Communication method and related device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method and related equipment, which are used for reducing the difficulty and cost of providing edge application service for a user by an application provider. The communication method provided by the embodiment of the invention is applied to a first forwarding network element, and comprises the following steps: receiving a service flow identification model of a target service; receiving business data from the terminal, and identifying first business data of a target service and / or second business data of a non-target service from the business data according to the business flow identification model; and forwarding the first service data to the first processing network element, and / or forwarding the second service data to the anchor point network element. Wherein the first processing network element is used for processing the first service data according to the function mirror image of the target service, and the anchor point network element is used for forwarding the second service data to the application server of the second service data, or is used for processing the second service data.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and related devices. Background Art

[0002] Application providers can provide application services to terminals through servers, cloud servers, etc.

[0003] Some application services have high requirements for latency, bandwidth, etc., or have high service quality requirements in other aspects. In order to meet the needs of these application services, application providers can deploy servers to edge computing nodes (multiple-access edge computing, MEC) or edge cloud (edge ​​cloud, EC), and provide application services to terminals through MEC / EC. These MEC / EC may belong to the application provider itself or to the operator.

[0004] The deployment location of MEC / EC is usually fixed, but the terminal is mobile. If a terminal leaves the service range of MEC / EC, the distance between the terminal and MEC / EC will increase, and the latency of the terminal accessing MEC / EC will not meet the service quality requirements of the application, thus affecting the user experience. In addition, if the application provider deploys MEC / EC itself, it not only needs to purchase computing, storage and other resources, but also needs to lease dedicated lines from telecom operators, which is costly. Summary of the invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and related devices for reducing the difficulty and cost of an application provider in providing application services to users.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method is applied to a first forwarding network element, and the method includes: the first forwarding network element receives a service flow identification model of a target service. The first forwarding network element receives service data from a terminal, and identifies first service data of a target service and / or second service data of a non-target service from the service data according to the service flow identification model. After completing the identification of the service data, the first forwarding network element forwards the first service data to the first processing network element, and / or forwards the second service data to the anchor network element. Among them, the first processing network element is used to process the first service data according to the functional mirror of the target service, and the anchor network element is used to forward the second service data to the application server of the second service data, or to process the second service data.

[0007] In the embodiment of the present application, the first forwarding network element, the first processing network element and the anchor network element may be UPF, RAN or other widely distributed network elements in the network. The anchor network element may be a local central network element in the area where the terminal is located, such as a local central UPF. The distance between the anchor network element and the terminal is greater than the distance between the first processing network element and the terminal.

[0008] In an embodiment of the present application, the service data from the terminal is diverted by deploying a first forwarding network element in which a service flow identification model is deployed. The first service data with high service quality requirements in the service data is forwarded to a closer first processing network element for processing, and the second service data with lower service quality requirements in the service data is forwarded to a farther application server for processing (or processed locally in the anchor network element) through the anchor network element, thereby realizing signal diversion. Compared with the application server deployed in the anchor network element or the central cloud / Internet, the communication distance between the first processing network element and the terminal is short, and the amount of data processed is small (the application processor needs to process service data from various places, while the first processing network element only needs to cover the service data within the service range), so it can provide high-quality application services for the terminal and ensure the service quality of the application service.

[0009] In addition, due to the wide coverage of the network, as long as the terminal is within the coverage of the network, the functions of the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element can be realized through the network element equipment deployed in the network. The current network resources can be used to realize the local processing of the target service, and there is no need to purchase additional computing, storage, communication and other resources to process the data of the target service, which can reduce costs.

[0010] In an optional implementation, before the first forwarding network element receives the service data from the terminal, the first forwarding network element receives first transmission channel information. The first transmission channel information is used to instruct the first forwarding network element to forward the first service data to the first processing network element through the first transmission channel.

[0011] In the embodiment of the present application, the first transmission channel information between the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element can be allocated by the first network element (such as a session management function) or by the first processing network element. The first transmission channel can be a tunnel that can pass through the underlying IP transmission network to ensure data security and transmission reliability.

[0012] In an optional implementation, before the first forwarding network element receives the service data from the terminal, the first forwarding network element sends second transmission channel information. The second transmission channel information is used to indicate that the third service data of the target service is forwarded from the first processing network element to the first forwarding network element through the second transmission channel.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present application, the second transmission channel information between the first processing network element and the first forwarding network element can be allocated by the first network element (such as SMF), or by the first forwarding network element. The second transmission channel can be a tunnel, which can pass through the underlying IP transmission network to ensure the security of data and the reliability of transmission. The second transmission channel information can be tunnel information, and the tunnel information can correspond to a terminal. Therefore, after the first forwarding network element receives the third service data, it can transmit the third service data to the terminal corresponding to the tunnel information, thereby realizing the transmission of the third service data from the first processing network element to the terminal.

[0014] In the second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method is applied to a first network element, and the method includes: the first network element receives a service request, and the service request includes an identifier of a target application and a first location identifier of a terminal. The first network element determines a first forwarding network element and a first processing network element according to the first location identifier. Among them, the first forwarding network element is used to identify first business data from business data from the terminal according to a business flow identification model, and forward the first business data to the first processing network element, and the first business data is the business data of a target service in a target application; the first processing network element is used to process the first business data according to a functional mirror of the target service. Then, the first network element establishes a transmission channel between the terminal, the first forwarding network element, and the first processing network element.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present application, the first network element determines the first forwarding network element for deploying the service flow identification model and the first processing network element for deploying the functional image according to the location of the terminal. On the one hand, the mobile communication network has already widely deployed network elements (such as access network nodes, user plane functions and other network elements) to provide ubiquitous services for the terminal. As long as the terminal moves within the coverage of the mobile communication network, the first network element can determine the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element (determined from a large number of network elements with wide coverage) for the terminal, and provide the terminal with application services with high service quality through the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element. Through the signal processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the breadth of the high service quality area of ​​the target service can be improved, and high-quality services can basically be achieved within the coverage of the mobile network.

[0016] On the other hand, operators or service providers no longer need to purchase computing, storage and other resources, nor do they need to establish additional network pipelines. This can not only save costs for service providers, but also expand the pipelines of network operators and help operators monetize resources.

[0017] In addition, the division granularity of the service range between different network elements (such as the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element) in the mobile communication network is finer, thereby shortening the distance between the terminal and the data processing location (originally from the terminal to the application server, the embodiment of the present application only needs to be from the terminal to the first processing network element). The division granularity of the service range is fine (for example, by street, by community), so that the communication distance between the terminal and the first processing network element is short, thereby improving the upper limit of the service quality of the target service by shortening the communication distance.

[0018] In an optional implementation, the step of the first network element determining the first forwarding network element according to the first location identifier may specifically include: the first network element determines whether there is a second forwarding network element covering the location of the terminal according to the first location identifier, and the second forwarding network element has loaded the service flow identification model. If there is a second forwarding network element, the first network element determines that the second forwarding network element is the first forwarding network element; or, if there is no second forwarding network element, the first network element determines the first forwarding network element for loading the service flow identification model according to the first location identifier.

[0019] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network element determines whether the service flow identification model has been deployed near the terminal based on the first location identifier. If it has been deployed, the second forwarding network element with the deployed service flow identification model is directly used to identify and divert service data from the terminal (that is, the second forwarding network element is used as the first forwarding network element), and there is no need to temporarily deploy the service flow identification model, and the deployment efficiency of the service flow identification model is high.

[0020] In an optional implementation, before the first network element receives the service request, the first network element obtains a service flow identification model and sends the service flow identification model to the second forwarding network element.

[0021] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network element sends a service flow identification model to the second forwarding network element to implement the deployment of the service flow identification model on the second forwarding network element. The deployment of the service flow identification model on the second forwarding network element occurs before the first network element receives the service request, and the deployment efficiency of the service flow identification model is high.

[0022] In an optional implementation, after the first network element determines the first forwarding network element for loading the service flow identification model according to the first location identifier, the first network element obtains the service flow identification model and sends the service flow identification model to the first forwarding network element.

[0023] In an optional implementation, before the first network element sends the service flow identification model to the second forwarding network element, the first network element receives deployment information from the second network element, the deployment information includes first deployment area information of the service flow identification model, and then the first network element determines the second forwarding network element according to the first deployment area information.

[0024] In an embodiment of the present application, the second network element allocates the first deployment area information to the service flow identification model of the target service according to the needs of the target service, and the first network element determines the second forwarding network element according to the first deployment area information, so that the deployment of the service flow identification model can be realized according to the needs of the target service, thereby avoiding the waste of network resources. For example, the application provider can determine the popular area where the target service is used, and the first network element deploys the service flow identification model in the first deployment area (the area indicated by the first deployment area information) corresponding to the popular area, so as to avoid the deployment of the service flow identification model in advance in the area with a low probability of using the target service, thereby avoiding the waste of network resources due to unnecessary deployment.

[0025] In an optional implementation, before the first network element sends the service flow identification model to the second forwarding network element, the first network element receives deployment request information from an application provider, the deployment request information includes the service flow identification model. Then, the first network element determines first deployment area information of the service flow identification model, and determines the second forwarding network element according to the first deployment area information.

