Method and apparatus for configuring industrial internet service, and device and network system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communications. Provided are a method and apparatus for configuring an industrial Internet service, and a device and a network system. The method for configuring an industrial Internet service in the present disclosure comprises: a core network discovering a terminal, and discovering a topological relationship of the terminal and a communication model of same; detecting service flow information of the terminal on a forwarding path; determining quality-of-service configuration information on the basis of the service flow information, the topological relationship and the communication model, and determining scheduling configuration information; and sending the quality-of-service configuration information and the scheduling configuration information to a related network device.

Description

Industrial Internet business configuration method, device, equipment and network system

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application is based on the application with CN application number 202311099275.0 and application date August 29, 2023, and claims its priority. The disclosed content of the CN application is hereby introduced as a whole into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to an industrial Internet service configuration method, device, equipment and network system. Background Art

[0004] As one of the typical applications of 5G, URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications) is highly adaptable to industrial Internet scenarios with deterministic requirements such as low latency and high reliability.

[0005] To support URLLC application scenarios, 3GPP 5G NR (New Radio) introduces TWG (Transmission without Grant) to further reduce scheduling latency. This allows the UE (User Equipment) to continuously use designated uplink transmission resources within a single gNB activation and deactivation period, eliminating the need for multiple DCI (Downlink Control Information) indications. This effectively reduces the latency of the UE sending SR (Scheduling Request), BSR (Buffer Status Report), and gNB uplink grant during the traditional scheduling process.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] One purpose of the present disclosure is to improve the efficiency and reliability of industrial Internet configuration.

[0008] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for configuring industrial Internet services is proposed, including: a core network discovering a terminal, and discovering the topological relationship and communication model of the terminal; detecting the service flow information of the terminal on the forwarding path; determining service quality configuration information and scheduling configuration information based on the service flow information, topological relationship and communication model; and sending the service quality configuration information and scheduling configuration information to relevant network devices.

[0009] In some embodiments, the core network discovering the terminal includes: the core network discovering the terminal through network feature identification.

[0010] In some embodiments, an enhanced PCF (Policy Control Function) unit or IISF (Industrial Internet Service Function) unit in the core network discovers the terminal.

[0011] In some embodiments, discovering a terminal through network feature identification includes: discovering a terminal in the network through at least one of identifying industrial flow features and identifying features collected by sensors deployed in the network.

[0012] In some embodiments, discovering the topological relationship and communication model of the terminal includes: obtaining the topological relationship and communication model of the terminal by at least one of identifying features collected by sensors deployed in the network, analyzing features of collected network performance data, or interacting with the platform.

[0013] In some embodiments, the topological relationship includes the topology of the industrial network in which the terminal is located, and the communication model includes at least one of the average delay, jitter, packet loss rate, and burst rate on the transmission path associated with the terminal.

[0014] In some embodiments, detecting the service flow information of the terminal on the forwarding path includes: obtaining user plane data information detected and reported by the user plane functional unit; obtaining service flow information based on the user plane data information, wherein the service flow information includes at least one of service flow identification, service flow priority, service flow type, and service flow determinism requirement.

[0015] In some embodiments, the service flow priority is positively correlated with the real-time requirements of the service.

[0016] In some embodiments, the service flow type includes at least one of a periodic type and a non-periodic type, wherein when the service flow type includes a periodic type, the service flow information includes a service flow period.

[0017] In some embodiments, the service flow determinism requirement includes at least one of the service's upper delay bound, upper jitter bound, lower bandwidth bound, lower reliability bound, and upper packet loss rate bound.

[0018] In some embodiments, determining the quality of service configuration information includes: determining the quality of service requirement according to the business flow information, the topology relationship and the communication model; and determining the quality of service configuration information based on the policy control functional unit according to the quality of service requirement.

[0019] In some embodiments, the scheduling configuration information includes scheduling period configuration information and time-frequency resource configuration information of the service flow carried by the user equipment connected to the terminal, wherein the wireless access network determines the time interval for initiating the scheduling-free process to the user equipment based on the scheduling period configuration information.

