Rule maintenance method, message transmission method, network equipment and storage medium

Abstract

The invention relates to a rule maintenance method, a message transmission method, network equipment and a storage medium, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a first message sent by a target terminal associated with target UPF equipment; matching the MAC address of the target terminal with a matching rule to obtain a first matching result; the matching rule comprises a fuzzy matching rule for matching the UPF equipment based on partial information in the MAC address and an accurate matching rule for matching the UPF equipment based on all information in the MAC address; when the first matching result indicates that the MAC address of the target terminal is matched with the fuzzy matching rule, determining that an accurate matching rule in the matching rules does not need to be updated; by means of the method, a mode of determining the incidence relation between the terminal and the UPF device is added, the learning reporting process needed for maintaining the accurate matching rule is reduced, and therefore the signaling interaction of the N4 port is reduced, and the transmission pressure of the N4 port is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology and, in particular, to a rule maintenance method, a message transmission method, a network device, and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] According to the 3GPP protocol, SMF (Session Management Function) and UPF (UserPlane Function) support VLAN-MAC (MAC address + VLAN information) learning function. Schematically, when the message sent by UE1 arrives at UPF1 device, UPF1 device learns VLAN-MAC value and reports it to SMF through N4 port. SMF will trigger UPF2 device at the opposite end of N19 to update N19 tunnel PDR (Packet Detection Rule) information, that is, precise matching rule, so that other UE or devices on the UPF device side can access UE1's MAC address through precise matching rule, thereby sending data to the UE1 side device.

[0003] However, when a large number of terminal devices are connected to the 5G LAN (Local Area Network), a large number of new MAC addresses will appear to send messages, and VLAN-MAC reporting messages and Group-Level N4Session (group-level N4 session) updates will frequently appear on the N4 port to update the precise matching rules. When the number of messages is large, it will seriously affect the normal signaling of the N4 port, which is equivalent to the user terminal triggering a denial of service attack on the SMF and UPF devices, thereby putting pressure on the signaling transmission of the N4 port. Summary of the invention

[0004] The embodiment of the present application provides a rule maintenance method, a message transmission method, a network device and a storage medium, which can reduce the learning and reporting process required to maintain accurate matching rules, reduce the signaling interaction of the N4 port, and reduce the transmission pressure of the N4 port. The technical solution is as follows:

[0005] On the one hand, a rule maintenance method is provided, the method being performed by a target user plane function UPF device, the method comprising:

[0006] Receiving a first message sent by a target terminal; the target terminal is associated with the target UPF device;

[0007] Matching the MAC address of the target terminal with a matching rule to obtain a first matching result; the matching rule includes a fuzzy matching rule and an exact matching rule, wherein the fuzzy matching rule refers to a rule for matching rules based on partial information in the MAC address; and the exact matching rule refers to a rule for matching rules based on all information in the MAC address;

[0008] When the first matching result indicates that the MAC address of the target terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule, it is determined that there is no need to update the precise matching rule in the matching rule.

[0009] On the other hand, a message transmission method is provided, the method being performed by a first user plane function UPF device, the method comprising:

[0010] receiving a second message sent by a first terminal to a second terminal; the second message includes a MAC address of the second terminal; the first terminal is associated with the first UPF device;

[0011] Matching the MAC address of the second terminal with the matching rule to obtain a second matching result; the matching rule includes a fuzzy matching rule, which refers to a rule for matching rules based on partial information in the MAC address;

[0012] When the second matching result indicates that the MAC address of the second terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule, determining a second UPF device associated with the second terminal based on the fuzzy matching rule;

[0013] The second message is forwarded to the second UPF device through the N19 tunnel, so that the second UPF device transmits the second message to the second terminal.

[0014] On the other hand, a network device is provided, which includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores at least one computer program, and the at least one computer program is loaded and executed by the processor to implement the above-mentioned rule maintenance method and / or message transmission method.

[0015] On the other hand, a readable storage medium is provided, wherein at least one computer program is stored in the readable storage medium, and the computer program is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the above-mentioned rule maintenance method and / or message transmission method.

[0016] On the other hand, a computer program product is provided, which includes at least one computer program, and the computer program is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the rule maintenance method and / or the message transmission method provided in the above-mentioned various optional implementations.

[0017] The technical solution provided by this application may have the following beneficial effects:

[0018] The rule maintenance method provided in the embodiment of the present application can match the MAC address of the target terminal sending the message through a matching rule including a fuzzy matching rule and an exact matching rule when the target UPF device performs rule matching on the MAC address of the target terminal. When the MAC address of the target terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule in the matching rule, it is determined that other UPF devices can obtain the association relationship between the target terminal and the target UPF device from the fuzzy matching rule. Therefore, it is determined that there is no need to update the exact matching rule in the matching rule, thereby reducing the learning and reporting process required to maintain the exact matching rule, reducing the signaling interaction of the N4 port, and reducing the transmission pressure of the N4 port.