[0026] In an embodiment of the present application, the first network element allocates first deployment area information to the service flow identification model of the target service according to the needs of the target service, and determines the second forwarding network element according to the first deployment area information, so as to realize the deployment of the service flow identification model according to the needs of the target service and avoid wasting network resources. For example, the application provider can determine the popular area where the target service is used, and the first network element deploys the service flow identification model in the first deployment area (the area indicated by the first deployment area information) corresponding to the popular area, so as to avoid the deployment of the service flow identification model in advance in the area with a low probability of using the target service, thereby avoiding the waste of network resources due to unnecessary deployment.

[0027] In an optional implementation, the deployment request information also includes first deployment requirement information of the service flow identification model. The step of the first network element determining first deployment area information of the service flow identification model may specifically include: the first network element determines the first deployment area information according to the first deployment requirement information.

[0028] In an embodiment of the present application, the first network element determines the deployment area of ​​the service flow identification model in a targeted manner based on the requirements of the service flow identification model, and can deploy the service flow identification model in an area that better meets the requirements, thereby improving the forwarding efficiency of service data. For example, if the first deployment requirement information indicates that the service flow identification model is deployed on a district-level first forwarding network element, the first network element can deploy the service flow identification model on one or more district-level first forwarding network elements in a hot area.

[0029] In an optional implementation, the step of the first network element determining the first processing network element according to the first location identifier may specifically include: the first network element determines, according to the first location identifier, whether there is a second processing network element covering the location of the terminal, and the second processing network element has loaded the function image. If there is a second processing network element, the first network element determines that the second processing network element is the first processing network element; or, if there is no second processing network element, the first network element determines, according to the first location identifier, the first processing network element for loading the function image.

[0030] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network element determines whether the functional image has been deployed near the terminal based on the first location identifier. If it has been deployed, the second processing network element with the deployed functional image is directly used to process the first service data from the terminal (that is, the second processing network element is used as the first processing network element), and there is no need to temporarily deploy the functional image, so the deployment efficiency of the functional image is high.

[0031] In an optional implementation manner, before the first network element receives the service request, the first network element obtains the function image and sends the function image to the second processing network element.

[0032] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network element sends the function image to the second processing network element to implement the deployment of the function image on the second processing network element. The deployment of the function image on the second processing network element occurs before the first network element receives the service request, and the deployment efficiency of the function image is high.

[0033] In an optional implementation manner, after the first network element determines the first processing network element for loading the function image according to the first location identifier, the first network element obtains the function image and sends the function image to the first processing network element.

[0034] In an optional implementation, before the first network element sends the function image to the second processing network element, the first network element receives deployment information from the second network element, the deployment information includes second deployment area information of the function image, and then the first network element determines the second processing network element according to the second deployment area information.

[0035] In an embodiment of the present application, the second network element allocates the second deployment area information to the function image of the target service according to the needs of the target service, and the first network element determines the second processing network element according to the second deployment area information, so that the deployment of the function image can be realized according to the needs of the target service, thereby avoiding the waste of network resources. For example, the application provider can determine the popular area where the target service is used, and the first network element deploys the function image in the second deployment area (the area indicated by the second deployment area information) corresponding to the popular area, so as to avoid the early deployment of the function image in the area with a low probability of using the target service, thereby avoiding the waste of network resources due to unnecessary deployment.

[0036] In an optional implementation, before the first network element determines the second processing network element of the functional image, the first network element receives deployment request information from an application provider, the deployment request information includes the functional image. Then, the first network element determines the second deployment area information of the functional image, and determines the second processing network element according to the second deployment area information.

[0037] In an embodiment of the present application, the first network element allocates the second deployment area information to the function image of the target service according to the needs of the target service, and determines the second processing network element according to the second deployment area information, so that the deployment of the function image can be realized according to the needs of the target service, avoiding the waste of network resources. For example, the application provider can determine the popular area where the target service is used, and the first network element deploys the function image in the second deployment area (the area indicated by the second deployment area information) corresponding to the popular area, which can avoid the early deployment of the function image in the area with a low probability of using the target service, thereby avoiding the waste of network resources due to unnecessary deployment.

[0038] In an optional implementation, the deployment request information also includes second deployment requirement information of the functional image. The step of the first network element determining the second deployment area information of the functional image may specifically include: the first network element determines the second deployment area information according to the second deployment requirement information.

[0039] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network element determines the deployment area of ​​the function image in a targeted manner based on the requirements of the function image, and can deploy the function image in an area that better meets the requirements, thereby improving the processing efficiency of the first service data. For example, if the second deployment requirement information indicates that the service flow identification model is deployed on the first processing network element at the municipal level, the first network element can deploy the service flow identification model on one or more first processing network elements at the municipal level in the hot area.

[0040] In an optional implementation, the step of the first network element receiving deployment request information from the application provider may specifically include: the first network element receives verified deployment request information from a third network element, and the third network element is used to verify the information from the application provider.

[0041] In an embodiment of the present application, by verifying the deployment request information through a third network element (such as NEF), the security of network openness can be improved, and attackers can be prevented from disguising themselves as application providers to attack the network or the application provider can be notified in a timely manner when the network cannot meet the requirements of the requested information.

[0042] In an optional implementation, before the first network element determines the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element according to the first location identifier, the first network element obtains third deployment requirement information of the target service, and the third deployment requirement information includes at least one of the following: service quality information and latency requirement information of the target service. The step of the first network element determining the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element according to the first location identifier may specifically include: the first network element determines the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element according to the third deployment requirement information and the first location identifier.

[0043] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network element determines the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element according to the third deployment requirement information of the target service, and can specifically determine the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element that are more suitable for the target service. For example, if the third deployment requirement information includes the latency requirement of the target service, the first network element can determine a network element with a smaller latency near the terminal as the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element.

[0044] In an optional implementation manner, the distance between the first processing network element and the terminal is greater than the distance between the first forwarding network element and the terminal.

[0045] In an embodiment of the present application, compared with the first forwarding network element, the first processing network element can support a wider range of services, so the first business data of multiple first forwarding network elements can be forwarded to the same first processing network element for processing, thereby fully utilizing the computing power of the first processing network element.

[0046] In an optional implementation manner, the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element are the same network element.

[0047] In an optional implementation manner, there are multiple first forwarding network elements.

[0048] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method is applied to a second network element, and the method includes: the second network element receives deployment request information from an application provider, and the deployment request information includes a service flow identification model and / or a functional image of a target service. The second network element determines the first deployment area information of the service flow identification model and / or the second deployment area information of the functional image according to the deployment request information. Then, the second network element sends deployment information to the first network element, and the deployment information includes the first deployment area information and / or the second deployment area information.

[0049] In the embodiment of the present application, the application provider only needs to send a deployment request message to the second network element, and include the service flow identification model and function image of the target service in the deployment request message, so that the open capabilities of the mobile communication network can be used. The application provider deploys the function image on the network without having to deploy the edge cloud itself, which can greatly save costs. In addition, the threshold for application providers to use network open capabilities is low, and there is no need to learn complex network architectures and rules, which can enhance the enthusiasm of application providers to use network open capabilities.

[0050] In an optional implementation, the deployment request information also includes first deployment requirement information of the service flow identification model and / or second deployment requirement information of the functional image. The step of the second network element determining the first deployment area information of the service flow identification model and / or the second deployment area information of the functional image according to the deployment request information may specifically include: the second network element determining the first deployment area information according to the first deployment requirement information; and / or the second network element determining the second deployment area information according to the second deployment requirement information.

[0051] In an embodiment of the present application, the first network element determines the deployment area of ​​the business flow identification model in a targeted manner based on the needs of the business flow identification model, and can deploy the business flow identification model in an area that better meets the needs, thereby improving the forwarding efficiency of business data. The first network element determines the deployment area of ​​the functional mirror based on the needs of the functional mirror, and can deploy the functional mirror in an area that better meets the needs, thereby improving the processing efficiency of the first business data. For example, the first deployment requirement information indicates that the business flow identification model is deployed on the district-level first forwarding network element, and the second deployment requirement information indicates that the functional mirror is deployed on the municipal-level first processing network element. The first network element can deploy the business flow identification model on one or more district-level first forwarding network elements in hot areas, and deploy the functional mirror on one or more municipal-level first processing network elements in hot areas.

[0052] In an optional implementation, the step of the second network element receiving the deployment request information from the application provider may specifically include: the second network element receives the verified deployment request information from a third network element, and the third network element is used to verify the information from the application provider.

[0053] In an embodiment of the present application, by verifying the deployment request information through a third network element (such as NEF), the security of network openness can be improved, preventing someone from disguising as an application provider to attack the network or promptly notifying the application provider when the network cannot meet the requirements of the requested information.

[0054] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes: a first network element and a first forwarding network element, wherein the first forwarding network element is used to execute the communication method described in the first aspect, and the first network element is used to execute the method described in the second aspect.

[0055] In an optional implementation manner, the communication system further includes a second network element. The second network element is configured to execute the method described in the third aspect.

[0056] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor. The processor is used to: by executing a computer program (or computer executable instruction) stored in a memory, and / or, through a logic circuit, enable the device to perform the method in the first aspect and each possible implementation of the first aspect, or enable the device to perform the method in the second aspect and each possible implementation of the second aspect, or enable the device to perform the method in the third aspect and each possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the device also includes a memory.

