Authorized and unauthorized controllers, methods for flow control, media and devices

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of wireless communications, and relates to a licensed and unlicensed controller LUC, a method for traffic control, a computer readable storage medium and an electronic device, the licensed and unlicensed controller LUC being configured to coordinate different traffic load transmissions in a multi-connection mode for a user equipment (UE) based on a real-time measurement report. The controller LUC of the present disclosure can support licensed and unlicensed multi-connection and spectrum aggregation use in cooperation with data packets of an unlicensed network and a licensed network.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and more particularly, to an authorized and unauthorized controller (LUC), a method for flow control, a computer-readable storage medium, and an electronic device. Background Art

[0002] Licensed and unlicensed aggregation is a technology that combines licensed and unlicensed networks. Through aggregation, users can use both licensed and unlicensed networks to obtain higher data transmission speeds and better network coverage. In this technology, data can be transmitted through both licensed and unlicensed networks at the same time, thereby improving the speed and reliability of data transmission. In addition, licensed and unlicensed aggregation can also increase the capacity and scalability of the network, providing users with a better network experience.

[0003] Multi-connection terminals can access both authorized and unauthorized networks to increase transmission rates. However, when unauthorized channels are unavailable, traffic can be buffered in Wi-Fi. Although the authorized network is available at this time, the authorized network cannot be used to transmit the data packets cached by Wi-Fi due to the lack of a coordination mechanism between the authorized network and Wi-Fi. Therefore, it is urgent to provide a solution that can coordinate data packets of unauthorized and authorized networks and support the use of authorized and unauthorized multi-connections and spectrum aggregation.

[0004] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the above background technology section is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and therefore may include information that does not constitute the prior art known to ordinary technicians in the field. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide an authorized and unauthorized controller, a method for flow control, a computer-readable storage medium, and an electronic device, which can coordinate data packets of unauthorized networks and authorized networks to support authorized and unauthorized multi-connections and spectrum aggregation.

[0006] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part by the practice of the present disclosure.

[0007] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an authorized and unauthorized controller LUC, comprising:

[0008] The LUC is configured to coordinate different traffic load transmissions in a multi-connection mode for a user equipment UE based on real-time measurement reports.

[0009] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is deployed in an over-the-top OTT manner on an additional network function of a service-based architecture SBA architecture based on a core network; wherein the LUC includes a unique identifier and is configured to coordinate with network components based on the unique identifier to perform business interaction.

[0010] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is instantiated by a network or cloud orchestrator and is connected to an interface of a network function NF of a control plane CP to perform business interaction with each of the NFs through the SBA architecture.

[0011] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC has a database deployed in the user plane UP domain, and is configured to store the data required for coordinating the transmission of different traffic loads in a multi-connection mode for the user equipment UE based on the real-time measurement report.

[0012] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC has the operational capability of supporting and running a core network, and the LUC supports the capability of managing topology registration for network functions NFs and access points AP serving multiple connection domains.

[0013] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is connected to the access and mobility management function AMF in the SBA architecture; the real-time measurement report is obtained by the AMF from the mobile agent of the UE; or, the real-time measurement report is obtained by the AMF from the perception module of the common radio resource management cRRM of the medium access control MAC.

[0014] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is further configured to: in a multi-connection mode, for the UE performing downloading through multiple access points AP at the same time, adjust the user plane traffic allocated to each of the access points AP.

[0015] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is further configured with computing resources; the LUC is configured such that based on the computing resources, the number of the LUCs is adjustable.

[0016] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is configured to manage the protocol data unit PDU session between the UE and the session management function SMF, and use the protocol data unit session anchor point PSA as the user plane function UPF anchor point.

[0017] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is connected to a session management function SMF in the SBA architecture; the LUC is configured to determine a traffic scheduling strategy based on the real-time measurement report; and the LUC is configured to send the traffic scheduling strategy to the SMF so as to coordinate different traffic load transmissions in a multi-connection mode for the UE through the SMF.

[0018] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the real-time measurement report includes a first signal strength of an authorized network and a second signal strength of an unauthorized network; the LUC is configured to determine the ratio between authorized network traffic and unauthorized network traffic based on the first signal strength and the second signal strength to obtain the traffic scheduling strategy; wherein the traffic scheduling strategy is used to indicate, for the UE, to coordinate different traffic load transmissions in a multi-connection mode according to the ratio.

[0019] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is configured to send the traffic scheduling policy to the SMF to instruct the SMF to send the traffic scheduling policy to the PSA; and instruct the PSA to send the authorized network traffic to the UE through the first user plane function UPF based on the traffic scheduling policy, and to send the unauthorized network traffic to the UE through the second user plane function UPF respectively.

