth, high reliable edge application, the UPF is sunk to the industry customer park, close to the MEC edge server (also called MEC platform (MEP)), and the data is forwarded to the MEP through the local shunting technology (i.e. uplink filter / IPv6 branching point (UL-CL / IPv6 BP, Uplink Classifier / IPv6 Branching Point)) of the UPF;

[0123] 2) The AF in the core network is sunk to the MEP, and better data flow control policy (such as encoding policy, QoS policy, routing policy, etc.) is provided for the application deployed on the MEP.

[0124] The network capabilities that the NEF defined in the current 3GPP can provide are summarized as follows:

[0125] Monitoring capability: 5G system monitors specified events of UE, generates event notification and sends it to third party; this capability can be used to open the mobility management of UE, such as the location, reachability and connection loss events of UE, etc.;

[0126] Pre-configuration capability: third party can provide some information to 5G system through capability opening, such as expected route of UE, requirements of UE to network, etc., so that the system can be optimized accordingly;

[0127] Policy / charging capability: third party can issue charging policy, QoS policy, etc. for 5G system through capability opening;

[0128] Analytics reporting capability: the third party can obtain network analytics reports through capability exposure (provided that the 5G system supports NWDAF).

[0129] In addition to the service capabilities of the NEF defined by 3GPP, as network slicing, edge computing, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and other technologies are applied in 5G networks, 5G networks can abstract more capabilities to provide to the application layer, including network slicing services, edge computing services, location services, 5G voice and messages, data analysis services, and the like.

[0130] The above method can enable the operator to implement policy control and charging control for specific users, but there is room for improvement in some scenarios. For example, it is currently not possible to implement charging reduction / preference and QoS policy guarantee for specific Apps in some scenarios without pre-configuration (e.g., without pre-arranging a traffic package for a specific App in the operator's mall, without pre-configuring a UE to trigger QoS policy control and charging control when using certain specific Apps), and the related technical solutions for QoS policy control and charging control for specific APPs in the "5GC+MEC" architecture are not considered.

[0131] For example, for local hotspot high-traffic usage scenarios, the following problems may exist:

[0132] 1. Users need to use their own mobile phones to scan codes through Apps or mini-programs, and multiple rounds of scanning codes will consume a large amount of personal traffic for users;

[0133] 2. Personnel are relatively concentrated, and the queuing personnel will use mobile phones for various Apps, and there is no network resource guarantee for UEs using specified Apps;

[0134] 3. It is difficult to tilt network resources in local areas for local hotspot high-traffic usage scenarios.

[0135] In view of the above scenarios, each operator has launched data traffic and call charge giving services for specified users. The usual business process is as follows:

[0136] 1. The district client manager manually collects the mobile phone numbers of specified users;

[0137] 2. Through business contact forms and the like, report to the management department of the superior unit (provincial or municipal company of the operator);

[0138] 3. After approval, place an order in the business operation support system (BOSS, Business Operating Support System) system to give unified traffic and call charges to the statistical mobile phone numbers.

[0139] In the above scenarios, the following aspects need improvement:

[0140] 1. If operators directly give away data or call credit to specific individuals' mobile phone numbers, they cannot accurately track and reduce the data usage of specific individuals for specific applications;

[0141] 2. If current technology is used to reduce data usage or allocate network resources to specific individuals, operators need to manually configure specific phone numbers on the BOSS system. This manual configuration method is prone to errors, such as missing, over-counting, or incorrectly counting numbers. Offering acceleration packages or data packages for specific apps on the BOSS marketplace for specific users to subscribe to requires prior integration of the app with the BOSS system, a lengthy and inflexible process. Furthermore, a specific subscription module needs to be set up in the ToC user interface, but most ToC users are not the target users of these acceleration packages or data packages, so it is necessary to prevent accidental or malicious subscriptions.

[0142] Therefore, there is a need for a convenient, quick, and flexible method for individual users to implement preferential network resource policies and billing for specific apps on a UE when the user is using public services. Currently, there are no relevant technical solutions for QoS policy control and billing control for specific apps within the 5GC+MEC architecture.

[0143] Based on this, the following embodiments of the present invention are proposed. Based on the 5GC+MEC system architecture, the network resource configuration request initiated by the service deployed on the MEP (such as the background of a specific App) through the network capability opening is dynamically implemented to achieve policy control and billing control for terminals using such specific services in some scenarios.

[0144] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the overall architecture of the network resource configuration method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown below. Figure 3 As shown, the MEP has a NEF proxy function, which allows interaction between the MEP and NEF. The App can be deployed on the MEP platform. The network resource configuration method in this embodiment generally includes three parts: a network capability opening configuration process, an App traffic statistics process, and an automatic QoS configuration and automatic traffic reduction process. Specifically:

[0145] The configuration process for opening up network capabilities is as follows: The MEP (specifically, the AF or App deployed on the MEP) initiates a request to the NEF to open up network capabilities and sends the relevant parameters required for the 5G core network to perform QoS and charging control.

[0146] Traffic statistics process of the App: for the request meeting the requirement (such as the App meeting the requirement), after the verification of the NEF, the network capability opening is performed, and the traffic statistics process is started; in this process, the PCF uniformly controls the overall planning of the related configurations, and the core network elements such as the NWDAF, the SMF and the UPF perform the related configuration requirements, so as to realize the traffic statistics according to the request of the MEP (mainly the AF or the App on the MEP);

[0147] Automatic QoS configuration and automatic traffic reduction process: based on the above traffic statistics, the UE is screened, mainly the UE meeting the requirement is screened; the NWDAF screens the UE meeting the requirement, and adjusts the QoS and the charging of the specific App on the UE in the use process; and then the PCF formulates the specific QoS and charging adjustment strategy, and delivers the specific QoS and charging adjustment strategy to the SMF and the like related network elements for execution.

[0148] Based on the above process, the QoS policy guarantee and the charging policy adjustment of the specific App used by the terminal can be realized.

[0149] Based on this, the embodiment of the application provides a network resource configuration method, which is applied to a network exposure function (NEF). Figure 4 The flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the application Figure 1 ; as Figure 4 shown, the method comprises the following steps:

[0150] Step 101: receiving a first request sent by an edge computing platform, the first request being used for requesting the network capability opening of a first application; the first request comprising first information related to the policy control and the charging control of the first application;

[0151] Step 102: when the first information meets the condition, sending a second request to a policy control function, the second request comprising second information related to the policy control and the charging control of the first application, the second information being used for the policy control function to formulate and deliver a first policy for monitoring the traffic condition of the first application to a session management function, the monitored traffic condition being used for screening the accessed terminal, so as to formulate the policy control and the charging rule for the screened terminal.

[0152] In this embodiment, the specific App or AF that needs to perform QoS policy control or adjustment and charging policy control or adjustment is deployed on the MEP, and the MEP initiates a first request for network capability exposure to the NEF. In this embodiment, the first request also includes first information related to the policy control and charging control of the first application; the NEF determines whether the conditions are met (such as whether the first application meets the conditions) according to the parameters in the first information, and in the case where the conditions are met, sends the second request to the PCF, so as to perform unified control of the related configurations by the PCF.

[0153] In some optional embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following: a first identifier indicating the region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier indicating the regional limitation of network capability exposure, a third identifier indicating the identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform, and time information requesting to perform the usage monitoring of the first application. It can be understood that the first information must include at least one of the above information.

[0154] The first identifier is used to identify the region to which the MEP belongs, so as to facilitate the NEF to find the PCF corresponding to the region. For example, for a specified App, the background server is deployed on the regional MEP in Chengdu, and when the network capability exposure is performed, the MEP reports that it belongs to Chengdu, and then the subsequent network capability exposure is performed by the related network functions (NFs) that control Chengdu to perform subsequent operations.