[0020] In some embodiments, determining the scheduling configuration information includes: determining the service flow type of the service flow carried by the user equipment connected to the terminal; determining the time length of the scheduling period based on the service flow type as the scheduling period configuration information, wherein the scheduling configuration information includes the scheduling period configuration information.

[0021] In some embodiments, determining the time length of the scheduling period based on the service flow type includes: when the service flow type includes a periodic type, and the number of types of period lengths of periodic service flows is 1, determining the time length of the scheduling period as the period length of the periodic service carried by the user equipment or a predetermined clock unit length.

[0022] In some embodiments, determining the time length of the scheduling period based on the service flow type includes: when the service flow type includes a periodic type, and the number of types of cycle lengths of periodic type service flows is greater than 1, determining the time length of the scheduling period as the least common multiple of the cycle lengths of each periodic type service flow carried by the user equipment.

[0023] In some embodiments, determining the time length of the scheduling period based on the service flow type includes: when the service flow type is a non-periodic type, determining the time length of the scheduling period to be a predetermined clock unit length.

[0024] In some embodiments, determining the scheduling configuration information also includes: when the service flow type includes a non-periodic type, generating wireless resource network scheduling control information, wherein the wireless resource network adjusts the resource allocation to the target non-periodic service as needed after the first cycle after receiving the cache status report reported by the user equipment at the start of the target non-periodic service based on the wireless resource network scheduling control information, until the service end report is received, and then allocates the remaining resources reserved for the non-periodic service in the current scheduling cycle to other service flows in need.

[0025] In some embodiments, sending quality of service configuration information to relevant network devices includes: sending quality of service rules to user equipment connected to the terminal; sending the quality of service configuration file to the wireless access network; and sending user plane rules for performing at least one of classification, bandwidth policy implementation or user plane traffic marking to the user plane functional unit.

[0026] In some embodiments, sending the scheduling configuration information to the relevant network device includes: sending the scheduling configuration information to the user plane function unit through the session management function unit, and sending it to the wireless access network through the session management function unit and the access and mobility management function unit.

[0027] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, an industrial Internet service device is proposed, including: a discovery unit, configured to discover terminals, and discover the topological relationship and communication model of the terminals; a detection unit, configured to detect business flow information of the terminals on the forwarding path; a configuration information determination unit, configured to determine service quality configuration information and scheduling configuration information based on the business flow information, topological relationship and communication model; an information sending unit, configured to send the service quality configuration information and scheduling configuration information to relevant network devices.

[0028] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, an industrial Internet service device is proposed, comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute any one of the above industrial Internet business configuration methods based on instructions stored in the memory.

[0029] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is proposed, on which computer program instructions are stored, and when the instructions are executed by a processor, any one of the industrial Internet business configuration methods described above is implemented.

[0030] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a core network device is proposed, including any one of the industrial Internet service devices described above.

[0031] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a network system is proposed, comprising: the core network device mentioned above; and a wireless access network, configured to receive service quality configuration information and scheduling configuration information from the core network device, and determine, based on the scheduling configuration information, a time interval for initiating a scheduling-free process to a user device connected to a terminal.

[0032] According to one aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer program is proposed for causing a processor to execute any one of the above industrial Internet business configuration methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and constitute a part of the present disclosure. The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and their descriptions are used to explain the present disclosure and do not constitute an improper limitation of the present disclosure. In the drawings:

[0034] FIG1 is a flowchart of some embodiments of the industrial Internet business configuration method disclosed herein.

[0035] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of the industrial Internet business configuration method disclosed herein.

[0036] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the relevant network architecture of the industrial Internet business configuration method disclosed in the present invention.

[0037] 4A-D are schematic diagrams of the business flow scheduling process of some embodiments of the industrial Internet business configuration method disclosed herein.

[0038] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of the industrial Internet service device disclosed herein.

[0039] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of some other embodiments of the industrial Internet service device disclosed herein.

[0040] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of some further embodiments of the industrial Internet service device disclosed herein.

[0041] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of the core network device of the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of the network system of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The technical solution of the present disclosure is further described in detail below through the accompanying drawings and examples.