[0020] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is also configured to send the traffic scheduling policy to the SMF when the traffic scheduling policy indicates that the authorized network traffic or unauthorized network traffic scheduled to the UE is zero, and at the same time instruct the SMF to update the session management SM context based on the traffic scheduling policy.

[0021] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for traffic control is provided, which is applied to a licensed and unlicensed controller LUC. The method includes: based on real-time measurement reports, coordinating different traffic load transmissions in a multi-connection mode for a user equipment UE.

[0022] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is deployed in an over-the-top OTT manner on an additional network function of a service-based architecture SBA architecture based on a core network, and the LUC is connected to a session management function SMF in the SBA architecture; based on real-time measurement reports, different traffic load transmissions are coordinated in a multi-connection mode for a user equipment UE, including: determining a traffic scheduling strategy according to the real-time measurement report; sending the traffic scheduling strategy to the SMF, so as to coordinate different traffic load transmissions in a multi-connection mode for the UE through the SMF.

[0023] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program implements any one of the above methods for flow control.

[0024] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to execute any one of the above-mentioned methods for flow control by executing the executable instructions.

[0025] The authorized and unauthorized controller LUC in the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure can coordinate the transmission of different traffic loads in a multi-connection mode for the UE based on the real-time measurement report of the user equipment UE. Under the control of LUC, the traffic in different access networks of the UE under the multi-connection model is coordinated, and the data packets of the unauthorized network and the authorized network are coordinated to support the use of authorized and unauthorized multi-connections and spectrum aggregation, so that traffic sharing can be performed when Wi-Fi is disconnected or the mobile network coverage is poor, so as to use the authorized network to transmit the data packets cached by the Wi-Fi, or use the unauthorized network to transmit the data packets cached by the authorized network, so as to ensure the data transmission speed and reliability, and provide users with a better network usage experience.

[0026] It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will become readily understood by reading the detailed description below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, several embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in an exemplary and non-limiting manner, in which:

[0028] Figure 1 An application scenario diagram of LUC to which the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied is shown;

[0029] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an authorized and unauthorized controller LUC 200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0030] Figure 3 An architectural diagram of a LUC deployment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0031] Figure 4 An interaction diagram for flow control according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0032] Figure 5 Another interaction diagram for flow control according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0033] Figure 6 A flowchart of coordinating transmission of different traffic loads in a multi-connection mode for a user equipment UE according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0034] Figure 7 A block diagram of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0035] In the drawings, the same or corresponding reference numerals represent the same or corresponding parts. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the exemplary embodiments can be implemented in a variety of forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be more comprehensive and complete and the concepts of the exemplary embodiments will be fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. The same reference numerals in the figures represent the same or similar structures, and thus their detailed description will be omitted.

[0037] In addition, the described features, structures or characteristics may be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. In the following description, many specific details are provided to provide a full understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the technical solutions of the present disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or other methods, components, devices, steps, etc. may be adopted. In other cases, known structures, methods, devices, implementations or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid blurring the various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0038] The block diagrams shown in the accompanying drawings are merely functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically independent entities. That is, these functional entities may be implemented in software form, or these functional entities or parts of functional entities may be implemented in one or more software hardened modules, or these functional entities may be implemented in different networks and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0039] In the related art in this field, multi-connection terminals can access authorized networks and unauthorized networks at the same time to increase the rate. However, when unauthorized channels are unavailable, traffic can be buffered in Wi-Fi. Although the authorized network is available at this time, due to the lack of coordination mechanism between the authorized network and Wi-Fi, the authorized network cannot be used to transmit the data packets cached by Wi-Fi.

[0040] That is to say, due to the scarcity of spectrum, unlicensed spectrum is often used to supplement licensed spectrum. Unlicensed frequency bands often use unlicensed transmission, and there is no coordination mechanism with mobile networks. When Wi-Fi is disconnected or mobile network coverage is poor, traffic sharing cannot be carried out, affecting data transmission efficiency and reliability.

[0041] Based on this, in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a Licensed and Unlicensed Controller (LUC) is first provided. Based on the controller LUC, different traffic load transmissions can be coordinated for UEs in multi-connection mode, so that traffic coordination can be performed in different access networks to solve the problem that the authorized network cannot be used to transmit Wi-Fi cached data packets due to the lack of a coordination mechanism between the authorized network and Wi-Fi, thereby improving data transmission efficiency and reliability.