[0155] The second identifier is used to identify the network capability exposure of the specified App on the MEP within a fixed regional range, so as to facilitate the limitation of the regional range of the subsequent network capability exposure. For example, for a specified App, the MEP reports that the range of the "network capability exposure limited region" is the high-tech zone of Chengdu or a certain street under the high-tech zone of Chengdu through the second identifier, and then the subsequent network capability exposure is only configured for this regional range, thereby reducing unnecessary network overhead.

[0156] The third identifier, i.e., the identifier (ID) of the App, is used to indicate the identity of the App deployed on the MEP, which is verified by the NEF to determine whether to perform network capability exposure on the App on the MEP.

[0157] The time information for requesting the first application usage monitoring is used to specify a time range, and the 5GC monitors the App usage in the time range, including continuous usage time monitoring after starting the App at any time in the time range, and traffic usage statistics of the App, so as to adjust the cost policy and QoS policy of the specified App used by the UE in the time range. For example, there is a large-scale usage of the specified App. As an implementation, it is necessary to, for example, monthly, count the traffic usage of the specified App of the staff UE to be exempted from charges. For another example, the field can be combined with the second identifier indicating the regional restriction of the network capability opening, to jointly request the network resource inclination in the specified area and the specified time. That is, in the large-scale usage scenario, for example, the XX street in the high-tech zone needs to be used in the specified time period (such as 08-10 am every day from 10.15 to 20) in the specified date period, and for this scenario, the cost policy and QoS resource adjustment can be requested according to the two fields of the second identifier indicating the regional restriction of the network capability opening and the time information for requesting the first application usage monitoring when the UE uses the specified App in the specified area and the specified time. The large-scale usage time is, for example, one week to two weeks, and the traffic usage of the staff UE using the specified App needs to be counted in the time range, and the QoS resource guarantee is performed for the specified App in the time range.

[0158] In some optional embodiments, the first information further includes a fourth identifier indicating a request for traffic reduction and / or a fifth identifier indicating a request for quality of service adjustment. It can be understood that the first information can optionally further include the fourth identifier and / or the fifth identifier.

[0159] The fourth identifier is used to initiate traffic statistics of a specific App on a UE satisfying a set condition in a time range of “time range for requesting App usage monitoring”, and charges generated by the traffic are reduced.

[0160] The fifth identifier is used to initiate QoS policy adjustment of a specific App on a UE satisfying a set condition in a time range of “time range for requesting App usage monitoring”, to ensure efficient operation of the service.

[0161] In some optional embodiments, the first identifier supports indicating administrative regions with precision of at least one of the following: province, city, and county. The first identifier is a unique identifier of the region on the MEP, and can be implemented in various forms such as bitmap, number, string, etc. For example, assuming that the MEP region identifier can be accurate to the province and city dimensions, when using bitmap, assuming that a 12-bit bitmap is used, the first 6 bits represent the province and the last 6 bits represent the city, for example, "000008100000" represents the whole province of Sichuan, and "000008000001" represents Chengdu in Sichuan; when using number, assuming that a 4-bit number is used, "0800" represents the whole province of Sichuan, and "0801" represents Chengdu in Sichuan. Using string, for example, "SiChuan", "Chengdu".

[0162] In some optional embodiments, the second identifier supports indicating administrative regions with precision of at least one of the following: province, city, and county. The second identifier can be implemented in various forms such as bitmap, string, etc. For example, assuming that the MEP applies network capability opening restriction to the high-tech zone of Chengdu, Chengdu has 12 districts, 5 county-level cities, and 3 counties. When using bitmap, assuming that a 20-bit bitmap is used, each bit represents a region, if the first bit represents "Qingyang District", the sixth bit represents "High-tech Zone", and the sixteenth bit represents "Dayi County", then when the region is restricted to the above three regions, it can be represented as "10000100000000010000"; using string, for example, "QingYang", "GaoXin", "DaYi".

[0163] In some optional embodiments, the third identifier is a unique identifier of the App on the MEP, and at least includes one of the following embodiments: "App category + App name", "App name". The specific implementation can be bitmap, number, string, etc. For example, according to the "App category + App name" to represent the identifier, assuming that there are three categories of App deployed on the MEP: public entertainment, public service, government management, and there are three kinds of public service App on the MEP, one of which is the specified App. When using bitmap representation, 4-bit bitmap can be used to represent, and "00", "01", "10" can be used to represent the three App categories respectively, and the final identity of the specified App on the MEP can be "0101"; when using the numbering method, assuming that a total of 2-bit numbering is used, the first two bits of the bit number can be used to represent the App category, and "0", "1", "2" can be used to represent the three App categories respectively, and the final identity of the specified App on the MEP can be "11"; when using the string method, the fixed name of the three App categories is used to represent, such as "Entertainment", "Public Service", "GovApp", and the final identity of the specified App on the MEP can be "PubliceService-Nucleic Acid Testing".

[0164] In some optional embodiments, the time information of the request for the first application usage monitoring is used to specify a time range, and at least one of the following time lengths can be indicated: month, week, day, and hour period. The specific implementation can be a combination of string, number + string, bitmap + string, etc. For example, the usage of the UE for the specified App in the next three weeks needs to be monitored. The string method can be used, such as "ThreeWeeks"; the number + string method can be used, such as "3weeks"; the bitmap + string method can be used, such as using 4-bit bitmap to represent the number of time lengths, and three weeks are represented as "0011weeks".

[0165] In some optional embodiments, the fourth identifier is used to indicate whether to apply for traffic reduction, and the specific implementation can be bitmap, number, string, etc. For example, whether to apply for traffic reduction. A 1-bit bitmap can be used to represent, "1" represents yes, and "0" represents no; a 1-bit number can be used to represent, "1" represents yes, and "0" represents no; a string can be used to represent, "yes" represents yes, and "no" represents no.

[0166] In some optional embodiments, the fifth identifier is used to indicate whether to apply for policy adjustment (QoS adjustment), and specific implementation can be bitmap, number, string, etc. For example, whether to apply for policy adjustment (QoS adjustment). A 1-bit bitmap can be used to represent "1" for yes and "0" for no; a 1-bit number can be used to represent "1" for yes and "0" for no; a string can be used to represent "yes" for yes and "no" for no.

[0167] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the determining that the first application meets the condition comprises: determining that the third identifier representing the identity of the application in the first information indicates that the application is a specified application or the type of the application is a specified application type, and determining that the first information meets the condition.

[0168] In the present embodiment, when the NEF determines, according to the first request received from the MEP, that the first application applying for network capability exposure is a specified application or the type of the first application applying for network capability exposure is a specified application type, it can be determined that the first application meets the condition. For example, when the application is a "public service type" application, the application is allowed to apply for network capability exposure.

[0169] In some optional embodiments, the second information comprises at least one of the following: a first identifier representing a region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier representing a regional limit of network capability exposure, a third identifier representing the identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform, and time information for requesting the use case monitoring of the first application.

[0170] The specific description of the first identifier, the second identifier, the third identifier and the time information for requesting the use case monitoring of the application included in the second information can refer to the description of the corresponding embodiments of the first information, which will not be described here.

[0171] Optionally, the second information further comprises a fourth identifier representing a request for traffic reduction and / or a fifth identifier representing a request for quality of service adjustment.

[0172] The specific description of the fourth identifier and / or the fifth identifier included in the second information can refer to the description of the corresponding embodiments of the first information, which will not be described here.

[0173] In some optional embodiments, when the NEF determines that the first information meets the condition or determines that the application meets the condition, it sends a confirmation information to the MEP, and the confirmation information is used to notify the MEP of the network capability exposure request for confirmation.

[0174] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the second information is further used by the policy control function to formulate and issue a second policy to a network data analysis function, the second policy being used to monitor a network state.

