Data transmission methods, devices, equipment, media and products

Abstract

This disclosure provides a data transmission method applied to a traffic offloading service device, comprising: receiving a data packet from a local server, wherein the destination address carried by the data packet is the address of a terminal; if it is determined based on the terminal's address that no traffic offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal exists, sending first information to a wireless communication network device to trigger a paging process for the terminal, wherein the traffic offloading data tunnel is a tunnel between the traffic offloading service device and a base station; obtaining user plane bearer information associated with the terminal; establishing a traffic offloading data tunnel based on the user plane bearer information; and sending a data packet to the terminal through the traffic offloading data tunnel. This disclosure also provides a traffic offloading service device, a wireless communication network device, a computer-readable medium, and a computer program product.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a data transmission method, a traffic offloading service device, a wireless communication network device, a computer-readable medium, and a computer program product. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of wireless communication technology, it has been widely used in enterprise-to-business (toB) industry applications. One of the basic requirements of toB industry applications for wireless communication networks is to ensure that local data does not leave the campus, thereby ensuring the security of local data. Local edge offloading is one of the key technologies to achieve this goal.

[0003] When the terminal is in an idle state, there is no offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal. If the local server needs to send a data packet to the terminal, it will be unable to send the data packet to the terminal because the terminal cannot be activated. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This disclosure provides a data transmission method, a traffic splitting service device, a wireless communication network device, a computer-readable medium, and a computer program product.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a data transmission method applied to a traffic offloading service device, comprising: receiving a data packet from a local server, wherein the destination address carried by the data packet is the address of a terminal; if it is determined based on the address of the terminal that there is no traffic offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal, sending first information to a wireless communication network device to trigger a paging process for the terminal, wherein the traffic offloading data tunnel is a tunnel between the traffic offloading service device and a base station; obtaining user plane bearer information associated with the terminal, establishing a traffic offloading data tunnel based on the user plane bearer information, and sending a data packet to the terminal through the traffic offloading data tunnel.

[0006] Secondly, this disclosure provides another data transmission method applied to a wireless communication network device, comprising: receiving first information from a traffic offloading service device, wherein the first information is sent to the wireless communication network device after the traffic offloading service device receives a data packet from a local server and determines that the terminal corresponding to the destination address carried by the data packet does not have an associated traffic offloading data tunnel; and triggering a paging process for the terminal according to the first information to restore the user plane connection.

[0007] Thirdly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a traffic offloading service apparatus, which includes a memory and a processor; the memory stores a computer program that can be executed by the processor, and the computer program implements the method of the first aspect when executed by the processor.

[0008] Fourthly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a wireless communication network device, which includes a memory and a processor; the memory stores a computer program executable by the processor, and the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the method of the second aspect.

[0009] Fifthly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of the first or second aspect.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer program product, which includes a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the method of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0011] In this embodiment, the offloading service device receives data packets from a local server. The destination address carried in the data packets is the address of the terminal. If it is determined that no offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal exists based on the terminal's address, the device sends first information to the wireless communication network device to trigger a paging process for the terminal. The offloading data tunnel is a tunnel between the offloading service device and the base station. The device obtains the user plane bearer information associated with the terminal, establishes the offloading data tunnel based on the user plane bearer information, and sends data packets to the terminal through the offloading data tunnel. This method allows the offloading service device to trigger a paging process for the terminal when no offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal exists, thereby activating the terminal in time to re-establish an RRC connection and establish the offloading data tunnel. This ensures that the data packets sent by the local server can be successfully delivered to the terminal, completing the offloading transmission of local services. This method not only improves the utilization efficiency of wireless resources but also avoids the necessity for the terminal to maintain a constant RRC connection by promptly activating idle terminals, enabling the terminal to enter a power-saving state when there is no service demand, thus achieving energy saving. Attached Figure Description

[0012] In the accompanying drawings of the embodiments disclosed herein:

[0013] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the composition of a local edge traffic offloading system provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0014] Figure 2 A schematic diagram illustrating the composition of another local edge offloading system provided in this embodiment of the disclosure;

[0015] Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0016] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of another data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 5This is a schematic flowchart of another data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 6 This is a schematic flowchart of another data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 7 This is a schematic flowchart of another data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 8 This is a schematic flowchart of another data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a traffic diversion service device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a wireless communication network device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0023] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of this disclosure, the embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] The present disclosure will be described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings; however, the embodiments shown may be embodied in different forms, and the present disclosure should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth below. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the scope of the disclosure.

