SESSION UPDATE METHOD, TERMINAL AND NETWORK SIDE DEVICE

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a session update method, a terminal, and a network side device, the session update method applied to a terminal includes: after establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session, receiving an indication message sent from a network side device, the indication message including a slice identifier, and the indication message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session or to initiate a PDU session establishment process based on the slice identifier.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular to a session update method, a terminal, and a network side device.

[0002] (CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This application claims priority to a Chinese patent application bearing application number 202010815092.4, filed with the China Patent Office on August 13, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. [Background technology]

[0003] In 5G (5th Generation) communication, an end-to-end slice service is provided to provide dedicated, differentiated, and quality-guaranteed specialized network services to vertical industry users. Here, after a vertical industry user opens a slice service, the network side generates a UE Route Selection Policy (URSP) and distributes the URSP to the UE after the user equipment (UE) registers with the network. After the UE stores the URSP, when the UE uses an application service provided by the vertical industry user, the UE selects a specified slice based on the URSP, and the quality of the service is guaranteed by the 5G network slice service. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the related art, the network side provides an end-to-end slice service function and has already defined the distribution process and matching rules of URSP. However, when the UE side realizes application matching through URSP, it is difficult to match the slice corresponding to the service flow related to the application according to the route / slice selection policy distributed by the network side.

[0005] To solve the problem that it is difficult for a UE to select a slice based on a URSP when establishing a session, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a session update method, a terminal and a network side device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present disclosure is realized as follows.

[0007] According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a session update method applied to a terminal, the session update method including: The method includes a step of receiving an instruction message sent from a network side device after establishing a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, the instruction message including a slice identifier, and the instruction message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to initiate a PDU session establishment process.

[0008] According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a session update method applied to a network side device, the session update method comprising: The method includes a step of sending an instruction message to the terminal after the terminal establishes a PDU session, the instruction message including a slice identifier, and the instruction message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to start a PDU session establishment process.

[0009] According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a session update method applied to a Policy Control Function (PCF), the session update method comprising: querying a route selection policy; determining a slice identifier based on the route selection policy; and transmitting the slice identifier.

[0010] According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a terminal, the terminal including a processor and a transceiver; The transceiver is used to receive an instruction message sent from a network side equipment after establishing a PDU session, the instruction message including a slice identifier, and the instruction message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to initiate a PDU session establishment process.

[0011] According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network side device, the network side device including a processor and a transceiver; The transceiver is used to send an instruction message to the terminal after the terminal establishes a PDU session, the instruction message including a slice identifier, and the instruction message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to initiate a PDU session establishment process.

[0012] According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a PCF, the PCF including a processor and a transceiver: The processor is adapted to query a route selection policy; The processor is further adapted to determine a slice identifier based on the route selection policy; The transceiver is adapted to transmit the slice identifier.

[0013] According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a terminal, the terminal comprising: The present invention includes a receiving module used to receive an instruction message sent from a network side device after establishing a PDU session, the instruction message including a slice identifier, and the instruction message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to initiate a PDU session establishment process.

[0014] According to an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network side device, the network side device comprising: The present invention also includes a transmitting module used to send an instruction message to a terminal after the terminal establishes a PDU session, the instruction message including a slice identifier, and the instruction message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to initiate a PDU session establishment process.

[0015] According to a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a PCF, the PCF comprising: a query module used for querying a route selection policy; a determination module adapted to determine a slice identifier based on the route selection policy; and a transmission module adapted to transmit the slice identifier.

[0016] According to a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a terminal, the terminal including a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable by the processor, the computer program causing the processor to realize the session updating method described in the first aspect when executed by the processor.

[0017] According to an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network side device, the network side device including a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable by the processor, the computer program, when executed by the processor, causing the processor to realize the session updating method described in the second aspect.

[0018] According to a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a PCF, the PCF including a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable by the processor, the computer program, when executed by the processor, causing the processor to realize the session update method described in the third aspect.

[0019] According to a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, the computer program causing the processor to realize the session updating method according to the first aspect, or the session updating method according to the second aspect, or the session updating method according to the third aspect, when the computer program is executed by a processor. Effect of the Invention

[0020] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after establishing a PDU session, the terminal receives an indication message sent from a network side device, the indication message includes a slice identifier, and the indication message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to initiate a PDU session establishment process. In this way, the terminal can realize switching the PDU session onto a specified slice by only modifying or re-establishing a PDU session based on a slice identifier indicated by the network side device, thereby avoiding the problem that it is difficult for the UE to select a slice based on the URSP when establishing a session. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of an example of a network system applicable to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 4 is a flowchart of a first type of session updating method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; [Diagram 3] 4 is a flowchart of a second type of session updating method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart of a third type of session updating method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] 1 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of a session updating method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; [Figure 6] 11 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of a session updating method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; [Figure 7] 11 is a flowchart of a session updating method according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure; [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of an example of a terminal provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of an example of a network side device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of an example of a PCF provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of another example of an entity provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0022] In order to make the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure clearer, the drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure are briefly introduced above. It is obvious that the above drawings are only related to the embodiments of the present disclosure, and a person skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on the drawings provided without creative efforts.

[0023] The following will more clearly and completely describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments that can be obtained by a person skilled in the art without creative efforts shall be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0024] The session update method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied to a slice network system as shown in Figure 1. Here, the system includes a terminal 11 and slice networks (a first slice network 12, a second slice network 13, and a third slice network 14 as shown in Figure 1). Different slice networks can correspond to different radio access networks 121 (RAN: Radio Access Network), transport networks 122 (TN: Transport Network) and core networks 123 (CN: Core Network), thereby providing different service functions to users through different slice networks, that is, providing dedicated, differentiated and quality-guaranteed specialized network services to users of vertical industries, such as application scenarios such as network cloud gaming services serving a 5th generation (5G: 5th Generation) communication system large network (public network) and serving clients of a 5G specialized network.

[0025] Here, the terminal 11 may be called a terminal device or a user terminal (UE: User Equipment). The terminal 11 may be a terminal side device such as a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a laptop computer or a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA: Personal Digital Assistant), a pocket computer, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC: Ultra-mobile personal computer), a mobile Internet device (MID: Mobile Internet Device), a wearable device or a vehicle user equipment (VUE: Vehicle User Equipment), a pedestrian user equipment (PUE: PUE), etc. The wearable device includes a handle, an earphone, a pair of glasses, etc. The embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited to a specific type of the terminal 11.

[0026] It should be noted that the technology described in the embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited to 5G communication systems and may be applied to applications other than New Radio (NR) system applications, such as 6th Generation (6G) communication systems.

[0027] Currently, the mapping between slices and application services is realized by a predefined URSP policy, and the URSP is distributed to the UE after the UE registers with the network. When the UE uses the application service, it finds the specified slice information based on the URSP policy, and notifies the network of the slice to be selected when establishing a session.