[0175] Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present application further provide a network resource configuration method, which is applied to a policy control function (PCF). Figure 5 The flow of the network resource configuration method of the embodiments of the present application is shown in Figure 2 As shown in Figure 5 , the method comprises the following steps:

[0176] Step 201: receiving a second request sent by a network exposure function, the second request comprising second information related to policy control and charging control of a first application;

[0177] Step 202: sending first indication information to a session management function based on the second information, the first indication information comprising a first policy used to monitor a traffic condition of the first application; the monitored traffic condition being used to screen an accessed terminal;

[0178] Step 203: receiving third indication information sent by a network data analysis function, the third indication information comprising screened terminal information;

[0179] Step 204: formulating policy control and charging rules for the screened terminal, and sending fourth indication information to the session management function, the fourth indication information comprising the policy control and charging rules.

[0180] In the embodiments, the NEF determines whether the first information in the received first request from the MEP meets a condition, or whether the first application (i.e. the first application) applying for network capability exposure meets a condition; when it is determined that the first information meets the condition, or that the first application (i.e. the first application) applying for network capability exposure meets the condition, the NEF sends a second request to the PCF. For example, when the application is a “public service type” application, it is allowed to apply for network capability exposure. The PCF limits a regional range and a time range according to the second information sent by the NEF, and issues indication information to the SMF in the limited region according to the second request to perform subsequent operations. For example, the PCF parses the request for initiating network capability exposure by the application through the NEF, and determines that the use of the specified application by the UE in the Chengdu region needs to be monitored in the next two weeks.

[0181] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the second information includes at least one of the following: a first identifier representing a region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier representing a regional limit of network capability opening, a third identifier representing an identity of a first application deployed on the edge computing platform, and time information requesting to perform the first application usage monitoring. It can be understood that the second information must include at least one of the above information.

[0182] In some other optional embodiments, the second information further includes a fourth identifier representing a request for traffic reduction and / or a fifth identifier representing a request for quality of service adjustment. It can be understood that the second information optionally includes the fourth identifier and / or the fifth identifier.

[0183] In the present embodiment, the specific implementation of each identifier or information included in the second information can refer to the above-mentioned embodiments for NEF, which will not be repeated here. Through the content of the second information, a regional range and a time range can be defined, and a second request is sent to support subsequent instructions to the NWDAF and SMF in the defined region, requiring them to execute subsequent instructions within the defined time range.

[0184] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the method further includes: sending second indication information to the network data analysis function based on the second information, the second indication information including a second policy for monitoring the network state.

[0185] In some optional embodiments, the first indication information and the second indication information each further include at least one of the following: a second identifier representing a regional limit of network capability opening, time information requesting to perform the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier representing an identity of a first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

[0186] In the present embodiment, the second indication information is used to instruct the NWDAF to start monitoring the network state of the UE using the specified App in the limited region within the limited time. The NWDAF analyzes the second indication information to start monitoring the network state of the UE using the specified App in the limited region within the limited time, and the monitored network state includes at least one of the following: network performance, abnormal behavior, UE mobility, UE communication state, user data congestion situation, and QoS sustainability.

[0187] In this embodiment, the PCF sends first indication information to each SMF accessing the PCF in the restricted area to support the SMF to find the UE in the restricted area, so as to require the UPF to monitor the use of the specific App by the UE in the restricted area within the restricted time in the subsequent process. The SMF parses the first indication information to find the UE in the restricted area, and requires the UPF to perform monitoring of the use of the specific App by the UE within the restricted time.

[0188] In this embodiment, the NWDAF receives the traffic monitoring information from the UPF, filters the UE to be configured with the QoS policy and the charging policy based on the traffic monitoring information, and reports the terminal information meeting the requirement to the PCF through third indication information.

[0189] In some optional embodiments, the terminal information included in the third indication information at least includes the identifier of the terminal; in other optional embodiments, the terminal information can further include at least one of the following: the current network situation of the terminal, user information, access network type, etc. Wherein, the identifier of the terminal is used to identify the identity of the 5G UE, and the implementation manner includes but is not limited to: mobile subscriber number (MSISDN), international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), user permanent identifier (SUPI), user concealed identifier (SUCI), IP address, media access control (MAC) address, permanent equipment identifier (PEI), etc.

[0190] In this embodiment, the PCF formulates dynamic policy control and charging rules (PCC rules) for the terminal meeting the requirement (i.e. the filtered terminal), and issues the policy control and charging rules through fourth indication information.

[0191] In some optional embodiments, the policy control and charging rules include at least one of the following information:

[0192] The associated quality of service (QoS) template, charging control policy, usage monitoring policy and conditional policy.

[0193] The associated service quality (QoS) template: the requirement of a new QoS template associated with the first App (i.e., the first application) on the UE is higher than the requirement of an existing QoS template of the UE. The associated service quality (QoS) template content at least includes one of the following: 5G QoS identifier (5QI, 5G QoS Identifier), uplink and downlink maximum bit rate (MBR, Maximum Bit Rate) / guaranteed bit rate (GBR, Guaranteed Bit Rate), and flow classification rule (specific description information of the flow (source / destination IP, etc.), direction of the flow (uplink / downlink).

[0194] The charging control policy: ① should at least be associated with the service identifier (serviceID) of the first App (ID of the App in the 5GC); ② the subsequent charging standard for the first App should at least include: free, cumulative discount according to traffic usage, etc.; ③ the SMF should be required to notify the converged charging system (CCS, Converged Charging System) to perform the same charging standard as the PCC rule stipulates for the usage traffic counted in the process interval from the UPF starting to count the traffic of the first App to the issuance of the PCC rule to the UE meeting the requirement.

[0195] The usage monitoring policy should at least include the threshold value of the traffic monitoring report and the monitoring time, etc., for continuing to realize the continuous usage time length monitoring and usage traffic counting of the UE using the first App.

[0196] The condition policy should at least include the deactivation condition of the PCC rule, according to the continuous usage time length monitoring of the UE using the first App, based on this parameter, the algorithm implementation pseudo code of the deactivation condition of the PCC rule after the QoS and charging policy has been activated is as follows:

[0197] Begin (algorithm starts)

[0198] If: the continuous usage time length of the UE to the specific APP < K;

[0199] Then: restore the associated QoS template of the UE to the specific APP to the QoS template state stipulated in the subscription package of the UE;

[0200] End (algorithm ends)

[0201] Based on the above embodiment, the embodiment of the application further provides a network resource configuration method, which is applied to a session management function (SMF). Figure 6 The flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the application is shown in FIG. 1. Figure 3 As shown in FIG. 1, the method comprises the following steps. Figure 6 ​

[0202] Step 301: receiving first indication information sent by a policy control function, wherein the first indication information comprises a first policy for monitoring traffic of a first application;

[0203] Step 302: sending fifth indication information to a selected user plane function, wherein the fifth indication information comprises the first policy, and the fifth indication information is used to instruct the user plane function to perform traffic monitoring on the traffic of the first application;

[0204] Step 303: receiving traffic monitoring information sent by the user plane function, and sending the traffic monitoring information to a network data analysis function, wherein the traffic monitoring information is used to screen an accessed terminal;

[0205] Step 304: receiving fourth indication information sent by a policy control function, wherein the fourth indication information comprises a policy control and charging rule related to a screened terminal;

[0206] Step 305: sending sixth indication information comprising the policy control and charging rule related to the screened terminal to the user plane function, wherein the sixth indication information is used to instruct the user plane function to perform processing according to the policy control and charging rule.

[0207] In the embodiment, the SMF is an access PCF and an SMF in a restricted area; the SMF finds a UE in the restricted area according to the first indication information, so as to require the UPF to monitor the traffic of the first application (or a specified application) used by the UE within a restricted time in a subsequent process.