[0019] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present application.

[0021] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing a rule maintenance process in a related technology provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0022] Figure 2 A flowchart of a rule maintenance method provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0023] Figure 3 A flowchart of a rule maintenance method provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0024] Figure 4 A flowchart of a message transmission method provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0025] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a message transmission system provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0026] Figure 6 It is a block diagram of a network device provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the drawings, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the present application. Instead, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the appended claims.

[0028] According to the 3GPP protocol, the 5G LAN (Local Area Network) function is a functional feature of the mobile cellular network to provide LAN services and VPN (Virtual Private Network) private network services to industry customers or families. SMF (Session Management Function) generates forwarding rules for service messages based on the topology of VN Group (Virtual Network Group, a collection of industry terminals that have signed the same service), and guides UPF (User Plane Function) devices to complete the establishment of N19 / N6 tunnels and forward messages within VNGroup. Among them, the N19 tunnel is the transmission channel between UPF devices, and the N6 tunnel refers to the channel between the 5G network and the industry user VPN gateway. The UPF device forwards service messages through the N19 tunnel or N6 tunnel according to the rules issued by SMF.

[0029] Currently, the protocol only supports the exact matching rule of N19 tunnel, that is, when a new MAC address appears on the UE side, a signaling trigger will appear on the corresponding N4 port. Figure 1 FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a rule maintenance process in a related technology provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, during the message transmission process, when UE1 sends a message to UE2, if the MAC address of UE1 is a new MAC address, that is, when the UPF1 device determines that the existing exact matching rule does not contain the association relationship between UE1 and the UPF1 device, the UPF1 device will learn the MAC address and VLAN information of UE1, and report the MAC address and VLAN information of UE1 to the SMF, so that the SMF updates the exact matching rule and sends the updated exact matching rule to other UPF devices, for example, Figure 1The UPF2 device shown is configured so that when UE2 sends a message to UE1, the UPF2 device associated with UE2 can obtain the UPF1 device associated with UE1 by matching the MAC address of UE1 with the exact matching rule, and transmit the message to the UPF1 device through the N19 tunnel between the UPF2 device and the UPF1 device, so that the UPF1 device forwards the message to UE1; and when UE1 sends a message to UE2, if the UPF1 device can query the UPF2 device associated with UE2 corresponding to the message, it can transmit the message to the UPF2 device through the N19 tunnel between the UPF1 device and the UPF2 device, so that the UPF2 device forwards the message to UE2 to complete the message sending; that is, in the message transmission process, the UPF device on the sending terminal side needs to obtain the information of the UPF device on the destination terminal side in order to realize the message transmission.

[0030] In the related art, the UPF device can only obtain the UPF device associated with the destination terminal through precise matching rules. The precise matching rules require each UPF device to learn and report the terminal's MAC address and VLAN information for maintenance; when a large number of UEs access the 5G LAN network, a large number of new MAC addresses will send messages, and VLAN-MAC reporting messages and Group-Level N4 Session updates will frequently appear on the N4 port. When the number of messages is large, it will seriously affect the normal signaling of the N4 port. In addition, if the precise matching rules are not updated in time, the UPF device of the sending terminal may not be able to obtain the UPF device associated with the destination terminal, resulting in the inability to transmit messages.

[0031] Based on the problems existing in the related technology, in order to reduce the signaling transmission pressure of the N4 port and improve the message transmission efficiency, the embodiment of the present application adds fuzzy matching rules to the matching rules applied in the message transmission process, so that the UPF device can perform rule matching based on partial information in the MAC address, thereby reducing the learning and reporting process required for the corresponding UPF device to maintain precise matching rules when a new MAC address appears on the UE side; based on this, the present application provides a rule maintenance method that can be applied to the 5GLAN N19 tunnel massive terminal access scenario. Figure 2 A flowchart of a rule maintenance method provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. The method can be executed by a target UPF device, which is a UPF device associated with a target terminal, such as Figure 2 As shown, the rule maintenance method may include the following steps:

[0032] Step 210, receiving a first message sent by a target terminal; the target terminal is associated with a target UPF device.

[0033] In the embodiment of the present application, the target terminal may be a terminal device with a new MAC address. A UPF device may be associated with multiple terminal devices, and the target terminal may be one of the multiple terminal devices associated with the first UPF device.