[0028] After a vertical industry user orders and opens a slice, the 5G network generates an URSP and distributes the URSP to the UE after the UE registers with the network. The UE stores the URSP and selects a specified slice based on the URSP when using an application service provided by the vertical industry user, and the quality of service is guaranteed by the 5G network slice technology.

[0029] However, in the related technology, it is difficult for the UE side to realize application matching by the URSP. It is difficult for the UE to match the service flow associated with the application according to the route / slice selection policy distributed from the network side, and to select the specified slice and DNN (Data Network Name) to establish a session. Specifically, it includes the following three difficulties.

[0030] In the first difficulty, currently, the service descriptor (APP ID: Application Identity) in the URSP is difficult to define in the standardization protocol of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP (registered trademark)). The APP ID is associated with the application management environment and may require consultation with third-party application providers, terminal vendors, and operators, that is, the evolution of the standard limits the development of terminal slice functions.

[0031] Regarding the second difficulty, even if the terminal adopts other service matching conditions such as IP address triples defined by the URSP, there are limitations in practical application. For example, the IP address of the application service may change due to disaster recovery backup solutions or resource adjustments, making it difficult to establish a session according to the slice and DNN selection policy distributed by the network side.

[0032] In the third difficulty, when customizing for a terminal and embedding a route / slice selection policy in the terminal to realize the combination of a service flow and a slice, there are restrictions on the application scenario, which causes the problem that the slice function is not flexible or cannot adapt to the application scenario. For example, in a game-type slice service, since there are many types of terminal selections by users, it is not possible to customize for each terminal selection. In another example, when a vertical industry client requires multi-slices and the industry terminal supports multi-slices, there are still cases in which slices and applications cannot be mapped in multi-slices.

[0033] In an embodiment of the present application, to solve the above problem, when a terminal accesses an application, the network side notifies the terminal of the slice in which the network serves the application.

[0034] Referring to Figure 2, Figure 2 is a flowchart of an example of a session update method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure and applied to a terminal. As shown in Figure 2, the session update method may include the following steps:

[0035] In step 201, after establishing a PDU session, an instruction message sent from a network side device is received, the instruction message including a slice identifier, and the instruction message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to initiate a PDU session establishment process.

[0036] Here, a "PDU session" is a session established on a slice (or can also be called a slice network), which is used to obtain a service from a service platform. The above slice identifier may be Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI), i.e., instructs the terminal to update the PDU session on the target slice corresponding to the S-NSSAI. Of course, the instruction message may further be one or more of other information, such as session type / DNN / Internet Protocol (IP) address, etc. At this time, the instruction information may further instruct the terminal to update the session type / DNN / IP address, etc. of the session.

[0037] For example, if the data network name (DNN) of the PDU session needs to be changed, the indication message further includes the data network name (DNN), and the terminal updates the PDU session to a PDU session associated with the S-NSSAI and the DNN based on the indication message.

[0038] In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, the above "update" may include session modification, session re-establishment, or initiating a PDU session establishment process, etc.

[0039] It should be noted that in a specific implementation, the re-establishment of a session can be realized by reusing a session release command message in the related art, for example, by carrying a cause value in the session release command message, the terminal can be instructed to release the session, and the PDU session can be re-established based on a slice identifier, such that the re-established PDU session is associated with the slice identifier.

[0040] In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, the so-called PDU session being correlated / associated with a slice identifier can be understood to mean that the PDU session is carried by a slice or slice network indicated by the slice identifier.

[0041] In the process of re-establishing a PDU session, the indication message may not include other information (e.g., session type / DNN / IP), and when the terminal re-establishes a PDU session, it only updates the S-NSSAI and does not update other session information such as session type / DNN / IP address.

[0042] In addition, the above instruction message may further include an application access address, a processing method (hold or release) for the original PDU session, etc., thereby instructing the terminal to modify the PDU session, re-establish a PDU session, or start a PDU session establishment process.

[0043] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a network side device instructs a terminal to modify, re-establish, or newly establish a PDU session, so that the network side can control the UE to provide services to a user through an appropriate slice, thereby solving the problem that it is difficult for a terminal to match an appropriate slice to a service flow associated with an application based on a route / slice selection policy distributed from the network side.

[0044] It should be noted that before performing step 201, when the terminal establishes a PDU session, the established PDU session may be a PDU session established on any slice network that may or may not correspond to the specified application / application server.

[0045] Furthermore, when a terminal establishes a PDU session and uses an application, a user plane and application detection mechanism can be used to identify a service flow that needs to select a specified slice. An entity that detects whether a PDU session established by a terminal matches a service flow that needs to select a specified slice, and performs service flow detection can notify a network entity of the detection result. If the network entity detects that a PDU session established by a terminal matches a service flow that needs to select a specified slice, it does not process. That is, the terminal keeps the PDU session on the current slice to access the application. If the network entity detects that a PDU session established by a terminal does not match a service flow that needs to select a specified slice, the network side can indicate a slice (e.g., S-NSSAI) that serves the application in the network, thereby triggering the terminal to change the PDU session, re-establish the PDU session, or start a PDU session establishment process based on the slice identifier, whereby the terminal is switched onto a slice corresponding to the specified application.

[0046] In a specific implementation, the network side device may be a Session Management Function (SMF) entity or a network platform that performs session management for the PDU session. A session modification command message sent from the SMF, the session modification command message being used to instruct the terminal to change a slice identifier associated with the PDU session to a slice identifier included in the session modification command message; A session release command message sent from the SMF, the session release command message being used to instruct the terminal to release a session and re-establish the session based on the slice identifier; and an application trigger message transmitted from the network platform, the application trigger message being used to instruct the terminal to access an application server via a PDU session associated with the slice identifier; and

[0047] In a first embodiment, the instruction message is a session change command message sent from an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session, and the session change command message is used to instruct the terminal to change the slice identifier associated with the PDU session to the slice identifier included in the session change command message, thereby updating the PDU session.

[0048] In a specific implementation, modifying the PDU session can be understood as modifying session properties in the PDU session.

[0049] In this embodiment, the terminal makes changes to the session properties of the PDU session based on a session modification command message sent from the SMF, thereby changing the slice identifier associated with the PDU session to the slice identifier included in the session modification command message, thereby realizing associating the PDU session with the target slice.

[0050] In a second embodiment, the instruction message is a session release command message sent from an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session, and the session release command message is used to instruct the terminal to release the session and re-establish the session based on the slice identifier.

[0051] In this embodiment, the terminal releases the PDU session and re-establishes a session associated with the slice identifier based on a session release command message sent from the SMF.

[0052] Further, the session release command message may carry a cause value, which is used to instruct the terminal to re-establish the PDU session, and the re-established PDU session is associated with the slice identifier.

[0053] In this way, the terminal can re-establish the PDU session after releasing the PDU session. Specifically, the terminal can establish a PDU session on a slice corresponding to a slice identifier transmitted from the network side, thereby realizing association of the PDU session with the target slice.

[0054] In practical applications, after re-establishing a PDU session, the terminal can transmit the service flow of the current PDU session to the user plane channel of the re-established PDU session.