[0042] refer to Figure 1 An application scenario diagram of LUC to which the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied is provided. Figure 1 , the UE simultaneously accesses the non-licensed network (Non-3GPP access) and the licensed network (3GPP access). LUC can be started on the primary edge cloud or any other cloud to coordinate the transmission of different traffic loads for the UE in multi-connection mode.

[0043] Among them, UE can be a smart phone, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a smart speaker, a digital assistant, an AR (Augmented Reality) device, a VR (Virtual Reality) device, a smart wearable device and other types of electronic devices, or, UE can also be a personal computer, such as a laptop computer and a desktop computer, etc. Optionally, the operating system running on the UE may include but is not limited to an Android system, an IOS system, a Linux system, a Windows system, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of UE is not limited in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0044] In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, LUC can be deployed in Figure 1 In the network architecture shown, the names of the authorized and unauthorized controllers are only examples. In specific implementations, the controller may also have other names, and the embodiments of the present disclosure do not specifically limit this.

[0045] See also Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an authorization and unauthorization controller LUC 200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, where the LUC is configured to coordinate different traffic load transmissions in a multi-connectivity mode for a user equipment UE based on real-time measurement reports.

[0046] The following is a detailed description of the LUC according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0047] In an exemplary embodiment, LUC is deployed in an over-the-top OTT manner on additional network functions of a service-based architecture (SBA) architecture based on the core network.

[0048] The SBA architecture is the basic architecture of the 5G (5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology) network. The essence of SBA is to define network functions as several "service" modules that can be flexibly called according to the three principles of "self-contained, reusable, and independently managed". Based on this, operators can flexibly customize the network according to business needs.

[0049] Over-the-top services (OTT services) refer to services that run on a network but are not provided by the operator of the network. They are usually called "over-the-top" because these services are "above" the services already provided by the network operator and do not require any business or technical affiliation with the network operator. In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, LUC is deployed on additional network elements of the SBA architecture as OTT, which will not affect the existing network architecture and the connection relationship of network functions, is easy to deploy, and has strong feasibility.

[0050] Among them, the LUC includes a unique identifier, and the LUC is configured to coordinate with the network components based on the unique identifier to perform business interaction. It can be understood that based on the unique identifier of the LUC, it is possible to accurately know which network components are under the control of the LUC, which is convenient for business management and network problem tracing.

[0051] In an exemplary embodiment, the LUC is instantiated by a network or cloud orchestrator and connected to the interface of the network functions NF (network functions) of the control plane CP (control plane) to perform business interaction with each NF through the SBA architecture.

[0052] For example, LUC can provide services to SMF (Session Management Function) and share analysis results with NWDAF (Network Data Analytics Function), etc. The LUC of the disclosed embodiment can perform business interaction with other network functions through SBA and can be configured according to actual needs, which are not listed here one by one.

[0053] Among them, the interfaces of the network function NF of the LUC and the control plane CP include N71, N72, etc., such as connecting with the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) through the N71 interface and connecting with the SMF through the N72 interface. It can be set according to the needs and the specific type of the connected network function, and the embodiments of the present disclosure do not make any special limitations on this.

[0054] Further, in an exemplary embodiment, the LUC has a database deployed in the user plane UP domain, which is configured to store data required for coordinating different traffic load transmissions in a multi-connection mode for user equipment UE based on real-time measurement reports.

[0055] Specifically, when LUC performs flow control on UE, it stores the relevant data required for the control process in the corresponding database to facilitate data retention and tracing. Of course, the computing resources required for efficient network transformation can also be configured to LUC to support the flow control process of UE of LUC.

[0056] Among them, LUC is configured based on computing resources, and the number of LUCs is adjustable. It can be understood that LUC is a flexible network function that can be adjusted according to the computing resources allocated to the LUC network function. For example, LUC can be expanded vertically to carry more interconnection requirements from UEs in the domain; for another example, LUC can be expanded horizontally to divide the domain into at least two sites to improve operational efficiency.

[0057] By adjusting the number of LUCs, the operating efficiency of LUCs can be improved, the efficiency of UE traffic control can be improved, and the network service quality of UE can be improved.

[0058] In an exemplary embodiment, LUC can support and run the operations of 5GC and support the ability to manage topology registration for network functions NFs (Network Functions) and access points AP (Access Point) serving multiple connection domains.

[0059] Specifically, each network function serving the multi-connection domain needs to complete registration with the LUC, so that the LUC can achieve service interaction with each network function. For example, by analyzing the real-time measurement report of the UE, the required target network function can be used to coordinate the transmission of different traffic loads.