[0058] In one possible implementation, the processor and the memory are integrated together.

[0059] In another possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device.

[0060] In a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a communication interface, which is used for the communication device to communicate with other devices, such as sending or receiving data and / or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface can be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module or other type of communication interface.

[0061] For example, the communication interface may receive data from the memory.

[0062] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which, when executed, implements the methods described in the above aspects.

[0063] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided. When the computer program product is executed on a computer, the computer executes the methods described in the above aspects.

[0064] The beneficial effects of the fourth to seventh aspects refer to the first to third aspects and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0065] Figure 1a A schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system provided by this application;

[0066] Figure 1b Another schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system provided by this application;

[0067] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an open network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] Figure 3 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of data flow of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] Figure 5 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a pre-deployed communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a communication method for a terminal moving in an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a flow chart for establishing a transmission channel provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] Fig. 9 Another schematic diagram of a process for establishing a transmission channel provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] Fig.11 Another structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0077] The embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0078] The terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way can be interchanged in appropriate circumstances, which is only to describe the distinction mode adopted by the objects of the same attribute in the embodiments of the present application when describing. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any of their variations are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, so that the process, method, system, product or equipment containing a series of units need not be limited to those units, but may include other units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or equipment. In addition, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "multiple" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist, for example, A and / or B can be represented: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Wherein A, B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are a kind of "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc.

[0079] Figure 1a The communication system 100 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system provided in this application. The communication system 100 includes a core network and a radio access network (RAN). The core network is used to provide user connections, user management, and service carrying, and as a bearer network, provides an interface to the external network. The radio access network is used to enable terminal devices (also referred to as terminals) to access the core network through access network devices. Figure 1a As shown, the wireless access network includes multiple network devices 101, the network devices 101 are used to connect with the terminal devices 102, and the core network includes multiple network elements 103.

[0080] In the embodiment of the present application, the network element 103 in the core network and the network device 101 in the wireless access network can both be referred to as network elements. The present application does not limit how the network elements are specifically named. The following network element names are only examples. There may be other names in the subsequently evolved network, which the present application does not limit.

[0081] The network device 101 is a node in a radio access network (RAN), which can also be referred to as an access network device or a RAN node (or device). The network device 101 is used to help a terminal achieve wireless access. The multiple network devices 101 in the communication system 100 can be nodes of the same type or nodes of different types.

[0082] In some scenarios, the roles of the network device 101 and the terminal device 102 are relative, for example, Figure 1a The network element 102i may be a helicopter or a drone, which may be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminals 102j that access the RAN 100 through the network element 102i, the network element 102i is a base station; but for the base station 101a, the network element 102i is a terminal. The network device 101 and the terminal 102 are sometimes referred to as communication devices, for example Figure 1a The network devices 101a and 101b may be understood as communication devices with base station functions, and the terminals 102a-102j may be understood as communication devices with terminal functions.

[0083] In one possible scenario, the network device 101 may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmitting and receiving point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, a satellite, or an access point (AP) in a WiFi system, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a network device in a mobile switching center non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication system, that is, it can be deployed on a high altitude platform or a satellite, etc. The network device 101 may be a macro base station (such as Figure 1a 110a in), micro base stations or indoor stations (such as Figure 1a110b in the figure), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The network device 101 can also be a device that acts as a base station in device-to-device (D2D) communication, Internet of Vehicles communication, drone communication, and machine communication. Optionally, the network device 101 can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an on-board device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU).

[0084] In another possible scenario, multiple network devices 101 collaborate to assist the terminal 102 in achieving wireless access, and different network devices 101 respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the network device 101 may be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU may be separately configured, or may be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). It is understood that the network device may be a CU node, a DU node, or a device including a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into a network device in an access network RAN, or the CU may be divided into a network device in a core network (CN), without limitation herein.

[0085] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open RAN (open RAN, ORAN) system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are described as examples in this application. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0086] The terminal device 102 may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc., or may be a device for providing voice or data connectivity to a user, or may be an IoT device. For example, the terminal device 102 includes a handheld device with a wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, etc. At present, terminal devices can be: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MID), wearable devices (such as smart watches, smart bracelets, pedometers, smart glasses, etc.), vehicle-mounted equipment (such as cars, bicycles, electric vehicles, airplanes, ships, trains, high-speed railways, etc.), satellite terminals, virtual reality (VR) equipment, augmented reality (AR) equipment, smart point of sale (POS) machines, customer-premises equipment (CPE), wireless terminals in industrial control, smart home devices (such as refrigerators, TVs, air conditioners, electric meters, etc.), intelligent robots, robotic arms, workshop equipment, wireless terminals in unmanned driving, wireless terminals in telemedicine, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, or wireless terminals in smart homes, flying equipment (such as intelligent robots, hot air balloons, drones, airplanes), etc. The terminal device 102 may also be a vehicle device, such as a complete vehicle device, a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted chip, an on-board unit (OBU) or a telematics box (T-BOX), etc. The terminal device 102 may also be other devices with terminal functions. For example, the terminal device 102 may also be a device that serves as a terminal function in D2D communication.

[0087] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal device 102. The device for implementing the function of the terminal device 102 may be the terminal device 102; or it may be a device that can support the terminal device 102 to implement the function, such as a chip system. The device may be installed in the terminal device 102 or used in conjunction with the terminal device 102. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0088] exist Figure 1a In the system shown in the figure, the connection relationship between the network elements is as follows Figure 1b The core network includes multiple network elements 103, such as Figure 1b The access and mobility management function (AMF), unified data management (UDM), session management function (SMF), policy control function (PCF), network slicing selection function (NSSF), network exposure function (NEF), network function registration function (NRF), application function (AF), authentication server function (AUSF), SCP, user plane function (UPF), data network (DN), etc.

[0089] Among them, AMF is mainly an access management function. UDM is used to implement user contract data management, user identity management, etc. SMF is mainly used to establish and manage sessions for users, configure packet forwarding rules and QoS processing rules for user name functions, etc. PCF is mainly responsible for sending terminal policy information to the terminal, sending the terminal's access management policy to AMF, and sending session management policy to SMF. The user plane function (UPF) is responsible for forwarding user data; the user's contract data is stored in UDM. The data network (DN) is the destination for the user's protocol data unit (PDU) session access. (R)AN is the access network, and the terminal accesses the core network through the access network.

[0090] Application providers (over the top, OTT) or application service providers (service providers) (for example, providing application services to users through the Internet, application (APP) development platforms, etc.) can communicate with terminals through mobile communication networks, thereby providing application services to users. In the embodiments of the present application, the above-mentioned OTT and application service providers are collectively referred to as application providers. Application providers can provide application services to terminals through servers, cloud servers, etc. Mobile communication networks (also called networks) are used to achieve communication between servers and terminals.

[0091] With the development of computer technology, there are more and more types of application services, and some applications have higher and higher requirements for servers and networks. For example, some types of business flows in certain games (such as instant skills, etc.) have low latency requirements, and some application services of media playback software (such as VR video playback, etc.) have high bandwidth requirements. For the network, these requirements are service quality requirements.

[0092] The application provider's server cannot meet these requirements due to reasons such as long communication distance and insufficient computing power, so it is considered to deploy the server to the edge computing site (mobile edge computing, MEC) or edge cloud (marginal cloud, EC), and provide application services to the terminal through MEC / EC. Since the communication distance between the terminal and MEC / EC is shorter than the distance between the terminal and the central cloud, it can provide the terminal with lower latency and larger bandwidth.

[0093] However, due to the high deployment cost of MEC / EC nodes, the number of MEC / EC nodes is limited. In addition, in order to ensure the latency of terminal access to MEC / EC, the service range of each MEC / EC node is relatively limited. If the terminal is outside the service range of the MEC / EC node, the service quality of the application service provided to the terminal cannot be guaranteed. The deployment location of MEC / EC is fixed. If the terminal leaves the service range of the MEC / EC node, the distance between the terminal and the MEC / EC node will be increased, and the terminal will not be able to access the MEC / EC node in time. This will extend the latency of the application service or affect the service quality of the application service in other aspects.

[0094] In order to solve the above problems, a solution provided by an embodiment of the present application is that the network, as a service platform / capability exposure platform, supports the intelligent deployment of application servers or application services, and the network can open this capability to application providers for their use, thereby providing application services to the users of the application providers (for example, terminals).

[0095] In order to reduce the difficulty and cost of application providers providing edge application services to users, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, a communication method, and related equipment. The communication method and communication method provided in embodiments of the present application deploy the business flow identification model and function image of the application service to the network element in the network, and provide application services to the terminal through the network element in the network. The application provider only needs to provide the business flow identification model and function image to use the network open functions without learning the rules of network openness. The communication method and communication method provided in embodiments of the present application reduce the difficulty and cost of application providers using network open capabilities, and can enhance the enthusiasm of application providers to use network open capabilities.

[0096] The communication method and the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application are applied in Figure 2 In the network open platform shown in Figure 2 As shown, the network open platform includes: multiple network elements, terminals, and application providers. The multiple network elements include a first forwarding network element, a first processing network element, an anchor network element, a first network element, a second network element, and the like.