[0055] In a third embodiment, the instruction message is an application trigger message sent from a network platform, and the application trigger message is used to instruct the terminal to access an application server via a PDU session associated with the slice identifier.

[0056] In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, a command message can further be newly established by a session sent from an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session, and the session release command message is used to instruct the terminal to newly establish the session based on the slice identifier.

[0057] The difference between this embodiment and the above two embodiments is that in the above two embodiments, an indication message is sent by the SMF, and in this embodiment, an indication message is sent by the network platform, and when the terminal receives the indication message, if the terminal has already established a PDU session associated with the slice identifier, it can directly use the PDU session associated with the slice identifier to access the application server. If the terminal has not established a PDU session associated with the slice identifier, it establishes a PDU session associated with the slice identifier to access the application server, thereby realizing the association of the PDU session with the target slice.

[0058] In other words, when the indication message is an application trigger message, the session updating method further comprises: if a session associated with the slice identifier has not been established, initiating a PDU session establishment process and establishing a PDU session associated with the slice identifier for accessing the application server; Or, When a session associated with the slice identifier is established, accessing the application server using a PDU session associated with the slice identifier.

[0059] In a specific implementation, if a PDU session corresponding to the slice identifier has not been established, when it is necessary to access an application server based on the slice identifier, a PDU session corresponding to the slice identifier needs to be established, thereby initiating a PDU session establishment process and establishing a PDU session associated with the slice identifier for accessing the application server.

[0060] Furthermore, if a session associated with the slice identifier has already been established, the terminal does not need to re-establish a PDU session and can directly access the application server using the PDU session associated with the slice identifier.

[0061] In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, the network side instructs the terminal to access the application via a target slice corresponding to the slice identifier by carrying the slice identifier in an instruction message sent to the terminal.

[0062] The difference between the embodiment of the present disclosure and the related art is that in the related art, before the PDU session is established, the UE matches the URSP based on the service descriptor to find the identifier of the slice that the network provides the service to the application, so that in the process of establishing the PDU session, the UE carries the session information (or called session parameters) and the identifier of the slice to establish the PDU session. In this way, after the PDU session is successfully established, the PDU session established by the UE uses the resources of the slice, and quality guarantee is provided by the slice.

[0063] In the technical solution of the present disclosure, the UE directly establishes a PDU session, and associates the PDU session with a correct slice according to the instruction of the network side. The determination of the correct slice is determined by the network side, which avoids the problem in the related art that the UE has difficulty in matching a slice corresponding to a service flow associated with an application according to a route / slice selection policy distributed by the network side.

[0064] In practical application, the terminal can specifically determine whether to change, re-establish, or start the PDU session by determining the support capability for the target slice of the SMF corresponding to the PDU session before switching. Specifically, it can include the following three cases.

[0065] case one The network side device is an SMF, and if the SMF supports a target slice corresponding to the slice identifier, the indication message is the session modification command message or the session release command message.

[0066] In this embodiment, by making a change or re-establishment to the PDU session, the terminal updates the session onto a slice corresponding to the slice identifier supported by the SMF.

[0067] Case 2 The network side device is an SMF, and if the SMF does not support the target slice corresponding to the slice identifier, the PDU session can be re-established.

[0068] Here, by re-establishing the PDU session, the original PDU session can be released and a PDU session corresponding to the slice identifier can be established, thereby causing the terminal to update the session to the newly established PDU session.

[0069] Case 3 The network side device is a network platform capable of sending a notification message to the terminal, and the network platform can send an application trigger message to the terminal, and the application trigger message is used to instruct the terminal to access an application server through a PDU session associated with the slice identifier. If a PDU session associated with the slice identifier has not been established, the terminal newly establishes a PDU session associated with the slice identifier and accesses the application server through the newly established PDU session.

[0070] In addition, when a new PDU session is established, the original PDU session is put on hold and a new PDU session corresponding to the slice identifier is established.

[0071] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal includes receiving an indication message sent from a network side device after establishing a PDU session, the indication message including a slice identifier, and the indication message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session or to initiate a PDU session establishment process based on the slice identifier. In this way, the terminal realizes switching the PDU session onto a specified slice by only modifying, re-establishing, or newly establishing the PDU session according to the slice identifier indicated by the network side device, and avoids the problem that it is difficult for the UE to select a slice based on the URSP when establishing a session.

[0072] Referring to Fig. 3, Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a second type of session update method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is applied to a network side device. As shown in Fig. 3, the session update method can include the following steps:

[0073] In step 301, after the terminal establishes a PDU session, it sends an instruction message to the terminal, the instruction message including a slice identifier, and the instruction message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to start a PDU session establishment process.

[0074] Here, the above prompting messages have the same meaning as the prompting messages in the method embodiment as shown in FIG. 2, and will not be repeated here.

[0075] Furthermore, if the data network name (DNN) of the PDU session needs to be changed, the instruction message further includes the data network name (DNN).

[0076] Furthermore, the network side equipment is a network platform or an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session.

[0077] Furthermore, the instruction message A session modification command message sent from the SMF, the session modification command message being used to instruct the terminal to change a slice identifier associated with the PDU session to a slice identifier included in the session modification command message; A session release command message sent from the SMF, the session release command message being used to instruct the terminal to release a session and re-establish the session based on the slice identifier; and an application trigger message transmitted from the network platform, the application trigger message being used to instruct the terminal to access an application server via a PDU session associated with the slice identifier; and

[0078] case one The above session change command message is used to instruct the terminal to change the slice network of the PDU session, so that the terminal accesses the application platform on the changed slice network.

[0079] Case 2 The above-mentioned session release command message is used to instruct the terminal to release the current PDU session and re-establish the session associated with the slice identifier.

[0080] In a specific implementation, a session release command message sent from the SMF to the terminal can carry a cause value, which is used to instruct the terminal to re-establish the PDU session, and the re-established PDU session is associated with the slice identifier.

[0081] In this way, the terminal can access the application platform through the re-established PDU session.

[0082] Case 3 The above application trigger message is used to instruct the terminal to access the application server via a PDU session associated with the slice identifier.

[0083] Different from the SMF sending a session release command message to the terminal in case 2, in this embodiment, when the terminal receives the application trigger message, it determines whether the current PDU session is associated with the slice identifier, and if so, it can access the application platform through the PDU session; if not, it can establish a new PDU session associated with the slice identifier, and access the application platform through the newly established PDU session, and the original PDU session can be suspended.

[0084] In one alternative embodiment, the network side device is the SMF, and if the SMF does not support the slice identifier, the indication message is the session release command message; Or, The network side device is the SMF, and if the SMF supports the slice identifier, the instruction message is the session modification command message or the session release command message.

[0085] Wherein, if the SMF does not support the slice identifier, the session release command message can instruct the terminal to re-establish a session on another SMF that newly supports the slice identifier, thereby accessing an application server through the session, at which time, the session on the original SMF can be released to save network resources.