[0060] Figure 3 An architectural diagram of a LUC deployment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, Figure 3 As shown, LUC is connected to SMF to manage the traffic of UE through SMF. It should be noted that Figure 3 This is only an example of LUC deployment. The connection between the LUC of the embodiment of the present disclosure and other network functions in the SBA architecture is not described in detail. Figure 3 As shown, LUC is connected to AMF, where DN is the data network.

[0061] Furthermore, in an exemplary embodiment, based on the connection between LUC and AMF in the SBA architecture, the LUC can obtain real-time measurement reports from the mobile agent of the UE through the AMF.

[0062] Specifically, a mobile agent needs to be installed on the UE side. The mobile agent is a key component in the user-centric network architecture. The mobile agent is configured to operate continuously in the background, that is, to continuously collect and analyze data related to the user's network connection status, such as real-time measurement reports. The data related to the user's network connection status is then fed back to the LUC.

[0063] In some possible embodiments, to ensure safe and reliable operation, the mobile agent can only be downloaded by authenticated users, that is, once the user's identity is authenticated, the mobile agent can be downloaded to a single mobile node via a cellular connection or an unauthorized connection from the network.

[0064] In some possible embodiments, when the mobile agent is installed on the UE side, the installation process may be initiated by the network, and the mobile agent may be configured according to the specific requirements and preferences of the user, thereby achieving a personalized and optimized experience. For example, the mobile agent may be configured according to whether the user uses Wi-Fi or cellular network to transmit data on a daily basis, and the transmission ratio between the two.

[0065] In another exemplary embodiment, based on the connection between LUC and AMF in the SBA architecture, LUC can obtain real-time measurement reports from the perception module of cRRM (common Radio Resource Management) of MAC (Medium Access Control) through AMF.

[0066] Specifically, the real-time measurement report of the UE can be first obtained through the cRRM perception mechanism in the MAC, and sent to the AMF through the N1 interface, so that the real-time measurement report can be fed back to the LUC through the AMF.

[0067] It is worth noting that the embodiments of the present disclosure can enable LUC to obtain real-time measurement reports of UE through any of the above-mentioned methods. Of course, other methods that can provide real-time measurement reports to LUC can also be applied to the LUC of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiments of the present disclosure include but are not limited to the above-mentioned methods of obtaining real-time measurement reports of UE.

[0068] In an exemplary embodiment, the LUC is further configured to: in the multi-connection mode, for a UE that performs downloading through multiple access points AP at the same time, adjust the user plane traffic allocated to each access point AP.

[0069] In actual implementation, since the UE can access multiple access points APs at the same time and perform downloading through multiple access points APs, the user plane traffic allocated to each access point AP can also be adjusted through the LUC.

[0070] For example, if the UE simultaneously accesses multiple access points {AP1, AP2, ..., AP n}, LUC can adjust the user plane traffic allocated to each access point AP according to the actual network status of each AP, so that the UE can obtain the best data transmission speed when downloading through multiple APs at the same time, ensuring the user's network usage experience.

[0071] For example, if the network condition of access point AP1 is the best, the user plane traffic allocated to access point AP1 is increased, and the access point AP n The worst network condition is the one that reduces the amount of data allocated to the access point AP. n The embodiment of the present disclosure can configure the allocation strategy according to actual needs, and there is no special limitation on this.

[0072] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the connection between LUC and SMF in the SBA architecture, the LUC is also configured to determine the traffic scheduling strategy based on the real-time measurement report; and the LUC is configured to send the traffic scheduling strategy to the SMF to coordinate different traffic load transmissions for the UE in a multi-connection mode through the SMF.

[0073] The real-time measurement report may include a first signal strength of an authorized network and a second signal strength of an unauthorized network, and the LUC is configured to determine the ratio between authorized network traffic and unauthorized network traffic based on the first signal strength and the second signal strength to obtain a traffic scheduling strategy; wherein the traffic scheduling strategy is used to indicate, for the UE, to coordinate different traffic load transmissions in a multi-connection mode in proportion.

[0074] In an exemplary embodiment, the LUC is configured to manage the PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session between the UE and the SMF, and use the PSA (PDU Session Anchor) as the UPF (User Plane Function) anchor. For details, see Figure 3 The UPF anchor point shown is PSA.

[0075] Based on this, LUC is configured to send the traffic scheduling policy to SMF to instruct SMF to send the traffic scheduling policy to PSA; and instruct PSA to send the authorized network traffic to the UE through the first user plane function UPF based on the traffic scheduling policy, and send the unauthorized network traffic to the UE through the second user plane function UPF respectively.