[0208] In the embodiment, the SMF sends fifth indication information to a selected UPF according to the first indication information, so as to require the UPF to monitor the traffic of the first application (or a specified application) used by the UE in the restricted area within a restricted time.

[0209] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the first indication information and the fifth indication information each further comprise at least one of the following: a second identifier representing an area restriction of network capability opening, time information requesting the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier representing an identity of the first application deployed in an edge computing platform.

[0210] The specific implementation manners of the above information and identifiers can refer to the descriptions in the foregoing embodiments, and will not be described here.

[0211] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the traffic monitoring information comprises at least one of the following information related to the first application deployed on the edge computing platform: usage time information of the application, and traffic information generated by the application.

[0212] In the present embodiment, the UPF analyzes the fifth indication information, and monitors the traffic of the first application (or the specified application) used in the restricted area within the restriction time to obtain traffic monitoring information. The traffic monitoring information at least comprises the usage time or continuous usage time information of the application, and / or the statistical information of the traffic generated by the application since the monitoring is started.

[0213] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the policy control and charging rules comprise at least one of the following information: associated quality of service template, charging control policy, usage monitoring policy, and conditional policy. The specific implementation of the information included in the policy control and charging policy can refer to the description in the foregoing embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0214] Based on the above embodiments, the present application further provides a network resource configuration method, which is applied to a network data analysis function (NWDAF). Figure 7 The flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the present application embodiment is shown in FIG. 4. Figure 4 As shown in FIG. 4, the method comprises the following steps. Figure 7

[0215] Step 401: receiving traffic monitoring information from a user plane function, wherein the traffic monitoring information is obtained based on the traffic monitoring of the traffic of a first application according to a first policy sent to the user plane function;

[0216] Step 402: obtaining terminal information meeting a condition based on the traffic monitoring information, and sending third indication information to a policy control function, wherein the third indication information comprises the screened terminal information, and the third indication information is used for the policy control function to formulate policy control and charging rules for the screened terminal.

[0217] In the present embodiment, the traffic monitoring information of the user plane function can be sent to a session management function first, and then sent to the NWDAF by the session management function.

[0218] In some optional embodiments, the traffic monitoring information comprises at least one of the following information related to the first application deployed on the edge computing platform: usage time information of the application, and traffic information generated by the application.

[0219] ​In some optional embodiments, the obtaining the terminal information satisfying the condition based on the traffic monitoring information comprises: determining, based on the usage time information of the application, that the terminal uses the first application for a time duration greater than a first threshold value, and / or determining, based on the traffic information generated by the application, that the terminal uses the first application for a traffic volume greater than a second threshold value, to determine that the terminal satisfies the condition, and obtaining the terminal information satisfying the condition.

[0220] In this embodiment, the NWDAF filters the terminals satisfying the requirement based on the traffic monitoring information, and the filtered terminals can also be considered as the terminals to be configured with the QoS policy and the charging policy, i.e., the terminals to be adjusted in policy and charging. For example, taking the first application as the specified App, the UE of the staff using the App to serve the public is the real use UE of the App. At least based on the continuous usage duration of the UE using the specified App and / or the traffic statistics of the UE using the specified App, a suitable threshold value is set to filter out the real use UE, and the UE is exempted from the traffic for the specified App and is guaranteed with the QoS policy when using the specified App. For other personnel misusing or maliciously using the specified App, the QoS policy and the charging policy are not guaranteed for the specified App of the UE.

[0221] Specifically, the NWDAF should at least filter the terminals based on the usage time information of the application and / or the traffic information generated by the application since the traffic monitoring is started from the UPF. Taking the combination of the two information as an example, the pseudo code of the algorithm implementation is as follows:

[0222] {

[0223] Begin (algorithm starts)

[0224] If: the continuous usage duration of the UE for the specific App is greater than M since the monitoring is started from the UPF;

[0225] And: the usage traffic statistics of the UE for the specific App is greater than N since the monitoring is started from the UPF;

[0226] Then: the NWDAF determines that the UE is the UE satisfying the requirement, and records the identifier of the UE;

[0227] End (algorithm ends)

[0228] }

[0229] Wherein: M is a set time threshold, which should at least support indicating the length of accuracy to one of the following: minute, second. The specific implementation is determined according to the actual programming code. N is a set traffic threshold, which should at least support indicating the traffic to one of the following: GB, MB, KB. The specific implementation is determined according to the actual programming code. The identifier of the UE is used to indicate that the PCF issues a configuration update to the UE according to the existing standard process and the QoS and charging policy update method of the embodiments of the application. The above-mentioned specific App can also be referred to as a specified App, that is, the first App that meets the conditions in this embodiment.

[0230] In this embodiment, the terminal information included in the third indication information at least includes the identifier of the terminal; in other optional embodiments, the terminal information can also include at least one of the following: the current network situation of the terminal, user information, access network type, etc. Wherein, the identifier of the terminal is used to identify the identity of the 5G UE, and the implementation manner includes but is not limited to: MSISDN, IMSI, SUPI, SUCI, IP address, MAC address, PEI, etc.

[0231] In some optional embodiments, the method further comprises: receiving the second indication information sent by the policy control function, wherein the second indication information includes a second policy for monitoring the network state.

[0232] In some optional embodiments, the second indication information further includes at least one of the following: a second identifier representing the regional restriction of network capability opening, time information requesting to monitor the use situation of the first application, and a third identifier representing the identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

[0233] In this embodiment, the NWDAF monitors the network state based on the second indication information, and specifically can monitor the network state of the first App (or specified App, specific App). Specifically, the NWDAF can monitor the network state of the first App (or specified App, specific App) in the limited area and limited time according to the content included in the second indication information. In other embodiments, if the terminal information reported includes the current network situation of the terminal, the network situation can be obtained according to the network state monitoring of the second indication information.

[0234] In other optional embodiments, the NWDAF can also obtain network state monitoring information and send the network state monitoring information to the PCF. Optionally, the network state monitoring information at least includes at least one of the following: network performance, abnormal behavior, UE mobility, UE communication state, user data congestion situation, and sustainability of QoS.

[0235] Based on the above embodiment, the embodiment of the present application further provides a network resource configuration method, which is applied to an edge computing platform (MEP). Figure 8 A flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the present application is shown in Figure 5 As shown in Figure 8 , the method comprises the following steps:

[0236] Step 501: sending a first request to a network exposure function, the first request being used for requesting network capability exposure of a first application; the first request comprising first information related to policy control and charging control of the first application.

[0237] In the embodiment, a specific App or AF that needs to perform QoS policy control or adjustment and charging policy control or adjustment is deployed on the MEP, and the MEP initiates a first request for network capability exposure to the NEF. In the embodiment, the first request further comprises first information related to policy control and charging control of the first application; the NEF determines whether a condition is met (for example, whether the first application meets the condition) according to parameters in the first information, and in the case where the condition is met, sends the second request to the PCF, so that the PCF performs unified control of related configurations.

[0238] In some optional embodiments, the first information comprises at least one of the following: a first identifier indicating a region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier indicating regional limitation of network capability exposure, a third identifier indicating an identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform, and time information requesting to perform usage monitoring of the first application. It can be understood that the first information must comprise at least one of the above information.

[0239] In another optional embodiment, the first information further comprises a fourth identifier indicating a request for traffic reduction and / or a fifth identifier indicating a request for quality of service adjustment. It can be understood that the first information can optionally further comprise the fourth identifier and / or the fifth identifier.

[0240] In some optional embodiments, when the NEF determines that the first information meets the condition or determines that the App (for example, the first application) meets the condition, the NEF sends confirmation information to the MEP, that is, the MEP receives the confirmation information sent by the NEF, and the confirmation information is used for notifying the MEP of the network capability exposure request for confirmation.