[0086] If the SMF supports the slice identifier, the session can be updated on the slice identifier by a session modification command message, or a session release command message can be further used to re-establish a session on the same SMF, thereby accessing an application server through the session.

[0087] In a first embodiment, the network side device is the SMF, and before transmitting an indication message to the terminal, the session updating method further includes: The method includes receiving a first session control message sent from a PCF, the first session control message carrying a slice identifier determined by the route selection policy (in other words, receiving a first session control message sent after it is determined by a PCF that the PDU session needs to be associated with slice selection auxiliary information, the first session control message carrying the slice identifier that needs to be associated with the PDU session).

[0088] In a specific implementation, the PCF can obtain application-related information and / or user-related information (e.g., application information, session information, and UE information), etc., and thereby determine a slice identifier that needs to be associated with the PDU session by querying a route selection policy based on the above information.

[0089] In addition, the first session control message may further carry application-related information and / or user-related information, whereby the SMF decides to make modifications to, re-establish, or newly establish a PDU session based on the above information and the slice identifier.

[0090] In a second embodiment, the network side device is the SMF, and before transmitting an indication message to the terminal, the session updating method further includes: receiving a first service request sent from a NEF or an AF, the first service request carrying application-related information and / or user-related information; sending a first request message to a PCF after detecting that a terminal has accessed the application based on the first service request, the first request message being used to instruct the PCF to query a route selection policy; receiving a response message sent from a PCF, the response message carrying a slice identifier determined based on the route selection policy.

[0091] In a specific implementation, the first service request may carry query parameters, which may include at least one of application-related information and user-related information, and may further include session information established by the terminal, etc.

[0092] Receive a first service request sent from an NEF or AF, the first service request carrying application-related information (e.g., an address associated with an application, which may also be referred to as "application information") or user-related information (which may also be referred to as "UE information"), and when the SMF receives the first service request, it requests a PCF request to obtain the slice identifier that needs to be associated with the PDU session, thereby sending a first request message to the PCF.

[0093] After detecting that the terminal has accessed the application based on the first service request, send a first request message to a PCF, the first request message is used to instruct the PCF to query a route selection policy, and the first request message can carry the above-mentioned application information and UE information. Specifically, the application-related information can include an address of the application and / or an identifier of the application, and the user-related information can include an address of the user and / or an identifier of the user.

[0094] In other words, the session parameters are query parameters carried in a first request message sent from an SMF and used to request a PCF to query a route selection policy, and the session parameters may include at least one of application information corresponding to the PDU session, server information corresponding to the PDU session, and terminal identifier information corresponding to the PDU session.

[0095] After receiving the request message, the PCF queries a route selection policy, thereby determining the slice identifier that needs to be associated with the PDU session, and carries the slice identifier obtained by the inspection in a response message and sends it to the SMF.

[0096] In a specific implementation, the response message can further include a data network name.

[0097] In other words, if the PDU session needs to be associated with a data network name (DNN), the SMF can instruct the terminal to associate the PDU session associated with the slice identifier with the data network name based on the response message.

[0098] Furthermore, the response message is a second session control message.

[0099] In a specific implementation, the SMF may decide to modify, re-establish, or newly establish a PDU session based on the first session control message or the second session control message.

[0100] In this embodiment, the SMF can autonomously trigger a change, re-establishment, or new establishment of a PDU session based on a first service request sent from the NEF or AF, and autonomously seek a slice identifier from the PCF.

[0101] In a third embodiment, the network side device is a network platform, and before sending the instruction message to the terminal, the session updating method further includes: The method includes receiving a service message (which may also be referred to as a "service notification message") sent from an AF or NEF, the service message carrying a slice identifier that needs to be associated with a PDU session that accesses an application server.

[0102] In a specific implementation, receiving a service message sent from the AF or NEF, the service message carrying a slice identifier that needs to be associated with a PDU session for accessing an application server may be such that, after the UE establishes a PDU session, when the UE accesses an application server through the PDU session, the NEF or AF triggers the PCF to query a route selection policy based on the operation, thereby determining a slice identifier that needs to be associated with a PDU session for accessing an application server, and sending the slice identifier to the UE. Specifically, the process of the embodiment shown in Figure 7 may be referred to.

[0103] Further, the service message includes a DNN.

[0104] In this embodiment, the AF initiates a new PDU session establishment process, and in the process of the AF initiating the new PDU session establishment process, the AF sends an instruction to the UE through a network platform (e.g., SMSC) to establish a new PDU session based on session information, and the UE actively checks whether a PDU session based on the session information already exists, if so, there is no need to establish a new PDU session, if not, a new PDU session is established based on the session information.

[0105] Referring to Figure 4, Figure 4 is a flowchart of a third type of session update method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the session update method is applied to a PCF. As shown in Figure 4, the session update method can include the following steps:

[0106] In step 401, a route selection policy is queried.

[0107] In step 402, a slice identifier is determined based on the route selection policy.

[0108] In step 403, the slice identifier is transmitted.

[0109] In a specific implementation, the slice identifier is used by a terminal to modify or re-establish an established PDU session, or to initiate a PDU session establishment process.

[0110] Specifically, the PCF can determine a slice identifier corresponding to a service platform corresponding to a PDU session established by the terminal based on query parameters (application-related information and / or user-related information) and a route selection policy corresponding to the PDU session.

[0111] In one alternative embodiment, the session update method further comprises: After determining the slice identifier based on the route selection policy, the method further includes transmitting a data network name (DNN).

[0112] In a specific implementation, the PCF can send the DNN to the network side device, whereby the network side device instructs the terminal to update the DNN associated with the PDU session.

[0113] In one alternative embodiment, before consulting the route selection policy, the session update method further comprises: receiving a request message sent from an SMF, an AF or a NEF, the request message carrying application-related information and / or user-related information used to query the route selection policy; The step of transmitting the slice identifier specifically includes: transmitting a slice identifier determined based on the route selection policy to an SMF; Or, A step of transmitting the slice identifier determined based on the route selection policy to the NEF or AF.

[0114] In one embodiment, when the SMF receives a first service request sent from an AF or a NEF, the SMF may send a first request message to a PCF, thereby proactively requesting the PCF to perform a route selection policy query based on at least one of the application-related information and the user-related information, and transmit a slice identifier obtained by utilizing the route selection policy obtained by the query to at least one of the SMF, the AF, or the NEF.

[0115] Specifically, when a slice identifier is sent to an SMF, the SMF can instruct the terminal to perform session modification or session re-establishment based on slice support capability.

[0116] When the slice identifier is sent to the AF or NEF, the AF or NEF can notify the terminal of the slice identifier through a network platform that can send a notification message to the terminal, thereby instructing the terminal to access the application through a session associated with the slice identifier, and if the terminal has not established a session associated with the slice identifier, causes the terminal to initiate a session establishment process, thereby establishing a session associated with the slice identifier and then accessing the application through the session.

