Method for user plane route selection under space-air-ground computing power fusion network, and related device

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communications. Provided are a method for user plane route selection under a space-air-ground computing power fusion network, and a related device. The method comprises: on the basis of a session establishment request initiated by a user equipment, an SMF network element performing screening to obtain at least one available UPF network element; on the basis of first indication parameter information that is used for indicating whether the user equipment uses non-terrestrial network backhaul, and second indication parameter information that is provided by an NRF network element and is used for indicating whether a UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network, the SMF network element determining a user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element; on the basis of the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element, the SMF network element acquiring network state information of each UPF network element; and on the basis of computing power information and the network state information of each UPF network element, the SMF network element selecting from among the at least one available UPF network element a target UPF network element which provides a user plane service for the user equipment. By means of the present disclosure, an optimal UPF network element can be selected for a user equipment under a space-air-ground computing power fusion network.

Description

User plane routing selection method and related equipment in air-space-ground computing power fusion network

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This disclosure claims priority to Chinese patent application number 202311004063.X filed on August 10, 2023, entitled “User plane routing selection method and related equipment under an air-space-ground-computing power fusion network”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a user plane routing selection method and related equipment in an air-ground-space computing power fusion network. Background Art

[0004] In the satellite backhaul project of the current 3GPP R18 version of the protocol, supporting multi-hop and multi-type satellites for backhaul between satellites (for example, using high-orbit satellites and low-orbit satellites to provide user-side backhaul) is a key research issue. However, the current standard process only supports the mobility management function network element to indicate the single backhaul category to which the base station is connected to the session management function network element based on local configuration. It is not yet clear how the ground network perceives the dynamic changes in the satellite network topology when multi-hop and multi-type satellites are used for backhaul between satellites. In addition, in the satellite backhaul project of the 3GPP R18 version of the protocol, carrying UPF network elements on board to support on-board edge computing is a key research issue. The current standard only considers the scenario of carrying UPF network elements on high-orbit satellites. Since high-orbit satellites are geostationary, carrying UPF network elements on them will only make minor changes to the current session management function, but it can only be applied to services with higher latency. Low-orbit satellites are closer to the earth, and carrying UPF network elements on low-orbit satellites can meet more low-latency services. However, since low-orbit satellites are not geostationary, the dynamic changes in the satellite network topology cause the location of the UPF network elements on low-orbit satellites to change dynamically. This makes it difficult for the session management function to perceive user plane information and unable to select the most suitable UPF network element for the user terminal.

[0005] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the above background technology section is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to ordinary technicians in the field.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present disclosure provides a user plane routing selection method and related equipment in an air-space-ground-computing power fusion network, which at least to a certain extent overcomes the technical problem in related technologies that it is impossible to select the best UPF network element for the user terminal in an air-space-ground-computing power fusion network.

[0008] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part by practice of the present disclosure.

[0009] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a user plane routing selection method in an air-ground-space computing power fusion network is provided, which is applied to an SMF network element, including: screening out at least one available UPF network element based on a session establishment request initiated by a user terminal; determining the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element based on first indication parameter information and second indication parameter information, wherein the first indication parameter information is parameter information provided by the AMF network element for indicating whether the user terminal uses a non-ground network backhaul, and the second indication parameter information is parameter information provided by the NRF network element for indicating whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-ground network; obtaining the network status information of each UPF network element based on the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element; and selecting a target UPF network element that provides user plane services for the user terminal from the at least one available UPF network element based on the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element.

[0010] In some embodiments, before determining the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element based on the first indication parameter information and the second indication parameter information, the method also includes: sending a network status request message to the NRF network element; receiving a UPF network element description file returned by the NRF network element, wherein the UPF network element description file contains capacity information, load information of each UPF network element and second indication parameter information of whether each UPF network element is deployed in a non-ground network.

[0011] In some embodiments, before selecting a target UPF network element that provides user plane services to the user terminal from the at least one available UPF network element based on the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element, the method also includes: obtaining the capacity information and load information of each UPF network element from the UPF network element description file provided by the NRF network element; and determining the computing power information of each UPF network element based on the capacity information and load information of each UPF network element.

[0012] In some embodiments, when the second indication parameter information indicates that the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network, the UPF network element description file further includes: the non-terrestrial carrier type and non-terrestrial carrier identifier of the deployed UPF network element.

[0013] In some embodiments, before determining the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element based on the first indication parameter information and the second indication parameter information, the method also includes: receiving the first indication parameter information provided by the AMF network element.

[0014] In some embodiments, the user plane routing includes any one of the following routing types: only the ground bearer network is used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier; only the ground bearer network is used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier; the ground bearer network and the non-ground network are used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier; the non-ground network is used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the non-ground carrier.

[0015] In some embodiments, the network status information of each UPF network element is obtained according to the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element, including: determining the network status information provider according to the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element; sending a network status request message to the network status information provider so that the network status information provider returns a network status request message carrying the network status information.

[0016] In some embodiments, a network status request message is sent to the network status information provider so that the network status information provider returns a network status request message carrying network status information, including at least one of the following: if the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is that only the ground bearer network is used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier, then a ground bearer network status request message is sent to the ground bearer network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and a ground bearer network status response message returned by the ground bearer network OAM is received, wherein the ground bearer network status response message carries the network status information of the ground bearer network; if the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is that the ground bearer network and the non-ground network are used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier, then a ground bearer network status request message is sent to the ground bearer network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and a ground bearer network status response message returned by the ground bearer network OAM is received, wherein the ground bearer network status response message carries the network status information of the ground bearer network; if the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is that the ground bearer network and the non-ground network are used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier The network OAM sends a ground bearer network status request message and receives a ground bearer network status response message returned by the ground bearer network OAM; and sends a non-ground network status request message to the non-ground network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and receives a non-ground network status response message returned by the non-ground network OAM, wherein the non-ground network status response message carries the network status information of the non-ground network; if the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is a non-ground network as a bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on a non-ground bearer, then a non-ground network status request message is sent to the non-ground network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and a non-ground network status response message is received returned by the non-ground network OAM, wherein the ground bearer network status response message carries the network status information of the ground bearer network.

[0017] In some embodiments, the network status information includes at least one of the following: delay, maximum bit rate and packet loss rate, and the method also includes at least one of the following: calculating the delay of each UPF network element based on the delay of the terrestrial bearer network and / or the delay of the non-terrestrial network; calculating the maximum bit rate of each UPF network element based on the maximum bit rate of the terrestrial bearer network and / or the maximum bit rate of the non-terrestrial network; calculating the packet loss rate of each UPF network element based on the packet loss rate of the terrestrial bearer network and / or the packet loss rate of the non-terrestrial network.

[0018] In some embodiments, based on the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element, a target UPF network element that provides user plane services to the user terminal is selected from the at least one available UPF network element, including: calculating the evaluation score corresponding to each UPF network element based on the computing power information, latency, maximum bit flow and packet loss rate of each UPF network element; and determining the UPF network element with the highest evaluation score as the target UPF network element.

[0019] In some embodiments, the non-terrestrial network is a network formed by carrying network elements via satellites and / or high-altitude platforms.

