Network element selection method and system, electronic equipment and storage medium

Abstract

The invention provides a network element selection method and system, electronic equipment and a storage medium, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: when terminal equipment initiates registration at a terminal roaming place, acquiring a routing indicator carried by a network function network element in a network of the terminal roaming place; selecting a second NRF network element in the service attribution network according to the routing indicator; selecting a target network element in the service attribution network through the second NRF network element, wherein the target network element comprises at least one of an AUSF network element and a UDM network element; and obtaining a target network element selection result returned by the second NRF network element. In the embodiment of the invention, a first NRF network element can select a second NRF network element in a service attribution network through a routing indicator, and select a target network element required by terminal equipment registration through the second NRF network element; the embodiment of the invention can support the terminal device to register the terminal in the terminal roaming place based on the target network element in the service attribution place.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communication, and particularly relates to a network element selection method and system, electronic device and storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0002] When a roaming terminal device performs registration, it needs to communicate with a network element in a home network to verify identity and obtain service authorization, etc. The network element includes, for example, an AUSF (Authentication Server Function) and a UDM (Unified Data Management).

[0003] In related technologies, a generally roaming terminal device addresses a network element in a terminal home network to perform registration. However, in an international roaming scenario, an operator can operate in multiple regions. In order to improve operational efficiency, the operator can operate part of the business in a certain region. When the region is not the home network of the terminal device, a user in each terminal roaming network needs to address a network element in the business home network.

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a network element selection method to select a network element in a business home network to perform registration of a terminal in a terminal roaming network.

[0005] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the above background section is only used to strengthen the understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and therefore can include information that does not constitute prior art known to those of ordinary skill in the art. SUMMARY

[0006] The present disclosure provides a network element selection method and system, electronic device and storage medium, which at least partially solves the problem that related technologies cannot select a network element in a business home network to perform registration of a terminal in a terminal roaming network.

[0007] Other characteristics and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, or will be learned by practice of the present disclosure.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a network element selection method is provided, which is performed by a first NRF (Network Repository Function) network element in a terminal roaming network, and the method comprises:

[0009] When a terminal device initiates registration in a terminal roaming network, a routing indicator carried by a network function network element in the terminal roaming network is obtained;

[0010] A second NRF network element in a business home network is selected according to the routing indicator.

[0011] selecting, by the second NRF network element, a target network element in the service home network, the target network element comprising at least one of an AUSF network element, a UDM network element;

[0012] obtaining a target network element selection result returned by the second NRF network element.

[0013] In some example embodiments, the network element selection method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure further comprises:

[0014] returning the target network element selection result to the network function network element, the network function network element being configured to perform registration of the terminal device according to the target network element selection result.

[0015] In some example embodiments, the routing indicator carries a service home network identifier;

[0016] wherein the selecting the second NRF network element in the service home network according to the routing indicator comprises:

[0017] selecting the second NRF network element from candidate NRF network elements registered in the first NRF network element according to the service home network identifier.

[0018] In some example embodiments, the obtaining the routing indicator carried by the network function network element in the terminal roaming network comprises:

[0019] obtaining the routing indicator carried by the network function network element in the terminal roaming network, and a terminal home network identifier of the terminal device;

[0020] wherein the selecting the second NRF network element in the service home network according to the routing indicator comprises:

[0021] selecting the second NRF network element according to the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device and the routing indicator.

[0022] In some example embodiments, the routing indicator carries a SUPI (Subscription Permanent Identifier) range to which the terminal device belongs, and the selecting the second NRF network element according to the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device and the routing indicator comprises:

[0023] selecting, from the candidate NRF network elements, a to-be-compared NRF network element corresponding to the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device;

[0024] The SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs is compared with the SUPI range of each to-be-compared NRF network element respectively, wherein the SUPI range of the first to-be-compared NRF network element is a SUPI contained in a service range of any target network element connected with the first to-be-compared NRF network element, and the first to-be-compared NRF network element is any to-be-compared NRF network element.

[0025] If the SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs is contained in the SUPI range of the first to-be-compared NRF network element, the first to-be-compared NRF network element is taken as the second NRF network element.

[0026] In some example embodiments, the second NRF network element is configured to select a target network element in the service home network and acquire a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) of the target network element according to the search condition.