[0117] In another embodiment, the PCF may receive a request message sent from an AF or a NEF, and may thereby perform a route selection policy query autonomously based on application-related information and / or user-related information carried by the request message, and transmit a slice identifier obtained using the route selection policy query to at least one of the SMF, the AF, or the NEF.

[0118] In other words, the slice identifier is used to be obtained by an SMF performing session management for the PDU session or to be spontaneously sent to the SMF, and the SMF instructs the terminal to perform a session update operation, such as modifying, re-establishing, or initiating a session establishment process. Or, the slice identifier is sent to the terminal by a network platform capable of sending a notification message to the terminal, thereby informing the terminal to access an application server by the slice identifier, thereby allowing the terminal to determine whether a new PDU session needs to be established based on the slice identifier.

[0119] In implementation, the slice identifier may be determined locally by the PCF or based on route selection policies in the UDR.

[0120] For example, the application-related information and / or user-related information is sent by an AF or NEF, and the slice identifier is sent to an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session.

[0121] This embodiment may correspond to an embodiment in which the network device is an SMF and the PCF autonomously queries the route selection policy, such as step 3 and step 4 in the embodiment shown in FIG.

[0122] Alternatively, the application-related information and / or user-related information is sent by an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session, and the slice identifier is sent to the SMF.

[0123] This embodiment may correspond to an embodiment in which the network device is an SMF and the SMF autonomously triggers the PCF to query the route selection policy, for example, steps 4 and 5 in the embodiment shown in Fig. 6, which are not repeated here.

[0124] Alternatively, the application related information and / or user related information is sent by an AF or NEF and the slice identifier is sent to the AF or NEF.

[0125] This embodiment may correspond to an embodiment in which the network device is a network platform and the AF or NEF autonomously triggers the PCF to query the route selection policy, such as steps 3, 4 and 5 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, which are not repeated here.

[0126] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the PCF determines a slice identifier that needs to be associated with a PDU session established by a terminal based on application-related information and / or user-related information (query parameters), so that the network side device instructs the terminal to perform a session update based on the slice identifier. Similarly, when a terminal establishes a PDU session, the problem of selecting a specified slice to establish the session can be avoided.

[0127] In order to facilitate understanding of the session update method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the session update method will be described below by taking an example together with a data interaction process between a terminal and a network side device.

[0128] Embodiment 1 The network side device is an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session, and the SMF can receive an indication message sent from a PCF. A session update process may be as shown in Figure 5, and the session update may include the following steps:

[0129] In step 1, the UE initiates a session establishment and selects to establish session A on slice A.

[0130] Here, slice A may be any slice network, and the terminal may select slice A by random selection or by fixedly selecting the same slice network for different sessions, where session A is PDU session A (including S-NSSAI=A).

[0131] In step 2, the UE accesses an application platform, i.e., an Application Function (AF) (entity), from the user plane of session A.

[0132] In step 3, the NEF or AF sends a first service request to the PCF.

[0133] In this step, after the AF detects that the UE uses the application service, it sends a first service request to the PCF through a Network Exposure Function (NEF), so that the NEF can inform the PCF that the UE accesses the application platform, and inform the PCF of UE information (e.g., UE IP address) and application information (e.g., application address, application ID).

[0134] In a specific implementation, the AF can also directly notify the PCF, and there is no limitation thereto.

[0135] In step 4, the PCF sends a first session control message to the original SMF.

[0136] In this step, the PCF finds the corresponding session and the SMF that manages the session based on the binding relationship between the UE information and the application information and each UE session, and determines that the user needs to switch to slice B based on the route selection policy, and then carries the slice identifier (i.e., S-NSSAI=B), application information, and UE information in the first session control message, and distributes it to the SMF that manages the UE session.

[0137] In this step, if the above route selection policy is located in a Unified Data Repository (UDR) (entity), the PCF responsible for session policy control can query and obtain the route selection policy from the UDR.

[0138] In step 5, the SMF determines its support capability for slice B based on the above first session control message.

[0139] Here, if the determination result of this step is that it is supported, step 6 is executed, and if the determination result of this step is that it is not supported, step 7 is executed.

[0140] In step 6, the SMF updates the session context and sends a SESSION MODIFICATION COMMAND message to the UE to initiate the session modification, thereby updating the S-NSSAI=B associated with the session.

[0141] In this step, the terminal changes the session information of the PDU session based on the session modification command message sent from the SMF, thereby updating the slice associated with the PDU session.

[0142] In step 7, the SMF sends a SESSION RELEASE COMMAND message to the UE, thereby instructing the UE to initiate session re-establishment and carrying S-NSSAI=B.

[0143] In this step, the SMF may send a session release command message to the UE, where the session release command message carries S-NSSAI=B, indicating that the S-NSSAI of the session needs to be updated to B. And the indication message may not carry other session information, thus implicitly accepting that other session information remains unchanged (e.g., session type / DNN / IP address, etc. remain unchanged).

[0144] It should be noted that after receiving the SMF session release command message, the terminal can release the original PDU session A.

[0145] Furthermore, after releasing the original PDU, the UE further performs a request to re-establish a PDU session on S-NSSAI=B, and the PDU session is session-managed by the SMF supporting S-NSSAI=B.

[0146] In a specific implementation, the instruction message adopts a session change command message to carry the above session information.

[0147] In step 8, the UE performs session modification or re-establishment based on the instruction of the SMF and switches the PDU session accessing the specified application onto slice B (i.e., S-NSSAI=B).

[0148] In this step, after completing the session modification or re-establishment, the UE accesses the application platform from the user plane corresponding to the modified session or the re-established session.

[0149] In this embodiment, the PCF initiates a PDU session modification or re-establishment, and after it is decided to perform a PDU session modification / re-establishment, the PCF instructs the UE to perform a PDU session modification or re-establishment via the SMF that manages the original PDU.

[0150] In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, a command message can further be newly established by a session sent from an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session, and the session release command message is used to instruct the terminal to newly establish the session based on the slice identifier.

[0151] Embodiment 2 The network side device is an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session, and the SMF can autonomously seek a target slice from a PCF when a terminal obtains to use an application service. The session update process may be as shown in Figure 6, and the session update may include the following steps:

[0152] In step 1, the UE initiates a session establishment and selects to establish session A on slice A.

[0153] Here, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, slice A can be any slice network.

[0154] In step 2, the UE accesses the application platform (AF) from the user plane of session A.

[0155] In step 3, the NEF or AF sends a first service request to the SMF that manages the session.

[0156] Here, the above first service request has the same meaning as the first service request in the embodiment as shown in FIG. 5, and will not be repeated here.

[0157] In step 4, the SMF sends a request message to the PCF.

[0158] In this step, the request information may carry UE information (e.g., the UE's IP address) and application information (e.g., application address, application ID), or may further carry query parameters (application-related information and / or user-related information), such as session information, thereby requesting the PCF to query the user's route selection policy based on the above query parameters.

[0159] In step 5, the PCF sends a response message to the SMF.