[0025] The accompanying drawings of the embodiments disclosed herein are provided to further illustrate the embodiments of this disclosure and form part of the specification. They are used together with the detailed embodiments to explain this disclosure and do not constitute a limitation thereof. The above and other features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of the detailed embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0026] Where there is no conflict, the various embodiments of this disclosure and the features thereof in the embodiments may be combined with each other.

[0027] The terminology used in this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the disclosure. The term "and / or" as used in this disclosure includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated enumerated entries. The singular forms "a" and "the" as used in this disclosure are also intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprising," "made of," etc., as used in this disclosure specify the presence of the stated feature, integral, step, operation, element, and / or component, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integrals, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0028] Unless otherwise specified, all terms used in this disclosure (including technical and scientific terms) have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. It will also be understood that terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and this disclosure, and will not be interpreted as having an idealized or overly formal meaning, unless expressly so defined in this disclosure.

[0029] With the rapid development of wireless communication technology, it has been widely used in B2B industry applications. One of the basic requirements of B2B industry applications for wireless communication networks is to ensure that local data does not leave the campus, thereby guaranteeing the security of local data. Therefore, there is no direct data interface between the local server and the wireless communication network. Local edge offloading is one of the key technologies to achieve this goal, and industrial base stations have emerged to realize this function. Industrial base stations include offloading service devices and base stations. The structure of a local edge offloading system is as follows: Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown. See appendix. Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the composition of a local edge traffic offloading system provided in an embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 1 This is a possible system architecture for a single-site local edge traffic offloading system, including terminals, base stations, traffic offloading service devices, core network, and local servers. See appendix. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the composition of another local edge traffic offloading system provided in this embodiment of the disclosure. Figure 2 It is a possible system architecture for a multi-site local edge traffic offloading system, including terminals, multiple base stations, traffic offloading service devices, core network and local server.

[0030] In a local edge offloading system architecture, when a terminal establishes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection, an offloading data tunnel is established between the offloading service device and the base station based on user plane bearer information. This offloading data tunnel is used to transmit uplink and downlink data packets for local services between the terminal and the local server. When the RRC connection is released, the offloading data tunnel is also released, leading to an interruption of local services. Therefore, to ensure the continuity of local services, the terminal needs to maintain an RRC connection at all times.

[0031] With the increasingly widespread deployment and application of industrial base stations, the number and types of terminals are constantly increasing. For local services without deterministic latency requirements, energy saving has become a basic requirement. To achieve energy saving and ensure timely processing of local services, terminals should enter an idle state when there are no local services. When there are local downlink services, the terminals need to be activated in a timely manner to enter a connected state to process the service.

[0032] When the terminal is in an idle state, there is no offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal. If the local server initiates a local downlink service to the terminal, the local server needs to send a data packet to the terminal. Since there is no direct data interface between the local server and the wireless communication network, the paging function of the wireless communication network cannot be directly applied. Therefore, the terminal cannot be activated, which causes the local server to fail to send a data packet to the terminal, and thus the offloading transmission of the local service cannot be completed.

[0033] In view of the above, embodiments of this disclosure provide a data transmission method, a traffic offloading service device, a wireless communication network device, a computer-readable medium, and a computer program product, which can be applied to, but are not limited to, [various applications]. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The architecture is shown below. A detailed description is provided with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] Firstly, refer to the appendix Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method is applied to a traffic splitting service device and includes:

[0035] S301: Receive data packets from the local server. The destination address carried in the data packets is the address of the terminal.

[0036] In this embodiment of the disclosure, reference is made to Figure 1 and Figure 2 The local edge traffic offloading system architecture shown allows the local server to forward local service data packets to the terminal via the traffic offloading service device when the local server needs to initiate local services to the terminal. By carrying the terminal's address in the data packets, the local server can notify the terminal that the destination of the data packets is the terminal.

[0037] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the address involved may be, but is not limited to, an IP address.

[0038] S302: If it is determined from the terminal's address that there is no offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal, send first information to the wireless communication network device to trigger the paging process for the terminal, wherein the offloading data tunnel is the tunnel between the offloading service device and the base station.