[0027] The URI of the target network element is included in the target network element selection result.

[0028] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a network element selection apparatus is also provided, which is applied to a first NRF network element in a terminal roaming network, and includes:

[0029] A routing indicator acquisition module is configured to acquire a routing indicator carried by a network function network element in the terminal roaming network when a terminal device initiates registration in the terminal roaming network.

[0030] A second NRF network element selection module is configured to select a second NRF network element in a service home network according to the routing indicator.

[0031] A target network element selection module is configured to select a target network element in the service home network through the second NRF network element, and the target network element includes at least one of an AUSF network element and a UDM network element.

[0032] A result acquisition module is configured to acquire a target network element selection result returned by the second NRF network element.

[0033] In some example embodiments, the network element selection apparatus provided by the present disclosure further includes:

[0034] A result return module is configured to return the target network element selection result to the network function network element, and the network function network element is configured to perform registration of the terminal device according to the target network element selection result.

[0035] In some example embodiments, the routing indicator carries a service home network identifier.

[0036] The second NRF network element selection module is configured to select the second NRF network element according to the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device and the routing indicator.

[0037] In some example embodiments, the routing indicator acquisition module is configured to acquire the routing indicator carried by a network function network element in the terminal roaming network, and the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device;

[0038] The second NRF network element selection module is configured to select the second NRF network element according to the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device and the routing indicator.

[0039] In some example embodiments, the routing indicator carries a SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs.

[0040] The second NRF network element selection module is configured to select a to-be-compared NRF network element corresponding to the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device from the candidate NRF network elements, and compare the SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs with a SUPI range of each to-be-compared NRF network element, wherein the SUPI range of the first to-be-compared NRF network element is a SUPI included in a service range of any target network element connected to the first to-be-compared NRF network element, and the first to-be-compared NRF network element is any to-be-compared NRF network element; if the SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs is included in the SUPI range of the first to-be-compared NRF network element, the first to-be-compared NRF network element is selected as the second NRF network element.

[0041] In some example embodiments, the second NRF network element is configured to select a target network element in the service home network according to a search condition and acquire a URI of the target network element; and the URI of the target network element is included in the target network element selection result.

[0042] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a network element selection system is also provided, which can include a network function network element in a terminal roaming network, a first NRF network element in the terminal roaming network, and a second NRF network element in a service home network.

[0043] The first NRF network element is configured to acquire a routing indicator carried by the network function network element when a terminal device initiates registration in a terminal roaming network; and select the second NRF network element according to the routing indicator.

[0044] The second NRF network element is configured to select a target network element in the service home network, and the target network element includes at least one of an AUSF network element and a UDM network element.

[0045] The first NRF network element is further configured to: acquire a target network element selection result returned by the second NRF network element; and return the target network element selection result to the network function network element.

[0046] The network function network element is further configured to perform registration of the terminal device according to the target network element selection result.

[0047] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is also provided, which includes: a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to perform the network element selection method of any of the above via execution of the executable instructions.

[0048] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program is also provided, which, when executed by a processor, implements the network element selection method of any of the above.

[0049] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product or computer program is provided, which includes computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium. A processor of an electronic device reads the computer instructions from the computer readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the electronic device performs the network element selection method provided in any of the various optional manners in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0050] The technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure can enable the first NRF network element to select the second NRF network element in a service home network through a routing indicator, and select a target network element required for terminal device registration through the second NRF network element, and can support the terminal device to register the terminal in a terminal roaming area based on a target network element located in a service home.

[0051] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are only exemplary and explanatory, and are not limiting to the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0052] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure. It is apparent that the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor based on these drawings.

[0053] Figure 1 a schematic diagram showing a system architecture in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0054] Figure 2This diagram illustrates a network element selection method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0055] Figure 3 This diagram illustrates a network element selection method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0056] Figure 4 This invention discloses a flowchart of another network element selection method in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0057] Figure 5 This diagram illustrates a network element selection device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0058] Figure 6 This diagram illustrates a structural block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0059] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a computer-readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0060] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, these exemplary embodiments can be implemented in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, they are provided so that this disclosure will be more comprehensive and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0061] Furthermore, the accompanying drawings are merely illustrative of this disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, and therefore repeated descriptions of them will be omitted. Some block diagrams shown in the drawings are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities may be implemented in software, in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different network and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0062] The specific implementation methods of the embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0063] like Figure 1 As shown, the system architecture 100 includes a first NRF network element 101 in the terminal roaming network and a second NRF network element 102 in the service home network. The first NRF network element 101 can communicate with the second NRF network element.