[0020] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a user plane routing selection device in an air-ground-space computing power fusion network is also provided. The method is applied to the SMF network element, including: an available UPF network element screening module, configured to screen out at least one available UPF network element based on a session establishment request initiated by a user terminal; a user plane routing determination module, configured to determine the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element based on first indication parameter information and second indication parameter information, the first indication parameter information being parameter information provided by the AMF network element for indicating whether the user terminal uses a non-ground network backhaul, and the second indication parameter information being parameter information provided by the NRF network element for indicating whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-ground network; a network status information acquisition module, configured to obtain the network status information of each UPF network element based on the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element; a UPF network element selection module, configured to select a target UPF network element that provides user plane services to the user terminal from the at least one available UPF network element based on the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a space-ground computing power fusion network system is also provided, including: at least one UPF network element, an SMF network element, an AMF network element and an NRF network element; wherein the AMF network element is used to provide the SMF network element with first indication parameter information for indicating whether the user terminal uses a non-ground network backhaul according to a session establishment request initiated by a user terminal; the NRF network element is used to provide the SMF network element with second indication parameter information for indicating whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-ground network; the SMF network element is used to screen out at least one available UPF network element according to the session establishment request initiated by the user terminal, and determine the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element according to the first indication parameter information and the second indication parameter information, and then obtain the network status information of each UPF network element according to the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element, so as to select the target UPF network element that provides user plane service to the user terminal from the at least one available UPF network element according to the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element.

[0022] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is also provided, including: a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to execute any one of the above-mentioned user plane routing selection methods in the air-space-ground computing power fusion network by executing the executable instructions.

[0023] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the user plane routing selection method in the air-space-ground computing power fusion network described in any one of the above.

[0024] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is also provided, including a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements any of the above-mentioned user plane routing selection methods in an air-space-ground computing power fusion network.

[0025] The user plane routing selection method and related equipment under the air-ground-space computing power fusion network provided in the embodiments of the present invention, after the SMF network element filters out at least one available UPF network element according to the session establishment request initiated by the user terminal, the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element is determined according to the first indication parameter information provided by the AMF network element for indicating whether the user terminal uses a non-ground network backhaul, and the second indication parameter information provided by the NRF network element for indicating whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-ground network, and then according to the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element, the network status information of each UPF network element is obtained, and finally, according to the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element, the target UPF network element that provides services for the session establishment request is selected from the at least one available UPF network element.

[0026] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the SMF network element can determine the user plane routing of the user terminal in the air-space-ground-computing power fusion network based on the first indication parameter information used to indicate whether the user terminal uses a non-ground network for backhaul and the second indication parameter information used to indicate whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-ground network, and then determine the network status information corresponding to each UPF network element based on the user plane routing of the user terminal in the air-space-ground-computing power fusion network. Finally, considering the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element comprehensively, the optimal UPF network element is selected for the session establishment request initiated by the user terminal, thereby realizing user plane routing selection in the air-space-ground-computing power fusion network.

[0027] It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] The accompanying drawings are incorporated into and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure, and together with the specification, are used to explain the principles of the present disclosure. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art can derive other drawings based on these drawings without inventive effort.

[0029] FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of a user plane routing supported by a space-ground-ground computing power fusion network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] FIG2 shows a schematic diagram of another user plane routing supported by the air-space-ground-space computing power fusion network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0031] FIG3 shows another user plane routing diagram supported by the air-space-ground-space computing power fusion network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0032] FIG4 shows a schematic diagram of an architecture of an air-ground-space computing power fusion network system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0033] FIG5 shows a flow chart of establishing a session according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0034] FIG6 shows a flow chart of an SMF network element screening available UPF network elements in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0035] FIG7 shows a flow chart of management plane interaction between an SMF network element and a terrestrial mobile network, a terrestrial bearer network, and a non-terrestrial network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] FIG8 shows a flow chart of a user plane routing selection method in an air-ground-space computing power fusion network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] FIG9 shows a schematic diagram of a user plane routing selection device in an air-ground-space computing power fusion network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0038] FIG10 shows a structural block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0039] FIG11 shows a schematic diagram of a computer-readable storage medium in an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, example embodiments can be embodied in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concepts of the example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0041] In addition, the accompanying drawings are merely schematic illustrations of the present disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale. Identical reference numerals in the figures denote identical or similar parts, and thus repetitive descriptions thereof will be omitted. Some of the block diagrams shown in the accompanying drawings are functional entities that do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically separate entities. These functional entities may be implemented in software, in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different networks and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0042] For ease of understanding, before introducing the embodiments of the present disclosure, several terms involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure are first explained as follows:

[0043] SMF: Session Management Function, session management function;

[0044] AMF: Access and Mobility Management Function, access and mobility management function;

[0045] UPF: User Plane Function, user plane function;

[0046] NRF: Network Repository Function, network storage function;

[0047] PCF: Policy Control Function, policy control function;

[0048] RAN: Radio Access Network;

[0049] UE: User Equipment, also known as user terminal, or simply user terminal;

[0050] OAM: Operation Administration and Maintenance;

[0051] DN: Data Network, data network.

[0052] The specific implementation of the embodiment of the present disclosure is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0053] Figures 1, 2 and 3 show schematic diagrams of three types of user plane routing supported under the air-space-ground computing power fusion network in the embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the user plane routing shown in Figure 1 is carried by the ground bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground; the user plane routing shown in Figure 2 is carried by the non-ground network (satellite network) and the ground bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground; the user plane routing shown in Figure 3 is carried by the non-ground network (satellite network) and the UPF network element and DN are deployed on the satellite.

[0054] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of an air-space-ground-spatial computing power fusion network system in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4, the air-space-ground-spatial computing power fusion network system provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure may include: at least one UPF network element 10, SMF network element 20, AMF network element 30 and NRF network element 40.

[0055] The AMF network element 30 is configured to provide the SMF network element 20 with first indication parameter information indicating whether the UE 50 uses a non-terrestrial network backhaul based on a session establishment request initiated by the UE 50. The NRF network element 40 is configured to provide the SMF network element 20 with second indication parameter information indicating whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network. The SMF network element 20 is configured to screen at least one available UPF network element 10 based on the session establishment request initiated by the UE 50, determine the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element 10 based on the first indication parameter information and the second indication parameter information, and then obtain the network status information of each UPF network element 10 based on the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element 10. The SMF network element 20 is further configured to select a target UPF network element from the at least one available UPF network element 10 to provide user plane services for the user terminal based on the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element 10. The SMF network element 20 is also configured to select a PCF network element 80 for the session to obtain policy control and charging rules associated with the session.

[0056] As shown in Figure 4, UE 50 accesses the UPF network element 10, which provides user plane services, through RAN 60 and then communicates with DN 70. The SMF network element 20 includes a network management module 201 and a computing power management module 202. These modules assist the SMF network element 20 in selecting the UPF network element 10. The network management module 201 in the SMF network element 20 can perceive the topology and network information of non-terrestrial networks (e.g., satellite networks) and terrestrial bearer networks. Satellite / terrestrial UPF network elements are considered nodes with computing and transmission capabilities, and their capabilities can be perceived by the computing power management module 202. The network management module 201 and computing power management module 202 work together to enable the SMF network element 20 to select the most appropriate user plane route that matches service requirements.

[0057] In the air-ground-space computing power fusion network system architecture shown in Figure 4, taking the SMF network element only selecting a suitable UPF network element for the UE as an example, the session establishment process is shown in Figure 5, which specifically includes:

[0058] S502: The AMF network element receives a session establishment request message from a user terminal. In specific implementations, the user terminal may request to establish an initial session according to the process described in the current standard. The session requested to be established may be, but is not limited to, a PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session.