[0039] In this embodiment of the disclosure, after receiving a data packet from a local server, the offloading service device can obtain the destination address from the data packet, i.e., the address of the terminal. Then, it can determine whether there is an offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal based on the terminal's address. If it is determined that there is no offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal, i.e., no offloading data tunnel has been established between the offloading service device and the base station, the data packet sent by the local server to the terminal cannot be forwarded to the terminal. In order to forward the data packet sent by the local server to the terminal, the offloading service device sends first information to the wireless communication network device to trigger the paging process for the terminal, thereby activating or waking up the terminal in the idle state, so that it can re-establish the RRC connection and enter the connected state.

[0040] In this disclosure, the wireless communication network device can be either an access network device or a core network device, without limitation. In some embodiments, the wireless communication network device includes one of the following: a base station, a user plane function network element, a data network element, or a data center gateway (DC-GW).

[0041] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first information is not limited and can be any information initiated by the offloading service device that can trigger a paging process to the terminal. In some embodiments, the first information includes one of the following: a paging message, an Internet packet explorer (ping) request message, or a data packet.

[0042] S303: Obtain the user plane bearer information associated with the terminal, establish a split data tunnel based on the user plane bearer information, and send data packets to the terminal through the split data tunnel.

[0043] In this embodiment of the disclosure, after the offloading service device triggers the paging process of the terminal to activate the idle terminal and re-establish the RRC connection, it can obtain the user plane bearer information associated with the terminal. After obtaining the user plane bearer information associated with the terminal, it can establish an offloading data tunnel between the offloading service device and the base station based on the user plane bearer information associated with the terminal, and then send data packets to the terminal through the offloading data tunnel.

[0044] The method provided in this disclosure allows for the establishment of a split data tunnel when no split data tunnel is associated with the terminal. This can be achieved by triggering a paging process for the terminal through the split service device, promptly activating the terminal to re-establish an RRC connection, and thus establishing a split data tunnel. This enables the successful delivery of data packets from the local server to the terminal, completing the split transmission of local services. This method not only improves the efficiency of wireless resource utilization but also avoids the necessity for the terminal to maintain a constant RRC connection by promptly activating idle terminals, allowing the terminal to enter a power-saving state when there is no service demand, achieving energy conservation.

[0045] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the traffic diversion service device may use different first information to trigger the paging process of the terminal through different wireless communication network devices. The above method of this embodiment of the disclosure will be described below in conjunction with several possible implementation methods.

[0046] In some embodiments, the first information is a ping request message, and the wireless communication network device is a data network element (DN). Sending the first information to the wireless communication network device includes: obtaining the address of the data network element; generating a ping request message with the address of the terminal as the source address and the address of the data network element as the destination address, and sending the ping request message to the data network element.

[0047] In this embodiment, no limitation is made on how the addresses of data network elements are obtained. One possible implementation is to pre-configure the addresses of data network elements in the storage unit of the traffic distribution service device, and retrieve them directly from that storage unit when needed. Another possible implementation is that the traffic distribution service device can obtain the addresses of data network elements from other network devices.

[0048] In some embodiments, sending a ping request message to a data network element includes sending a ping request message to a User Plane Function (UPF) or a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) to forward the ping request message to the data network element through the UPF or P-GW.

[0049] In some embodiments, the first information is a ping request message, the wireless communication network device is a user plane function network element, and the user plane function network element supports direct communication between terminals; sending the first information to the wireless communication network device includes: obtaining the address of the terminal's guardian terminal, wherein the terminal and the guardian terminal can communicate directly, and the guardian terminal is in a connected state; generating a ping request message with the terminal's address as the source address and the guardian terminal's address as the destination address, or generating a ping request message with the terminal's address as the destination address and the guardian terminal's address as the source address, and sending the ping request message to the user plane function network element.

[0050] In this embodiment of the disclosure, direct communication between terminals means that terminals can communicate directly without going through other devices.

[0051] In this embodiment of the disclosure, a guardian terminal refers to a terminal in a wireless communication network that can directly communicate with a specific terminal (i.e., the protected terminal) and maintains a connection even when the specific terminal enters an idle state. The main function of the guardian terminal is to help activate the specific terminal in the idle state, ensuring that the specific terminal can quickly resume communication when needed.

[0052] In some embodiments, sending a ping request message to a user plane function network element includes: obtaining the address of the user plane function network element associated with the terminal and the tunnel endpoint identifier of the user plane function network element based on the address of the terminal; and sending a first message to the user plane function network element based on the address of the user plane function network element, wherein the first message carries the ping request message and the tunnel endpoint identifier of the user plane function network element.