[0064] The first NRF network element 101 can obtain the routing indicator carried by the network function network element in the roaming network when the terminal device initiates registration in the roaming location.

[0065] Then, the first NRF network element 101 can select a second NRF network element 102 in the service home network according to the above routing indicator.

[0066] Further, the second NRF network element 102 can determine a target network element in the service home network to obtain a target network element selection result. The target network element can include at least one of an AUSF network element and a UDM network element.

[0067] Finally, the first NRF network element 101 can obtain the target network element selection result returned by the second NRF network element 102.

[0068] Optionally, the terminal device in the embodiments of the present disclosure can also be referred to as a UE (User Equipment). In specific implementation, the terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a MID (Mobile Internet Device), a wearable device, or a vehicle-mounted device, and the like. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal device is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0069] In addition, the first NRF network element 101 in the terminal roaming network and the second NRF network element 102 in the service home network are not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The first NRF network element 101 and the second NRF network element 102 can be respectively configured in a server.

[0070] Optionally, the first NRF network element 101 and the second NRF network element 102 can be deployed in independent physical servers, or the servers can be a server cluster or a distributed system composed of multiple physical servers, or can be a cloud server providing cloud services, cloud databases, cloud computing, cloud functions, cloud storage, network services, cloud communication, middleware services, domain name services, security services, CDN (Content Delivery Network), and basic cloud computing services such as big data and artificial intelligence platforms.

[0071] Those skilled in the art can know that, Figure 1 The number of the first NRF network element 101 and the second NRF network element 102 in the above-mentioned network element is only illustrative, and any number of first NRF network elements 101 and second NRF network elements 102 can be provided according to actual needs. The number of the first NRF network element 101 and the second NRF network element 102 is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0072] Under the above system architecture, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network element selection method, which can be executed by any electronic device with computing processing capability.

[0073] In some embodiments, the network element selection method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure can be executed by the first NRF network element of the above system architecture; in other embodiments, the network element selection method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure can be executed by the second NRF network element in the above system architecture; in other embodiments, the network element selection method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure can be realized by the first NRF network element and the second NRF network element in the above system architecture through interaction.

[0074] Figure 2 A flowchart of a network element selection method in the embodiment of the present disclosure is shown as follows. Figure 2 As shown in the figure, the network element selection method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure includes the following steps S202 to S208.

[0075] S202, when a terminal device initiates registration in a terminal roaming place, a routing indicator carried by a network function network element in a network in the terminal roaming place is acquired.

[0076] In an exemplary embodiment, a terminal device in a terminal roaming place can initiate registration through a network function network element in a network in the terminal roaming place. If the target network element corresponding to the service mainly performed by the terminal device in the terminal roaming place is not located in the terminal home place, the network function network element in the network in the terminal roaming place can determine the routing indicator.

[0077] Exemplarily, the routing indicator can carry information for target network element selection. The English corresponding to the routing indicator can be Routing Indicator.

[0078] In an exemplary embodiment, the terminal device in the terminal roaming place can be, for example, an Internet of Things UE, a VR (Virtual Reality) UE, a vehicle-to-everything UE, etc. Therefore, the service mainly performed by the terminal device can correspond to an Internet of Things service, a VR service, a vehicle-to-everything service, etc.

[0079] In a possible implementation, the network function network element in the network in the terminal roaming place can be an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) network element in the network in the terminal roaming place. When the terminal device initiates registration in the terminal roaming place, the AMF network element can acquire the routing indicator, and carry the routing indicator in the network element selection request sent to the first NRF network element to request the first NRF network element to select the target network element.

[0080] In an example embodiment, since the target network element is located in the service home network of the terminal device, the second NRF network element in the service home network can be determined through the first NRF network element first. And, after the second NRF network element is determined, the appropriate target network element in the service home network can be determined through the second NRF network element.

[0081] In a possible implementation, the routing indicator can be used to determine the second NRF network element in the service home network. Or, the routing indicator can be used to determine the target network element in the service home network.