[0076] Figure 4 An interaction diagram for flow control according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown below. Figure 3 and Figure 4 , taking the example of multi-connected UE simultaneously accessing the Wi-Fi network and the 5G network as an example.

[0077] Step S410: deploy the LUC in the network based on the deployment method of the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0078] Step S420, the multi-connection UE simultaneously accesses the Wi-Fi network and the 5G network.

[0079] In step S430, the multi-connection UE reports a real-time measurement report to the AMF, requests to establish a PDU session, and the AMF determines the multi-connection mode of the UE based on the multiple hotspot IP addresses in the real-time measurement report, and simultaneously sends the real-time measurement report to the LUC.

[0080] In step S440, the LUC divides the network traffic in proportion according to the signal strength (first signal strength and second signal strength) of the Wi-Fi network and the 5G network connection in the real-time measurement report to determine the traffic corresponding to the Wi-Fi network and the 5G network respectively, and obtains a traffic scheduling strategy.

[0081] Step S450, LUC sends the traffic scheduling policy to SMF to instruct SMF to send the traffic scheduling policy to PSA.

[0082] In step S460, the PSA sends the traffic of the Wi-Fi network to the UE through the first user plane function UPF based on the traffic scheduling strategy, and sends the traffic of the 5G network to the UE through the second user plane function UPF.

[0083] At this point, the network traffic is distributed between unlicensed and authorized through the LUC in the network to adjust the different types of network traffic sent to the UE, thereby achieving coordination between the unlicensed frequency band and the mobile network.

[0084] In an exemplary embodiment, considering that in some scenarios there may be Wi-Fi disconnection or poor mobile network coverage, the LUC of the embodiment of the present disclosure is also configured to switch the traffic of the UE.

[0085] Wherein, based on the aforementioned embodiment, the LUC is also configured to send the traffic scheduling policy to the SMF when the traffic scheduling policy indicates that the authorized network traffic or unauthorized network traffic scheduled to the UE is zero, and at the same time instruct the SMF to update the session management SM context based on the traffic scheduling policy.

[0086] Specifically, when the LUC determines that the traffic scheduling policy indicates that the traffic of the Wi-Fi network allocated to the UE is zero, or the traffic of the 5G network allocated to the UE is zero, it means that all network traffic needs to be allocated to a certain network. In order to maintain the correct session management signaling path, the session management SM context needs to be updated. For example, if the UE moves and causes the AMF to change (such as N2 switching), this traffic allocation method needs to be executed.

[0087] Figure 5 Another interaction diagram for traffic control according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, and is still explained by taking the example of a multi-connected UE simultaneously accessing a Wi-Fi network and a 5G network.

[0088] Step S510: deploy the LUC in the network based on the deployment method of the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0089] Step S520, the multi-connection UE simultaneously accesses the Wi-Fi network and the 5G network.

[0090] Step S530, the multi-connection UE reports a real-time measurement report to the AMF, requests to establish a PDU session, and the AMF determines the multi-connection mode of the UE based on the multiple hotspot IP addresses in the real-time measurement report, and simultaneously sends the real-time measurement report to the LUC.

[0091] In step S540, the LUC divides the network traffic in proportion according to the signal strength (first signal strength and second signal strength) of the Wi-Fi network and the 5G network connection in the real-time measurement report to determine the traffic corresponding to the Wi-Fi network and the 5G network respectively, and obtains the traffic scheduling strategy.

[0092] In step S550, the LUC sends the traffic scheduling policy to the SMF to instruct the SMF to send the traffic scheduling policy to the PSA, and at the same time instructs the SMF to update the session management SM context based on the traffic scheduling policy.

[0093] Step S560: The PSA controls the traffic of the Wi-Fi network or the 5G network sent to the UE based on the traffic scheduling strategy.

[0094] Through the above-mentioned traffic scheduling strategy, LUC can coordinate traffic between authorized and unauthorized terminals, such as traffic allocation and traffic switching, to achieve collaboration between authorized networks and Wi-Fi networks, and then use the authorized network to transmit Wi-Fi cached data packets, thereby improving data transmission efficiency and accuracy and enhancing users' network experience.

[0095] It is worth noting that the traffic scheduling strategy should be determined based on the topology criteria pre-defined by the LUC. The LUC of the embodiment of the present disclosure can pre-configure the relevant topology accurately, and then determine the traffic scheduling strategy accurately according to the topology based on the real-time measurement report.