[0034] Since different operators may have different MAC address setting methods, in order to facilitate subsequent matching with matching rules, in the embodiment of the present application, after obtaining the first message, the target UPF device can also verify the format of the MAC address of the sending terminal (i.e., the target terminal) of the first message based on the MAC address setting specification. If the MAC address of the target terminal is not configured according to the MAC address setting specification, that is, the format of the MAC address of the target terminal does not match the MAC address setting specification, the format of the MAC address can be modified to a format that complies with the MAC address setting specification. Among them, the MAC address setting specification can be a specification for configuring constraints on the address segment in the MAC address.

[0035] There are many ways to modify the format of the MAC address to a format that complies with the MAC address setting specification. This application schematically provides three feasible implementation methods:

[0036] 1) When the target UPF device determines that the format of the MAC address of the target terminal does not match the MAC address setting specification, it sends a notification message to the administrator so that the administrator manually modifies the format of the MAC address of the target terminal to a format that complies with the MAC address setting specification;

[0037] 2) The target UPF device triggers the automatic modification of the MAC address of the target terminal through the TR069 (Technical Report 069) protocol remote management interface to automatically modify the format of the MAC address of the target terminal to a format that complies with the MAC address setting specification;

[0038] 3) The target UPF device replaces the target terminal MAC address in the message with a corresponding format that complies with the MAC address setting specification through MAC address conversion.

[0039] The above method of modifying the format of the MAC address to a format that complies with the MAC address setting specification is only illustrative. In actual applications, the above effect can be achieved in many ways, and this application does not limit this.

[0040] Step 220, match the MAC address of the target terminal with the matching rules to obtain a first matching result; the matching rules include fuzzy matching rules and exact matching rules, the fuzzy matching rules refer to rules that match rules based on partial information in the MAC address; the exact matching rules refer to rules that match rules based on all information in the MAC address.

[0041] Among them, the partial information in the MAC address used for fuzzy matching may refer to partial field information in the MAC address, or may refer to the address segment information contained in the MAC address, or may refer to partial attribute information of the MAC address, such as the address segment in which the MAC address is located, etc. The setting of partial information in the fuzzy matching rule can be specified based on actual needs, so that when the MAC address of the target terminal is matched with the matching rule, the partial information in the MAC address corresponding to the fuzzy matching rule is extracted to achieve matching of the MAC address.

[0042] The exact matching rule may be a rule generated and issued by the SMF based on the MAC address and VLAN information reported by each UPF device after each UPF device learns the MAC address and VLAN information of the associated terminal and reports it to the SMF.

[0043] When performing rule matching on the MAC address of the target terminal, the MAC address can be matched simultaneously based on the fuzzy matching rule and the exact matching rule in the matching rule. Alternatively, the MAC address can be matched first through the fuzzy matching rule, and when the MAC address does not match the fuzzy matching rule, the MAC address can be matched through the exact matching rule. Alternatively, the MAC address can be matched first through the exact matching rule, and then through the fuzzy matching rule. The present application does not limit the matching order of each rule in the matching rule.

[0044] Step 230: When the first matching result indicates that the MAC address of the target terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule, it is determined that there is no need to update the precise matching rule in the matching rule.

[0045] A corresponding UPF device can be set in the fuzzy matching rule. When the first matching result indicates that the MAC address of the target terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule, it means that other UPF devices can obtain the information associated with the target terminal and the target UPF device based on the fuzzy matching rule, thereby realizing the process of transmitting messages to the target terminal.

[0046] In an embodiment of the present application, the MAC address of the target terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule and at least one of the precise matching rules, which means that the MAC address of the target terminal matches the matching rule. At this time, other UPF devices can obtain the association relationship between the target terminal and the target UPF device from the current matching rule. Therefore, there is no need to update the precise matching rule in the matching rule, that is, there is no need to learn and report the MAC address and VLAN information of the target terminal, thereby reducing the signaling transmission pressure of the N4 port.

[0047] To summarize, the rule maintenance method provided in the embodiment of the present application can match the MAC address of the target terminal sending the message through a matching rule including a fuzzy matching rule and an exact matching rule when the target UPF device performs rule matching on the MAC address of the target terminal. When the MAC address of the target terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule in the matching rule, it is determined that other UPF devices can obtain the association relationship between the target terminal and the target UPF device from the fuzzy matching rule. Therefore, it is determined that there is no need to update the exact matching rule in the matching rule, thereby reducing the learning and reporting process required to maintain the exact matching rule, reducing the signaling interaction of the N4 port, and reducing the transmission pressure of the N4 port.

[0048] Figure 3 A flowchart of a rule maintenance method provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. The method can be executed by a target UPF device, which is a UPF device associated with a target terminal, such as Figure 3 As shown, the rule maintenance method may include the following steps:

[0049] Step 310, receiving a first message sent by a target terminal; the target terminal is associated with a target UPF device.