[0082] In some example embodiments, the routing indicator carried by the network function network element in the terminal roaming network is obtained, including: obtaining the routing indicator carried by the network function network element in the terminal roaming network, and the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device.

[0083] In an example embodiment, the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device can include MNC (Mobile Network Code) and / or MCC (Mobile Country Code). Wherein, the MNC can be used to identify the mobile network operator in a specific country or region. The MCC can be used to identify the country or region to which the mobile user belongs.

[0084] It should be noted that the MNC and the MCC can form a unique identifier for positioning and identifying each mobile network operator in the global system for mobile communications. The combination of MNC and MCC is crucial for roaming, network identification, billing and many other mobile network operations.

[0085] In some embodiments, the target network element in the service home network still generally uses the MNC and / or MCC of the terminal home network. Therefore, the first NRF network element cannot select the second NRF network element in the service home network only through the MNC and / or MCC. For example, the first NRF network element needs to select the second NRF network element through the routing indicator, or select the second NRF network element through the routing indicator and the terminal home network identifier.

[0086] It should be noted that the terminal roaming network and the service home network can be different PLMNs (Public Land Mobile Network).

[0087] S204, selecting the second NRF network element in the service home network according to the routing indicator.

[0088] In some example embodiments, the routing indicator can carry the service home network identity.

[0089] In this case, the selecting the second NRF network element in the service home network according to the routing indicator can include: selecting the second NRF network element from the candidate NRF network elements registered in the first NRF network element according to the service home network identity.

[0090] In example embodiments, the service home network identity can be an MNC and / or MCC corresponding to the service home network.

[0091] In a possible implementation, the service home network identity of the terminal device can be configured at an ME (Mobile Equipment) and / or USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module). Therefore, the routing indicator can carry the service home network identity.

[0092] By way of example, the first NRF network element can select the second NRF network element in the network corresponding to the service home network identity in the routing indicator according to the routing indicator and in combination with NF (Network Function) information of the candidate NRF network elements.

[0093] It should be noted that any candidate NRF network element can store NF information of all network function network elements registered on the candidate NRF network element. The NF information of the network function network elements can include corresponding network identities. The network function network elements on any candidate NRF network element include target network elements.

[0094] In some example embodiments, the first NRF network element can acquire the routing indicator carried by the network function network element in the terminal roaming network and the terminal home network identity of the terminal device.

[0095] In this case, the selecting the second NRF network element in the service home network according to the routing indicator can include: selecting the second NRF network element according to the terminal home network identity of the terminal device and the routing indicator.

[0096] Since the target network element in the service home network adopts the terminal home network identity and the target network element in the terminal home network also adopts the terminal home network identity, the first NRF network element can filter out the to-be-compared NRF network element corresponding to each target network element adopting the terminal home network identity from the candidate NRF network elements.

[0097] It should be noted that the to-be-compared NRF network element corresponding to each target network element adopting the terminal home network identifier can include a second NRF network element in the service home network and a third NRF network element in the terminal home network.

[0098] Subsequently, the first NRF network element can select the second NRF network element belonging to the service home network from the to-be-compared NRF network elements through the routing indicator.

[0099] The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the method of selecting the second NRF network element belonging to the service home network from the to-be-compared NRF network elements through the routing indicator, which can be determined based on experience or application scenarios, for example, the selection of the second NRF network element can be performed through SUPI range, server priority, load balancing information, etc.

[0100] In a possible implementation, the routing indicator can carry the SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs.

[0101] In this case, according to the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device and the routing indicator, the second NRF network element is selected, including: selecting, from the candidate NRF network elements, a to-be-compared NRF network element corresponding to the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device; comparing the SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs with the SUPI range of each to-be-compared NRF network element, respectively, wherein the SUPI range of a first to-be-compared NRF network element is a SUPI included in a service range of any target network element connected to the first to-be-compared NRF network element, and the first to-be-compared NRF network element is any to-be-compared NRF network element; and if the SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs is included in the SUPI range of the first to-be-compared NRF network element, the first to-be-compared NRF network element is taken as the second NRF network element.

[0102] In the exemplary embodiments, each to-be-compared NRF network element can store NF information of all network function network elements registered on the to-be-compared NRF network element, and the NF information can further include a SUPI range applicable to the corresponding target network element. The to-be-compared NRF network element can be connected to each network function network element registered on the to-be-compared NRF network element.