[0053] In some embodiments, the first information is a paging message, and the wireless communication network device is a base station; sending the first information to the wireless communication network device includes: obtaining the user identifier of the terminal and the tracking area identifier of the base station; generating a paging message based on the user identifier of the terminal and the tracking area identifier of the base station, and sending the paging message to the base station.

[0054] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the paging message may be a core network paging message.

[0055] Secondly, refer to the appendix. Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart of another data transmission method provided in this disclosure embodiment. The method is applied to a wireless communication network device and includes:

[0056] S401: Receive first information from the diversion service device, wherein the first information is sent to the wireless communication network device after the diversion service device receives a data packet from the local server and determines that the terminal corresponding to the destination address carried by the data packet does not have an associated diversion data tunnel.

[0057] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the wireless communication network device can be an access network device or a core network device, and there is no limitation thereto. In some embodiments, the wireless communication network device includes one of the following: a base station, a user plane function network element, a data network element, and a data center gateway.

[0058] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first information is not limited and can be any information initiated by the offloading service device that can trigger a paging process to the terminal. In some embodiments, the first information includes one of the following: a paging message, an Internet packet explorer (ping) request message, or a data packet.

[0059] S402: Based on the first information, trigger the paging process for the terminal to restore the user plane connection.

[0060] Using the above method, when no offloaded data tunnel is associated with the terminal, a paging process can be triggered on the terminal through the offloaded service device to promptly activate the terminal and re-establish its RRC connection. This allows the offloaded data tunnel to be established, enabling data packets sent by the local server to be successfully delivered to the terminal, completing the offloaded transmission of local services. This method not only improves the efficiency of wireless resource utilization but also avoids the necessity for the terminal to maintain a constant RRC connection by promptly activating idle terminals, allowing the terminal to enter a power-saving state when there is no service demand, thus achieving energy conservation.

[0061] It should be noted that the same concepts or steps involved in the second aspect as those in the first aspect can be found in the description of the first aspect, and will not be repeated in the second aspect.

[0062] In some embodiments, the first information is a ping request message, the source address of the ping request message is the address of the terminal, the destination address is the address of the data network element, and the wireless communication network device is the data network element; receiving the first information from the offloading service device includes: the data network element receiving the ping request message from the offloading service device through the user plane function network element; triggering a paging procedure for the terminal according to the first information includes: the data network element sending a ping response message to the user plane function network element, and triggering a paging procedure for the terminal through the user plane function network element.

[0063] In some embodiments, the first information is a ping request message, the source address of the ping request message is the address of the terminal's guardian terminal, and the destination address is the address of the terminal; or, the source address of the ping request message is the address of the terminal, and the destination address is the address of the terminal's guardian terminal. The wireless communication network device is a user plane function network element, the terminal and the guardian terminal can communicate directly, and the guardian terminal is in a connected state.

[0064] In some embodiments, the first information is a data packet, and the wireless communication network device is a data center gateway; according to the first information, triggering a paging process for the terminal includes: the data center gateway forwarding the data packet to the user plane function network element, and triggering a paging process for the terminal through the user plane function network element.

[0065] In some embodiments, the first information is a paging message, and the wireless communication network device is a base station, wherein the paging message includes the user identifier of the terminal and the tracking area identifier of the base station.

[0066] To enable those skilled in the art to more clearly understand the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this disclosure, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this disclosure will be further described below through specific embodiments.

[0067] Example 1:

[0068] See attached document Figure 5 This is a schematic flowchart of another data transmission method provided in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the first information is a core network paging message (CN paging), the wireless communication network device is a base station, the base station is a gNB / eNB, and the terminal is a UE. Figure 5 The process shown includes the following steps:

[0069] S501: The local server sends a data packet to the distribution service device. The destination address carried in the data packet is the address of the terminal.

[0070] S502: If the offloading service device determines that there is no offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal based on the terminal address carried in the data packet, it sends a core network paging message to the base station to trigger the paging process for the terminal.

[0071] It is understood that in this embodiment, the diversion service device simulates sending a core network paging message to trigger the paging process for the terminal.

[0072] In this embodiment, the paging message may include the user identifier of the terminal and the tracking area identifier of the base station.

[0073] S503: The base station sends a paging message to the terminal.

[0074] S504: The terminal establishes an RRC connection, responds to paging, and initiates a service request.