[0050] Step 320, match the MAC address of the target terminal with the matching rules to obtain a first matching result; the matching rules include fuzzy matching rules and exact matching rules, the fuzzy matching rules refer to rules that match rules based on partial information in the MAC address; the exact matching rules refer to rules that match rules based on all information in the MAC address.

[0051] Since part of the information in the MAC address for fuzzy matching can be set based on actual matching requirements, the fuzzy matching rules can also be set differently based on different part of the information in the set MAC address. This application schematically provides several feasible fuzzy rule setting methods;

[0052] In one possible implementation, the fuzzy matching rule indicates that a first result is compared with at least one second result. If the first result is the same as one of the at least one second result, it is determined that the MAC address of the terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule; if the first result is different from at least one second result, it is determined that the MAC address of the terminal does not match the fuzzy matching rule.

[0053] Among them, the first result is the result of performing an AND operation on the terminal's MAC address and the target mask, and the second result refers to the result of performing an AND operation on the target MAC address and the target mask. The target MAC address is the MAC address of the corresponding UPF device configured in the fuzzy matching rule, and the target mask is a mask configured corresponding to the target MAC address and used to indicate the comparison field in the MAC address.

[0054] That is to say, the fuzzy matching rule can be pre-configured with a target MAC address and a target mask, and the second result of the AND operation of the target MAC address and the target mask is determined as a comparison field, which is used to compare the first result of the AND operation of the terminal's MAC address and the target mask, and a UPF device is configured relative to the target MAC address. Schematically, the relevant information of the fuzzy matching rule configuration is shown in Table 1:

[0055] Table 1

[0056] Destination MAC address Target Mask UPF Equipment 00-c0-c0-23-53-65 00-00-00-FF-00-00 UPF-1 00-a0-b0-33-53-65 00-00-00-FF-00-00 UPF-2 ... ... ... 11-a0-b0-00-53-65 00-00-00-01-01-01 UPF-n

[0057] Among them, the target mask is used to indicate the comparison field. Taking the target MAC address corresponding to UPF-1 as an example, the result of the target MAC address 00-c0-c0-23-53-65 and the target mask 00-00-00-FF-00-00 indicates that the 4th byte of the MAC address is the comparison field; it should be noted that the target mask can be set differently based on the comparison field. Schematically, the target mask 00-00-00-01-01-01 indicates that the last bit of the 4th, 5th and 6th bytes is extracted as the comparison keyword; this application does not limit the setting of the target mask.

[0058] Taking one of the fuzzy matching rules as an example, the following schematically illustrates the process of fuzzy matching based on the above fuzzy matching rule:

[0059] Set Rule 1 in the fuzzy matching rule to target MAC address = 00-c0-c0-23-53-65, target mask = 00-00-00-FF-00-00. The target MAC address and the target mask are ANDed to get 00-00-00-23-00-00, which is the second result; if the terminal's MAC address and the target mask are ANDed to get 00-00-00-23-00-00, it means that the terminal's MAC address matches Rule 1 in the fuzzy matching rule, and it is concluded that the terminal with the MAC address is associated with UPF-1.

[0060] The fuzzy matching rule is sent by SMF to each UPF device so that each UPF device can perform fuzzy matching after receiving the message sent by the corresponding terminal. Correspondingly, the target UPF device receives the rule configuration signaling sent by the session management function SMF. The rule configuration signaling includes the first rule information corresponding to the fuzzy matching rule. The first rule information includes the target MAC address, the target mask and the UPF device corresponding to the target MAC address.

[0061] In another possible implementation, the fuzzy matching rule is a rule configured by the session management function SMF based on the configuration form of the MAC address and sent to the UPF device;

[0062] Among them, the configuration form of the MAC address includes at least one of the following: the first target field in the MAC address is the UPF identifier, the second target field of the MAC address is configured as a value in the target data interval, and MAC addresses with the same attribution attributes are configured in the same address segment.

[0063] Optionally, when the first target field in the MAC address is a UPF identifier, the fuzzy matching rule can be set to determine the UPF device associated with the terminal corresponding to the MAC address based on the first target field; the first target field can be set based on actual needs, and this application does not impose any restrictions on this; illustratively, if the first field in the MAC address is modified to the office number of the UPF device, when performing fuzzy rule matching, the UPF device can read the information in the first field and directly determine the UPF device associated with the terminal of the MAC address based on the office number of the UPF device read. For example, if the first field of the terminal's MAC address is 01, then after reading the information, the first UPF device can determine that the UPF device associated with the terminal is UPF-1.