[0103] Therefore, if the SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs falls within the SUPI range applicable to a target network element, the to-be-compared NRF network element corresponding to the target network element can be taken as the second NRF network element.

[0104] S206, selecting, through the second NRF network element, a target network element in the service home network, the target network element including at least one of an AUSF network element and a UDM network element.

[0105] In an example embodiment, the first NRF network element can send a target network element selection request to the second NRF network element, which can include a service type, a SUPI prefix, and other possible filtering conditions.

[0106] Then, the second NRF network element can search in the NF registration records it maintains according to the target network element selection request. The second NRF network element knows the capabilities and responsible user range of each AUSF and UDM registered on it. The second NRF network element can then return a target network element selection result to the first NRF network element. The above search conditions can be determined based on pre-configured policies, load balancing, geographical location, user subscription information, and other factors, for example.

[0107] It should be noted that the target network element selection result can include one or more suitable AUSF network elements, and one or more suitable UDM network elements. When multiple AUSF network elements and multiple UDM network elements are included, the AMF network element in the terminal roaming network can filter the AUSF network elements and the UDM network elements.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the second NRF network element is configured to select a target network element in the service home network and obtain a URI of the target network element according to the search conditions.

[0109] S208, obtaining the target network element selection result returned by the second NRF network element.

[0110] In some example embodiments, the network element selection method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can further include: returning the target network element selection result to the network function network element, which is configured to register the terminal device according to the target network element selection result.

[0111] In a possible implementation, the target network element selection result can include a URI of the target network element. Taking the network function network element as an AMF network element for example, the AMF network element can connect to the corresponding target network element based on the URI of the target network element.

[0112] Among them, the AUSF network element is used for terminal device 3GPP and non-3GPP type access authentication. And the UDM network element can be used for user data management. After successful authentication and user data management, the registration of the terminal device is completed, at which time the terminal device can start using the services provided by the network.

[0113] It should be noted that in the NF network element in the embodiments of the present disclosure, when selecting the cross-PLMN network element, the routing indicator can be used to carry the related information of the cross-PLMN network element selection when sending the network element selection request to the first NRF network element. In addition, the first NRF network element can use the routing indicator to select the second NRF network element as the next hop in addition to the terminal home network identifier when selecting the cross-PLMN network element.

[0114] In the method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first NRF network element can select the second NRF network element in the service home network through the routing indicator, and select the target network element required by the terminal device registration through the second NRF network element. The embodiments of the present disclosure can support the terminal device to register the terminal located in the terminal roaming area based on the target network element located in the service home network.

[0115] Exemplarily, a schematic diagram of network element selection can be as shown in Figure 3 .

[0116] In the Figure 3 , the terminal roaming network, the service home network, and the terminal home network are shown. Among them, the terminal device and the first NRF network element are located in the terminal roaming network. The second NRF network element, the AUSF network element A, and the UDM network element A are located in the service home network. The third NRF network element, the AUSF network element B, and the UDM network element B are located in the terminal home network.

[0117] Among them, when the terminal device initiates registration in the terminal roaming area, the first NRF network element can select the second NRF network element in the service home network based on the method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. Then, the second NRF network element can select the AUSF network element A and the UDM network element A located in the service home network.

[0118] Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure can realize the registration of the terminal device based on the AUSF network element and the UDM network element located in the service home network.

[0119] In an exemplary embodiment, a network element selection method flow chart can be as shown in Figure 4 .

[0120] In the Figure 4 , the terminal device belonging to the terminal roaming network, the NF network element, and the first NRF network element are included. And in the Figure 4 , the second NRF network element, the AUSF network element, and the UDM network element belonging to the terminal home network are also included. Among them, the NF network element can be one or more network function network elements participating in the terminal device registration process.

[0121] S402, the terminal device initiates registration in the terminal roaming area.

[0122] S404, the terminal home network identifier and routing indicator are used to find and select the AUSF network element and the UDM network element.

[0123] S406, the first NRF network element routes to the second NRF network element to find the AUSF network element and the UDM network element according to the information carried on the routing indicator.

[0124] S408, the second NRF network element finds the appropriate AUSF network element and the UDM network element according to the finding condition.