[0241] Based on the above embodiment, the embodiment of the present application further provides a network resource configuration method, which is applied to a user plane function (UPF). Figure 9 A flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the present application is shown in Figure 6 ; as shown in Figure 9 , the method comprises the following steps:

[0242] Step 601: receiving fifth indication information sent by the session management function, wherein the first policy is included in the fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information is used to instruct the user plane function to perform traffic monitoring on the traffic condition of the first application;

[0243] Step 602: performing monitoring on the traffic condition of the first application based on the fifth indication information, obtaining traffic monitoring information, and sending the traffic monitoring information to the session management function, wherein the traffic monitoring information is used to screen the accessed terminal, and the policy control and charging rule is formulated and delivered for the screened terminal.

[0244] Step 603: receiving sixth indication information sent by the session management function, wherein the policy control and charging rule related to the screened terminal is included in the sixth indication information.

[0245] In the embodiment, the SMF sends the fifth indication information to the selected UPF according to the first indication information, so as to require the UPF to perform monitoring on the traffic condition of the first application (or the specified application) used by the UE in the limited area within the limited time.

[0246] In some optional embodiments of the application, the fifth indication information further includes at least one of the following: a second identifier representing the area limitation of the network capability opening, time information requesting to perform the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier representing the identity of the first application deployed in the edge computing platform. The specific implementation of the above information and identifiers can refer to the description in the foregoing embodiments, and will not be described here.

[0247] In some optional embodiments of the application, the traffic monitoring information includes at least one of the following information related to the first application deployed in the edge computing platform: application usage time information and application generated traffic information.

[0248] In the embodiment, the UPF performs monitoring on the traffic condition of the first application (or the specified application) used by the UE in the limited area within the limited time by analyzing the fifth indication information, and obtains the traffic monitoring information. The traffic monitoring information at least includes the App usage time length or continuous usage time length information, and / or the statistical information of the traffic generated by the App since the monitoring is started.

[0249] In some optional embodiments of the application, the policy control and charging rule includes at least one of the following information: the associated quality of service template, the charging control policy, the usage monitoring policy and the conditional policy. The specific implementation of the information included in the policy control and charging policy can refer to the description in the foregoing embodiments, and will not be described here.

[0250] In combination with the above embodiments, the network resource configuration method of the embodiments of the present application can include three parts: a configuration process of network capability opening, a traffic statistics process of an APP, and an automatic QoS configuration and automatic traffic reduction process. Based on the above three processes, when the continuous use time or traffic of a specific APP used by a UE exceeds a certain threshold, the specific APP used by the UE can be guaranteed in terms of QoS policy and adjusted in terms of charging policy.

[0251] The above three processes will be described in detail below in combination with specific examples.

[0252] Example 1

[0253] This example is directed to the configuration process of network capability opening. An AF (for example, a specified App) deployed on a MEP initiates a request for network capability opening to a NEF, and the request carries required information for requiring the 5GC to perform policy control and charging control. Figure 10 Interaction flow of the network resource configuration method of the embodiments of the present application Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 7, the method includes the following steps. Figure 10

[0254] Step 701: The MEP sends a first request to the NEF, and the first request carries first information.

[0255] Step 702: The NEF determines whether the App meets the requirements.

[0256] Step 703: The NEF returns a confirmation result to the MEP in the case where it is determined that the App meets the requirements.

[0257] In this embodiment, the first request is used to request network capability opening for the App; and the first request includes first information or parameters related to policy control and charging control of the App. Specifically, the first information includes at least one of the following: a first identifier indicating a region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier indicating a regional restriction of network capability opening, a third identifier indicating an identity of a first application deployed on the edge computing platform, and time information for requesting use situation monitoring of the first application. Optionally, the first information further includes a fourth identifier indicating a request for traffic reduction and / or a fifth identifier indicating a request for service quality adjustment. The above first application is the App.

[0258] In this embodiment, when the NEF determines, according to the received first request from the MEP, that the App applying for network capability opening is a specified App or that the type of the App applying for network capability opening is a specified App type, it can be determined that the first application meets the conditions. For example, when the App is a “public service type” App, it is allowed to apply for network capability opening.​

[0259] Example Two

[0260] This example is directed to the traffic statistics process of the App, after the NEF verification is passed, the network capability opening is performed, and the traffic statistics process is started. In this process, the PCF uniformly controls the overall planning of the related configuration, and the NWDAF, SMF, and UPF perform the related configuration requirements to realize the traffic statistics according to the request of the MEP (mainly refers to the external AF on the MEP, that is, a specific App). Figure 11 The interaction flowchart of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the application Figure 2 As shown in the figure, the method comprises: Figure 11

[0261] Step 801: The NEF sends a second request to the PCF, and the second request carries second information;

[0262] Step 802: The PCF sends first indication information to the SMF, and carries a first policy for monitoring the traffic situation of the first application;

[0263] Step 803: The PCF sends second indication information to the NWDAF, and carries a second policy for monitoring the network state;

[0264] Step 804: After receiving the first indication information, the SMF sends fifth indication information to the UPF, and carries the first policy;

[0265] Step 805: The UPF obtains traffic monitoring information, sends the traffic monitoring information to the SMF, and the SMF sends the traffic monitoring information to the NWDAF.

[0266] In this embodiment, the NEF sends a second request to the PCF in the case where the App meets the requirements, or it can be considered that the request of the MEP is forwarded, and the PCF is uniformly planned and managed to issue related policies, and the NWDAF, SMF, and UPF execute related requirements to realize the traffic statistics of the specific APP. The second information includes at least one of the following: a first identifier indicating the region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier indicating the regional limitation of the network capability opening, a third identifier indicating the identity of the first application deployed in the edge computing platform, and time information requesting to monitor the use of the first application. Optionally, the second information further includes a fourth identifier indicating the request for traffic reduction and / or a fifth identifier indicating the request for quality of service adjustment. The above-mentioned first application is the App.

[0267] ​In the embodiment, the first indication information and the second indication information further include at least one of the following: a second identifier indicating a network capability open area limit, time information requesting the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier indicating the identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

[0268] The PCF sends the first indication information to the SMF according to the second request to support the SMF to find the UEs in the limited area, and requires the UPF to monitor the usage of the specific application by the UEs in the subsequent process within the limited time. The SMF parses the first indication information to find the UEs in the limited area, and requires the UPF to monitor the usage of the application by the UEs within the limited time.

[0269] The NWDAF parses the second indication information to start monitoring the network status of the UEs in the limited area using the specified application within the limited time, and the monitored network status includes at least one of the following: network performance, abnormal behavior, UE mobility, UE communication status, user data congestion, and QoS sustainability.

[0270] In the embodiment, the fifth indication information further includes at least one of the following: a second identifier indicating a network capability open area limit, time information requesting the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier indicating the identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

[0271] The UPF parses the fifth indication information to monitor the traffic of the application used by the UEs in the limited area within the limited time, and obtains the traffic monitoring information. The traffic monitoring information includes at least one of the following: the application usage duration or continuous usage duration information, and / or the statistical information of the traffic generated by the application since the monitoring is started.

[0272] Example Three

[0273] This example is for the automatic QoS configuration and automatic traffic reduction process, mainly by the NWDAF to screen the UEs meeting the requirements, and to perform policy control and charging control on the specific APP on the UE during use. The PCF formulates specific policy and charging adjustment strategy, and issues it to the SMF and other related network elements and UEs for execution. Figure 12 Interaction flow diagram of the network resource configuration method of the embodiment of the application Figure 3 As shown in FIG. 8, the method comprises the following steps: Figure 12

[0274] Step 901: The NWDAF screens the terminal according to the traffic monitoring information, determines the terminal meeting the condition, and sends the third indication information carrying the screened terminal information to the PCF. ​

[0275] Step 902: The PCF sends fourth indication information to the SMF, carrying policy control and charging rules.