[0059] S504, the AMF network element sends a session management context establishment request message (i.e., Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request message) to the selected SMF network element. In specific implementation, the AMF network element can select an SMF network element according to the process described in the current standard, and send an Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request message to the SMF network element to establish a session management context for the user terminal. In addition to the parameters such as the data network name (DNN), supported slice identifier (S-NSSAI(s)), and satellite backhaul type (Satellite Backhaul Category) described in the standard, this message adds a cell identifier (Cell ID) parameter to facilitate the subsequent SMF network element to select the user plane route.

[0060] S506, the SMF network element selects the PCF network element according to the process described in the current standard, and obtains the policy control and charging rules (PCC Rule) associated with the session.

[0061] S508, the SMF network element sends a network status request message (i.e., Nnrf_NFManagement_NFStatusSubscribe request message) to the NRF network element according to the process described in the current standard. The request may include but is not limited to the following parameters: DNN, S-NSSAI, SMF area identifier, etc.

[0062] S510, the NRF network element provides the SMF network element with a set of available UPF network elements and a description file (NF Profile) of each available UPF network element. The set of available UPF network elements includes at least one available UPF network element. In the description file of each available UPF network element, in addition to the parameters such as capacity (Capacity), load (Load), and location (Locality) described in the current standard, the embodiment of the present disclosure takes into account the characteristics of the on-board UPF network element and adds a parameter (i.e., UPF_Type) that can indicate whether the UPF network element is deployed on the satellite. If UPF_Type = 1, it indicates that the UPF network element is deployed on the satellite; if UPF_Type = 0, it indicates that the UPF network element is deployed on the ground. Optionally, a satellite type (Satellite_Type) can be added to indicate the satellite where the UPF network element is located. Satellite types include but are not limited to: GEO (Geosynchronous Earth Orbit, high-orbit satellite), MEO (Medium Earth Orbit, medium-high-orbit satellite), LEO (Low Earth Orbit, low-orbit satellite), OTHERSAT (other satellites), etc.; in some embodiments, parameters such as the satellite identifier (Satellite_ID) of the satellite where the UPF network element is located can also be added.

[0063] S512, the network management module and computing power management module in the SMF network element jointly execute the user plane routing selection mechanism to select the most suitable UPF network element.

[0064] S514, the SMF network element completes the user plane creation according to the process described in the current standard.

[0065] In some embodiments, the user plane routing selection mechanism performed by the SMF network element specifically includes the following steps:

[0066] 1) The SMF network element screens available UPF network elements based on the session establishment request initiated by the user terminal, determines the user plane route corresponding to each available UPF network element, and creates a network status information request tuple for it. The specific process is shown in Figure 6 and may include:

[0067] S602, the SMF network element determines whether the session request initiated by the user terminal supports satellite backhaul based on whether the AMF network element provides the Satellite Backhaul Category parameter.

[0068] S604: If the Satellite Backhaul Category parameter is not carried, it indicates that the user terminal cannot use satellite backhaul, and the SMF network element can only select the user plane route as shown in Figure 1 for the user. The network management module in the SMF network element needs to determine whether the UPF network element is deployed on the ground based on the UPF_Type parameter in the description file of the available UPF network element provided by the NRF network element.

[0069] S606: If UPF_Type = 0, this indicates that the UPF network element corresponds to the user plane routing shown in Figure 1. Therefore, the network status information request tuple created by the network management module for the UPF network element may include: UPF instance ID and Cell ID. In the disclosed embodiment, the UPF instance is also the UPF network element, the UPF instance ID is also the identifier of the UPF network element, and the Cell ID represents the identifier of the cell where the UPF network element is located.

[0070] S608, if UPF_Type=1, it indicates that the UPF network element does not meet the session request of this user, so the network management module removes this type of UPF network element from the set of optional UPF network elements;

[0071] S610: If the Satellite Backhaul Category parameter is carried, it indicates that the user will use satellite backhaul, and the SMF network element needs to select the user plane route shown in Figure 2 or Figure 3 for the user. In order to further clarify the user plane route corresponding to each available UPF network element, the network management module determines whether the UPF network element is deployed on a non-terrestrial carrier (i.e., satellite) based on the UPF_Type parameter in the description file of the available UPF network element provided by the NRF network element.

[0072] S612, if UPF_Type=0, it indicates that the UPF network element corresponds to the user plane routing shown in Figure 2, so the network status information request tuple created by the network management module for the UPF network element may include: UPF instance ID, Cell ID (cell identifier) ​​and the Locality (location) of the UPF instance.

[0073] S614, if UPF_Type=1, it indicates that the UPF network element corresponds to the user plane routing shown in Figure 3, so the network status information request tuple created by the network management module for the UPF network element may include: UPF instance ID, Cell ID and Satellite_ID (satellite identifier of the satellite where the UPF network element is located).

[0074] 2) The network management module in the SMF network element initiates the management plane interaction process between the terrestrial mobile network, the terrestrial bearer network and the non-terrestrial network (satellite network). The specific process is shown in Figure 7 and may include:

[0075] If the SMF network element determines that the session request initiated by the user terminal does not use satellite backhaul, it executes S702 to S704:

[0076] S702, the network management module in the SMF network element initiates a terrestrial bearer network status request message (i.e., TerTransNetworkStatus Requset message) to the terrestrial bearer network OAM through the terrestrial mobile network OAM, carrying a terrestrial bearer network status information request list, which is composed of the network status information request tuples determined above.

[0077] S704, the terrestrial bearer network OAM returns a terrestrial bearer network status response message (i.e., TerTransNetworkStatus Response message) to the network management module of the SMF network element through the terrestrial mobile network OAM, and provides terrestrial bearer network status information (TerTransNetworkStatus Info), which is in the form of a list consisting of multiple tuples. In order to obtain the terrestrial bearer network status information, the terrestrial bearer network OAM first confirms the network topology between each UPF instance and the base station in the request list, as well as the status of each node in the topology. Then, the network status information tuple corresponding to each UPF instance is calculated, and the tuple content includes but is not limited to: terrestrial bearer delay (TerTrans_delay), terrestrial bearer maximum bit rate (TerTrans_MBR), terrestrial bearer packet loss rate (TerTrans_Packetloss) and other parameters.

[0078] If the SMF network element determines that the session request initiated by the user terminal uses satellite backhaul, S706 to S712 are executed:

[0079] S706: The network management module in the SMF network element initiates a SatNetworkStatus Request to the satellite network OAM through the terrestrial mobile network OAM, carrying the Satellite backhaul category parameter and a satellite network status information request list. The list consists of the (UPF instance ID, Cell ID, UPF instance Locality) network status information request tuple and the (UPF instance ID, Cell ID, Satellite_ID) network status information request tuple described in steps 1)-c).

[0080] S706, the satellite network OAM responds to the SMF network management module SatNetworkStatus Response through the ground mobile network OAM, and provides satellite network status information (SatNetworkStatus Info), which is in the form of a list composed of multiple tuples.

[0081] S708: For the (UPF instance ID, Cell ID, UPF instance Locality) network status information request tuple, the satellite network OAM first identifies the gateway to which it belongs based on the UPF instance Locality parameter. It then obtains the network topology between the base station and the gateway in the request tuple, as well as the status of each satellite node in the topology. Finally, it calculates the network status information tuple for each UPF instance. The tuple content includes, but is not limited to, parameters such as the gateway identifier (Gateway_ID), satellite network delay (Sat_delay), satellite network maximum bit rate (Sat_MBR), and satellite network packet loss rate (Sat_Packetloss). If the Satellite backhaul category is dynamic, the satellite network OAM uniformly extracts the network topology at different times and calculates the average network status information.