[0125] S410, the target network element selection result is returned.

[0126] S412, the appropriate AUSF network element and the UDM network element are selected.

[0127] It should be noted that, Figure 4 The implementation of each step in S402-S412 is described above in S202-S208, which will not be repeated here.

[0128] It should be noted that the acquisition, storage, use, processing, etc. of data in the technical solutions of the present disclosure comply with relevant provisions of national laws and regulations. The personal identity data, operation data, behavior data, etc. of individuals, customers, and crowds, and other types of data obtained in the embodiments of the present disclosure have been authorized.

[0129] Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a network element selection device, as described in the following embodiments. Since the principles of the device embodiments solve problems similar to the above-mentioned method embodiments, the implementation of the device embodiments can refer to the implementation of the above-mentioned method embodiments, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0130] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a network element selection device in the embodiments of the present disclosure is shown, as shown in the figure, the device is applied to a first NRF network element in a terminal roaming network, and the device comprises: Figure 5

[0131] The routing indicator acquisition module 501 is configured to acquire a routing indicator carried by a network function network element in a terminal roaming network when a terminal device initiates registration in the terminal roaming network.

[0132] The second NRF network element selection module 502 is configured to select a second NRF network element in a service home network according to the routing indicator.

[0133] The target network element selection module 503 is configured to select a target network element in the service home network through the second NRF network element, and the target network element comprises at least one of an AUSF network element and a UDM network element. ​

[0134] The result obtaining module 504 is configured to obtain a target network element selection result returned by the second NRF network element.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the network element selection apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure further includes:

[0136] The result returning module is configured to return the target network element selection result to the network function network element, so that the network function network element performs registration of the terminal device according to the target network element selection result.

[0137] In some example embodiments, the routing indicator carries a service home network identifier;

[0138] The second NRF network element selection module 502 is configured to select the second NRF network element from the candidate NRF network elements registered in the first NRF network element according to the service home network identifier.

[0139] In some example embodiments, the routing indicator obtaining module 501 is configured to obtain the routing indicator carried by the network function network element in the terminal roaming network, and a terminal home network identifier of the terminal device;

[0140] The second NRF network element selection module 502 is configured to select the second NRF network element according to the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device and the routing indicator.

[0141] In some example embodiments, the routing indicator carries a SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs;

[0142] The second NRF network element selection module 502 is configured to select a to-be-compared NRF network element corresponding to the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device from the candidate NRF network elements, and compare the SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs with SUPI ranges of the to-be-compared NRF network elements respectively, wherein a SUPI range of a first to-be-compared NRF network element is a SUPI included in a service range of any target network element connected to the first to-be-compared NRF network element, and the first to-be-compared NRF network element is any to-be-compared NRF network element; if the SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs is included in the SUPI range of the first to-be-compared NRF network element, the first to-be-compared NRF network element is selected as the second NRF network element.

[0143] In some example embodiments, the second NRF network element is configured to select a target network element in the service home network according to a search condition and obtain a URI of the target network element; and the target network element selection result includes the URI of the target network element.

[0144] In the apparatus provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first NRF network element can select the second NRF network element in the service home network through the routing indicator, and select the target network element required by the terminal device for registration through the second NRF network element, and the embodiment of the present disclosure can support the terminal device to register the terminal located in the terminal roaming area based on the target network element located in the service home.

[0145] It should be noted that the routing indicator obtaining module 501, the second NRF network element selection module 502, the target network element selection module 503, and the result obtaining module 504 correspond to S202-S208 in the method embodiment, and the above modules have the same examples and application scenarios as the corresponding steps, but are not limited to the contents disclosed in the above method embodiment.

[0146] It should be noted that the above modules as part of the apparatus can be executed in a computer system such as a group of computer executable instructions.

[0147] Those skilled in the art can understand that each aspect of the present disclosure can be implemented as a system, a method or a program product. Therefore, each aspect of the present disclosure can be embodied as a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or an embodiment combining hardware and software aspects, which can be collectively referred to as "circuitry", "module" or "system" here.

[0148] The embodiment of the present disclosure provides an electronic device. Exemplarily, the electronic device can include a processor and a memory. The memory can be used to store executable instructions of the processor. In addition, the processor can be configured to execute the network element selection method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure by executing the above executable instructions.