[0096] The authorized and unauthorized controller LUC in the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure can coordinate the transmission of different traffic loads in a multi-connection mode for the UE based on the real-time measurement report of the user equipment UE. Under the control of LUC, the traffic in different access networks of the UE in the multi-connection model is coordinated, and the data packets of the unauthorized network and the authorized network are coordinated to support the use of authorized and unauthorized multi-connections and spectrum aggregation, so that traffic sharing can be performed when Wi-Fi is disconnected or the mobile network coverage is poor, so as to use the authorized network to transmit the data packets cached by Wi-Fi, or use the unauthorized network to transmit the data packets cached by the authorized network, that is, the embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a controller LUC for the aggregation of authorized spectrum and unauthorized spectrum, which allows traffic sharing in different access networks, effectively solving the problem that the authorized network cannot be used to transmit the data packets cached by Wi-Fi due to the lack of a coordination mechanism between the authorized network and Wi-Fi, ensuring data transmission speed and reliability, and providing users with a better network usage experience.

[0097] In addition, due to the scarcity of spectrum, unlicensed spectrum is often used as a supplement to licensed spectrum. However, unlicensed frequency bands often use unlicensed transmission and have no coordination mechanism with mobile networks. Therefore, for B5G and even 6G, the solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure can be adopted to deploy authorized and unlicensed controllers LUC in the network to allocate and share traffic between authorized and unlicensed UEs that support multiple connections.

[0098] It should be noted that although the features and functions of the authorized and unauthorized controllers LUC are mentioned in the above detailed description, the features and functions of an authorized and unauthorized controller LUC described above may be further divided into multiple modules or units for embodiment.

[0099] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for flow control is also provided, which is applied to an authorized and unauthorized controller LUC. The method may include:

[0100] Based on real-time measurement reports, different traffic load transmissions are coordinated in multiple connection modes for user equipment UE.

[0101] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, LUC is deployed in an over-the-top OTT manner on an additional network function of a service-based architecture (SBA) based on the core network, and LUC is connected to a session management function (SMF) in the SBA architecture. Figure 6 As shown, based on the real-time measurement report, for the user equipment UE, coordinating different traffic load transmissions in the multi-connection mode may include step S610 and step S620:

[0102] Step S610: Determine a traffic scheduling strategy according to the real-time measurement report;

[0103] Step S620: Send the traffic scheduling strategy to the SMF so as to coordinate the transmission of different traffic loads for the UE in the multi-connection mode through the SMF.

[0104] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the real-time measurement report includes a first signal strength of an authorized network and a second signal strength of an unauthorized network; determining a traffic scheduling strategy according to the real-time measurement report includes: determining a ratio between authorized network traffic and unauthorized network traffic according to the first signal strength and the second signal strength to obtain a traffic scheduling strategy. The traffic scheduling strategy is used to indicate that for a UE, different traffic load transmissions are coordinated in a multi-connection mode according to a ratio.

[0105] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, LUC sends a traffic scheduling policy to SMF to instruct SMF to send the traffic scheduling policy to PSA; and instructs PSA to send authorized network traffic to UE through the first user plane function UPF based on the traffic scheduling policy, and send unauthorized network traffic to UE through the second user plane function UPF respectively.

[0106] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, when the traffic scheduling policy indicates that the authorized network traffic or unauthorized network traffic scheduled to the UE is zero, the LUC may also send the traffic scheduling policy to the SMF, and at the same time instruct the SMF to update the session management SM context based on the traffic scheduling policy.

[0107] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, LUC is deployed in an over-the-top OTT manner on an additional network function of a service-based architecture (SBA) architecture based on a core network; wherein the LUC includes a unique identifier and is configured to coordinate with network components based on the unique identifier to perform business interaction.

[0108] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is instantiated by a network or cloud orchestrator and is connected to an interface of a network function NF of a control plane CP to perform service interaction with each NF through an SBA architecture.

[0109] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC has a database deployed in the user plane UP domain, and the LUC stores data required for coordinating the transmission of different traffic loads in a multi-connection mode for a user equipment UE through the database.

[0110] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC has the capability to support and run the operations of the core network, and the LUC supports the capability to manage topology registration for network functions NFs and access points AP serving multiple connection domains.

[0111] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, LUC is connected to the access and mobility management function AMF in the SBA architecture, and LUC obtains real-time measurement reports from the mobile agent of the UE through the AMF; or, LUC obtains real-time measurement reports from the perception module of the common radio resource management cRRM of the medium access control MAC through the AMF.

[0112] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes:

[0113] In the multi-connection mode, for the UE that performs downloading through multiple access points AP at the same time, the user plane traffic allocated to each of the access points AP is adjusted.

[0114] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the LUC is further configured with computing resources, and the method further comprises: adjusting the number of LUCs based on the computing resources.