[0082] S710, the network management module in the SMF network element initiates a TerTransNetworkStatus Request to the terrestrial bearer network OAM through the terrestrial mobile network OAM, carrying a terrestrial bearer network status information request list. Each UPF instance in the list that meets the conditions of steps 1)-c)-ii) forms a tuple in the form of (UPF instance ID, Gateway_ID, UPF instance Locality)

[0083] S712, the terrestrial bearer network OAM responds to the network management module (TerTrans NetworkStatus Response) through the terrestrial mobile network OAM, and provides the terrestrial bearer network status information (TerTransNetworkStatus Info), which is in the form of a list of multiple tuples. To obtain this information, the terrestrial bearer network OAM first confirms the network topology between the UPF instance and the gateway station in the request list, as well as the status of each node in the topology. Then, the network status information tuple of each UPF instance is calculated, and the tuple content includes but is not limited to: terrestrial bearer delay (TerTrans_delay), terrestrial bearer maximum bit rate (TerTrans_MBR), terrestrial bearer packet loss rate (TerTrans_Packetloss) and other parameters.

[0084] 3) The network management module in the SMF network element calculates the network status information of the available UPF network element (including but not limited to delay, maximum bit rate and packet loss rate, etc.) as follows: Delay = TerTrans_delay + Sat_delay (1) MBR = min{TerTrans_MBR, Sat_MBR} (2) Packetloss = max{TerTrans_Packetloss, Sat_Packetloss} (3)

[0085] Among them, Delay represents the delay of each UPF network element; TerTrans_delay represents the delay of the terrestrial bearer network; Sat_delay represents the delay of the non-terrestrial network; MBR represents the maximum bit rate of each UPF network element; TerTrans_MBR represents the maximum bit rate of the terrestrial bearer network; Sat_MBR represents the maximum bit rate of the non-terrestrial network; min{} represents the minimum value; Packetloss represents the packet loss rate of each UPF network element; TerTrans_Packetloss represents the packet loss rate of the terrestrial bearer network; Sat_Packetloss represents the packet loss rate of the non-terrestrial network; max{} represents the maximum value.

[0086] In some instances, the computing power management module in the SMF network element calculates the computing power information of the available UPF network elements, which can be calculated by, but not limited to, the following formula: Computing = λ[(1-load)×capacity] (4)

[0087] Among them, Computing represents the computing power information of each UPF network element; load represents the load information of each UPF network element; capacity represents the capacity information of each UPF network element; λ represents the conversion factor.

[0088] The network management module and computing power management module in the SMF network element collaborate to execute a path selection algorithm constrained by the PCC Rule to determine the optimal UPF network element. The path selection algorithm can be pre-configured locally within the SMF network element or provided by a third party. In specific implementation, the evaluation score for each UPF network element is calculated using the following formula, and the UPF network element with the highest evaluation score is determined as the target UPF network element:

[0089] Among them, Score represents the evaluation score corresponding to each UPF network element; Delay represents the delay of each UPF network element; MBR represents the maximum bit rate of each UPF network element; Packetloss represents the packet loss rate of each UPF network element; Computing represents the computing power information of each UPF network element; a1, a2, a3, a and b represent weight factors, and a1+a2+a3=1, a+b=1.

[0090] Under the above-mentioned system architecture, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a user plane routing selection method in an air-space-ground-computing-power fusion network. This method can be executed by any electronic device with computing processing capabilities. In some embodiments, the user plane routing selection method in an air-space-ground-computing-power fusion network provided in embodiments of the present disclosure can be executed by an SMF network element in the above-mentioned system architecture. In other embodiments, the user plane routing selection method in an air-space-ground-computing-power fusion network provided in embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented by the SMF network element and other network elements in the above-mentioned system architecture through interaction.

[0091] FIG8 shows a flow chart of a user plane routing selection method in an air-ground-space computing power fusion network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG8 , the method includes the following steps:

[0092] S802, the SMF network element filters out at least one available UPF network element based on the session establishment request initiated by the user terminal.

[0093] It should be noted that the computing power network supports the perception of network information and computing power information, and uses an efficient path selection algorithm to achieve optimal computing power routing selection. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the computing power network related technology is combined to solve the user plane routing selection problem in the air-ground integrated network. In some embodiments, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, a network management module (network control module) and a computing power management module (computing power control module) are built into the SMF network element, and the user plane routing selection mechanism is jointly executed by the network management module and the computing power management module; the network control module has but is not limited to the following functions: 1) Supports screening of available UPF network elements according to user session requests; 2) Supports initiating network status request information to non-terrestrial network (such as satellite network) OAM and terrestrial bearer network OAM through terrestrial mobile network OAM; 3) Supports creating different categories of network status request information for different user plane functions according to user session requests, and the request information includes but is not limited to: user plane function instance identifier, the small area where the user is located, and the user plane routing selection mechanism. 4) Supports parsing and integrating network status information provided by satellite network OAM, including but not limited to: gateways that can be connected to user plane functions, satellite network latency, satellite network maximum bit rate, satellite network packet loss rate, and other network status information; 5) Supports parsing and integrating network status information provided by terrestrial bearer network OAM, including but not limited to: terrestrial bearer network latency, terrestrial bearer network maximum bit rate, terrestrial bearer network packet loss rate, and other information; The computing power control module has the following functions: calculating the computing power information of the UPF network element based on the user plane function description file provided by the network storage function NRF network element. The network function description file provided by the NRF network element to the SMF network element contains extended satellite-related content, such as adding parameters that can indicate that the user plane function is deployed on a satellite, adding parameters that can indicate the type of satellite where the UPF is located, and adding parameters that identify the satellite where the UPF is located.

[0094] S804, the SMF network element determines the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element based on the first indication parameter information and the second indication parameter information. The first indication parameter information is the parameter information provided by the AMF network element to indicate whether the user terminal uses a non-terrestrial network backhaul, and the second indication parameter information is the parameter information provided by the NRF network element to indicate whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network.

[0095] It should be noted that the non-terrestrial network in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be, but is not limited to, a satellite network. The satellite network here may be a low-orbit satellite network, a medium-orbit satellite network, a high-orbit satellite network, or other satellite networks.

[0096] S806, the SMF network element obtains the network status information of each UPF network element based on the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element.

[0097] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned network status information may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: delay, maximum bit rate and packet loss rate. The user plane routing selection method under the air-space-ground computing power fusion network provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure also includes at least one of the following: calculating the delay of each UPF network element based on the delay of the ground bearer network and / or the delay of the non-ground network; calculating the maximum bit rate of each UPF network element based on the maximum bit rate of the ground bearer network and / or the maximum bit rate of the non-ground network; calculating the packet loss rate of each UPF network element based on the packet loss rate of the ground bearer network and / or the packet loss rate of the non-ground network.

[0098] In specific implementation, the network status information of each UPF network element can be calculated by, but not limited to, the above formulas (1), (2) and (3).

[0099] S808, the SMF network element selects a target UPF network element that provides user plane services to the user terminal from at least one available UPF network element based on the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element.