[0149] The electronic device 600 according to this embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to Figure 6 Figure 6 The displayed electronic device 600 is only an example and should not limit the functions and use range of the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0150] As shown in Figure 6 The components of the electronic device 600 can include but are not limited to at least one processing unit 610, at least one storage unit 620, and a bus 630 connecting different system components including the storage unit 620 and the processing unit 610.

[0151] ​The storage unit stores program codes that can be executed by the processing unit 610, so that the processing unit 610 performs the steps of the method according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above “Exemplary Method” section of the present specification. For example, the processing unit 610 can perform the following steps of the above method embodiments:

[0152] When the terminal device initiates registration in a terminal roaming place, a routing indicator carried by a network function network element in a network in the terminal roaming place is acquired; a second NRF network element in a service home network is selected according to the routing indicator; a target network element in the service home network is selected through the second NRF network element, the target network element including at least one of an AUSF network element and a UDM network element; and a target network element selection result returned by the second NRF network element is acquired.

[0153] The storage unit 620 can include a readable medium in the form of a volatile storage unit, such as a random access memory (RAM) 6201 and / or a cache memory 6202, and can further include a read-only memory (ROM) 6203.

[0154] The storage unit 620 can further include program / utility 6204 having a set of programs / modules 6205, including an operating system, one or more application programs, other programs, and programmatic data, each or any combination thereof, which can include implementation of a network environment.

[0155] The bus 630 can be representative of one or more of several types of bus structures, including a storage unit bus or bus controller, a peripheral bus, a graphics acceleration port, a processing unit, or a local bus using any of a variety of bus structures.

[0156] The electronic device 600 can also communicate with one or more external devices 640 such as a keyboard or pointing device, a Bluetooth device, etc.; other devices that enable a user to interact with the electronic device 600; and / or one or more devices that enable the electronic device 600 to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can be via an input / output (I / O) interface 650.

[0157] Also, the electronic device 600 can communicate with one or more networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and / or the public networks, such as the Internet, via a network adapter 660.

[0158] As Figure 6As shown, network adapter 660 communicates with the other modules of electronic device 600 over bus 630. It will be appreciated that other bus architectures can be used to implement 2000 Figure 6 Other hardware and / or software modules that can be used in conjunction with electronic device 600, but are not shown in FIG. 6, include but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

[0159] Those skilled in the art will readily understand that the example embodiments described herein can be implemented by software and / or by software in combination with the requisite hardware. Thus, the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in an non-volatile storage medium (which can be a CD-ROM, USB flash disk, mobile hard disk, etc.) or network, and includes a number of instructions to enable a computing device (which can be a personal computer, a server, a terminal device, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0160] In particular, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the processes described above with reference to the flowcharts can be implemented as a computer program product, which includes a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the above-mentioned network element selection method.

[0161] In the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, which stores a computer program that, when executed by a processor, can implement the network element selection method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer-readable storage medium can be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium.

[0162] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a computer-readable storage medium in an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. As shown, the computer-readable storage medium 700 stores a program product capable of implementing the above-mentioned method of the present disclosure. Figure 7 The computer-readable storage medium 700 stores a program product capable of implementing the above-mentioned method of the present disclosure.

[0163] In some possible implementations, various aspects of the present disclosure can also be implemented in the form of a program product, which includes program code for causing an end device to perform the steps according to various example embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above “Exemplary Methods” section when the program product is run on the end device.

[0164] More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium in the present disclosure can include but are not limited to an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0165] In the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium can include a data signal carrying the readable program code in a baseband or as a part of a carrier wave transporting the readable program code. Such a propagated data signal can take any of a variety of forms, including but not limited to electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0166] A computer readable signal medium can also be any computer readable medium that is not a storage medium or that is a transmission or propagation medium.

[0167] Program code embodied on a computer readable storage medium can be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0168] In an implementation, the program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, C++, etc., or conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages.

[0169] The program code can execute entirely on the user's computing device, partly on the user's computing device, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computing device and partly on a remote computing device or entirely on the remote computing device or server.

[0170] In the case of implementing using a remote computing device, the remote computing device can be connected to the user's computing device through any kind of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the remote computing device can also be connected to an external computing device (for example, through an Internet service provider using the Internet).