[0097] Among them, the first forwarding network element is used to load the service flow identification model of the target service. And according to the service flow identification model, the service data from the terminal is identified and diverted, the service data of the target service is forwarded to the first processing network element, and the service data of the non-target service is forwarded to the anchor network element. The first forwarding network element can be a network element such as a user plane function, an access network device, or other network elements or network functions that implement corresponding functions, which is not limited in this application. For example, the first forwarding network element can be an intermediate user plane function (intermediate UPF, I-UPF). For the convenience of description, the following description takes I-UPF as an example of the first forwarding network element.

[0098] The first processing network element is used to load the function image of the target service and process the business data of the target service according to the function image. The first processing network element may be a network element such as UPF, RAN, or may be other network elements or network functions that implement corresponding functions, which is not limited in this application. For example, the first processing network element may be a local anchor user plane function (LA-UPF). For the convenience of description, LA-UPF is used as an example of the first processing network element for description below.

[0099] The anchor network element is used to forward the business data of the non-target service to the application server of the business data, or to process the business data of the non-target service. In an embodiment of the present application, the distance between the anchor network element and the terminal is greater than the distance between the first processing network element and the terminal. The anchor network element can be a network element such as UPF, RAN, or other network elements or network functions that implement corresponding functions, which is not limited in the present application. For example, the anchor network element can be an anchor user plane function (anchor UPF, A-UPF). For the convenience of description, the following description takes A-UPF as an example of the anchor network element.

[0100] The first network element can configure, save or obtain the network topology between multiple network elements. The first network element is used to determine the deployment location of the service flow identification model (i.e., the first forwarding network element) and the deployment location of the function image (i.e., the first processing network element). The first network element can be an SMF, or it can be other network elements or network functions that implement corresponding functions, which is not limited in this application. For the convenience of description, the following description takes LA-UPF as an example of the first processing network element.

[0101] The third network element is used to verify the application request from the terminal. Optionally, the third network element may be a NEF.

[0102] Optionally, the first forwarding network element, the first processing network element and the anchor network element may be connected to the terminal through the same or different RANs. Optionally, the platform may also include a network open function NEF, a second network element, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0103] In an optional implementation, the I-UPF and LA-UPF may be co-deployed or may be the same UPF.

[0104] based on Figure 2 The network open platform shown in FIG. 1 and the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application are as follows: Figure 3 As shown, the communication method includes:

[0105] 301. A first forwarding network element receives a service flow identification model of a target service.

[0106] An application provider or application server can provide application services for a terminal. Among the application services provided by the application provider, some services have lower requirements for service quality (e.g., no low-latency processing is required), and some services have higher requirements for service quality (e.g., low-latency processing is required). In an embodiment of the present application, a service with higher service quality requirements may be a target service. By way of example, the target service includes a service with a latency requirement lower than a first threshold (e.g., 100 milliseconds) and / or a service with a bandwidth greater than a second threshold (e.g., 500 megabytes), etc., and the present application does not limit this.

[0107] For example, if the application provider is a game manufacturer, the application service provided by the application provider is a certain game. The game includes services such as character stickers, map updates, and instant skill release. Among them, character stickers and map updates have lower service quality requirements, while instant skill release has higher service quality requirements (such as latency), so instant skill release is the target service of the game.

[0108] The first forwarding network element (eg, I-UPF) may receive a service flow identification model of a target service. The service flow identification model is used to identify service data of the target service.

[0109] It should be noted that from a deployment perspective, the business flow identification model can be understood as an installation package, template, etc. used to detect target business data packets, and from an execution perspective, the business flow identification model can also be understood as a loaded / executable application service instance or functional function, etc.

[0110] Optionally, the service flow identification model can determine whether the service data is the service data of the target service through a special mark bit (such as application ID or service flow ID, etc.) in the service data packet frame header. Optionally, in addition to using a special mark bit, the service flow identification model can also use other methods to identify the service data of the target service, such as using a specific triple or quintuple to identify the service data of the target service, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0111] It is worth noting that the first forwarding network element receives the service flow identification model during the model deployment stage. Since there are many ways to deploy the model, it is not limited to which device the first forwarding network element receives the service flow identification model from. Optionally, the first forwarding network element can receive the service flow identification model from the first network element, the application provider, the second network element or the database, and this application does not limit this.

[0112] Figure 3 The specific execution process of the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element is described. For the deployment process of the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element, see Figures 5 to 8 The embodiment shown.

[0113] 302. The first forwarding network element receives service data from the terminal, and identifies first service data of a target service and / or second service data of a non-target service from the service data according to a service flow identification model.

[0114] The service flow identification model is used to identify service data of a target service. Therefore, the first forwarding network element can divide the service data from the terminal into first service data of the target service and second service data of a non-target service according to the service flow identification model.

[0115] For example, in the above game example, the first forwarding network element identifies the first service data of the instantaneous skill release service and the second service data of the non-instantaneous skill release service from the service data from the terminal according to the service flow identification model of the instantaneous skill release service.

[0116] Optionally, the second business data and the first business data may be business data of different services in the same application, or business data of different applications, which is not limited in the present application.

[0117] 303. The first forwarding network element forwards the first service data to the first processing network element, and / or forwards the second service data to the anchor network element.

[0118] In the embodiment of the present application, the first processing network element (eg, LA-UPF) is used to process the service data (first service data) of the target service to meet the service quality requirement of the target service. Therefore, the first forwarding network element forwards the first service data to the first processing network element.

[0119] Since, in addition to the target service, other services have lower requirements on service quality, the service data (second service data) of other services can be forwarded to the application server in the central cloud for processing. Therefore, the first forwarding network element forwards the second service data to the anchor network element (also called A-UPF), so as to forward the second service data to the application server through the anchor network element. Optionally, the second service data can also be processed locally in the anchor network element, which is not limited in this application.

[0120] 304. The first processing network element processes the first service data according to the functional mirror of the target service, and / or the anchor network element forwards the second service data to an application server of the second service data.

[0121] The function image of the target service is deployed on the first processing network element. Therefore, after receiving the first service data, the first processing network element can process the first service data according to the function image of the target service.

[0122] It should be noted that from the deployment perspective, a functional image can be understood as a target service installation package or instance template, etc., and from the execution perspective, a functional image can also be understood as a loaded and executable application service instance or functional function, etc.

[0123] From the perspective of geographical distribution, the anchor network element may be closer to the central cloud / Internet than the first forwarding network element (and the first processing network element), or the anchor network element may have a wider service range than the first forwarding network element (and the first processing network element). Figure 4 As shown, the application provider's application server is deployed in S City, the capital city of Province A, and supports terminal access in various cities in Province A. When a terminal in City x of Province A attempts to access, the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element can be the UPF deployed in City x, and the anchor network element can be the UPF deployed in City S. The UPF in City x can be connected to the UPF in City S. When the terminal accesses in City x, services that require low-latency processing can be terminated in the UPF in City x, while services that do not require low-latency processing can be transferred to the UPF in City S for post-processing or forwarded by the UPF in City S to the central cloud / Internet.

[0124] The application server of the second service data is deployed in the anchor network element or the central cloud / Internet. If the application server is deployed in the central cloud / Internet, the anchor network element can forward the second service data to the application server (central cloud / Internet) of the second service data after receiving the second service data. If the application server is deployed in the anchor network element, the anchor network element can process the second service data locally in the anchor network element after receiving the second service data, and this application does not limit this.

[0125] In an embodiment of the present application, the service data from the terminal is diverted by deploying a first forwarding network element in which a service flow identification model is deployed. The first service data with high service quality requirements in the service data is forwarded to a closer first processing network element for processing, and the second service data with lower service quality requirements in the service data is forwarded to a farther application server for processing (or processed locally in the anchor network element) through the anchor network element, thereby realizing signal diversion. Compared with the application server deployed in the anchor network element or the central cloud / Internet, the communication distance between the first processing network element and the terminal is short, and the amount of data processed is small (the application processor needs to process service data from various places, while the first processing network element only needs to cover the service data within the service range), so it can provide high-quality application services for the terminal and ensure the service quality of the application service.

[0126] Optionally, if there are multiple services in the application that have high requirements for service quality, the service flow identification model can also be used to identify multiple types of first service data. For example, for services of the same game application, the instantaneous skill release service has a high requirement for latency, and the screen rendering service has a high requirement for bandwidth. In step 302, the first forwarding network element can identify the service data of these two services (both are first service data) according to the service flow identification model, and send the first service data to the first processing network element in step 303.

[0127] Optionally, different first processing network elements can also be used to meet the service quality requirements of different target services. For example, the instantaneous skill release service has a high requirement for latency, and the screen rendering service has a high requirement for bandwidth. In step 303, the first forwarding network element forwards the service data of the instantaneous skill release service to the first processing network element-1, and forwards the service data of the screen rendering service to the first processing network element-2. Among them, the transmission distance between the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element-1 is short, which can meet the low latency requirement; the communication bandwidth between the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element-2 is large, which can meet the high bandwidth requirement.