[0100] In some embodiments, the above S808 can be implemented through the following steps: calculating the evaluation score corresponding to each UPF network element based on the computing power information, delay, maximum bit flow and packet loss rate of each UPF network element; determining the UPF network element with the highest evaluation score as the target UPF network element.

[0101] In specific implementation, the evaluation score corresponding to each UPF network element can be calculated by, but not limited to, the above formula (5), and the UPF network element with the highest evaluation score is determined as the target UPF network element.

[0102] From the above, it can be seen that the user plane routing selection method under the air-space-ground-computing power fusion network provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the SMF network element determines the user plane routing of the user terminal under the air-space-ground-computing power fusion network based on the first indication parameter information used to indicate whether the user terminal uses a non-ground network for backhaul and the second indication parameter information used to indicate whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-ground network, and then determines the network status information corresponding to each UPF network element according to the user plane routing of the user terminal under the air-space-ground-computing power fusion network. Finally, considering the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element comprehensively, the optimal UPF network element is selected for the session establishment request initiated by the user terminal, thereby realizing user plane routing selection under the air-space-ground-computing power fusion network.

[0103] In some embodiments, before executing S804, the user plane routing selection method under the air-ground-space computing power fusion network provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure may also include the following steps: sending a network status request message to the NRF network element; receiving the UPF network element description file returned by the NRF network element, wherein the UPF network element description file contains capacity information, load information of each UPF network element and a second indication parameter information of whether each UPF network element is deployed in a non-ground network.

[0104] In some embodiments, before executing S808, the user plane routing selection method under the air-space-ground computing power fusion network provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure may also include the following steps: obtaining the capacity information and load information of each UPF network element from the UPF network element description file provided by the NRF network element; determining the computing power information of each UPF network element based on the capacity information and load information of each UPF network element.

[0105] In some embodiments, the computing power information of each UPF network element can be calculated using the above formula (4).

[0106] Furthermore, in some embodiments, when the second indication parameter information indicates that the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network, the UPF network element description file further includes: the non-terrestrial carrier type and non-terrestrial carrier identifier of the deployed UPF network element.

[0107] In some embodiments, before executing S804, the user plane routing selection method in the air-space-ground computing power fusion network provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure may also include the following steps: receiving the first indication parameter information provided by the AMF network element.

[0108] In some embodiments, the above S806 can be implemented through the following steps: determining the network status information provider based on the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element; sending a network status request message to the network status information provider so that the network status information provider returns a network status request message carrying network status information.

[0109] In some embodiments, sending a network status request message to the network status information provider so that the network status information provider returns a network status request message carrying network status information may include at least one of the following: if the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is that only the ground bearer network is used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier, then sending a ground bearer network status request message to the ground bearer network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and receiving a ground bearer network status response message returned by the ground bearer network OAM, wherein the ground bearer network status response message carries the network status information of the ground bearer network; if the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is that the ground bearer network and the non-ground network are used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier, then sending a ground bearer network status request message to the ground bearer network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and receiving a ground bearer network status response message returned by the ground bearer network OAM, wherein the ground bearer network status response message carries the network status information of the ground bearer network; if the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is that the ground bearer network and the non-ground network are used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier The ground bearer network OAM sends a ground bearer network status request message and receives a ground bearer network status response message returned by the ground bearer network OAM; and sends a non-ground network status request message to the non-ground network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and receives a non-ground network status response message returned by the non-ground network OAM, wherein the non-ground network status response message carries the network status information of the non-ground network; if the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is a non-ground network as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on a non-ground bearer, then a non-ground network status request message is sent to the non-ground network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and a non-ground network status response message is received returned by the non-ground network OAM, wherein the ground bearer network status response message carries the network status information of the ground bearer network.

[0110] Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a user plane routing selection device in an air-ground-space computing power converged network. This device can be an SMF network element or a device applied to an SMF network element. As described in the following embodiments, since the principles for solving the problem in this device embodiment are similar to those in the above-mentioned method embodiment, the implementation of this device embodiment can refer to the implementation of the above-mentioned method embodiment, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0111] Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of a user plane routing selection device in an air-space-ground computing power fusion network in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 9, the device includes: an available UPF network element screening module 901, a user plane routing determination module 902, a network status information acquisition module 903, and a UPF network element selection module 904.

[0112] Among them, the available UPF network element screening module 901 is configured to screen out at least one available UPF network element based on a session establishment request initiated by a user terminal; the user plane route determination module 902 is configured to determine the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element based on first indication parameter information and second indication parameter information, the first indication parameter information is parameter information provided by the AMF network element for indicating whether the user terminal uses a non-terrestrial network backhaul, and the second indication parameter information is parameter information provided by the NRF network element for indicating whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network; the network status information acquisition module 903 is configured to obtain the network status information of each UPF network element based on the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element; the UPF network element selection module 904 is configured to select a target UPF network element that provides user plane services to the user terminal from at least one available UPF network element based on the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element.

[0113] It should be noted that the available UPF network element screening module 901, user plane routing determination module 902, network status information acquisition module 903, and UPF network element selection module 904 correspond to S802 to S808 in the method embodiment. The examples and application scenarios implemented by the above modules and corresponding steps are the same, but are not limited to the contents disclosed in the above method embodiment. It should be noted that the above modules, as part of the apparatus, can be executed in a computer system such as a set of computer-executable instructions.

[0114] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned user plane routing determination module 902 is also configured to: send a network status request message to the NRF network element; receive a UPF network element description file returned by the NRF network element, wherein the UPF network element description file includes capacity information, load information of each UPF network element, and a second indication parameter information of whether each UPF network element is deployed in a non-ground network.

[0115] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned user plane routing determination module 902 is also used to: obtain the capacity information and load information of each UPF network element from the UPF network element description file provided by the NRF network element; and determine the computing power information of each UPF network element based on the capacity information and load information of each UPF network element.

[0116] In some embodiments, the user plane routing determination module 902 is further configured to calculate the computing power information of each UPF network element using the above formula (4).

[0117] Furthermore, in some embodiments, when the second indication parameter information indicates that the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network, the UPF network element description file further includes: the non-terrestrial carrier type and non-terrestrial carrier identifier of the deployed UPF network element.

[0118] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned user plane routing determination module 902 is further configured to: receive first indication parameter information provided by the AMF network element.

[0119] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned user plane routing may include any of the following routing types: only the ground bearer network is used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier; only the ground bearer network is used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier; the ground bearer network and the non-ground network are used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier; the non-ground network is used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the non-ground carrier; the non-ground network is used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the non-ground carrier.

[0120] In some embodiments, the network status information acquisition module 903 is further configured to: if the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is that only the ground bearer network is used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier, then the ground bearer network status request message is sent to the ground bearer network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and the ground bearer network status response message returned by the ground bearer network OAM is received, wherein the ground bearer network status response message carries the network status information of the ground bearer network; if the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is that the ground bearer network and the non-ground network are used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground carrier, then the ground bearer network status request message is sent to the ground bearer network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, And receive the ground bearer network status response message returned by the ground bearer network OAM; and send a non-ground network status request message to the non-ground network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and receive the non-ground network status response message returned by the non-ground network OAM, wherein the non-ground network status response message carries the network status information of the non-ground network; if the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is a non-ground network as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on a non-ground carrier, then send a non-ground network status request message to the non-ground network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and receive the non-ground network status response message returned by the non-ground network OAM, wherein the ground bearer network status response message carries the network status information of the ground bearer network.