[0075] S505: The base station forwards a Service request to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) / Session Management Function (SMF) to request the resumption of the User Plane (UP) connection for the Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session.

[0076] S506: AMF / SMF obtains N2 information from UPF.

[0077] In this embodiment, N2 information may include PDU session ID, N3 CN tunnel, QoS profile(s) (Quality of service), etc.

[0078] For example, for a Service request of the called party (Mobile Terminated, MT) type, a request is made to the UPF to query N2 information containing information such as the N3 CN tunnel of the UE. After obtaining the N2 information, the gNB / eNB is instructed to restore the user plane connection of the N3 tunnel.

[0079] S507: The AMF / SMF sends an Initial UE Context response message to the base station, which carries the PDU session information of the user plane connection to be restored.

[0080] S508: User plane connection restored.

[0081] S509: The offloading service device obtains the user plane bearer information associated with the terminal, establishes an offloading data tunnel based on the user plane bearer information, and sends data packets to the terminal through the offloading data tunnel.

[0082] The method provided in the above embodiments allows the offloading service device to simulate sending CN paging to the base station to simulate the paging process of the terminal triggered by the core network. This can promptly activate the terminal to re-establish the RRC connection, thereby establishing an offloading data tunnel. In this way, the data packets sent by the local server can be successfully sent to the terminal, completing the offloading transmission of local services.

[0083] Example 2:

[0084] See attached document Figure 6 This is a flowchart of another data transmission method provided in this disclosure. In this embodiment, the first information is a ping request message, the wireless communication network device is a DN, the base station is a gNB / eNB, and the terminal is a UE. Figure 6 The process shown includes the following steps:

[0085] S601: The local server sends a data packet to the distribution service device. The destination address carried in the data packet is the address of the terminal.

[0086] S602: The offloading service device, based on the terminal address carried in the data packet, determines that there is no offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal. If so, it obtains the DN address, uses the terminal address as the source address and the DN address as the destination address, generates a ping request message, and sends the ping request message to the UPF / P-GW. The ping request message is, for example, a Ping DN request message.

[0087] For example, taking sending a ping request message to the UPF as an example, firstly, based on the terminal's address, the address of the UPF associated with the terminal and the tunnel endpoint identifier of the UPF are obtained. Secondly, based on the UPF's address, a first message is sent to the UPF. The first message carries the ping request message and the tunnel endpoint identifier of the UPF. For example, this first message can be a GPRS Tunneling Protocol-User Plane (GTP-U) message. The format of the GTP-U message can be found in Table 1. The TEID in the GTP-U message header is the tunnel endpoint identifier of the UPF.

[0088] GTP-U TEID UeIpAddress DnIpAddress … UDP / TCP Header data

[0089] Table 1. GTP-U messages carrying ping request messages

[0090] In this embodiment, after receiving a data packet sent by the local server, the diversion service device can cache the data packet first if it determines that there is no diversion data tunnel associated with the terminal, and then forward the data packet to the terminal after the diversion data tunnel is restored.

[0091] S603: UPF / P-GW sends a ping request message to DN.

[0092] S604: DN sends a ping response message to UPF / P-GW.

[0093] S605: The UPF / P-GW sends N2 information to the AMF / SMF to notify the AMF / SMF that there are downlink data packets to be transmitted.

[0094] In this embodiment, N2 information may include PDU session ID, N3 CN tunnel, QoS profile(s) (Quality of service), etc.

[0095] S606: AMF / SMF triggers the paging process for the terminal.

[0096] S607: The base station issues a paging procedure to the terminal.

[0097] S608: The terminal establishes an RRC connection, responds to paging, and initiates a service request.

[0098] S609: The base station forwards a service request to the AMF / SMF to request the restoration of the user plane (UserPlane, UP) connection of the PDU session.

[0099] S610: When the user plane connection is restored, a ping response message is sent to the base station, and then the base station sends it to the terminal via the air interface.

[0100] S611: The offloading service device obtains the user plane bearer information associated with the terminal, establishes an offloading data tunnel based on the user plane bearer information, and sends data packets to the terminal through the offloading data tunnel.

[0101] The method provided in the above embodiments allows the diversion service device to simulate sending a Ping DN request, triggering a paging process for the terminal. This can promptly activate the terminal to re-establish an RRC connection, thereby establishing a diversion data tunnel. In this way, the data packets sent by the local server can be successfully sent to the terminal, completing the diversion transmission of local services.