[0128] Figure 3 and Figure 4 The illustrated embodiment describes how the network capability exposure platform provided by the embodiment of the present application realizes the diversion of service data through the first forwarding network element, thereby ensuring the service quality of high-demand services. The following describes the determination process of the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element, that is, the scheduling process of the service flow identification model and the functional image deployment location. For the convenience of description, it is also called the scheduling process.

[0129] like Figure 5 As shown, in the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the scheduling process includes:

[0130] 501. A first network element receives a service request, where the service request includes an identifier of a target application and a first location identifier of a terminal.

[0131] Optionally, the first network element may be a network element such as a session management function, a policy control function, a control network element of an access network element, or may be other network elements or network functions that implement corresponding functions, which is not limited in this application. For the convenience of description, the session management function SMF is described below as an example of the first network element.

[0132] The terminal sends a service request to the access network device. After receiving the service request, the access network device sends the service request and the location identifier of the terminal to the first network element. Exemplarily, the access network device encapsulates the service request and the location identifier of the terminal and sends them to the first network element.

[0133] In an optional implementation, the location identifier of the terminal may be an identifier of a wireless access network accessed by the terminal.

[0134] In an optional implementation, if the service request sent by the terminal includes a location identifier of the terminal, the access network device may directly forward the service request to the first network element.

[0135] SMF receives the service request of the terminal, and the service request includes the identifier of the target application and the first location identifier of the terminal. It should be noted that the first location identifier of the terminal may be sent by the terminal, or may be sent by other network elements such as the access network device RAN or the access and mobility management function AMF. That is, in one implementation, the terminal sends the service request of the terminal, and the service request includes the first location identifier of the terminal; while in another implementation, the terminal sends the service request of the terminal, and the service request does not include the first location identifier of the terminal. In the process of sending the service request to SMF through other network elements such as RAN / AMF, the first location identifier of the terminal is added by RAN / AMF, so that the terminal unit service request received by SMF includes the first location identifier of the terminal.

[0136] In a possible implementation, the service request may be a session establishment request, a target application service request, a connection establishment request, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0137] In one possible implementation, the first location identifier may be an identifier / cell identifier of an access network device serving the terminal, a latitude and longitude identifier of the terminal, an identifier of the geographical area where the terminal is located, or other types of identifiers, which are not limited in this application.

[0138] 502. The first network element determines a first forwarding network element and a first processing network element according to the first location identifier.

[0139] SMF can determine whether there is a target service with high service quality requirements in the target application according to the identifier of the target application in the service request. Optionally, before step 502, SMF can receive and save the mapping relationship between the target application and the target service. After receiving the service request, the mapping relationship can be queried according to the identifier of the target application to determine the target service of the target application.

[0140] For example, the instant skill release service in the game application is a target service with high service quality requirements. During the game launch process, SMF can obtain the mapping relationship between the game application and the instant skill release service. Whenever a service request including the identifier of the target application is received, it can be determined that the first forwarding network element needs to be deployed to implement ( Figure 3 Figure 4 ) to divert the business data of the target service.

[0141] Specifically, the SMF determines the first forwarding network element for deploying the service flow identification model and the first processing network element for deploying the functional image according to the first location identifier of the terminal in the service request. For example, if the first location identifier shows that the terminal is located in District m, City x, Province B, the SMF can determine the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element in District m, or determine the first forwarding network element in District m and the first processing network element in City x.

[0142] Optionally, in the process of determining the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element, the distance between the first forwarding network element and the terminal can be made smaller than the distance between the first processing network element and the terminal. For example, the SMF can set the first forwarding network element in area m, set the first processing network element in city x, and determine that the first forwarding network element is connected to the first processing network element.

[0143] In an embodiment of the present application, compared with the first forwarding network element, the first processing network element can support a wider range of services, so the first business data of multiple first forwarding network elements can be forwarded to the same first processing network element for processing, thereby fully utilizing the computing power of the first processing network element.

[0144] In a possible implementation, in an embodiment of the present application, the determination of the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element may be based on a connection relationship with an access network device in addition to being based on a geographical area. For example, among multiple access network devices whose coverage includes the location of the terminal, a UPF that is closer to the access network device accessed by the terminal is determined as the first forwarding network element, and a UPF connected to the first forwarding network element is determined as the first processing network element, wherein the distance between the first processing network element and the access network device is greater than the distance between the first forwarding network element and the access network device.

[0145] In a possible implementation, an access network device to which the terminal accesses is determined as the first forwarding network element, and a UPF that is closer to the access network device to which the terminal accesses is determined as the first processing network element.

[0146] In a possible implementation, before step 502, the first network element may also obtain second deployment requirement information of the target service. The second deployment requirement information is used to indicate the requirements of the target service, and may specifically include service quality information of the target service, etc., which is not limited in this application. Among them, the service quality information may include latency requirement information, bandwidth requirement information, computing resource requirement information, or service layer agreement (SLA), etc.

[0147] For example, if the latency requirement of the target service is 100ms, the second deployment requirement information may include 100ms latency requirement information. The deployment locations of different UPFs may correspond to different latency, and the UPF may be determined based on the latency requirement. For example, if the latency of a city-level UPF is approximately at the 300ms level, and the latency of a district-level UPF is approximately at the 100ms level, then the first forwarding network element and / or the first processing network element may be determined from the UPF in the district where the terminal is located based on the latency requirement.

[0148] Optionally, the second deployment requirement information may come from a terminal, an application server (Application server) or an application server controller (Application server controller), etc., and this application does not limit this.

[0149] 503. The first network element establishes a transmission channel among the terminal, the first forwarding network element, and the first processing network element.

[0150] After the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element are determined, the first network element can establish a transmission channel between the terminal, the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element. Optionally, the establishment of the transmission channel can be initiated by the first forwarding network element (I-UPF), the first processing network element (LA-UPF) or the first network element (SMF), which is not limited in this application. The corresponding embodiments will be described in Figures 8 to 9 Expand.

[0151] Finish Figure 5 After the scheduling process shown in FIG. 1 , the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element can be determined, and then Figure 3 and Figure 4 The diversion process is used to implement diversion processing of business data.

[0152] In an embodiment of the present application, the first network element determines the first forwarding network element (e.g., I-UPF) for deploying the service flow identification model and the first processing network element (e.g., LA-UPF) for deploying the function image according to the location of the terminal. On the one hand, mobile communication networks have widely deployed network elements (e.g., access network equipment, UPF and other network elements) to provide ubiquitous services to terminals. As long as the terminal moves within the coverage of the mobile communication network, the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element can be determined for the terminal, and the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element can be used to provide the terminal with application services with high service quality. The signal processing method provided by the embodiment of the present application can improve the breadth of the high service quality area of ​​the target service, and basically achieve high-quality services within the coverage of the mobile network. On the other hand, operators or service providers no longer need to repurchase computing, storage and other resources, nor do they need to establish additional network pipelines, which can not only save the cost of service providers, but also expand the pipelines of network operators and help operators realize resources. In addition, the division granularity of the service range between different network elements (such as UPF) in the mobile communication network is finer, thereby shortening the distance between the terminal and the data processing location (originally from the terminal to the application server, the embodiment of the present application only needs to be from the terminal to the first processing network element). The division granularity of the service range is fine (for example, by street, by community), so that the communication distance between the terminal and the first processing network element is short, thereby improving the upper limit of the service quality of the target service by shortening the communication distance.

[0153] The following describes the deployment process of the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element. Figure 6 In the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the deployment process of the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element includes:

[0154] 601. The second network element receives deployment request information from an application provider.

[0155] If the application provider determines that some services in the application have higher service quality requirements, it can send a deployment request message to the second network element. The deployment request message includes a service flow identification model of the target service and / or a functional image of the target service. The deployment request message is used to request the network to deploy the service flow identification model and / or functional image of the target service in the network.

[0156] In a possible implementation, the deployment request information may also include the first deployment requirement information of the business flow identification model and / or the second deployment requirement information of the functional image. The first deployment requirement information may include the priority deployment area of ​​the business flow identification model, the computing, storage and other resource requirements required to deploy the model, etc., and the second deployment requirement information may include the priority deployment area of ​​the functional image, the computing, storage and other resource requirements required to deploy the image, etc., which are not limited in this application.

[0157] In a possible implementation, the deployment request information may also be sent by the application provider to the NEF. The NEF forwards the deployment request information to the second network element only after it determines that the deployment request information has passed the verification. If it fails the verification, the information is directly discarded. By verifying the deployment request information by the NEF, the security of the network opening can be improved, and attackers can be prevented from disguising themselves as application providers to attack the network or the application provider can be notified in a timely manner when the network cannot meet the requirements of the request information.

[0158] Optionally, in addition to NEF, other network elements or network functions may be used to implement verification of the deployment request information, which is not limited here.

[0159] 602. The second network element determines first deployment area information of the service flow identification model and / or second deployment area information of the function image, and saves the service flow identification model and the function image to a database.

[0160] If the deployment request information includes a service flow identification model, the second network element determines the first deployment area information of the service flow identification model. The first deployment area information is used to indicate the deployment area of ​​the service flow identification model, such as an administrative district, a prefecture-level city, etc. Optionally, if the deployment request information includes first deployment requirement information, the second network element may determine the first deployment area information according to the hot spot area indicated by the first deployment requirement information.