[0044] In related technologies, when the core network configures policies for the business flows of terminals in the industrial Internet, it needs to obtain and manually configure business flow information and policies from the OT (Operational Technology) system offline. With the surge in business types and volumes in existing industrial networks, the business flow cycles, task priorities, and service quality requirements of different UEs and different industrial terminals are heterogeneous and diverse, and manual configuration of business flows is complex, inefficient, and has a high error rate.

[0045] In response to the above problems, the present disclosure proposes an industrial Internet business configuration method, device, equipment and network system to realize the automated configuration of business flow scheduling rules and control strategies.

[0046] A flowchart of some embodiments of the industrial Internet business configuration method disclosed herein is shown in FIG1 .

[0047] In step S11 , the core network discovers the terminal, and discovers the topological relationship and communication model of the terminal.

[0048] In some embodiments, the core network can proactively discover the terminals, topological relationships, and communication models used in the Industrial Internet through the Industrial Internet service capabilities of the enhanced PCF or by adding a new network element IISF to the core network. In some embodiments, the terminals used in the Industrial Internet (hereinafter referred to as industrial terminals) may include computer devices, handheld terminals, sensor devices, and mechanical equipment capable of interacting with the Internet in industrial scenarios. In some embodiments, industrial terminals access the network by connecting to UEs.

[0049] In some embodiments, the core network can discover industrial terminals in the network through network feature recognition. In some embodiments, terminals in the network are discovered by identifying at least one of industrial flow features and features collected by sensors deployed in the network. Industrial flow features may include the volume and frequency of industrial Internet service flows, as well as information features included in the service flows, such as service identifiers and production line identifiers. In some embodiments, industrial flow data can be collected as samples to train a machine learning model, and the trained model can be used to identify industrial flows appearing in the network. Features collected by sensors deployed in the network may include image features, audio features, etc. In some embodiments, sensor devices deployed in the network detect environmental changes and identify industrial terminals (such as production line equipment) therein. In some embodiments, industrial terminals can be identified by leveraging the network's interawareness integration capabilities. The method in this embodiment can improve network data collection and analysis capabilities, and enhance the timeliness and automation of industrial terminal discovery in the network.

[0050] In some embodiments, the topological relationships and communication models of the terminals are obtained by at least one of identifying features collected by sensors deployed in the network, analyzing features of collected network performance data, or interacting with a platform. In some embodiments, the features collected by the sensors may include image features; the analyzed and collected network performance data features may include historical information collected within the network, such as transmission delay, bit error rate, packet forwarding path, and other features; and the platform may be any application platform hosted on the carrier network where the core network is located, or interacting with the carrier network.

[0051] In some embodiments, the topology includes the topology of the industrial network in which the terminal resides, and the communication model includes at least one of the average latency, jitter, packet loss rate, and burst rate of the transmission path associated with the terminal. This method enables, based on the discovery of industrial terminals, to further understand the state of the network in which the industrial terminals reside, providing data support for the subsequent generation of configuration information.

[0052] In step S12, the service flow information of the terminal on the forwarding path is detected.

[0053] In some embodiments, the user plane data information detected and reported by the UPF (User Plane Function) can be obtained first, and then the service flow information can be obtained based on the user plane data information, wherein the service flow information includes at least one of the service flow identification, service flow priority, service flow type, and service flow determinism requirements.

[0054] In some embodiments, the priority of a service flow is positively correlated with the real-time requirement of the service, that is, the higher the real-time requirement of the service, the higher the priority of the service flow.

[0055] In some embodiments, the service flow type includes at least one of a periodic type and a non-periodic type, wherein when the service flow type includes a periodic type, the service flow information includes a service flow period. In some embodiments, when the service flow type is a non-periodic type, the terminal needs to send a BSR (Buffer Status Report) and a BFR (Business Finished Report) to the RAN at the start and end of the service, respectively. In some embodiments, the service rhythm of a periodic service flow is generally fixed, such as material processing and metal parts quality inspection. The duration of a non-periodic service flow is generally uncertain. For example, it is generally uncertain how long it takes to fine-tune the parameter configuration of a device until it operates ideally within a certain period of time. In some embodiments, the service flow type can be determined based on the correspondence between the pre-stored service flow identifier and the service flow type, or by performing a periodic analysis based on the characteristics of the service flow.