[0102] Example 3:

[0103] See attached document Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating another data transmission method provided in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the first information is a data packet, the wireless communication network device is a data center gateway (DC-GW), the base station is a gNB / eNB, and the terminal is a UE. Figure 7 The process shown includes the following steps:

[0104] S701: The local server sends a data packet to the distribution service device. The destination address carried in the data packet is the address of the terminal.

[0105] S702: If the offloading service device determines that there is no offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal based on the terminal address carried in the data packet, it forwards the first data packet to the DC-GW.

[0106] S703: The DC-GW forwards the first data packet to the UPF / P-GW.

[0107] S704: The UPF / P-GW sends N2 information to the AMF / SMF to notify the AMF / SMF that there are downlink data packets to be transmitted.

[0108] In this embodiment, N2 information may include PDU session ID, N3 CN tunnel, QoS profile(s) (Quality of service), etc.

[0109] S705: AMF / SMF triggers the paging process for the terminal.

[0110] S706: The base station issues a paging procedure to the terminal.

[0111] S707: The terminal establishes an RRC connection, responds to paging, and initiates a service request.

[0112] S708: The base station forwards a service request to the AMF / SMF to request the restoration of the user plane (UserPlane, UP) connection of the PDU session.

[0113] S709: User plane connection restored. The UPF / P-GW sends the first data packet from the base station to the terminal via the air interface. In this embodiment, the first data packet can be encapsulated and forwarded via N3 GTP-U.

[0114] S710: The offloading service device obtains the user plane bearer information associated with the terminal, establishes an offloading data tunnel based on the user plane bearer information, and sends subsequent data packets to the terminal through the offloading data tunnel, except for the first data packet.

[0115] Using the method provided in the above embodiments, the offloading service device sends the first data packet to the DC-GW to trigger the paging process of the terminal triggered by the core network. This can promptly activate the terminal to re-establish the RRC connection, thereby establishing an offloading data tunnel. In this way, the data packet sent by the local server can be successfully sent to the terminal, completing the offloading transmission of local services.

[0116] Example 4:

[0117] See attached document Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating another data transmission method provided in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the first information is a ping request message, the wireless communication network device is a user plane function network element, the user plane function network element supports direct communication between terminals (i.e., enabling UE mutual access capability), the user plane function network element is a UPF / P-GW, the base station is a gNB / eNB, and the terminal is a UE. Figure 8 The process shown includes the following steps:

[0118] S801: The local server sends a data packet to the distribution service device. The destination address carried in the data packet is the address of the terminal.

[0119] S802: If the offloading service device determines, based on the terminal address carried in the data packet, that there is no offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal, it obtains the address of the terminal's guardian terminal, generates a ping request message with the terminal's address as the source address and the guardian terminal's address as the destination address, or generates a ping request message with the terminal's address as the destination address and the guardian terminal's address as the source address, and sends the ping request message to the UPF / P-GW. The ping request message is, for example, a Ping UE request message.

[0120] For example, taking sending a ping request message to a UPF as an example, firstly, based on the terminal's address, the address of the UPF associated with the terminal and the tunnel endpoint identifier of the UPF are obtained. Secondly, based on the UPF's address, a first message is sent to the UPF. The first message carries the ping request message and the tunnel endpoint identifier of the UPF. For example, this first message can be a GTP-U message. The format of the GTP-U message can be found in Table 2. The TEID in the GTP-U message header is the tunnel endpoint identifier of the UPF.

[0121] GTP-U TEID Protect UeIpAddress UEIpAddress … UDP / TCP Header data

[0122] Table 2 GTP-U messages carrying ping request messages

[0123] In this embodiment, after receiving a data packet sent by the local server, the diversion service device can cache the data packet first if it determines that there is no diversion data tunnel associated with the terminal, and then forward the data packet to the terminal after the diversion data tunnel is restored.

[0124] S803: The UPF / P-GW sends N2 information to the AMF / SMF to notify the AMF / SMF that there are downlink data packets to be transmitted.

[0125] In this embodiment, N2 information may include PDU session ID, N3 CN tunnel, QoS profile(s) (Quality of service), etc.

[0126] S804: AMF / SMF triggers the paging process for the terminal.

[0127] S805: The base station issues a paging procedure to the terminal.