[0161] If the deployment request information includes the function image, the second network element determines the second deployment area information of the function image. The second deployment area information is used to indicate the deployment area of ​​the function image, such as an administrative district, a prefecture-level city, etc. Optionally, if the deployment request information includes the second deployment requirement information, the second network element may determine the second deployment area information according to the hot spot area indicated by the second deployment requirement information.

[0162] The second network element may also store the service flow identification model and / or function image in the deployment request information in a database.

[0163] Optionally, the database may be a part of the second network element, or may be a network element independent of the second network element, which is not limited in the present application.

[0164] 603. The second network element sends deployment information to the first network element.

[0165] After determining the first deployment area information of the service flow identification model and / or the second deployment area information of the functional image, the second network element can send deployment information to the first network element, where the deployment information includes the first deployment area information and / or the second deployment area information. The deployment information is used to instruct the first network element to determine a first forwarding network element for deploying the service flow identification model in the first deployment area indicated by the deployment information and to determine a first processing network element for deploying the functional image in the second deployment area indicated by the deployment information.

[0166] In an embodiment of the present application, the second network element is used to determine or manage the pre-deployment area of ​​the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element. The second network element may be referred to as a deployment control network element or a deployment management network element, and the name is not limited. Optionally, the second network element may be integrated with the first network element into a functional module or network element. For example, if the first network element is an SMF, the second network element is a module on the SMF for determining the deployment area. If the first network element is integrated with the second network element, steps 601 and 602 are implemented by the first network element, and step 603 does not exist.

[0167] 604a. The first network element determines a forwarding network element according to the first deployment area information, and sends a service flow identification model to the forwarding network element.

[0168] If the deployment information includes the first deployment area information, the first network element may determine the forwarding network element according to the first deployment area information. For example, if the first deployment area information is an identifier of zone m, the first network element may determine the forwarding network element in zone m for deploying the service flow identification model.

[0169] Then, the first network element obtains the service flow identification model from the database, and sends the service flow identification model to the determined forwarding network element, thereby implementing the deployment of the service flow identification model on the forwarding network element.

[0170] It should be noted that after the first network element sends the service flow identification model to the forwarding network element, the forwarding network element will allocate necessary computing and storage resources to it to enable the model to run and become executable functions, detection rules, application instances, etc.

[0171] 604b. The first network element determines a processing network element according to the second deployment area information, and sends a function image to the processing network element.

[0172] If the deployment information includes the second deployment area information, the first network element may determine the processing network element according to the second deployment area information. For example, if the second deployment area information is an identifier of city x, the first network element may determine the processing network element for deploying the functional image in city x.

[0173] Then, the first network element obtains the function image from the database, and sends the function image to the determined processing network element, so as to implement the deployment of the function image on the processing network element.

[0174] It should be noted that after the first network element sends the functional image to the first processing network element, the forwarding network element will allocate necessary computing and storage resources to it to enable the functional image to run and become an executable function, application instance, etc.

[0175] 605. The first network element receives the service request.

[0176] Step 605 See Figure 5 Step 501 of the illustrated embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0177] 606. The first network element determines, based on the first location identifier, whether there is a second forwarding network element that covers the location of the terminal, and the second forwarding network element has loaded a service flow identification model.

[0178] The first network element determines the location of the terminal according to the first location identifier, and determines whether the location of the terminal is covered by the network element that has loaded the service flow identification model. In the embodiment of the present application, the network element that has loaded the service flow identification model and whose service range covers the location of the terminal is called the second forwarding network element.

[0179] 607a. If it is determined to exist, determine that the second forwarding network element is the first forwarding network element.

[0180] If it is determined that there is a second forwarding network element, it means that the service flow identification model has been deployed in the location / area where the terminal is currently located, and is specifically deployed on the second forwarding network element. The first network element thus determines to divert the service data from the terminal through the second forwarding network element (for the specific diversion process, see Figure 3 Figure 4 That is, in this case, the second forwarding network element is determined as the first forwarding network element that needs to establish a transmission channel later. The transmission channel is the transmission channel between the terminal, the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element.

[0181] 607b. If it is determined that it does not exist, determine the first forwarding network element for loading the service flow identification model according to the first location identifier.

[0182] If it is determined that there is no second forwarding network element, it means that the service flow identification model has not been deployed in the current location / area of ​​the terminal, and the service flow identification model needs to be deployed based on the first location identifier. Specifically, the first network element determines the first forwarding network element for loading the service flow identification model according to the first location identifier. For the steps of determining the first forwarding network element, see Figure 5 Step 502 in the illustrated embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0183] In addition, the first network element also sends the service flow identification model to the first forwarding network element.

[0184] Optionally, if the first deployment area information and the second deployment area information indicated in the deployment information in step 603 include the location of the terminal, then the location of the terminal is covered by the network element that has been loaded with the service flow identification model, that is, there is a second forwarding network element, and step 607a is executed; if the first deployment area information and the second deployment area information indicated in the deployment information in step 603 do not include the location of the terminal, then the location of the terminal is not covered by the network element that has been loaded with the service flow identification model, that is, there is no second forwarding network element, and step 607b is executed.

[0185] 608. The first network element determines, based on the first location identifier, whether there is a second processing network element that covers the location of the terminal, and the second processing network element has loaded a service flow identification model.

[0186] 609a. If it is determined to exist, determine that the second processing network element is the first processing network element.

[0187] 609b: If it is determined that it does not exist, determine the first processing network element for loading the function image according to the first location identifier.

[0188] Similarly, based on the first location identifier, it is determined whether the location of the terminal has loaded the function image, if loaded, the second processing network element is determined to be the first processing network element, if not loaded, the function image is deployed. The contents of steps 608, 609a, and 609b are similar to steps 606, 607a, and 607b, and are not repeated here.

[0189] 610. Establish a transmission channel between the terminal, the first forwarding network element, and the first processing network element.

[0190] Step 605 See Figure 5 Step 503 of the illustrated embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0191] In the embodiment of the present application, the application provider only needs to send a deployment request message to the second network element, and include the service flow identification model and function image of the target service in the deployment request message, so that the open capabilities of the mobile communication network can be used. The application provider deploys the function image on the network without having to deploy the edge cloud itself, which can greatly save costs. In addition, the threshold for application providers to use network open capabilities is low, and there is no need to learn complex network architectures and rules, which can enhance the enthusiasm of application providers to use network open capabilities.

[0192] Optionally, when the terminal switches to a network device, it can first determine whether the terminal position after the move is covered by the network element loaded with the service flow identification model, and then determine whether it is necessary to temporarily deploy the first forwarding network element (I-UPF) and / or the first processing network element (LA-UPF). The corresponding process is as follows Figure 7 As shown, specifically including:

[0193] 701. A first network element receives a service request.

[0194] The service request is an access request of a terminal on a new access network device, a cell switching request, or a service request.

[0195] After receiving the service request, the access network device sends the service request and the location identifier of the terminal to the first network element. Exemplarily, the access network device encapsulates the service request and the location identifier of the terminal and sends them to the first network element.

[0196] In an optional implementation, the location identifier of the terminal may be an identifier of a wireless access network accessed by the terminal.

[0197] In an optional implementation, if the service request sent by the terminal includes a location identifier of the terminal, the access network device may directly forward the service request to the first network element.

[0198] The service request received by the first network element includes the identifier of the target application and the first location identifier of the terminal. The process of forwarding the service request is as shown in step 501, which will not be described in detail here.

[0199] 702. The first network element determines, based on the first location identifier, whether there is a second forwarding network element that covers the location of the terminal, and the second forwarding network element has loaded a service flow identification model.

[0200] 703a. If it is determined to exist, determine that the second forwarding network element is the first forwarding network element;

[0201] 703b. If it is determined that it does not exist, determine the first forwarding network element for loading the service flow identification model according to the first location identifier.

[0202] 704. The first network element determines, based on the first location identifier, whether there is a second processing network element that covers the location of the terminal, and the second processing network element has loaded a service flow identification model.

[0203] 705a. If it is determined to exist, determine that the second processing network element is the first forwarding network element.

[0204] 705b. If it is determined that it does not exist, determine a first processing network element for loading the function image according to the first location identifier.

[0205] 706. Establish a transmission channel between the terminal, the first forwarding network element, and the first processing network element.

[0206] Steps 702 to 706 refer to Figure 6 Steps 606 to 610 of the illustrated embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0207] In one possible implementation, in the above Figure 5 In the illustrated embodiment, step 503, Figure 6 In the illustrated embodiment, step 610, Figure 7 In step 706 of the illustrated embodiment, the transmission channel may be allocated by the SMF or the UPF.

[0208] Among them, Figure 8 As shown in the figure, the cases where the transmission channel is allocated by SMF include:

[0209] 801. SMF sends an N4 session establishment request message to I-UPF, which includes the first transmission channel information of LA-UPF. Correspondingly, I-UPF replies a confirmation message to SMF.

[0210] SMF can establish a transmission channel between I-UPF and LA-UPF. Specifically, SMF can allocate tunnel identifiers for I-UPF and LA-UPF, with I-UPF and LA-UPF at both ends of the tunnel. SMF sends the tunnel identifier and the address information of LA-UPF to I-UPF, and I-UPF can send the first service data to LA-UPF based on the address information of LA-UPF, thus opening up the transmission channel from I-UPF to LA-UPF.