[0276] Step 903: The SMF sends sixth indication information to the UPF, carrying policy control and charging rules.

[0277] In this embodiment, the NWDAF receives traffic monitoring information from the UPF, filters out UEs to be configured with QoS policy and charging policy based on the traffic monitoring information, and reports terminal information meeting the requirements to the PCF through third indication information. The terminal information included in the third indication information at least includes the identity of the terminal; in other optional embodiments, the terminal information can also include at least one of the following: current network situation of the terminal, user information, access network type, etc. Among them, the identity of the terminal is used to identify the identity of the 5G UE, and the implementation includes but is not limited to: MSISDN, IMSI, SUPI, SUCI, IP address, MAC address, PEI, etc.

[0278] In some optional embodiments, the NWDAF can determine that the terminal meets the condition based on the application usage time information in the traffic monitoring information when the usage time of the terminal to the application is greater than a first threshold, and / or based on the application traffic information in the traffic monitoring information when the usage traffic of the terminal to the application is greater than a second threshold, and obtain terminal information meeting the condition.

[0279] In this embodiment, the PCF formulates dynamic policy control and charging rules (PCC rules) for the terminals meeting the requirements (i.e. the filtered terminals), and issues the policy control and charging rules through fourth indication information. Among them, the policy control and charging rules include at least one of the following information:

[0280] Associated quality of service (QoS) template, charging control policy, usage monitoring policy and conditional policy.

[0281] In this embodiment, the SMF sends the policy control and charging rules issued by the PCF to the UPF through the sixth indication information, and performs subsequent operations according to the policy requirements issued according to the requirements.

[0282] Based on the above embodiments, the present embodiment also provides a network resource configuration device, which is applied to a network exposure function. Figure 13 The network resource configuration device of the present embodiment is shown in the component structure diagram Figure 1 ; as Figure 13 shown, the device includes a first communication unit 11 and a first processing unit 12; wherein,

[0283] The first communication unit 11 is configured to receive a first request sent by the edge computing platform, the first request being used to request network capability exposure of a first application; the first request comprises first information related to policy control and charging control of the first application;

[0284] The first processing unit 12 is configured to determine whether the first application meets a condition.

[0285] The first communication unit 11 is further configured to send a second request to a policy control function when the first processing unit 12 determines that the first application meets the condition, the second request comprising second information related to policy control and charging control of the first application, the second information being used by the policy control function to formulate and issue a first policy to a session management function, the first policy being used to monitor traffic of the first application, and the monitored traffic being used to screen an accessed terminal, and the policy control function formulating policy control and charging rules for the screened terminal.

[0286] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the first information comprises at least one of the following: a first identifier representing a region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier representing a regional limit of network capability exposure, a third identifier representing an identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform, and time information used to request monitoring of usage of the first application.

[0287] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the first information further comprises a fourth identifier used to request traffic reduction and / or a fifth identifier used to request quality of service adjustment.

[0288] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the second information is further used by the policy control function to formulate and issue a second policy to a network data analysis function, the second policy being used to monitor network status.

[0289] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the first processing unit 12 is configured to determine that the first application meets the condition when an application represented by the third identifier in the first information is a specified application or a type of the application is a specified application type.

[0290] In this embodiment of the invention, the first processing unit 12 in the device can be implemented by a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller unit (MCU), or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) in practical applications; the first communication unit 11 in the device can be implemented by a communication module (including: basic communication kit, operating system, communication module, standardized interface and protocol, etc.) and a transceiver antenna in practical applications.

[0291] This invention also provides a network resource configuration device, which is applied to policy control functions. Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram of the composition structure of the network resource configuration device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 ;like Figure 14 As shown, the device includes: a second communication unit 21 and a second processing unit 22; wherein,

[0292] The second communication unit 21 is configured to receive a second request sent by the network open function, the second request including second information related to the policy control and charging control of the first application; it is also configured to send first indication information to the session management function based on the second information, the first indication information including a first policy for monitoring the traffic of the first application; the monitored traffic is used to filter the access terminals; and it is also configured to receive third indication information sent by the network data analysis function, the third indication information including the filtered terminal information.

[0293] The second processing unit 22 is used to formulate policy control and billing rules for the screened terminals;

[0294] The second communication unit 21 is also used to send a fourth instruction message to the session management function, the fourth instruction message including the policy control and billing rules.

[0295] In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the second communication unit 21 is further configured to send second indication information to the network data analysis function based on the second information, the second indication information including a second strategy for monitoring the network status.

[0296] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the second information includes at least one of the following: a first identifier representing a region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier representing a regional limit of network capability exposure, a third identifier representing an identity of a first application deployed on the edge computing platform, and time information indicating a request for performing usage monitoring of the first application.

[0297] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the second information further includes a fourth identifier representing a request for traffic relief and / or a fifth identifier representing a request for quality of service adjustment.

[0298] In some optional embodiments of the present application, at least one of the first indication information and the second indication information further includes the following: a second identifier representing a regional limit of network capability exposure, time information indicating a request for performing usage monitoring of the first application, and a third identifier representing an identity of a first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

[0299] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the policy control and charging rule includes at least one of the following information: an associated quality of service template, a charging control policy, a usage monitoring policy, and a conditional policy.

[0300] In the embodiments of the present application, the second processing unit 22 in the device can be implemented by a CPU, a DSP, an MCU or an FPGA in actual application; and the second communication unit 21 in the device can be implemented by a communication module (including a basic communication suite, an operating system, a communication module, a standardized interface and a protocol, etc.) and a transceiving antenna in actual application.

[0301] The embodiments of the present application further provide a network resource configuration device, which is applied to a session management function. Figure 15 The network resource configuration device of the embodiments of the present application is shown in a component structure diagram Figure 3 ; as Figure 15As shown in the figure, the device comprises: a third communication unit 31, configured to receive first indication information sent by a policy control function, wherein the first indication information comprises a first policy for monitoring traffic conditions of a first application; further configured to send fifth indication information to a selected user plane function, wherein the fifth indication information comprises the first policy, and the fifth indication information is used to instruct the user plane function to perform traffic monitoring on the traffic conditions of the first application; further configured to receive traffic monitoring information sent by the user plane function, and send the traffic monitoring information to a network data analysis function, wherein the traffic monitoring information is used to screen an accessed terminal; further configured to receive fourth indication information sent by a policy control function, wherein the fourth indication information comprises a policy control and charging rule related to the screened terminal; further configured to send sixth indication information comprising the policy control and charging rule related to the screened terminal to the user plane function, wherein the sixth indication information is used to instruct the user plane function to process according to the policy control and charging rule.

[0302] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the first indication information and the fifth indication information further comprise at least one of the following: a second identifier representing a regional restriction of network capability opening, time information requesting to perform the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier representing the identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

[0303] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the traffic monitoring information comprises at least one of the following information related to the first application deployed on the edge computing platform: application usage time information, and traffic information generated by the application.

[0304] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the policy control and charging rule comprises at least one of the following information: an associated quality of service template, a charging control policy, a usage monitoring policy, and a conditional policy.

[0305] In the embodiments of the present application, the third communication unit 31 in the device can be implemented by a communication module (including a basic communication suite, an operating system, a communication module, a standardized interface and a protocol, etc.) and a transceiving antenna in actual application.

[0306] The embodiments of the present application further provide a network resource configuration device, which is applied to a network data analysis function. Figure 16 The network resource configuration device of the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure Figure 4 ; as Figure 16 shown, the device comprises a fourth communication unit 41 and a third processing unit 42; wherein,

[0307] The fourth communication unit 41 is configured to receive traffic monitoring information from a user plane function, the traffic monitoring information being obtained by monitoring traffic of a first application based on a first policy sent to the user plane function;

[0308] The third processing unit 42 is configured to obtain terminal information meeting a condition based on the traffic monitoring information.