[0115] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes: managing a protocol data unit PDU session between the UE and a session management function SMF, and using a protocol data unit session anchor point PSA as a user plane function UPF anchor point.

[0116] Since the implementation details of the method for flow control of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure have been described in detail in the above-mentioned invention embodiments of the authorized and unauthorized controllers LUC, they will not be repeated here.

[0117] In addition, in the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer storage medium capable of implementing the above method is also provided. A program product capable of implementing the above method of this specification is stored thereon. In some possible embodiments, various aspects of the present disclosure may also be implemented in the form of a program product, which includes a program code, and when the program product is run on a terminal device, the program code is used to enable the terminal device to perform the steps according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above "Exemplary Method" section of this specification.

[0118] The embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a program product for implementing the above method, which can adopt a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) and include program code, and can be run on a terminal device, such as a personal computer. However, the program product of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In this document, a readable storage medium can be any tangible medium containing or storing a program, which can be used by or in combination with an instruction execution system, an apparatus or a device.

[0119] The program product may use any combination of one or more readable media. The readable medium may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. The readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device or device, or any combination of the above. More specific examples (non-exhaustive list) of readable storage media include: an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above.

[0120] Computer readable signal media may include data signals propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, in which readable program code is carried. Such propagated data signals may take a variety of forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination of the above. Readable signal media may also be any readable medium other than a readable storage medium, which may send, propagate, or transmit a program for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0121] The program code embodied on the readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0122] Program code for performing the operations of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java, C++, etc., and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as "C" or similar programming languages. The program code may be executed entirely on the user computing device, partially on the user device, as a separate software package, partially on the user computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server. In cases involving a remote computing device, the remote computing device may be connected to the user computing device through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or may be connected to an external computing device (e.g., through the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0123] In addition, in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an electronic device capable of implementing the above method is also provided. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented as a system, method, or program product. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure may be specifically implemented in the following forms, namely: a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or an embodiment combining hardware and software aspects, which may be collectively referred to herein as a "circuit", "module", or "system".

[0124] Refer to the following Figure 7 hereinafter describes an electronic device 700 according to such an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 7 The electronic device 700 shown is merely an example and should not bring any limitation to the functions and scope of use of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0125] like Figure 7 As shown, the electronic device 700 is in the form of a general computing device. The components of the electronic device 700 may include, but are not limited to: the at least one processing unit 710, the at least one storage unit 720, a bus 730 connecting different system components (including the storage unit 720 and the processing unit 710), and a display unit 740.

[0126] The storage unit stores program codes, which can be executed by the processing unit 710, so that the processing unit 710 executes the steps according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above “Exemplary Method” section of this specification.

[0127] The storage unit 720 may include a readable medium in the form of a volatile storage unit, such as a random access memory unit (RAM) 721 and / or a cache memory unit 722 , and may further include a read-only memory unit (ROM) 723 .

[0128] The storage unit 720 may also include a program / utility 724 having a set (at least one) of program modules 725, such program modules 725 including but not limited to: an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, each of which or some combination may include an implementation of a network environment.

[0129] Bus 730 may represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory unit bus or memory unit controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, a processing unit, or a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures.

[0130] The electronic device 700 may also communicate with one or more external devices 800 (e.g., keyboards, pointing devices, Bluetooth devices, etc.), may also communicate with one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the electronic device 700, and / or communicate with any device that enables the electronic device 700 to communicate with one or more other computing devices (e.g., routers, modems, etc.). Such communication may be performed via an input / output (I / O) interface 750. Furthermore, the electronic device 700 may also communicate with one or more networks (e.g., local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and / or public networks, such as the Internet) via a network adapter 760. As shown, the network adapter 760 communicates with other modules of the electronic device 700 via a bus 730. It should be understood that, although not shown in the figure, other hardware and / or software modules may be used in conjunction with the electronic device 700, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems, etc.

[0131] Through the description of the above embodiments, it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the example embodiments described here can be implemented by software, or by software combined with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solution according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (which can be a CD-ROM, a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, etc.) or on a network, and includes several instructions to enable a computing device (which can be a personal computer, a server, a terminal device, or a network device, etc.) to execute the method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0132] In addition, the above-mentioned figures are only schematic illustrations of the processes included in the method according to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not intended to be limiting. It is easy to understand that the processes shown in the above-mentioned figures do not indicate or limit the time sequence of these processes. In addition, it is also easy to understand that these processes can be performed synchronously or asynchronously, for example, in multiple modules.