[0211] Specifically, SMF sends an N4 session establishment request message to I-UPF, which includes a tunnel identifier (e.g., TEID1) and address information of LA-UPF (e.g., IP address). The address information of LA-UPF is also called the first transmission channel information, which is used to indicate that the first forwarding network element forwards the first service data to the first processing network element through the first transmission channel (the uplink direction of the tunnel, i.e., the transmission channel from I-UPF to LA-UPF). Correspondingly, I-UPF replies a confirmation message to SMF.

[0212] In a possible implementation, the tunnel identifier may be a tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID), and the address information of the LA-UPF may be an IP address of the LA-UPF.

[0213] 802. SMF sends an N4 session establishment request message to LA-UPF, which includes the second transmission channel information of I-UPF. Correspondingly, LA-UPF replies a confirmation message to SMF.

[0214] SMF can send the tunnel identifier and the address information of I-UPF to LA-UPF. LA-UPF can send the third service data of the target service in the downlink direction to I-UPF according to the address information of I-UPF, thus opening up the transmission channel from LA-UPF to I-UPF.

[0215] SMF can determine that the endpoint of the downlink direction of the tunnel is I-UPF, and thus send an N4 session establishment request message to LA-UPF, which contains a tunnel identifier (e.g., TEID 2) and the address information of I-UPF (e.g., IP address). The address information of I-UPF is also called the second transmission channel information, and the second transmission channel information is used to instruct the first processing network element to forward the third service data (downlink service data) of the target service to the first forwarding network element through the second transmission channel (the downlink direction of the tunnel, i.e., the transmission channel from LA-UPF to I-UPF). Correspondingly, LA-UPF replies a confirmation message to SMF.

[0216] The tunnel information may correspond to a terminal, so after receiving the third service data, the I-UPF may transmit the third service data to the terminal corresponding to the tunnel information, thereby realizing the transmission of the third service data from the first processing network element to the terminal.

[0217] In a possible implementation, the tunnel identifier may be a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID, and the address information of the I-UPF may be an IP address of the I-UPF.

[0218] pass Figure 8 The illustrated embodiment can open up both the uplink and downlink directions of the tunnel between the I-UPF and the LA-UPF, thereby completing the establishment of the transmission channel between the I-UPF and the LA-UPF.

[0219] like Fig. 9 As shown, the cases where the transmission channel is allocated by UPF include:

[0220] 901. SMF sends an N4 session establishment request message to I-UPF. Correspondingly, I-UPF allocates second transmission channel information and replies with a response message to SMF, which includes the second transmission channel information of I-UPF.

[0221] SMF sends an N4 session establishment request message to I-UPF, requesting I-UPF to allocate a tunnel. I-UPF can then determine the tunnel identifier (e.g., TEID 2) and the address information of I-UPF (e.g., IP address), and include the tunnel identifier and the address information of I-UPF in the response message to SMF.

[0222] Among them, the address information of I-UPF is also called the second transmission channel information, and the second transmission channel information is used to instruct the first processing network element to forward the third service data (downlink service data) of the target service to the first forwarding network element through the second transmission channel (the downlink direction of the tunnel, that is, the transmission channel from LA-UPF to I-UPF).

[0223] In a possible implementation, the tunnel identifier may be a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID, and the address information of the I-UPF may be an IP address of the I-UPF.

[0224] 902. SMF sends an N4 session establishment request message to LA-UPF, which includes the second transmission channel information of I-UPF. Correspondingly, LA-UPF allocates the first transmission channel information and replies to SMF with a response message, which includes the first transmission channel information of LA-UPF.

[0225] The N4 session establishment request message sent by SMF to LA-UPF includes the tunnel identifier (e.g. TEID 2) and the address information of I-UPF (i.e. the second transmission channel information). LA-UPF can send the third service data of the target service downlink direction to I-UPF based on the address information of I-UPF, and open up the transmission channel from LA-UPF to I-UPF.

[0226] The tunnel information may correspond to a terminal, so after receiving the third service data, the I-UPF may transmit the third service data to the terminal corresponding to the tunnel information, thereby realizing the transmission of the third service data from the first processing network element to the terminal.

[0227] LA-UPF can determine that the endpoint of the tunnel in the uplink direction is LA-UPF, so that the response message sent to SMF includes the tunnel identifier (TEID 1) and the address information of LA-UPF (such as IP address).

[0228] In a possible implementation, the tunnel identifier may be a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID, and the address information of the LA-UPF may be an IP address of the LA-UPF.

[0229] 903. SMF sends an N4 session update request message to I-UPF, where the message includes the first transmission channel information of LA-UPF.

[0230] The N4 session update request message received by the I-UPF includes the tunnel identifier and the address information of the LA-UPF. The I-UPF can send the first service data to the LA-UPF according to the address information of the LA-UPF, and open up the transmission channel from the I-UPF to the LA-UPF.

[0231] pass Fig. 9 The illustrated embodiment can open up both the uplink and downlink directions of the tunnel between the I-UPF and the LA-UPF, thereby completing the establishment of the transmission channel between the I-UPF and the LA-UPF.

[0232] Establish the transmission channel between RAN and I-UPF Figure 8 and Fig. 9The process of the illustrated embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0233] In order to implement the functions of the method provided in the above embodiment of the present application, the first forwarding network element, the first network element, and the second network element may include a hardware structure and / or a software module, and implement the above functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether one of the above functions is executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0234] like Fig.10 As shown, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1000. The communication device 1000 may be a network element, or a device in a network element, or a device that can be used in combination with a network element. In one possible implementation, the communication device 1000 may include a module or unit that corresponds to the method / operation / step / action performed by the first forwarding network element, the first network element, and the second network element in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The unit may be a hardware circuit, or software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. In one possible implementation, the communication device 1000 may include a processing unit 1010 and a transceiver unit 1020. The processing unit 1010 can be used to call the transceiver unit 1020 to perform the functions of receiving and / or sending.

[0235] When the communication device 1000 is used to perform the operation performed by the first forwarding network element, the transceiver unit 1020 is used to receive the service flow identification model of the target service and receive service data from the terminal. The processing unit 1010 is used to identify the first service data of the target service and / or the second service data of the non-target service from the service data according to the service flow identification model. The transceiver unit 1020 is also used to forward the first service data to the first processing network element and forward the second service data to the anchor network element.

[0236] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1020 is used to receive first transmission channel information, where the first transmission channel information is used to instruct the first forwarding network element to forward the first service data to the first processing network element through the first transmission channel.

[0237] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1020 is used to send second transmission channel information, where the second transmission channel information is used to instruct the first processing network element to forward the third service data of the target service to the first forwarding network element through the second transmission channel.

[0238] When the communication device 1000 is used to execute the operation performed by the first network element, the transceiver unit 1020 is used to receive a service request, and the service request includes an identifier of the target application and a first location identifier of the terminal. The processing unit 1010 is used to determine the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element according to the first location identifier, the first forwarding network element is used to identify the first service data from the service data from the terminal according to the service flow identification model, and forward the first service data to the first processing network element, the first service data is the service data of the target service in the target application, and the first processing network element is used to process the first service data according to the functional mirror of the target service. The transceiver unit 1020 is also used to establish a transmission channel between the terminal, the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element.

[0239] In one possible implementation, the processing unit 1010 is specifically used to determine, based on the first location identifier, whether there is a second forwarding network element covering the location of the terminal, and the second forwarding network element has loaded the service flow identification model; if so, determine that the second forwarding network element is the first forwarding network element; or, if not, determine the first forwarding network element used to load the service flow identification model based on the first location identifier.

[0240] When the communication device 1000 is used to execute the operation performed by the second network element, the transceiver unit 1020 is used to receive deployment request information from the application provider, and the deployment request information includes the service flow identification model and / or function image of the target service. The processing unit 1010 is used to determine the first deployment area information of the service flow identification model and / or the second deployment area information of the function image according to the deployment request information. The transceiver unit 1020 is also used to send deployment information to the first network element, and the deployment information includes the first deployment area information and / or the second deployment area information.

[0241] In one possible implementation, the deployment request information also includes first deployment requirement information of the business flow identification model and / or second deployment requirement information of the functional image, and the processing unit 1010 is specifically used to determine the first deployment area information based on the first deployment requirement information; and / or, determine the second deployment area information based on the second deployment requirement information.

[0242] The transceiver unit 1020 is also used to execute other receiving or sending steps or operations performed by the first forwarding network element, the first network element or the second network element in the above method embodiment. The processing unit 1010 can also be used to execute other corresponding steps or operations except for sending and receiving performed by the first forwarding network element, the first network element or the second network element in the above method embodiment, which will not be described one by one here.

[0243] The division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is merely a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0244] See also Fig.11, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device 1100, which is used to implement the functions of the first forwarding network element, the first network element, and the second network element in the above method. The communication device can be a network element, or a device in a network element, or a device that can be used in combination with a network element. The communication device 1100 includes at least one processor 1110, and the communication device 1100 may also include a communication interface 1120. In an embodiment of the present application, the communication interface may be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, or other types of communication interfaces, which are used to communicate with other devices through a transmission medium. For example, the communication interface 1120 is used for the device in the communication device 1100 to communicate with other devices.