[0064] In the case where the configuration form of the MAC address is that the second target field of the MAC address is configured as a value in the target data interval, the fuzzy matching rule is to set the relationship between each data sub-interval in the target data interval and the UPF device, and determine the UPF device associated with the terminal corresponding to the MAC address based on the data sub-interval where the second target field in the MAC address is located. The second target field can be part or all of the fields of the MAC address; in this case, the UPF device obtains the information in the second target field of the terminal's MAC address and matches it with each data sub-interval in the fuzzy matching rule. When the information in the second target field is in one of the data sub-intervals, the UPF device corresponding to the data sub-interval is determined as the UPF device associated with the terminal of the MAC address. Among them, the division of the target data interval and each data sub-interval in the target data interval can be set based on actual needs, and the interval sizes of each data sub-interval can be the same or different; for example, if the target data interval is 00-30, the data sub-intervals are 00-10, 11-23, 24-30, and each data sub-interval corresponds to its own UPF device. Assuming that the second target field in the terminal's MAC address is 23, which is in the data sub-interval 11-23, the UPF device of the terminal is determined to be the UPF device corresponding to the data sub-interval.

[0065] In the case where the MAC address is configured in the form of MAC addresses with the same attribution attribute being configured in the same address segment, the fuzzy matching rule is to set the relationship between each address segment and the UPF device, and determine the UPF device associated with the terminal corresponding to the MAC address based on the address segment where the MAC address is located. Among them, the same attribution attribute can mean that the geographical location indicated by the MAC address is in the same first position, or that the terminal user indicated by the MAC address belongs to the same management user, for example, the MAC address is in the same park, or that the terminal indicated by the MAC address is used to belong to the same enterprise, etc.; at this time, the UPF device can obtain the address segment where the MAC address is located, and determine the UPF device associated with the terminal of the MAC address based on the UPF devices corresponding to different address segments, wherein the allocation of address segments, the correspondence between address segments and UPF devices, etc. can all be set based on actual needs.

[0066] It should be noted that the corresponding fuzzy matching rule setting methods based on the configuration form of the MAC address include but are not limited to the above-mentioned feasible methods. There may be other corresponding fuzzy matching rules based on the different configuration forms of the MAC address, and this application does not limit this.

[0067] Step 330: When the first matching result indicates that the MAC address of the target terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule, it is determined that there is no need to update the precise matching rule in the matching rule.

[0068] Illustratively, take the fuzzy matching rule that is based on the target address and the target mask as an example; assuming that UE1 sends a message, UE1's MAC1 address is 11-11-11-23-11-11, and use MAC1=11-11-11-23-11-11 and the target mask=00-00-00-FF-00-00 to obtain 00-00-00-23-00-00, which is the first result. This means that the MAC1 address matches the fuzzy matching rule Rule1, and it is concluded that UE1 is associated with UPF-1, that is, the association relationship between UPF-1 and UE1 can be obtained from the fuzzy matching rule.

[0069] Assume that UE2 sends a message and the MAC2 address of UE2 is 02-02-02-22-11-11. Use MAC2 = 02-02-02-22-11-11 and the target mask = 00-00-00-FF-00-00 to obtain 00-00-00-22-00-00. Since 00-00-00-22-00-00 is not equal to 00-00-00-23-00-00, it means that the MAC2 address does not match Rule 1 in the fuzzy matching rule.

[0070] Step 340, when the first matching result indicates that the MAC address of the target terminal does not match the matching rule, learn the MAC address and VLAN information of the target terminal, and report the MAC address and VLAN information of the target terminal to the session management function SMF, so that the SMF updates the precise matching rule in the matching rule based on the MAC address and VLAN information of the target terminal, and sends the updated precise matching rule to other UPF devices, which are UPF devices other than the target UPF device.

[0071] Among them, the first matching rule indicates that the MAC address of the target terminal does not match the matching rule, which means that the MAC address of the target terminal does not match both the fuzzy matching rule and the precise matching rule. At this time, other UPF devices cannot obtain the association relationship between the target terminal and the target UPF device from the current matching rule, and cannot transmit messages to the target terminal based on the current matching rule. Therefore, the target UPF device needs to learn the MAC address and VLAN information of the target terminal and report it to the SMF. The SMF then updates the precise matching rule in the matching rule based on the MAC address and VLAN information reported by each UPF device, and sends the updated precise matching rule to other UPF devices, so that when the terminals associated with other UPF devices send messages to the target terminal, they can obtain the information of the target UPF device associated with the target terminal from the updated matching rule, which facilitates other terminals to send messages to the target terminal.

[0072] Optionally, after learning the MAC address and VLAN information of the sending terminal, the target UPF device can update the precise matching rules stored in itself; or, when the SMF sends the updated precise matching rules, it can also send the updated precise matching rules to the target UPF device, so that the target UPF device completes the update of the precise matching rules.