[0160] Here, the above response message is specifically a response message to a request message, and the response message carries the slice identifier that is determined by a session query parameter and needs to be associated with the PDU session.

[0161] If the above route selection policy is located in the UDR, the PCF in charge of session policy control can obtain the route selection policy by querying the UDR.

[0162] In this step, the PCF determines based on the route selection policy that the user needs to switch to slice B and distributes the session information (including S-NSSAI=B) to the SMF that manages the UE's session (i.e., the SMF that manages session A).

[0163] In step 6, the SMF determines its support capability for slice B.

[0164] If the determination result in this step is that the feature is supported, step 7 is executed, and if the determination result in this step is that the feature is not supported, step 8 is executed.

[0165] In step 7, the SMF updates the session context and sends a SESSION MODIFICATION COMMAND message to the UE to initiate the session modification, thereby updating the S-NSSAI=B associated with the session.

[0166] In step 8, the SMF sends a SESSION RELEASE COMMAND message to the UE, thereby instructing the UE to initiate session re-establishment and carrying S-NSSAI=B.

[0167] This step is the same as step 7 in the embodiment as shown in FIG. 5 and is not repeated here.

[0168] In step 9, the UE performs session modification or re-establishment based on the instruction of the SMF and switches the PDU session accessing the specified application onto slice B (i.e., S-NSSAI=B).

[0169] In this embodiment, the SMF initiates a PDU session modification or re-establishment, and in the process of initiating a PDU session modification / re-establishment, retrieves a route selection policy from the PCF and determines slice B, and thereby instructs the terminal to perform a session modification or session re-establishment for the PDU session based on this.

[0170] In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, a command message can further be newly established by a session sent from an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session, and the session release command message is used to instruct the terminal to newly establish the session based on the slice identifier.

[0171] Embodiment 3 When the network side device is a network platform, the network platform can instruct the terminal to establish a new PDU session. Specifically, the session update process may be as shown in FIG. 7, and the session update may include the following steps:

[0172] In step 1, the UE initiates a session establishment and selects to establish session A on slice A.

[0173] In step 2, the UE accesses the application platform (AF) from the user plane of session A.

[0174] In step 3, the NEF or AF sends the query parameters to the PCF.

[0175] In step 4, the PCF queries the route selection policy based on the query parameters.

[0176] In a specific implementation, if the above route selection policy is located in the UDR, the PCF responsible for session policy control can obtain the route selection policy by querying from the UDR.

[0177] In step 5, the PCF returns the corresponding slice identifier to the AF or NEF.

[0178] Here, the PCF returns the corresponding slice B (ie, S-NSSAI=B) to the AF or NEF. Besides, the PCF can return the UE information and application information to the AF or NEF.

[0179] In step 6, the AF or NEF sends a service announcement message to the network platform.

[0180] Here, the network platform is specifically a network platform that can send a notification to the UE, and the service notification message carries a slice identifier (S-NSSAI=B) that needs to be associated with the PDU session that accesses the application server.

[0181] In this step, the service notification message can further carry UE information and application information and be pushed to a network platform, which can send a notification to the UE.

[0182] In step 7, the network platform sends an application trigger message to the UE.

[0183] Here, the application trigger message is used to instruct the terminal to access an application server via a PDU session associated with the slice identifier.

[0184] In step 8, the UE checks whether a PDU session has already been established in the session information.

[0185] In addition, if the determination result of this step is that a PDU session has already been established in the session information, step 8 is executed, and if the determination result of this step is that a PDU session has not been established in the session information, step 9 is executed.

[0186] In step 9, the application server is accessed through the PDU session.

[0187] In step 10, at the instruction of the network entity, a process of establishing a new PDU session is started, and the application server is accessed through the newly established PDU session by the process.

[0188] In this embodiment, the AF initiates a process of establishing a new PDU session, and in the process of the AF initiating the process of establishing a new PDU session, a network platform (e.g., a Short Message Service Center (SMSC)) sends an instruction to the UE to establish a new PDU session based on session information, and the UE actively checks whether a PDU session based on the session information already exists. If so, there is no need to establish a new PDU session; if not, a new PDU session is established based on the session information.

[0189] Referring to FIG. 8, FIG. 8 is a structural diagram of an example of a terminal provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8, the terminal 800 includes: The device includes a first transceiver module 801 used to receive an instruction message sent from a network side device after establishing a PDU session, the instruction message including a slice identifier, and the instruction message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to initiate a PDU session establishment process.

[0190] Additionally, the instruction message includes a data network name (DNN).

[0191] Furthermore, the instruction message A session change command message transmitted from an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session, the session change command message being used to instruct the terminal to change a slice identifier associated with the PDU session to a slice identifier included in the session change command message; A session release command message transmitted from an SMF performing session management for the PDU session, the session release command message being used to instruct the terminal to release the session and re-establish the session based on the slice identifier; and an application trigger message transmitted from a network platform, the application trigger message being used to instruct the terminal to access an application server via a PDU session associated with the slice identifier; and

[0192] Furthermore, if the instruction message is an application trigger message, the terminal 800: an establishment module used to initiate a PDU session establishment process and establish a PDU session associated with the slice identifier for accessing the application server if a session associated with the slice identifier has not been established; Or, and an access module used to access the application server using a PDU session associated with the slice identifier when a session associated with the slice identifier is established.

[0193] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a terminal receives an instruction message sent from a network side equipment, determines slice information corresponding to a session based on a slice identifier specified by the network side equipment, and can perform session modification, re-establishment, or initiate a session establishment process based on the slice information, thereby avoiding the problem that when a terminal needs to select a slice corresponding to a session when establishing a PDU session, the slice selection process is difficult to realize.

[0194] Referring to FIG. 9, FIG. 9 is a structural diagram of an example of a network side device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9, the network side device 900 includes: The terminal includes a first transmitting module 901 used to send an instruction message to the terminal after the terminal establishes a PDU session, the instruction message including a slice identifier, and the instruction message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to start a PDU session establishment process.

[0195] Additionally, the instruction message includes a data network name (DNN).

[0196] Furthermore, the network side equipment is a network platform or an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session.

[0197] Furthermore, the instruction message A session modification command message sent from the SMF, the session modification command message being used to instruct the terminal to change a slice identifier associated with the PDU session to a slice identifier included in the session modification command message; A session release command message sent from the SMF, the session release command message being used to instruct the terminal to release a session and re-establish the session based on the slice identifier; and an application trigger message transmitted from the network platform, the application trigger message being used to instruct the terminal to access an application server via a PDU session associated with the slice identifier; and

[0198] Furthermore, the network side device is the SMF, and if the SMF does not support the slice identifier, the indication message is the session release command message; Or, The network side device is the SMF, and if the SMF supports the slice identifier, the instruction message is the session modification command message or the session release command message.

[0199] Furthermore, the network side device is the SMF, and the network side device 900 A second receiving module is included, which is used to receive a first session control message sent from a PCF, the first session control message carrying a slice identifier determined by a route selection policy.