[0133] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate other embodiments of the present disclosure after considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein. The present disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure that follow the general principles of the present disclosure and include common knowledge or customary technical means in the art that are not disclosed in the present disclosure. The description and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure are indicated by the claims.

Claims

1. An authorized and unauthorized controller LUC, characterized in that: include: The LUC is configured to coordinate different traffic load transmissions in a multi-connection mode for a user equipment UE based on real-time measurement reports.

2. The LUC according to claim 1, characterized in that The LUC is deployed in an over-the-top OTT manner on additional network functions of a service-based architecture (SBA) architecture based on the core network; The LUC includes a unique identifier and is configured to coordinate with network components based on the unique identifier to perform business interaction.

3. The LUC according to claim 2, characterized in that The LUC is instantiated by a network or cloud orchestrator and is connected to an interface of a network function NF of a control plane CP to perform business interaction with each NF through the SBA architecture.

4. The LUC according to claim 3, characterized in that The LUC has a database deployed in the user plane UP domain, and is configured to store the data required for coordinating the transmission of different traffic loads in a multi-connection mode for the user equipment UE based on the real-time measurement report.

5. The LUC according to claim 2, characterized in that The LUC has the operational capabilities of supporting and running the core network, and the LUC supports the ability to manage topology registration for network functions NFs and access points AP serving multiple connection domains.

6. The LUC according to claim 2, characterized in that The LUC is connected to the access and mobility management function AMF in the SBA architecture; The real-time measurement report is obtained by the AMF from the mobility agent of the UE; Alternatively, the real-time measurement report is obtained by the AMF from the perception module of the common radio resource management cRRM of the medium access control MAC.

7. The LUC according to claim 2, characterized in that The LUC is also configured to: In the multi-connection mode, for the UE that performs downloading through multiple access points AP at the same time, the user plane traffic allocated to each of the access points AP is adjusted.

8. The LUC according to claim 2, characterized in that The LUC is also configured with computing resources; The LUCs are configured based on the computing resources, and the number of LUCs is adjustable.

9. The LUC according to any one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that The LUC is configured to manage the protocol data unit PDU session between the UE and the session management function SMF, and use the protocol data unit session anchor point PSA as the user plane function UPF anchor point.

10. The LUC according to claim 9, characterized in that The LUC is connected to the session management function SMF in the SBA architecture; The LUC is configured to determine a traffic scheduling strategy based on the real-time measurement report; And the LUC is configured to send the traffic scheduling policy to the SMF so as to coordinate different traffic load transmissions for the UE in a multi-connection mode through the SMF.

11. The LUC according to claim 10, characterized in that The real-time measurement report includes a first signal strength of the authorized network and a second signal strength of the unauthorized network; The LUC is configured to determine a ratio between authorized network traffic and unauthorized network traffic according to the first signal strength and the second signal strength to obtain the traffic scheduling strategy; The traffic scheduling strategy is used to indicate that, for the UE, different traffic load transmissions are coordinated in a multi-connection mode according to the ratio.

12. The LUC according to claim 10, characterized in that The LUC is configured to send the traffic scheduling policy to the SMF to instruct the SMF to send the traffic scheduling policy to the PSA; And instruct the PSA to send the authorized network traffic to the UE through the first user plane function UPF based on the traffic scheduling strategy, and to send the unauthorized network traffic to the UE through the second user plane function UPF respectively.

13. The LUC according to claim 12, characterized in that The LUC is also configured to send the traffic scheduling policy to the SMF when the traffic scheduling policy indicates that the authorized network traffic or unauthorized network traffic scheduled to the UE is zero, and at the same time instruct the SMF to update the session management SM context based on the traffic scheduling policy.

14. A method for flow control, characterized in that: Applied to authorized and unauthorized controllers LUC, the method comprises: Based on real-time measurement reports, different traffic load transmissions are coordinated in multiple connection modes for user equipment UE.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The LUC is deployed in an over-the-top OTT manner on an additional network function of a service-based architecture SBA architecture based on a core network, and the LUC is connected to a session management function SMF in the SBA architecture; The real-time measurement report-based, coordinated transmission of different traffic loads in a multi-connection mode for a user equipment UE includes: Determining a traffic scheduling strategy according to the real-time measurement report; The traffic scheduling strategy is sent to the SMF so as to coordinate the transmission of different traffic loads in the multi-connection mode for the UE through the SMF.

16. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program implements the method according to claim 14 or 15 when executed by a processor.

17. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: processor; as well as A memory, configured to store executable instructions of the processor; Wherein, the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 14 or 15 by executing the executable instructions.

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