[0073] Correspondingly, when other UPF devices receive messages sent by the corresponding terminals, they will also match the MAC addresses of the corresponding terminals through matching rules, and learn and report the MAC addresses and VLAN information of the corresponding terminals when it is determined that the MAC addresses of the corresponding terminals do not match the matching rules, so that the SMF updates and issues the precise matching rules to update the precise matching rules in each UPF device; accordingly, for the target UPF device, the method also includes:

[0074] Receive the rule configuration signaling sent by SMF, which includes the first rule information corresponding to the exact matching rule, and the first rule information includes the association between the MAC address and the UPF device; the rule configuration signaling is updated and sent by SMF based on the MAC address and VLAN information reported by the terminal.

[0075] In summary, the rule maintenance method provided in the embodiment of the present application can match the MAC address of the target terminal that sends the message through a matching rule including a fuzzy matching rule and an exact matching rule when the target UPF device performs rule matching on the MAC address of the target terminal. When the MAC address of the target terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule in the matching rule, it is determined that other UPF devices can obtain the association relationship between the target terminal and the target UPF device from the fuzzy matching rule, so it is determined that there is no need to update the exact matching rule in the matching rule, thereby reducing the learning and reporting process required to maintain the exact matching rule, reducing the signaling interaction of the N4 port, and reducing the transmission pressure of the N4 port;

[0076] When the MAC address of the target terminal does not match the matching rules, the MAC address and VLAN information of the target terminal are learned and reported to the SMF so that the SMF updates and issues accurate matching rules to achieve timely updates of the matching rules, so as to facilitate subsequent message transmission based on the matching rules.

[0077] It should be noted that the rule maintenance process can be performed in advance. In this case, the first message can be a trigger message used to instruct the UPF device to perform rule maintenance; alternatively, the rule maintenance process can also be carried out during message transmission. When the UPF device receives a message transmitted between terminals, it queries the UPF device of the destination terminal of the message and performs rule maintenance based on the MAC address of the sending terminal of the message and the matching result of the matching rule. The present application does not impose any restrictions on the timing of implementing the rule maintenance method.

[0078] Based on Figure 2 or Figure 3 The embodiment shown implements the maintenance of the matching rules applied during the message transmission process, and can apply the matching rules to transmit the message. Figure 4 A flowchart of a message transmission method provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. The method can be executed by a first UPF device, which is a UPF device associated with a first terminal, such as Figure 4 As shown, the message transmission method may include the following steps:

[0079] Step 410, receiving a second message sent by the first terminal to the second terminal; the second message includes the MAC address of the second terminal; the first terminal is associated with the first UPF device.

[0080] Optionally, after receiving the second message sent by the first terminal, the first UPF device can match the MAC address of the second terminal through matching rules to obtain the second UPF device associated with the second terminal, and at the same time match the MAC address of the first terminal through matching rules to determine whether the information of the first terminal and the first UPF device associated with it exists in the matching rules, so as to maintain the matching rules.

[0081] Step 420, matching the MAC address of the second terminal with the matching rule to obtain a second matching result; the matching rule includes a fuzzy matching rule, which refers to a rule for matching based on partial information in the MAC address.

[0082] Step 430: When the second matching result indicates that the MAC address of the second terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule, determine a second UPF device associated with the second terminal based on the fuzzy matching rule.

[0083] In the embodiment of the present application, a corresponding UPF device may be set in the fuzzy matching rule. When the second matching result indicates that the MAC address of the second terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule, the first UPF device may determine the UPF device corresponding to the fuzzy matching rule as the second UPF device associated with the second terminal based on the fuzzy matching rule on the MAC address of the second terminal. The process of matching the MAC address of the second terminal with the fuzzy matching rule can refer to Figure 3 The relevant contents of the illustrated embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0084] Furthermore, the matching rules also include exact matching rules, which refer to rules for matching rules based on all information in the MAC address; when the second matching result indicates that the MAC address of the second terminal matches the exact matching rule, the first UPF device can obtain the second UPF device associated with the second terminal based on the exact matching rule.

[0085] Step 440: forward the second message to the second UPF device through the N19 tunnel, so that the second UPF device transmits the second message to the second terminal.

[0086] The N19 tunnel is a transmission channel between the first UPF device and the second UPF device.

[0087] In one possible case, when the second matching result indicates that the MAC address of the second terminal matches both the fuzzy matching rule and the exact matching rule in the matching rules, but the second UPF device determined based on the fuzzy matching rule is different from the UPF device determined based on the exact matching rule, the matching result of the exact matching rule shall prevail, and the second message shall be forwarded to the second UPF device indicated by the matched exact matching rule through the N19 tunnel.