[0309] The fourth communication unit 41 is further configured to send third indication information to a policy control function, the third indication information including filtered terminal information, the filtered terminal information being used by the policy control function to formulate a policy control and charging rule for the filtered terminal.

[0310] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the fourth communication unit 41 is further configured to receive second indication information sent by the policy control function, the second indication information including a second policy used to monitor a network state.

[0311] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the second indication information further includes at least one of the following: a second identifier representing a regional limit of network capability opening, time information requesting to monitor the use of the first application, and a third identifier representing an identity of the first application deployed on an edge computing platform.

[0312] In some optional embodiments of the present application, the traffic monitoring information includes at least one of the following information related to the first application deployed on the edge computing platform:

[0313] Use time information of the application and traffic information generated by the application.

[0314] The third processing unit 42 is configured to determine that the terminal meets the condition and obtain the terminal information meeting the condition when the use duration of the terminal to the first application is greater than a first threshold based on the use time information of the application, and / or when the use traffic of the terminal to the first application is greater than a second threshold based on the traffic information generated by the application.

[0315] In the embodiments of the present application, the third processing unit 42 in the device can be implemented by a CPU, a DSP, a MCU or an FPGA in actual application; and the fourth communication unit 41 in the device can be implemented by a communication module (including a basic communication suite, an operating system, a communication module, a standardized interface and a protocol, etc.) and a transceiving antenna in actual application.

[0316] The embodiments of the present application further provide a network resource configuration device, which is applied to an edge computing platform. Figure 17 The network resource configuration device of the embodiments of the present application is shown in a component structure diagram Figure 5 ; asFigure 17 As shown in the figure, the device comprises a fifth communication unit 51 configured to send a first request to a network exposure function, the first request being used to request network capability exposure for a first application; the first request comprises first information related to policy control and charging control of the first application.

[0317] In some optional embodiments of the application, the first information comprises at least one of the following: a first identifier representing a region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier representing regional restrictions of network capability exposure, a third identifier representing an identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform, and time information requesting the first application usage monitoring.

[0318] In some optional embodiments of the application, the first information further comprises a fourth identifier representing a request for traffic reduction and / or a fifth identifier representing a request for quality of service adjustment.

[0319] In the embodiments of the application, the fifth communication unit 51 in the device can be implemented by a communication module (including a basic communication suite, an operating system, a communication module, a standardized interface and a protocol, etc.) and a transceiving antenna in actual application.

[0320] The embodiments of the application further provide a network resource configuration device, which is applied to a user plane function. Figure 18 The network resource configuration device of the embodiments of the application has a component structure as shown in the figure Figure 6 ; as shown in the figure, the device comprises a sixth communication unit 61 and a fourth processing unit 62; wherein, Figure 18 The sixth communication unit 61 is configured to receive fifth indication information sent by a session management function, the fifth indication information comprising the first policy, and the fifth indication information being used to instruct the user plane function to perform traffic monitoring on traffic of a first application;

[0321] The fourth processing unit 62 is configured to monitor the traffic of the first application based on the fifth indication information, and obtain traffic monitoring information.

[0322] The sixth communication unit 61 is further configured to send the traffic monitoring information to the session management function, the traffic monitoring information being used to screen an accessed terminal, and the traffic monitoring information being used to screen the accessed terminal to formulate and issue policy control and charging rules for the screened terminal; and further configured to receive sixth indication information sent by the session management function, the sixth indication information comprising policy control and charging rules related to the screened terminal.

[0323]

[0324] ​In some optional embodiments of the application, the fifth indication information comprises at least one of the following: a second identifier representing a regional restriction of network capability opening, time information requesting the first application to use the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier representing the identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

[0325] In some optional embodiments of the application, the traffic monitoring information comprises at least one of the following information related to the first application deployed on the edge computing platform:

[0326] application usage time information and application generated traffic information.

[0327] In some optional embodiments of the application, the policy control and charging rule comprises at least one of the following information:

[0328] an associated quality of service template, a charging control policy, a usage monitoring policy, and a conditional policy.

[0329] In the embodiments of the application, the fourth processing unit 62 in the device can be implemented by a CPU, a DSP, a MCU, or an FPGA in actual application; and the sixth communication unit 61 in the device can be implemented by a communication module (including a basic communication suite, an operating system, a communication module, a standardized interface, and a protocol, etc.) and a transceiving antenna in actual application.

[0330] It should be noted that the network resource configuration device provided in the above embodiments is only used for example to illustrate the division of the above program modules, and in actual application, the above processing can be completed by different program modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device is divided into different program modules to complete all or part of the above processing. In addition, the network resource configuration device and the network resource configuration method embodiments provided in the above embodiments belong to the same concept, and the specific implementation process is detailed in the method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0331] The embodiments of the application further provide a network device, which can be a network exposure function, a policy control function, a session management function, or a network data analysis function. Figure 19 A schematic diagram of the hardware composition structure of the network device of the embodiments of the application is shown in FIG. 2. Figure 19 As shown in FIG. 2, the network device comprises a memory 72, a processor 71, and a computer program stored in the memory 72 and executable on the processor 71, wherein the processor 71 implements the steps of the network resource configuration method applied to the network exposure function, the policy control function, the session management function, the network data analysis function, the edge computing platform, or the user plane function when executing the program.

[0332] Optionally, the network device also includes at least one network interface 73. In this regard, various components of the network device are coupled together by a bus system 74. It is understood that the bus system 74 is used for the communication of data between the various components. The bus system 74 includes a data bus, a power bus, a control bus, and a state signal bus, although for the sake of clarity these are not all shown in Figure 19 FIG. 1. The various buses are represented by the bus system 74 in

[0333] It can be appreciated that the memory 72 can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, and can also include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a ferromagnetic random access memory (FRAM), a flash memory, a magnetic surface memory, an optical disc, or a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM). The magnetic surface memory can be a disk memory or a tape memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of RAM can be used, such as static random access memory (SRAM), synchronous static random access memory (SSRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), sync link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus random access memory (DRRAM).The memory 72 described in the embodiments of the present application is intended to include, but not limited to, these and any other suitable type of memory.

[0334] The method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be applied in the processor 71 or implemented by the processor 71. The processor 71 can be an integrated circuit chip having a processing capability of signals. In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor 71 or the instruction in the form of software. The processor 71 described above can be a general processor, a DSP, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, etc. The processor 71 can implement or execute the disclosed methods, steps and logic block diagrams in the embodiments of the present application. The general processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. In combination with the steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application, the execution can be directly completed by the hardware decoding processor or by the combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in the storage medium, which is located in the memory 72. The processor 71 reads the information in the memory 72 and combines the hardware to complete the steps of the above method.

[0335] In the exemplary embodiments, the network device can be implemented by one or more ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), DSPs, PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), CPLDs (Complex Programmable Logic Devices), FPGAs, general-purpose processors, controllers, MCUs, microprocessors, or other electronic elements, for executing the above method.

[0336] In the exemplary embodiments, the embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium, such as the memory 72 including a computer program, which can be executed by the processor 71 of the network device to complete the steps of the above method. The computer readable storage medium can be FRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash Memory, magnetic surface memory, optical disc, or CD-ROM, etc. storage; or can be various devices including one or any combination of the above storage.

[0337] The computer readable storage medium provided by the embodiments of the present application has a computer program stored thereon, which is executed by the processor to implement the steps of the network resource configuration method applied to the network exposure function, the policy control function, the session management function, the network data analysis function, the edge computing platform or the user plane function according to the embodiments of the present application.