[0200] Furthermore, the network side device is the SMF, and the network side device 900 a third receiving module used for receiving a first service request sent from a NEF or an AF, the first service request carrying application-related information and / or user-related information; A second sending module is used to send a first request message to a PCF after detecting that a terminal accesses the application according to the first service request, the first request message being used to instruct the PCF to query a route selection policy; and a fourth receiving module used to receive a response message sent from the PCF, the response message carrying a slice identifier determined based on the route selection policy.

[0201] Additionally, the response message includes a Data Network Name (DNN).

[0202] Furthermore, the application-related information comprises an address of the application and / or an identifier of the application; The user related information includes an address of the user and / or an identifier of the user.

[0203] Furthermore, the response message is a second session control message.

[0204] Furthermore, the network side device is a network platform, and the network side device 900 is A fifth receiving module is included, which is used for receiving a service message sent from an AF or an NEF, where the service message carries a slice identifier that needs to be associated with a PDU session that accesses an application server.

[0205] Further, the service message includes a DNN.

[0206] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the network side device sends an instruction message to instruct the terminal to modify, re-establish a PDU session or initiate a session establishment process, thereby allowing the terminal to perform corresponding session updates based on the instruction message, thereby avoiding the problem that when the terminal needs to select a slice corresponding to a PDU session when establishing the PDU session, the process of selecting a slice is difficult to realize.

[0207] Referring to FIG. 10, FIG. 10 is a structural diagram of an example of a PCF, which is an entity provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10, the PCF 1000 includes: A query module 1001 used for querying a route selection policy; a determination module 1002 used to determine a slice identifier based on the route selection policy; and a third transmitting module 1003 used for transmitting the slice identifier.

[0208] Furthermore, the slice identifier is used by the terminal to modify or re-establish an established PDU session or to initiate a PDU session establishment process.

[0209] Furthermore, before consulting the route selection policy, the PCF 1000 a fourth receiving module used for receiving a request message sent from an SMF, an AF or an NEF, the request message carrying application-related information and / or user-related information used to query the route selection policy; The third sending module 1003 specifically includes: for transmitting a slice identifier determined based on the route selection policy to an SMF; Or, It is used to transmit to the NEF or AF the slice identifier determined based on the route selection policy.

[0210] In addition, PCF: After determining the slice identifier based on the route selection policy, the fourth sending module further includes a data network name (DNN) sending module.

[0211] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the PCF1000 can determine a slice identifier that needs to be associated with a PDU session established by a terminal based on a query parameter corresponding to the PDU session, thereby avoiding the problem that the slice selection process is difficult to realize when a terminal needs to select a slice corresponding to the session when establishing a PDU session.

[0212] Referring to FIG. 11, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an example of an entity, which includes a bus 1101, a transceiver 1102, an antenna 1103, a bus interface 1104, a processor 1105, and a memory 1106.

[0213] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the entity is a network side device, and the entity includes a processor 1105 and a transceiver 1102; The transceiver 1102 is used to send an instruction message to the terminal after the terminal establishes a PDU session, the instruction message including a slice identifier, and the instruction message is used to instruct the terminal to modify or re-establish the PDU session based on the slice identifier, or to initiate a PDU session establishment process.

[0214] Furthermore, if the DNN data network name of the PDU session needs to be changed, the instruction message includes the data network name (DNN).

[0215] Furthermore, the network side equipment is a network platform or an SMF that performs session management for the PDU session.

[0216] Furthermore, the instruction message A session modification command message sent from the SMF, the session modification command message being used to instruct the terminal to change a slice identifier associated with the PDU session to a slice identifier included in the session modification command message; A session release command message sent from the SMF, the session release command message being used to instruct the terminal to release a session and re-establish the session based on the slice identifier; and an application trigger message transmitted from the network platform, the application trigger message being used to instruct the terminal to access an application server via a PDU session associated with the slice identifier; and

[0217] Furthermore, the network side device is the SMF, and if the SMF does not support the slice identifier, the indication message is the session release command message; Or, The network side device is the SMF, and if the SMF supports the slice identifier, the instruction message is the session modification command message or the session release command message.

[0218] Furthermore, the network side device is the SMF, and before the transceiver 1102 executes sending an indication message to the terminal, Used to receive a first session control message sent from a PCF, the first session control message carrying a slice identifier determined by a route selection policy.

[0219] Furthermore, the network side device is the SMF, and before the transceiver 1102 executes sending an indication message to the terminal, Receive a first service request sent from a NEF or an AF, the first service request carrying application-related information and / or user-related information; After detecting that the terminal has accessed the application based on the first service request, a first request message is sent to a PCF, the first request message is used to instruct the PCF to query a route selection policy; It is used to receive a response message sent from a PCF, the response message carrying a slice identifier determined based on the route selection policy.

[0220] Further, the response message includes a DNN.

[0221] Furthermore, the application related information comprises an address of the application and / or an identifier of the application, and the user related information comprises an address of the user and / or an identifier of the user.

[0222] Furthermore, the response message is a second session control message.

[0223] Further, the network side device is a network platform, and before the transceiver 1102 executes sending an instruction message to the terminal, It is used to receive a service message sent from an AF or NEF, which carries a slice identifier that needs to be associated with a PDU session that accesses an application server.

[0224] Further, the service message includes a DNN.

[0225] In this embodiment, the entity may implement each step implemented by the network side device in the embodiment of the method as shown in FIG. 6, which will not be repeated here to avoid redundancy.

[0226] The entity of this embodiment can instruct the terminal to perform a session update after the terminal establishes a PDU session, thereby allowing the terminal to modify, re-establish, or initiate a session update process based on the instruction of the entity, thereby avoiding the problem that when the terminal needs to select a slice corresponding to a PDU session when establishing the PDU session, the slice selection process is difficult to realize.

[0227] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the entity is a PCF, the entity including a processor 1105 and a transceiver 1102; The processor 1005 is used to query a route selection policy; The processor 1005 is further adapted to determine a slice identifier based on the route selection policy; The transceiver 1002 is used to transmit the slice identifier.

[0228] Furthermore, the slice identifier is used by the terminal to modify or re-establish an established PDU session or to initiate a PDU session establishment process.

[0229] Furthermore, before consulting the route selection policy, The transceiver 1002 is further used for receiving a request message sent from an SMF, an AF or an NEF, the request message carrying application-related information and / or user-related information used to query the route selection policy; The step of transmitting the slice identifier performed by the transceiver 1002 specifically includes: transmitting a slice identifier determined based on the route selection policy to an SMF; Or, A step of transmitting the slice identifier determined based on the route selection policy to the NEF or AF.

[0230] Furthermore, the transceiver 1102 After determining the slice identifier based on the route selection policy, it is further used to transmit the DNN.

[0231] In this embodiment, the entity may implement each of the steps implemented by the PCF in the embodiment of the method as shown in FIG. 7, which will not be repeated here to avoid redundancy.