[0088] To summarize, in the message transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application, when the first terminal sends a message to the second terminal, the first UPF device associated with the first terminal can match the MAC address of the second terminal contained in the message through a matching rule to obtain the second UPF device associated with the second terminal; wherein, by setting a fuzzy matching rule in the matching rule, the rule matching can be performed through partial information in the MAC address, so as to determine the second UPF device associated with the second terminal, thereby adding a method for obtaining the UPF device of the second terminal and improving the message forwarding efficiency.

[0089] At the same time, when matching through fuzzy matching rules, matching is also performed through precise matching rules, which ensures the comprehensiveness of rule matching and can achieve complementarity in rule matching, thereby further improving the efficiency of obtaining UPF devices associated with the destination terminal and improving the efficiency of message forwarding.

[0090] Take the message transmission between terminal UE1 and terminal UE2 as an example. Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a message transmission system provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 5 As shown, in the message transmission system, UE1 has an associated UPF1 device, UE2 has an associated UPF2 device, and the UPF1 device communicates with the UPF2 device through the N19 tunnel; a communication relationship is established between the SMF and each UPF device, and the SMF and UPF support VLAN-MAC (MAC address + VLAN information) learning function.

[0091] When the message sent by UE1 arrives at the UPF1 device, the UPF1 device matches the MAC address of UE1 through the matching rules including fuzzy matching rules and precise matching rules. If the MAC address of UE1 matches the matching rules, no processing is performed; if the MAC address of UE1 does not match the matching rules, the UPF1 device learns the VLAN-MAC value of UE1 and reports it to SMF through the N4 port. SMF will trigger the UPF2 device on the opposite end of N19 to update the N19 tunnel PDR (Packet Detection Rule) information. So that UE2 on the UPF2 device side can access the MAC address of UE1 and send messages to UE1.

[0092] At the same time, after the message sent from the UE1 side arrives at the UPF1 device, the UPF1 device matches the MAC address of UE2 contained in the message through the matching rules, and after obtaining the UPF2 device associated with UE2, the message is forwarded to the UPF2 device through the N19 tunnel, so that the UPF2 device forwards the message to UE2. If the UPF1 device cannot obtain the UPF2 device associated with UE2, it means that the association relationship between UE2 and the UPF2 device has not been updated to the matching rules. At this time, packet loss will occur and a prompt will be given; optionally, the UPF1 device can periodically match the MAC address of UE2 with the matching rules, so that when the precise matching rule in the matching rules is updated to include the association relationship between UE2 and the UPF2 device, the UPF2 device can be obtained in time to resend the message.

[0093] The embodiment of the present application also provides a network device, which may include an access network device or a core network device, wherein the access network device may also be referred to as a wireless access network device, a wireless access network (Radio Access Network, RAN), a wireless access network function or a wireless access network unit. The access network device may include a base station, a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Networks, wireless local area network) access point or a WiFi node, etc. In the embodiment of the present application, the network device may be implemented as a management device on the base station side.

[0094] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a network device provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 6 As shown, the network device 600 includes: an antenna 601, a radio frequency device 602, a baseband device 603, a processor 604 and a memory 605. The antenna 601 is connected to the radio frequency device 602. In the uplink direction, the radio frequency device 602 receives information through the antenna 601 and sends the received information to the baseband device 603 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 603 processes the information to be sent and sends it to the radio frequency device 602, and the radio frequency device 602 processes the received information and sends it out through the antenna 601.

[0095] The baseband device 603 may include, for example, at least one baseband board on which a plurality of chips are arranged. Figure 6 As shown, one of the chips is, for example, a baseband processor, which is connected to the memory 605 through a bus interface to call the program in the memory 605 to execute the UPF device operation shown in the above method embodiment.

[0096] The network device may further include a network interface 606, which is, for example, a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI).

[0097] Specifically, the network device 600 of the embodiment of the present application further includes: instructions or programs stored in the memory 605 and executable on the processor 604, and the processor 604 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 605 to execute 2, Figure 3 or Figure 4 All or part of the steps of the illustrated embodiments achieve the same technical effect and are not described here to avoid repetition.

[0098] In an exemplary embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, wherein at least one computer program is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and the computer program is loaded and executed by a processor to implement all or part of the steps in the above-mentioned rule maintenance method and / or the message transmission method. For example, the computer-readable storage medium may be a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, etc.

[0099] In an exemplary embodiment, a computer program product is also provided, the computer program product comprising at least one computer program, the computer program being loaded and executed by a processor Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 All or part of the steps of the embodiments shown in any embodiment.

[0100] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate other embodiments of the present application after considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein. The present application is intended to cover any modification, use or adaptation of the present application, which follows the general principles of the present application and includes common knowledge or customary techniques in the art that are not disclosed in the present application. The specification and examples are intended to be exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of the present application are indicated by the claims.