[0245] The processor 1110 may execute the functions executed by the processing unit 1010 in the communication device 1000 ; the communication interface 1120 may be used to execute the functions executed by the transceiver unit 1020 in the communication device 1000 .

[0246] When the communication device 1100 is used to execute the operation performed by the first forwarding network element, the communication interface 1120 is used to receive the service flow identification model of the target service; receive service data from the terminal; the processor 1110 is used to identify the first service data of the target service and / or the second service data of the non-target service from the service data according to the service flow identification model; the communication interface 1120 is also used to forward the first service data to the first processing network element and forward the second service data to the anchor network element.

[0247] When the communication device 1100 is used to execute the operation performed by the first network element, the communication interface 1120 is used to receive a service request, which includes an identifier of a target application and a first location identifier of a terminal; the processor 1110 is used to determine a first forwarding network element and a first processing network element according to the first location identifier, the first forwarding network element is used to identify first service data from service data from the terminal according to a service flow identification model, and forward the first service data to the first processing network element, the first service data being service data of a target service in a target application, and the first processing network element is used to process the first service data according to a functional mirror of the target service; the communication interface 1120 is also used to establish a transmission channel between the terminal, the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element.

[0248] When the communication device 1100 is used to execute the operation performed by the second network element, the communication interface 1120 receives deployment request information from the application provider, and the deployment request information includes the business flow identification model and / or functional image of the target service; the processor 1110 is used to determine the first deployment area information of the business flow identification model and / or the second deployment area information of the functional image according to the deployment request information; the communication interface 1120 is also used to send deployment information to the first network element, and the deployment information includes the first deployment area information and / or the second deployment area information.

[0249] The communication interface 1120 is also used to execute other receiving or sending steps or operations performed by the first forwarding network element, the first network element, or the second network element in the above method embodiment. The processor 1110 can also be used to execute other corresponding steps or operations except for sending and receiving performed by the first forwarding network element, the first network element, or the second network element in the above method embodiment, which will not be described one by one here.

[0250] The communication device 1100 may also include at least one memory 1130 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 1130 is coupled to the processor 1110. The coupling in the embodiment of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, which may be electrical, mechanical or other forms of information exchange between devices, units or modules. The processor 1110 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1130. The processor 1110 may execute a computer program or instruction stored in the memory 1130. In one possible implementation, at least one of the at least one memory may be integrated with the processor. In another possible implementation, the memory 1130 is located outside the communication device 1100.

[0251] The specific connection medium between the communication interface 1120, the processor 1110 and the memory 1130 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. Fig.11 The memory 1130, the processor 1110 and the communication interface 1120 are connected via a bus 1140. Fig.11 The connection between other components is only for illustration and is not intended to be limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Fig.11 Only one thick line is used in the diagram, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0252] In a possible implementation, the communication device 1100 may be a chip system. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0253] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0254] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0255] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0256] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0257] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0258] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

[0259] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program code.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a first forwarding network element, the method includes: Receiving a business flow identification model of a target service; Receiving service data from a terminal, and identifying first service data of the target service and / or second service data that is not the target service from the service data according to the service flow identification model; forwarding the first service data to a first processing network element, the first processing network element being configured to process the first service data according to the functional image of the target service; and / or, The second service data is forwarded to an anchor network element, where the anchor network element is used to forward the second service data to an application server of the second service data, or to process the second service data.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Before receiving the service data from the terminal, the method further includes: First transmission channel information is received, where the first transmission channel information is used to instruct the first forwarding network element to forward the first service data to the first processing network element through the first transmission channel.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that Before receiving the service data from the terminal, the method further includes: Second transmission channel information is sent, where the second transmission channel information is used to instruct the first processing network element to forward the third service data of the target service to the first forwarding network element through the second transmission channel.

4. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a first network element, the method includes: receiving a service request, wherein the service request includes an identifier of a target application and a first location identifier of a terminal; Determine a first forwarding network element and a first processing network element according to the first location identifier, the first forwarding network element is used to identify first service data from service data from the terminal according to the service flow identification model, and forward the first service data to the first processing network element, the first service data is service data of a target service in the target application, and the first processing network element is used to process the first service data according to a functional image of the target service; A transmission channel is established between the terminal, the first forwarding network element, and the first processing network element.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The determining the first forwarding network element according to the first location identifier includes: Determining, according to the first location identifier, whether there is a second forwarding network element covering the location of the terminal, the second forwarding network element having loaded the service flow identification model; If so, determining that the second forwarding network element is the first forwarding network element; or, If it does not exist, the first forwarding network element used to load the service flow identification model is determined according to the first location identifier.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that Before receiving the service request, the method further includes: Acquire and send the service flow identification model to the second forwarding network element.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: After determining the first forwarding network element for loading the service flow identification model according to the first location identifier, the method further includes: Acquire and send the service flow identification model to the first forwarding network element.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: Before sending the service flow identification model to the second forwarding network element, the method further includes: receiving deployment information from a second network element, the deployment information including first deployment area information of the service flow identification model; The second forwarding network element is determined according to the first deployment area information.

9. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: Before sending the service flow identification model to the second forwarding network element, the method further includes: Receiving deployment request information from an application provider, wherein the deployment request information includes the business flow identification model; Determining first deployment area information of the service flow identification model; The second forwarding network element is determined according to the first deployment area information.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The deployment request information also includes first deployment requirement information of the business flow identification model; The determining the first deployment area information of the service flow identification model includes: The first deployment area information is determined according to the first deployment requirement information.

11. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 10, characterized in that The determining the first processing network element according to the first location identifier includes: Determining, according to the first location identifier, whether there is a second processing network element covering the location of the terminal, the second processing network element having loaded the functional image; If so, determining that the second processing network element is the first processing network element; or, If it does not exist, the first processing network element for loading the functional image is determined according to the first location identifier.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that Before receiving the service request, the method further includes: The function image is acquired and sent to the second processing network element.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that: After determining the first processing network element for loading the functional image according to the first location identifier, the method further includes: The function image is acquired and sent to the first processing network element.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that Before sending the function image to the second processing network element, the method further includes: receiving deployment information from a second network element, the deployment information including second deployment area information of the functional image; The second processing network element is determined according to the second deployment area information.

15. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that Before determining the second processing network element of the functional image, the method further includes: Receiving deployment request information from an application provider, wherein the deployment request information includes the functional image; Determine second deployment area information of the functional image; The second processing network element is determined according to the second deployment area information.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The deployment request information also includes second deployment requirement information of the functional image; The determining the second deployment area information of the functional image includes: The second deployment area information is determined according to the second deployment requirement information.

17. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 16, characterized in that The receiving of deployment request information from the application provider includes: The verified deployment request information is received from a third network element, where the third network element is used to verify the information from the application provider.

18. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 17, characterized in that Before determining the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element according to the first location identifier, the method further includes: Acquire third deployment requirement information of the target service, where the third deployment requirement information includes at least one of the following: The service quality information and delay requirement information of the target service; The determining the first forwarding network element and the first processing network element according to the first location identifier includes: The first forwarding network element and the first processing network element are determined according to the third deployment requirement information and the first location identifier.

19. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 18, characterized in that The distance between the first processing network element and the terminal is greater than the distance between the first forwarding network element and the terminal.

20. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 18, characterized in that The first forwarding network element and the first processing network element are the same network element.

21. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 20, characterized in that The number of the first forwarding network elements is multiple.

22. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a second network element, the method comprises: Receiving deployment request information from an application provider, wherein the deployment request information includes a business flow identification model and / or a function image of a target service; Determine the first deployment area information of the service flow identification model and / or the second deployment area information of the functional image according to the deployment request information; Sending deployment information to a first network element, where the deployment information includes the first deployment area information and / or the second deployment area information.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The deployment request information further includes first deployment requirement information of the service flow identification model and / or second deployment requirement information of the function image; The determining, according to the deployment request information, the first deployment area information of the service flow identification model and / or the second deployment area information of the functional image includes: Determine the first deployment area information according to the first deployment requirement information; and / or, The second deployment area information is determined according to the second deployment requirement information.

24. The method according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that The receiving of deployment request information from the application provider includes: The verified deployment request information is received from a third network element, where the third network element is used to verify the information from the application provider.

25. A communication system, characterized in that: include: A first network element and a first forwarding network element, wherein the first forwarding network element is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3; The first network element is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 4 to 21.

26. The system according to claim 25, characterized in that Also included is a second network element; The second network element is used to send deployment information to the first network element, where the deployment information includes first deployment area information of the service flow identification model and / or second deployment area information of the function image.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: comprising a processor configured to: By executing a computer program or computer executable instructions stored in a memory, and / or by a logic circuit, the apparatus is caused to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 3, 4 to 21 or 22 to 24.

28. The device according to claim 27, characterized in that The apparatus also includes the memory.

29. The device according to claim 27, characterized in that The apparatus further comprises a communication interface for receiving data from the memory.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a program, and when the computer executes the program, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 24 is performed.

31. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is executed on a computer, the computer performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 24.

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