[0121] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned network status information may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: delay, maximum bit rate and packet loss rate, then the above-mentioned network status information acquisition module 903 is also configured to calculate the network status information of each UPF network element through the above-mentioned formulas (1), (2) and (3).

[0122] In some embodiments, the UPF network element selection module 904 is further configured to calculate the evaluation score corresponding to each UPF network element using the above formula (5), and determine the UPF network element with the highest evaluation score as the target UPF network element.

[0123] Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present disclosure also provides an air-space-ground computing power fusion network system, which may include: at least one UPF network element, SMF network element, AMF network element and NRF network element.

[0124] Among them, the AMF network element is used to provide the SMF network element with first indication parameter information for indicating whether the user terminal uses a non-terrestrial network backhaul according to a session establishment request initiated by the user terminal; the NRF network element is used to provide the SMF network element with second indication parameter information for indicating whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network; the SMF network element is used to screen out at least one available UPF network element according to the session establishment request initiated by the user terminal, and determine the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element according to the first indication parameter information and the second indication parameter information, and then obtain the network status information of each UPF network element according to the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element, so as to select the target UPF network element that provides user plane service to the user terminal from the at least one available UPF network element according to the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element.

[0125] Since the principle of solving the problem in this system embodiment is similar to that in the above method embodiment, the implementation of this system embodiment can refer to the implementation of the above method embodiment, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0126] Taking the three user plane routing scenarios shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 as an example, a specific example is given below to describe in detail the user plane routing selection method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure:

[0127] 1) The user terminal requests to establish an initial session according to the process described in the standard.

[0128] 2) After the AMF network element selects the SMF network element according to the process described in the standard, it initiates Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request to the SMF network element to establish the session management context of the user terminal. The specific content is shown in Table 1.

[0129] 3) The SMF network element selects the PCF network element according to the process described in the standard and obtains the policy control and charging rules (PCC Rule) associated with the PDU session.

[0130] Table 1

[0131] Table 2

[0132] 4) The SMF network element initiates an Nnrf_NF Management_NF StatusSubscribe request message to the NR network element according to the process described in the standard. The request message includes but is not limited to the parameters shown in Table 1.

[0133] 5) The NRF provides the SMF with a set of optional UPFs and a description file (NF Profile) for each optional UPF. In addition to parameters such as capacity (Capacity), load (Load), and locality (Locality) described in the current standard, the UPF description file, in this disclosed embodiment, takes into account the characteristics of onboard UPFs and adds parameters such as a parameter indicating that the UPF is deployed on a satellite (UPF_Type), a parameter indicating the type of satellite on which the UPF is located (Satellite_Type), and a satellite identifier (Satellite_ID). The specific contents are shown in Table 2.

[0134] 6) The network control module and computing power control module in the SMF work together to implement the computing power routing mechanism shown in Figures 6 and 7. The specific process of the mechanism includes:

[0135] ①SMF filters available UPF network elements according to the user session request shown in Table 1 and creates network status information request tuples for them respectively. The specific process includes:

[0136] Based on the Satellite backhaul category parameter provided by the AMF network element, the SMF network element knows that the user supports dynamic low-orbit satellite backhaul. The SMF needs to select the user plane routing scenario shown in Figure 2 or Figure 3 for the user. In order to further clarify the user plane routing corresponding to each available UPF, the network control module needs to determine whether the UPF is deployed on the satellite based on the UPF_Type parameter in the available UPF description file provided by the NRF. As can be seen from Table 2, if both available UPF1 and available UPF2 are deployed on the satellite, it means that the UPF corresponds to the user plane routing shown in Figure 3, and if available UPF3 is deployed on the ground, it means that the UPF corresponds to the user plane routing shown in Figure 2. Therefore, the network status information request tuples created by the network control module for the three available UPFs are (UPF instance ID 1, Cell ID gnbid335231.cellid1, Satellite_ID 3), (UPF instance ID 2, Cell ID gnbid335231.cellid1, Satellite_ID 22), and (UPF instance ID 3, Cell ID gnbid335231.cellid1, Locality BeiJing).

[0137] ② The network control module initiates the management plane interaction process between the ground mobile network, the ground bearer network and the satellite network. The specific process can be seen in Figure 7.

[0138] The network control module in the SMF network element initiates a SatNetworkStatus Request to the satellite network OAM through the terrestrial mobile network OAM, carrying the Satellite backhaul category parameter and a satellite network status information request list. The list contains {(UPF instance ID 1, Cell ID gnbid335231.cellid1, Satellite_ID 3), (UPF instance ID 2, Cell ID gnbid335231.cellid1, Satellite_ID 22), (UPF instance ID 3, Cell ID gnbid335231.cellid1, Locality BeiJing)}.

[0139] The satellite network OAM returns a SatNetworkStatus Response message to the network control module in the SMF network element through the ground mobile network OAM, and provides satellite network status information (SatNetworkStatus Info), which is in the form of a list of multiple tuples.

[0140] For network status information request tuples for Available UPF1 and Available UPF2, the Satellite Network OAM service first confirms the network topology between the satellite and base station where the UPF instance is deployed, as well as the status of each satellite node in the topology. Since the Satellite backhaul category is dynamic, the Satellite Network OAM service evenly extracts the network topology at different times and calculates average network status information. This information includes, but is not limited to, parameters such as satellite network delay (Sat_delay), satellite network maximum bit rate (Sat_MBR), and satellite network packet loss rate (Sat_Packetloss). Examples of satellite network status information tuples for Available UPF1 and Available UPF2 are (UPF instance ID 1, Sat_delay 30ms, Sat_MBR 5Mbps, Sat_Packetloss 0%) and (UPF instance ID 2, Sat_delay 40ms, Sat_MBR 5Mbps, Sat_Packetloss 0%).

[0141] For UPF3-enabled network status information request tuples, the satellite network OAM first identifies the gateway to which the request belongs based on the UPF instance's Locality parameter. It then obtains the network topology between the base station and gateway in the request tuple, as well as the status of each satellite node in the topology. Because the Satellite backhaul category is dynamic, the satellite network OAM uniformly extracts the network topology at different times and calculates the average network status information. An example of a UPF3-enabled network status information tuple is (UPF instance ID 3, Gateway_ID 22, Sat_delay 20ms, Sat_MBR 5Mbps, Sat_Packetloss 0%).

[0142] The network control module initiates TerTransNetworkStatus Requset to the terrestrial bearer network OAM through the terrestrial mobile network OAM, carrying a terrestrial bearer network status information request list. The list includes the terrestrial bearer network status information request tuple of available UPF3, which can be expressed as {(UPF instance ID 3, Gateway_ID 22, UPF instance Locality)}.

[0143] The terrestrial bearer network OAM responds to the network control module TerTransNetworkStatus Response through the terrestrial mobile network OAM, and provides terrestrial bearer network status information (TerTransNetworkStatus Info), which is in the form of a list of multiple tuples. To obtain this information, the terrestrial bearer network OAM first confirms the network topology between the UPF instance and the gateway station in the request list, as well as the status of each node in the topology. Then, the network status information tuple of each UPF instance is calculated. The tuple content includes but is not limited to parameters such as terrestrial bearer delay (TerTrans_delay), terrestrial bearer maximum bit rate (TerTrans_MBR), and terrestrial bearer packet loss rate (TerTrans_Packetloss). The terrestrial bearer network status information can be expressed as {(UPF instance ID 3, TerTrans 5ms, TerTrans_MBR 10Mbps, TerTrans_Packetloss 0%)}.