[0101] It should be understood that the present application is not limited to the precise structures that have been described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present application is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A rule maintenance method, characterized in that: The method is performed by a target user plane function UPF device, and the method includes: Receiving a first message sent by a target terminal; the target terminal is associated with the target UPF device; Matching the MAC address of the target terminal with the matching rule to obtain a first matching result; the matching rule includes a fuzzy matching rule and an exact matching rule, wherein the fuzzy matching rule refers to a rule for matching a UPF device based on partial information in the MAC address; and the exact matching rule refers to a rule for matching a UPF device based on all information in the MAC address; When the first matching result indicates that the MAC address of the target terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule, it is determined that there is no need to update the precise matching rule in the matching rule.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fuzzy matching rule indicates that the first result is compared with at least one second result, and if the first result is the same as one of the at least one second result, it is determined that the MAC address of the terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule; If the first result is different from at least one of the second results, it is determined that the MAC address of the terminal does not match the fuzzy matching rule; Among them, the first result is the result of performing an AND operation on the MAC address of the terminal and the target mask, and the second result is the result of performing an AND operation on the target MAC address and the target mask, the target MAC address is the MAC address of the corresponding UPF device configured in the fuzzy matching rule, and the target mask is a mask configured corresponding to the target MAC address and used to indicate the comparison field in the MAC address.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive a rule configuration signaling sent by a session management function SMF, wherein the rule configuration signaling includes second rule information corresponding to the fuzzy matching rule, and the second rule information includes the target MAC address, the target mask and a UPF device corresponding to the target MAC address.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fuzzy matching rule is a rule configured by the session management function SMF based on the configuration form of the MAC address and sent to the UPF device; Among them, the configuration form of the MAC address includes at least one of the following: the first target field in the MAC address is the UPF identifier, the second target field of the MAC address is configured as a value in the target data interval, and MAC addresses with the same attribution attributes are configured in the same address segment.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that In the case where the configuration form of the MAC address is that the first target field in the MAC address is a UPF identifier, the fuzzy matching rule is to determine the UPF device associated with the terminal corresponding to the MAC address based on the first target field; In the case where the configuration form of the MAC address is that the second target field of the MAC address is configured as a value in the target data interval, the fuzzy matching rule is to set the relationship between each data sub-interval in the target data interval and the UPF device, and determine the UPF device associated with the terminal corresponding to the MAC address based on the data sub-interval where the second target field in the MAC address is located; When the MAC address is configured in the form of MAC addresses with the same attribution attributes being configured in the same address segment, the fuzzy matching rule is to set the relationship between each address segment and the UPF device, and determine the UPF device associated with the terminal corresponding to the MAC address based on the address segment where the MAC address is located.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: When the first matching result indicates that the MAC address of the target terminal does not match the matching rule, the MAC address and VLAN information of the target terminal are learned, and the MAC address and VLAN information of the target terminal are reported to the session management function SMF, so that the SMF updates the precise matching rule in the matching rule based on the MAC address and VLAN information of the target terminal, and sends the updated precise matching rule to other UPF devices, where the other UPF devices are UPF devices other than the target UPF device.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive the rule configuration signaling sent by the SMF, the rule configuration signaling includes first rule information corresponding to the exact matching rule, the first rule information includes the association relationship between the MAC address and the UPF device; the rule configuration signaling is updated and sent by the SMF based on the MAC address and VLAN information reported by the terminal.

8. A message transmission method, characterized in that: The method is performed by a first user plane function UPF device, and the method includes: receiving a second message sent by a first terminal to a second terminal; the second message includes a MAC address of the second terminal; the first terminal is associated with the first UPF device; Matching the MAC address of the second terminal with the matching rule to obtain a second matching result; the matching rule includes a fuzzy matching rule, which refers to a rule for matching rules based on partial information in the MAC address; When the second matching result indicates that the MAC address of the second terminal matches the fuzzy matching rule, determining a second UPF device associated with the second terminal based on the fuzzy matching rule; The second message is forwarded to the second UPF device through the N19 tunnel, so that the second UPF device transmits the second message to the second terminal.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The matching rule also includes an exact matching rule, which refers to a rule for matching rules based on all information in the MAC address; the method also includes: When the second matching result indicates that the MAC address of the second terminal matches the exact matching rule, the second UPF device associated with the second terminal is acquired based on the exact matching rule.

10. A network device, characterized in that: The network device includes a processor and a memory, the memory stores at least one computer program, and the at least one computer program is loaded and executed by the processor to implement the rule maintenance method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, and / or the message transmission method as described in any one of claims 8 to 9.

11. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores at least one computer program, which is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the rule maintenance method described in any one of claims 1 to 7, and / or the message transmission method described in any one of claims 8 to 9.

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