[0128] S806: The terminal establishes an RRC connection, responds to paging, and initiates a service request.

[0129] S807: The base station forwards a service request to the AMF / SMF to request the restoration of the user plane (UserPlane, UP) connection of the PDU session.

[0130] S808: User plane connection restored. The UPF / P-GW sends a ping request message (such as ping UErequest) from the base station to the terminal via the air interface. In this embodiment, the ping request message can be encapsulated and sent via N3 GTP-U.

[0131] S809: The base station sends the ping response from the terminal to the traffic offloading service device.

[0132] S810: The offloading service device obtains the user plane bearer information associated with the terminal, establishes an offloading data tunnel based on the user plane bearer information, and sends data packets to the terminal through the offloading data tunnel.

[0133] The method provided in the above embodiments enables the wireless communication network to support UE mutual access capabilities. The offloading service device simulates Ping UE Request to trigger the paging process of the terminal, which can activate the terminal in time to re-establish the RRC connection and establish an offloading data tunnel. In this way, the data packets sent by the local server can be successfully sent to the terminal, completing the offloading transmission of local services.

[0134] Thirdly, refer to the appendix. Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of a traffic offloading service device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. It includes at least one processor 901, at least one memory 902, and one or more I / O interfaces 903. The one or more I / O interfaces 903 are connected between the processor 901 and the memory 902. The memory 902 stores one or more computer programs, which are executed by the at least one processor 901 to enable the at least one processor 901 to implement the first aspect described above and any possible embodiment of the first aspect.

[0135] Among them, the processor is a device with data processing capabilities, including but not limited to the central processing unit (CPU); the memory is a device with data storage capabilities, including but not limited to random access memory (RAM, more specifically SDRAM, DDR, etc.), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and flash memory (FLASH); the I / O interface (read-write interface) is connected between the processor and the memory, enabling information exchange between the memory and the processor, including but not limited to the data bus (Bus).

[0136] Fourthly, refer to the appendix. Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a wireless communication network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It includes at least one processor 1001, at least one memory 1002, and one or more I / O interfaces 1003. The one or more I / O interfaces 1003 are connected between the processor 1001 and the memory 1002. The memory 1002 stores one or more computer programs, which are executed by the at least one processor 1001 to enable the at least one processor 1001 to implement the second aspect described above and any possible embodiment of the second aspect.

[0137] Among them, the processor is a device with data processing capabilities, including but not limited to the central processing unit (CPU); the memory is a device with data storage capabilities, including but not limited to random access memory (RAM, more specifically SDRAM, DDR, etc.), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and flash memory (FLASH); the I / O interface (read-write interface) is connected between the processor and the memory, enabling information exchange between the memory and the processor, including but not limited to the data bus (Bus).

[0138] Fifthly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the first aspect and any possible embodiments thereof, or the second aspect and any possible embodiments thereof.

[0139] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer program product, which includes a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the first aspect and any possible embodiments thereof, or the second aspect and any possible embodiments thereof.

[0140] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or some of the steps, systems, and devices disclosed above, as functional modules / units, can be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, or suitable combinations thereof.

[0141] In hardware implementations, the division between functional modules / units mentioned in the above description does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, a physical component may have multiple functions, or a function or step may be executed by several physical components working together.

[0142] Some or all of the physical components may be implemented as software executed by a processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU), digital signal processor, or microprocessor, or as hardware, or as an integrated circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Such software may be distributed on a computer-readable medium, which may include computer storage media (or non-transitory media) and communication media (or transient media). As is known to those skilled in the art, the term computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technique for storing information (such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data). Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM, more specifically SDRAM, DDR, etc.), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory (FLASH) or other disk storage; read-only optical disc (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD) or other optical disc storage; magnetic cartridges, magnetic tapes, disk storage or other magnetic storage; and any other media that can be used to store desired information and can be accessed by a computer. Furthermore, as is known to those skilled in the art, communication media typically contain computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in modulated data signals such as carrier waves or other transmission mechanisms, and may include any information delivery medium.