[0144] The network control module calculates the network status information of the available UPFs. The calculation method is as described above and will not be repeated here. The delay corresponding to the available UPF1 network element is calculated by the above formula (1) to be 30ms, the delay corresponding to the available UPF2 network element is 40ms, and the delay corresponding to the available UPF3 network element is 25ms. The maximum bit rate corresponding to the available UPF1 network element is calculated by the above formula (2) to be 5Mbps, the maximum bit rate corresponding to the available UPF2 network element is 5Mbps, and the maximum bit rate corresponding to the available UPF3 network element is 5Mbps. The packet loss rate corresponding to the available UPF1 network element is calculated by the above formula (3) to be 0%, the packet loss rate corresponding to the available UPF2 network element is 0%, and the packet loss rate corresponding to the available UPF3 network element is 0%.

[0145] ③ The computing power control module calculates the computing power information of the available UPF network elements. The calculation method is as described above and will not be repeated here. Using the above formula (4), the computing power information corresponding to the available UPF1 network element is 13.81, the computing power information corresponding to the available UPF2 network element is 15.14, and the computing power information corresponding to the available UPF3 network element is 8.19.

[0146] ④ The network control module and the computing power control module collaborate to execute a path selection algorithm with the PCC Rule as a constraint to obtain an optimal UPF. The path selection algorithm can be pre-configured locally in the SMF or provided by a third party. The path selection algorithm is described above and will not be repeated here. Using formula (4), the score information corresponding to the available UPF1 network element is 24.92, the score information corresponding to the available UPF2 network element is 23.47, and the score information corresponding to the available UPF3 network element is 20.70. Therefore, the SMF selects the available UPF1 for this user.

[0147] 7) The SMF network element completes the creation of the user plane according to the process described in the current standard.

[0148] In summary, the user-plane routing selection method and related equipment provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure in a space-ground-computing-power fusion network are applicable to a variety of satellite and terrestrial network architectures. They not only support existing networking architectures for backhauling satellites of various orbital types and multi-hop inter-satellite backhaul, as well as networking architectures in which user-plane network elements are deployed on terrestrial and high-orbit satellites, but are also applicable to future scenarios in which user-plane network elements are deployed on medium- and low-orbit satellites. The deployment of user-plane network elements on medium- and low-orbit satellites is an important scenario in the space-ground-combination project and is also an area that will be addressed in current mobile network communication standards.

[0149] This disclosed embodiment innovatively integrates computing power with the space-ground-air network. By enhancing the interaction between session management and network storage, computing power information for user-plane network elements is obtained. A management plane interaction process initiated by the session management function between the terrestrial mobile network, the terrestrial bearer network, and the satellite network is proposed to obtain user-plane network status information. Using computing power and network status information as input, an effective algorithm is designed to solve the user-plane routing problem in the space-ground-air network. The solution provided in this disclosed embodiment can serve as a potential solution for future 3GPP R19 satellite projects and has promising application prospects and value for future 6G services.

[0150] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented as systems, methods, or program products. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented in the following forms: a complete hardware implementation, a complete software implementation (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or a combination of hardware and software implementations, which may be collectively referred to herein as "circuits," "modules," or "systems."

[0151] The electronic device 1000 according to this embodiment of the present disclosure is described below with reference to Figure 10. The electronic device 1000 shown in Figure 10 is merely an example and should not limit the functions and scope of use of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0152] As shown in Figure 10, electronic device 1000 is implemented as a general-purpose computing device. Components of electronic device 1000 may include, but are not limited to, the aforementioned at least one processing unit 1010, the aforementioned at least one storage unit 1020, and a bus 1030 connecting various system components (including storage unit 1020 and processing unit 1010).

[0153] The storage unit stores a program code, and the program code can be executed by the processing unit 1010, so that the processing unit 1010 performs the steps of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above "Exemplary Method" section of this specification. For example, the processing unit 1010 can perform the following steps of the above method embodiment: according to the session establishment request initiated by the user terminal, screen out at least one available UPF network element; determine the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element according to the first indication parameter information and the second indication parameter information, the first indication parameter information is the parameter information provided by the AMF network element for indicating whether the user terminal uses a non-terrestrial network backhaul, and the second indication parameter information is the parameter information provided by the NRF network element for indicating whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network; according to the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element, obtain the network status information of each UPF network element; according to the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element, select the target UPF network element that provides user plane services for the user terminal from the at least one available UPF network element.

[0154] The storage unit 1020 may include a readable medium in the form of a volatile storage unit, such as a random access memory unit (RAM) 10201 and / or a cache memory unit 10202 , and may further include a read-only memory unit (ROM) 10203 .

[0155] The storage unit 1020 may also include a program / utility 10204 having a set (at least one) of program modules 10205, such program modules 10205 including but not limited to: an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, each of which or some combination may include an implementation of a network environment.

[0156] Bus 1030 may represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, a processing unit, or a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures.

[0157] The electronic device 1000 may also communicate with one or more external devices 1040 (e.g., a keyboard, a pointing device, a Bluetooth device, etc.), one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the electronic device 1000, and / or any device that enables the electronic device 1000 to communicate with one or more other computing devices (e.g., a router, a modem, etc.). Such communication may occur via an input / output (I / O) interface 1050. Furthermore, the electronic device 1000 may also communicate with one or more networks (e.g., a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and / or a public network such as the Internet) via a network adapter 1060. As shown, the network adapter 1060 communicates with other modules of the electronic device 1000 via the bus 1030. It should be understood that, although not shown in the figure, other hardware and / or software modules may be used in conjunction with the electronic device 1000, including but not limited to microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems.

[0158] Through the description of the above embodiments, it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the example embodiments described herein can be implemented by software or by combining software with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solution according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (which can be a CD-ROM, a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, etc.) or on a network, and includes several instructions to enable a computing device (which can be a personal computer, a server, a user terminal device, or a network device, etc.) to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0159] In particular, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the process described in the above reference flowchart can be implemented as a computer program product, which includes: a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the user plane routing selection method under the above-mentioned air-space-ground computing power fusion network.

[0160] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, which may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. FIG11 shows a schematic diagram of a computer-readable storage medium in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG11 , a program product capable of implementing the above-mentioned method of the present disclosure is stored on the computer-readable storage medium 1100. In some possible implementations, various aspects of the present disclosure may also be implemented in the form of a program product, which includes program code. When the program product is run on a user terminal device, the program code is used to cause the user terminal device to execute the steps according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above “Exemplary Method” section of this specification.

[0161] More specific examples of computer-readable storage media in the present disclosure may include, but are not limited to, an electrical connection having one or more conductors, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0162] In the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium may include a data signal propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, which carries readable program code. Such propagated data signals may take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. A readable signal medium may also be any readable medium other than a readable storage medium that can transmit, propagate, or transfer a program for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0163] Alternatively, the program code contained on the computer-readable storage medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination thereof.

[0164] In a specific implementation, the program code for performing the operations of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java, C++, and the like, as well as conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as "C" or similar programming languages. The program code may be executed entirely on the user computing device, partially on the user device, as a standalone software package, partially on the user computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server. In the case of a remote computing device, the remote computing device may be connected to the user computing device via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or may be connected to an external computing device (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0165] It should be noted that although several modules or units of the device for action execution are mentioned in the detailed description above, this division is not mandatory. In fact, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above can be concretized in one module or unit. Conversely, the features and functions of one module or unit described above can be further divided into multiple modules or units to be concretized.