[0338] The methods disclosed in the several method embodiments provided in the present application can be combined arbitrarily without conflict to obtain new method embodiments.

[0339] The features disclosed in the several product embodiments provided in the present application can be combined arbitrarily without conflict to obtain new product embodiments.

[0340] The features disclosed in the several method or device embodiments provided in the present application can be combined arbitrarily without conflict to obtain new method embodiments or device embodiments.

[0341] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There can be another division manner for actual implementation, for example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the various components shown or discussed can be through some interface, indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0342] The units described as separate components above can or can not be physically separate, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place or distributed on a plurality of network units; some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment.

[0343] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can be a separate unit, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit; the integrated unit can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional unit.

[0344] Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the steps of the above-mentioned method embodiments can be completed by program instruction-related hardware, and the foregoing program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the program executes the steps including the above-mentioned method embodiments when executed; and the foregoing storage medium includes mobile storage equipment, ROM, RAM, magnetic disc or optical disc and various storage program codes.

[0345] Alternatively, the above-mentioned integrated unit of the present application, if realized in the form of a software function module and sold or used as an independent product, can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions to make a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) execute all or part of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: mobile storage devices, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks or optical disks, and various media that can store program codes.

[0346] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto, any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed by the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A network resource configuration method, characterized by, The method is applied to a network exposure function; and the method comprises: receiving a first request sent by an edge computing platform, the first request being used for requesting network capability exposure for a first application; the first request comprising first information related to policy control and charging control of the first application; when it is determined that the first application meets a condition, sending a second request to a policy control function, the second request comprising second information related to policy control and charging control of the first application, the second information being used for the policy control function to formulate and issue a first policy to a session management function, the first policy being used for monitoring traffic of the first application, and the monitored traffic being used for screening an accessed terminal, so as to formulate policy control and charging rules for the screened terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first information comprises at least one of the following: a first identifier indicating a region to which the edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier indicating a regional limit of network capability exposure, a third identifier indicating an identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform, and time information requesting monitoring of usage of the first application.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first information further comprises a fourth identifier indicating a request for traffic reduction and / or a fifth identifier indicating a request for quality of service adjustment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, The second information is further used for the policy control function to formulate and issue a second policy to a network data analysis function, the second policy being used for monitoring a network state.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein, The determination that the first application meets the condition comprises: when it is determined that the third identifier in the first information represents a specified application or a type of a corresponding application is a specified application type, it is determined that the first application meets the condition.

6. A network resource configuration method, characterized by, The method is applied to a policy control function; and the method comprises: receiving a second request sent by a network exposure function, the second request comprising second information related to policy control and charging control of a first application; sending first indication information to a session management function based on the second information, the first indication information comprising a first policy used for monitoring traffic of the first application; the monitored traffic being used for screening an accessed terminal; receiving third indication information sent by a network data analysis function, the third indication information comprising terminal information after screening; formulating policy control and charging rules for the terminal after screening, and sending fourth indication information to the session management function, the fourth indication information comprising the policy control and charging rules.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The method further comprises: sending second indication information to the network data analysis function based on the second information, the second indication information comprising a second policy used for monitoring a network state.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein, The second information comprises at least one of the following: a first identifier indicating a region to which an edge computing platform belongs, a second identifier indicating a regional limit of network capability exposure, a third identifier indicating an identity of a first application deployed on the edge computing platform, and time information requesting monitoring of usage of the first application.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The second information further comprises a fourth identifier indicating a request for traffic reduction and / or a fifth identifier indicating a request for quality of service adjustment.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein, The first indication information and the second indication information further include at least one of the following: a second identifier indicating a network capability open area limit, time information requesting the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier indicating an identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein, The policy control and charging rule includes at least one of the following information: An associated quality of service template, a charging control policy, a usage monitoring policy, and a conditional policy.

12. A network resource configuration method, characterized by, The method is applied to a session management function, and the method includes: Receiving first indication information sent by a policy control function, wherein the first indication information includes a first policy for monitoring traffic of a first application; Sending fifth indication information to a selected user plane function, wherein the fifth indication information includes the first policy, and the fifth indication information is used to instruct the user plane function to monitor the traffic of the first application; Receiving traffic monitoring information sent by the user plane function, and sending the traffic monitoring information to a network data analysis function, wherein the traffic monitoring information is used to screen an accessed terminal; Receiving fourth indication information sent by the policy control function, wherein the fourth indication information includes a policy control and charging rule related to the screened terminal; Sending sixth indication information including the policy control and charging rule related to the screened terminal to the user plane function, wherein the sixth indication information is used to instruct the user plane function to process according to the policy control and charging rule.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The first indication information and the fifth indication information further include at least one of the following: a second identifier indicating a network capability open area limit, time information requesting the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier indicating an identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein, The traffic monitoring information includes at least one of the following information related to the first application deployed on the edge computing platform: Application usage time information and application generated traffic information.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein, The policy control and charging rule includes at least one of the following information: An associated quality of service template, a charging control policy, a usage monitoring policy, and a conditional policy.

16. A network resource configuration method, characterized by, The method is applied to a network data analysis function, and the method includes: Receiving traffic monitoring information from a user plane function, wherein the traffic monitoring information is obtained based on a first policy sent to the user plane function for monitoring traffic of a first application; Obtaining terminal information satisfying a condition based on the traffic monitoring information, and sending third indication information to a policy control function, wherein the third indication information includes screened terminal information, and the screened terminal information is used by the policy control function to formulate a policy control and charging rule for the screened terminal.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, The method further includes: Receiving second indication information sent by the policy control function, wherein the second indication information includes a second policy for monitoring a network state.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The second indication information further includes at least one of the following: a second identifier indicating a regional restriction of network capability opening, time information requesting the first application usage monitoring, and a third identifier indicating the identity of the first application deployed on the edge computing platform.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein, The traffic monitoring information includes at least one of the following information related to the first application deployed on the edge computing platform: application usage time information and application generated traffic information. The method for obtaining the terminal information satisfying the condition based on the traffic monitoring information includes: based on the application usage time information, determining that the terminal satisfies the condition when the usage time of the terminal to the first application is greater than a first threshold value, and / or, based on the application generated traffic information, determining that the terminal satisfies the condition when the usage traffic of the terminal to the first application is greater than a second threshold value, obtaining the terminal information satisfying the condition.

20. A network resource configuration method, comprising: The method is applied to a user plane function; the method includes: receiving fifth indication information sent by a session management function, the fifth indication information including a first policy, and the fifth indication information being used to instruct the user plane function to monitor the traffic of a first application; based on the fifth indication information, monitoring the traffic of the first application, obtaining traffic monitoring information, and sending the traffic monitoring information to the session management function, the traffic monitoring information being used to screen the accessed terminals, and to formulate and issue a policy control and charging rule for the screened terminals; receiving sixth indication information sent by the session management function, the sixth indication information including a policy control and charging rule related to the screened terminals.

21. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, characterized in that, The program is executed by the processor to realize the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 5; or The program is executed by the processor to realize the steps of the method of any one of claims 6 to 11; or The program is executed by the processor to realize the steps of the method of any one of claims 12 to 15; or The program is executed by the processor to realize the steps of the method of any one of claims 16 to 19; or The program is executed by the processor to realize the steps of the method of claim 20.

22. A network device comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein, The processor executes the program to realize the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 5; or The processor executes the program to realize the steps of the method of any one of claims 6 to 11; or The processor executes the program to realize the steps of the method of any one of claims 12 to 15; or The processor executes the program to realize the steps of the method of any one of claims 16 to 19; or The processor executes the program to realize the steps of the method of claim 20. The processor executes the program to realize the steps of the method of claim 20.

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