[0232] The entity of this embodiment can determine a slice identifier that needs to be associated with the PDU session established by the terminal based on the received session query request after the terminal establishes a PDU session, and can notify the terminal by the network side to perform session modification, re-establishment, or initiate a session update process, thereby realizing the PDU session to be updated to be associated with the slice identifier, thereby avoiding the problem that when a terminal needs to select a slice corresponding to a PDU session when establishing the PDU session, the slice selection process is difficult to realize.

[0233] In FIG. 11, regarding the bus architecture (represented by bus 1101), the bus 1101 may include any amount of interconnected buses and bridges, and the bus 1101 couples various circuits including one or more processors, represented by processor 1105, and memory, represented by memory 1106. The bus 1101 may also couple various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and will not be described further herein. The bus interface 1104 provides an interface between the bus 1101 and the transceiver 1102. The transceiver 1102 may be a single component or may be multiple components, for example multiple receivers and transmitters, providing a unit that communicates with various other devices over a transmission medium. The data processed by the processor 1105 is transmitted over a wireless medium by the antenna 1103, which further receives the data and transmits the data to the processor 1105.

[0234] The processor 1105 is responsible for managing and generally operating the bus 1101, and may also provide a variety of functions, including, for example, timing, peripheral interfaces, voltage regulation, power management, and other control functions. The memory 1106 may be used to store data used when operations are performed by the processor 1105.

[0235] Optionally, the processor 1105 may be a central processing unit (CPU), an ASIC, an FPGA, or a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD).

[0236] Optionally, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a terminal, including a processor 1105, a memory 1106, and a computer program stored in the memory 1106 and executable by the processor 1105, which, when executed by the processor 1105, enables the processor 1105 to realize each step of an embodiment of a session updating method as shown in FIG. 2 above, so as to achieve the same technical effects, which will not be repeated here to avoid duplication.

[0237] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, realizes each process of the embodiment of the session update method as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 above, and can achieve the same technical effects, which will not be repeated here to avoid duplication.

[0238] Here, the computer-readable storage medium is, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or a CD.

[0239] It should be explained that in this disclosure, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes a set of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not expressly listed or inherent elements of such process, method, article, or apparatus. Unless otherwise limited, an element defined with the phrase "comprising..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes the element.

[0240] Those skilled in the art may be aware that various exemplary units and algorithm steps described in the embodiments disclosed herein may be realized in electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are realized in hardware or software is determined by the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art may use different methods to realize the described functions for each specific application, however, such realization should not be considered to exceed the scope of the present disclosure.

[0241] It can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that, for convenience and conciseness of description, the specific operating processes of the above-described systems, devices and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the above-described method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0242] In the embodiments provided in the present disclosure, it is understandable that the disclosed apparatus and method can be realized in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely exemplary, and the division of the units is merely a division of logic functions. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not implemented. In addition, the mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communication connection between each component shown or described may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0243] The units described above as separate elements may or may not be physically separated, and the elements depicted as units may or may not be physical units, i.e., they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units, and some or all of the units may be selected based on actual needs to achieve the objective of the technical solution of this embodiment.

[0244] In addition, in each embodiment of the present disclosure, each functional unit may be all integrated into one processing unit, each unit may exist physically alone, or at least two units may be integrated into one unit.

[0245] From the description of the above embodiments, it can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that the methods of the above embodiments can be realized by software and a necessary general-purpose hardware platform, and of course, they can also be realized by hardware, but in many cases, the former is a better embodiment. Based on such understanding, in the technical solution of the present disclosure, the part that essentially contributes to the related art can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium (e.g., ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, CD-ROM) and includes some instructions that cause a terminal (which may be a mobile phone, a computer, a server, an air conditioner, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0246] It can be understood that the embodiments described in this disclosure can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or a combination thereof. For hardware implementation, the modules, units, and subunits can be implemented in one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processor Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), general purpose processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units, or combinations thereof used to perform the functions described in this disclosure.

[0247] For a software implementation, the techniques described in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by modules (e.g., processes, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The software code may be stored in a memory and executed by a processor. The memory may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor.

[0248] The above describes the embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the above specific embodiments, and the above specific embodiments are merely illustrative and not limiting. Many other forms can be created by those skilled in the art by triggering the present disclosure without departing from the scope of the present disclosure and the scope protected by the claims, and all should be included within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A session update method applied to a terminal, comprising: After establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session, receiving an indication message sent from a network side device, the indication message including a slice identifier, where: The network side device is a session management function (SMF) that performs session management for the PDU session, and when the SMF supports a slice corresponding to the slice identifier, the instruction message is a session modification command message or a session release command message, and the session modification command message is used to instruct the terminal to update the PDU session to a slice corresponding to the slice identifier on the same SMF, and the session release command message is used to instruct the terminal to re-establish the PDU session to a slice corresponding to the slice identifier on the same SMF after releasing the PDU session, or The network side device is a session management function (SMF) that performs session management for the PDU session, and if the SMF does not support a slice corresponding to the slice identifier, the indication message is a session release command message, and the session release command message is used to instruct the terminal to re-establish a PDU session to a slice corresponding to the slice identifier on another SMF that supports the slice corresponding to the slice identifier after releasing the PDU session. A session update method.

2. The instruction message further includes a data network name (DNN). The session updating method according to claim 1 .

3. A session update method applied to a network side device, comprising: sending an indication message to the terminal after the terminal establishes a protocol data unit (PDU) session, the indication message including a slice identifier, where: The network side device is a session management function (SMF) that performs session management for the PDU session, and when the SMF supports a slice corresponding to the slice identifier, the instruction message is a session modification command message or a session release command message, and the session modification command message is used to instruct the terminal to update the PDU session to a slice corresponding to the slice identifier on the same SMF, and the session release command message is used to instruct the terminal to re-establish the PDU session to a slice corresponding to the slice identifier on the same SMF after releasing the PDU session, or The network side device is a session management function (SMF) that performs session management for the PDU session, and if the SMF does not support a slice corresponding to the slice identifier, the indication message is a session release command message, and the session release command message is used to instruct the terminal to re-establish a PDU session to a slice corresponding to the slice identifier on another SMF that supports the slice corresponding to the slice identifier after releasing the PDU session. A session update method.

4. The instruction message further includes a data network name (DNN). The session updating method according to claim 3.

5. The network side device is the SMF, and before sending an indication message to the terminal, the session updating method further comprises: receiving a first session control message sent from a Policy Control Function (PCF), the first session control message carrying a slice identifier determined by a route selection policy; The session updating method according to claim 3.

6. The network side device is an SMF, and before sending an indication message to the terminal, the session updating method further comprises: receiving a first service request sent from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) or an Application Function (AF), the first service request carrying application related information and / or user related information; sending a first request message to a PCF after detecting that a terminal has accessed the application based on the first service request, the first request message being used to instruct the PCF to query a route selection policy; receiving a response message sent from a PCF, the response message carrying a slice identifier determined based on the route selection policy; The session updating method according to claim 3.

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