[0166] Furthermore, although the steps of the method of the present disclosure are described in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that the steps must be performed in this particular order, or that all steps shown must be performed to achieve the desired results. Additionally or alternatively, some steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined into one step, and / or one step may be decomposed into multiple steps.

[0167] Through the description of the above embodiments, it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the example embodiments described herein can be implemented by software or by combining software with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solution according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (which can be a CD-ROM, a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, etc.) or on a network, and includes several instructions to enable a computing device (which can be a personal computer, a server, a mobile user terminal, or a network device, etc.) to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0168] Other embodiments of the present disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure that follow the general principles of the present disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The description and examples are to be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure being indicated by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A user plane routing selection method in an air-ground-space computing power fusion network, the method being applied to an SMF network element, comprising: Filter out at least one available UPF network element according to the session establishment request initiated by the user terminal; Determine the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element according to the first indication parameter information and the second indication parameter information, wherein the first indication parameter information is parameter information provided by the AMF network element for indicating whether the user terminal uses a non-terrestrial network backhaul, and the second indication parameter information is parameter information provided by the NRF network element for indicating whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network; Obtain the network status information of each UPF network element according to the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element; According to the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element, a target UPF network element that provides user plane services for the user terminal is selected from the at least one available UPF network element.

2. The user plane routing selection method in the air-ground computing power fusion network according to claim 1, wherein: Before determining the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element according to the first indication parameter information and the second indication parameter information, the method further includes: Send a network status request message to the NRF network element; Receive a UPF network element description file returned by the NRF network element, wherein the UPF network element description file includes capacity information, load information of each UPF network element and second indication parameter information of whether each UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network.

3. The user plane routing selection method in the air-ground computing power fusion network according to claim 2, wherein: Before selecting a target UPF network element that provides a user plane service for a user terminal from the at least one available UPF network element according to the computing power information and the network status information of each UPF network element, the method further includes: Obtain the capacity and load information of each UPF network element from the UPF network element description file provided by the NRF network element; Based on the capacity information and load information of each UPF network element, the computing power information of each UPF network element is determined.

4. The user plane routing selection method in the air-ground computing power fusion network according to claim 2, wherein: When the second indication parameter information indicates that the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network, the UPF network element description file further includes: the non-terrestrial carrier type and the non-terrestrial carrier identifier of the deployed UPF network element.

5. The user plane routing selection method in the air-ground-space computing power fusion network according to claim 2, wherein: Before determining the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element according to the first indication parameter information and the second indication parameter information, the method further includes: Receive the first indication parameter information provided by the AMF network element.

6. The user plane routing selection method in the air-ground-space computing power fusion network according to claim 1, wherein: According to the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element, the network status information of each UPF network element is obtained, including: Determine the network status information provider based on the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element; A network status request message is sent to the network status information provider, so that the network status information provider returns a network status request message carrying network status information.

7. The user plane routing selection method in the air-ground computing power fusion network according to claim 6, wherein: Sending a network status request message to the network status information provider so that the network status information provider returns a network status request message carrying network status information, including at least one of the following: If the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is that only the ground bearer network is used as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on the ground bearer, a ground bearer network status request message is sent to the ground bearer network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and a ground bearer network status response message returned by the ground bearer network OAM is received, wherein the ground bearer network status response message carries the network status information of the ground bearer network; If the user plane route corresponding to the UPF network element is a bearer network composed of a ground bearer network and a non-ground network and the UPF network element is deployed on a ground bearer, a ground bearer network status request message is sent to the ground bearer network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and a ground bearer network status response message returned by the ground bearer network OAM is received; and a non-ground network status request message is sent to the non-ground network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and a non-ground network status response message is received returned by the non-ground network OAM, wherein the non-ground network status response message carries network status information of the non-ground network; If the user plane routing corresponding to the UPF network element is a non-ground network as the bearer network and the UPF network element is deployed on a non-ground bearer, a non-ground network status request message is sent to the non-ground network OAM through the ground mobile network OAM, and a non-ground network status response message returned by the non-ground network OAM is received, wherein the ground bearer network status response message carries the network status information of the ground bearer network.

8. The user plane routing selection method in the air-ground computing power fusion network according to claim 7, wherein: The network status information includes at least one of the following: delay, maximum bit rate and packet loss rate. The method further includes at least one of the following: Calculate the delay of each UPF network element according to the delay of the terrestrial bearer network and / or the delay of the non-terrestrial network; Calculate the maximum bit rate of each UPF network element according to the maximum bit rate of the terrestrial bearer network and / or the maximum bit rate of the non-terrestrial network; The packet loss rate of each UPF network element is calculated based on the packet loss rate of the ground bearer network and / or the packet loss rate of the non-ground network.

9. The user plane routing selection method in the air-ground computing power fusion network according to claim 1, wherein: According to the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element, a target UPF network element that provides a user plane service for a user terminal is selected from the at least one available UPF network element, including: Calculate the evaluation score of each UPF network element based on the computing power information, latency, maximum bit rate and packet loss rate of each UPF network element; The UPF network element with the highest evaluation score is determined as the target UPF network element.

10. The user plane routing selection method in the space-ground computing power fusion network according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein: The non-terrestrial network is a network formed by carrying network elements via satellites and / or high-altitude platforms.

11. A user plane routing selection device in an air-ground-space computing power fusion network, the device is applied to an SMF network element, comprising: An available UPF network element screening module, configured to screen out at least one available UPF network element according to a session establishment request initiated by a user terminal; A user plane routing determination module is configured to determine the user plane routing corresponding to each UPF network element according to first indication parameter information and second indication parameter information, wherein the first indication parameter information is parameter information provided by the AMF network element for indicating whether the user terminal uses a non-terrestrial network backhaul, and the second indication parameter information is parameter information provided by the NRF network element for indicating whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network; A network status information acquisition module, configured to acquire network status information of each UPF network element according to the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element; The UPF network element selection module is configured to select a target UPF network element that provides user plane services for the user terminal from at least one available UPF network element based on the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element.

12. A network system integrating air-ground computing power, comprising: At least one UPF network element, SMF network element, AMF network element and NRF network element; The AMF network element is used to provide the SMF network element with first indication parameter information indicating whether the user terminal uses a non-terrestrial network backhaul according to a session establishment request initiated by the user terminal; The NRF network element is used to provide the SMF network element with second indication parameter information for indicating whether the UPF network element is deployed in a non-terrestrial network; The SMF network element is used to screen out at least one available UPF network element based on a session establishment request initiated by a user terminal, and determine the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element based on the first indication parameter information and the second indication parameter information, and then obtain the network status information of each UPF network element based on the user plane route corresponding to each UPF network element, so as to select a target UPF network element that provides user plane services to the user terminal from the at least one available UPF network element based on the computing power information and network status information of each UPF network element.

13. An electronic device, comprising: processor; as well as A memory, configured to store executable instructions of the processor; Wherein, the processor is configured to execute the user plane routing selection method in the air-space-ground computing power fusion network described in any one of claims 1 to 10 by executing the executable instructions.

14. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the user plane routing selection method in the air-space-ground computing power fusion network described in any one of claims 1 to 10 is implemented.

15. A computer program product, comprising a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the user plane routing selection method in the air-ground-space computing power fusion network described in any one of claims 1 to 10 is implemented.

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