[0143] This disclosure has disclosed exemplary embodiments, and although specific terminology has been used, it is for general illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting. In some instances, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that features, characteristics, and / or elements described in conjunction with particular embodiments may be used alone, or in combination with features, characteristics, and / or elements described in conjunction with other embodiments, unless otherwise expressly indicated. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure as set forth by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A data transmission method applied to a traffic offloading service device, comprising: Receive data packets from the local server, wherein the destination address carried by the data packets is the address of the terminal; If it is determined from the address of the terminal that there is no offloading data tunnel associated with the terminal, the first information is sent to the wireless communication network device to trigger the paging process for the terminal, wherein the offloading data tunnel is the tunnel between the offloading service device and the base station. Obtain the user plane bearer information associated with the terminal, establish the offloading data tunnel based on the user plane bearer information, and send the data packet to the terminal through the offloading data tunnel.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first information includes one of the following: a paging message, an Internet Packet Explorer ping request message, or the data packet.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The wireless communication network equipment includes one of the following: base station, user plane function network element, data network element, and data center gateway.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The first information is a ping request message, and the wireless communication network device is a data network element; Sending the first information to the wireless communication network device includes: Obtain the address of the data network element; A ping request message is generated using the address of the terminal as the source address and the address of the data network element as the destination address, and the ping request message is sent to the data network element.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, Sending the ping request message to the data network element includes: The ping request message is sent to the user plane function network element or the packet data network gateway, so that the ping request message is forwarded to the data network element through the user plane function network element or the packet data network gateway.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The first information is a ping request message, and the wireless communication network device is a user plane function network element, which supports direct communication between terminals. Sending the first information to the wireless communication network device includes: Obtain the address of the guardian terminal of the terminal, the terminal and the guardian terminal can communicate directly, and the guardian terminal is in a connected state; A ping request message is generated using the address of the terminal as the source address and the address of the guardian terminal as the destination address, or a ping request message is generated using the address of the terminal as the destination address and the address of the guardian terminal as the source address, and the ping request message is sent to the user plane function network element.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein, Sending the ping request message to the user plane function network element includes: Based on the address of the terminal, obtain the address of the user plane function network element associated with the terminal and the tunnel endpoint identifier of the user plane function network element; Based on the address of the user plane function network element, a first message is sent to the user plane function network element, the first message carrying the ping request message and the tunnel endpoint identifier of the user plane function network element.

8. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The first information is a paging message, and the wireless communication network device is a base station; Sending the first information to the wireless communication network device includes: Obtain the user identifier of the terminal and the tracking area identifier of the base station; The paging message is generated based on the user identifier of the terminal and the tracking area identifier of the base station, and then sent to the base station.

9. A data transmission method applied to a wireless communication network device, comprising: Receive first information from the diversion service device, wherein the first information is sent to the wireless communication network device after the diversion service device receives a data packet from the local server and determines that the terminal corresponding to the destination address carried by the data packet does not have an associated diversion data tunnel; Based on the first information, a paging process is triggered on the terminal to restore the user plane connection.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The first information includes one of the following: a paging message, an Internet Packet Explorer ping request message, or the data packet.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, The wireless communication network equipment includes one of the following: base station, user plane function network element, data network element, and data center gateway.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, The first information is a ping request message, the source address of which is the address of the terminal and the destination address of which is the address of the data network element, and the wireless communication network device is the data network element; The receipt of the first information from the traffic splitting service device includes: The data network element receives ping request messages from the offloading service device through the user plane function network element. The step of triggering a paging process for the terminal based on the first information includes: The data network element sends a ping response message to the user plane function element, which then triggers a paging process for the terminal.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein, The first information is a ping request message, the source address of which is the address of the guardian terminal of the terminal and the destination address of which is the address of the terminal, or the source address of which is the address of the terminal and the destination address of which is the address of the guardian terminal of the terminal. The wireless communication network device is a user plane function network element, the terminal and the guardian terminal can communicate directly, and the guardian terminal is in a connected state.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein, The first information is the data packet, and the wireless communication network device is a data center gateway; The step of triggering a paging process for the terminal based on the first information includes: The data center gateway forwards the data packets to the user plane function network element, and triggers a paging process for the terminal through the user plane function network element.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein, The first information is a paging message, and the wireless communication network device is a base station. The paging message includes the user identifier of the terminal and the tracking area identifier of the base station.

16. A traffic offloading service apparatus, comprising a memory and a processor; the memory storing a computer program executable by the processor, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the method of any one of claims 1 to 8.

17. A wireless communication network device, comprising a memory and a processor; the memory storing a computer program executable by the processor, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the method of any one of claims 9 to 15.

18. A computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any one of claims 1 to 15.

19. A computer program product comprising a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any one of claims 1 to 15.

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