[0171] It should be noted that, although several modules or units of the devices for action execution are mentioned in the above detailed description, the division into such modules or units is not mandatory. In fact, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, features and functionalities of two or more modules or units described above can be embodied in one module or unit. Conversely, features and functionalities of one module or unit described above can be further divided into a plurality of modules or units.

[0172] Furthermore, although the various steps of the methods in the present disclosure are described in a particular order in the drawings, this is not required or implied as to the order of the steps or that all of the steps shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. Additionally or alternatively, certain steps can be omitted, multiple steps can be combined into one step, one step can be broken into multiple steps, etc.

[0173] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily perceive that the example embodiments described herein can be implemented by software and / or by software in combination with the necessary hardware. Thus, the technical solution according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (which can be a CD-ROM, U disk, mobile hard disk, etc.) or network, and includes a number of instructions to make a computing device (which can be a personal computer, server, mobile terminal, or network device, etc.) execute the method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0174] Other embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the application disclosed herein. The present disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure following the general principles thereof and including such departures from the present disclosure that come within known, accepted, or customary practice in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. The specification and examples are to be regarded as illustrative only, and the true scope of the present disclosure is indicated by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A network element selection method, characterized in that, The method, executed by a first Network Repository Function (NRF) element in the terminal's roaming network, includes: When a terminal device initiates registration in the roaming location, it obtains the routing indicator carried by the network function element in the roaming location network. Select the second NRF network element in the service's home network according to the routing indicator; The target network element in the service home network is selected by the second NRF network element, and the target network element includes at least one of the Authentication Server Function (AUSF) network element and the Unified Data Management (UDM) network element. Obtain the target network element selection result returned by the second NRF network element.

2. The network element selection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: The target network element selection result is returned to the network function network element, which is used to register the terminal device according to the target network element selection result.

3. The network element selection method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The routing indicator carries the service home network identifier, and the step of selecting the second NRF network element in the service home network according to the routing indicator includes: Based on the service home network identifier, the second NRF network element is selected from the candidate NRF network elements registered in the first NRF network element.

4. The network element selection method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The step of obtaining the routing indicator carried by the network function element in the roaming network of the terminal includes: Obtain the routing indicator carried by the network function network element in the roaming network of the terminal and the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device; The step of selecting the second NRF network element in the service home network according to the routing indicator includes: The second NRF network element is selected based on the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device and the routing indicator.

5. The network element selection method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The routing indicator carries the User Identity Spectrum (SUPI) range to which the terminal device belongs. The step of selecting the second NRF network element based on the terminal device's home network identifier and the routing indicator includes: Select the NRF network element to be compared from the candidate NRF network elements, corresponding to the terminal home network identifier of the terminal device. The SUPI range to which the terminal device belongs is compared with the SUPI range of each NRF network element to be compared. The SUPI range of the first NRF network element to be compared is the SUPI included in the service range of any target network element connected to the first NRF network element to be compared. The first NRF network element to be compared is any NRF network element to be compared. If the SUPI range of the terminal device is included in the SUPI range of the first NRF network element to be compared, then the first NRF network element to be compared is taken as the second NRF network element.

6. The network element selection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second NRF network element is used to select the target network element in the service home network according to the search conditions and obtain the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of the target network element; The target network element selection result includes the URI of the target network element.

7. A network element selection system, characterized in that, The system includes network function network elements in the terminal roaming network, a first NRF network element in the terminal roaming network, and a second NRF network element in the service home network; The first NRF network element is used to obtain the routing indicator carried by the network function network element when the terminal device initiates registration in the roaming location of the terminal; Select the second NRF network element according to the routing indicator; The second NRF network element is used to select a target network element in the service home network, wherein the target network element includes at least one of an AUSF network element and a UDM network element; The first NRF network element is further configured to obtain the target network element selection result returned by the second NRF network element; and return the target network element selection result to the network function network element; The network function element is also used to register the terminal device based on the target network element selection result.

8. An electronic device, characterized in that, include: processor; as well as Memory for storing the executable instructions of the processor; The processor is configured to execute the network element selection method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 by executing the executable instructions.

9. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the network element selection method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

10. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The processor of the electronic device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium and executes the computer instructions, causing the electronic device to perform the network element selection method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.

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