[0056] In some embodiments, the service flow determinism requirement includes at least one of the service's upper delay bound, upper jitter bound, lower bandwidth bound, lower reliability bound, and upper packet loss rate bound.

[0057] In step S13, quality of service configuration information and scheduling configuration information are determined according to the service flow information, topology relationship and communication model.

[0058] In some embodiments, determining the quality of service configuration information includes determining a quality of service requirement based on traffic flow information, topology, and a communication model, and then, based on the quality of service requirement, sending the quality of service requirement and the communication model as input information to the PCF based on the PCF, and obtaining feedback from the PCF as the quality of service configuration information. This method can utilize existing core network functions to determine the QoS configuration information, reducing implementation difficulty.

[0059] In some embodiments, the above steps S11 and S12 can be implemented within the PCF, and the enhanced PCF with industrial Internet service capabilities can determine the service quality configuration information within the PCF, thereby further reducing information interaction operations and improving processing efficiency.

[0060] In some embodiments, the scheduling configuration information includes scheduling period configuration information and time-frequency resource configuration information for the service flow carried by the UE, wherein the scheduling period configuration information includes the time interval for controlling the wireless access network to initiate a scheduling-free process to the UE. The UE can continuously use the specified uplink transmission resources within the time interval without the need for multiple DCI indications.

[0061] In some embodiments, the determined scheduling period configuration information may be related to the service flow type. The service flow type of the service flow carried by the UE may be determined first, and then the time length of the scheduling period may be determined based on the service flow type as the scheduling period configuration information. In this way, the precision of determining the scheduling period configuration information can be improved, and the matching degree with the service flow can be improved.

[0062] In some embodiments, determining the scheduling configuration information further includes: generating radio resource network scheduling control information when the service flow type includes an aperiodic service, wherein the radio resource network adjusts resource allocation to the target aperiodic service as needed after receiving the BSR reported by the UE at the start of the target aperiodic service in the first period after the radio resource network scheduling control information, until receiving the BFR, and then allocating the remaining resources reserved for the aperiodic service in the current scheduling period to other service flows in need. Through this method, the reserved but unoccupied remaining resources can be allocated to other service flows in need, thereby improving resource utilization while also improving the transmission capacity and efficiency of the service flow.

[0063] In step S14, the quality of service configuration information and the scheduling configuration information are sent to relevant network devices.

[0064] In some embodiments, the core network distributes quality of service configuration information to the UPF, RAN, and UE, and distributes scheduling rules to the UPF and RAN.

[0065] In some embodiments, the quality of service configuration information generally refers to QoS policies related to the QoS mechanism, such as QoS rule(s) (quality of service rules) sent by the core network to the UE, QoS profile(s) (quality of service profile) sent by the core network to the RAN, and user plane rules for performing classification, bandwidth policy implementation, user plane traffic marking, etc. sent by the core network to the UPF, and does not specifically refer to the QoS rule(s) sent by the core network to the UE. In some embodiments, the core network sends the generated QoS rule(s) to the UE, sends the QoS profile(s) to the RAN, and sends the user plane rule for performing at least one of classification, bandwidth policy implementation, or user plane traffic marking to the UPF, thereby completing the configuration of the quality of service information.

[0066] In some embodiments, the core network sends the scheduling configuration information to the UPF through the SMF (Session Management Function) unit, and sends it to the RAN through the SMF and AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) units.

[0067] Based on the method in the embodiment shown above, through automatic identification of industrial terminals and automatic configuration of scheduling rules, the efficiency of business flow scheduling is improved, the reliability and automation level of industrial control are improved, the resource scheduling process of UE business flows is simplified, the overhead of uplink and downlink signaling interactions is reduced, and the flexibility in adapting to diversified business flows is improved, thereby more efficiently meeting the low-latency and high-reliability deterministic requirements of industrial automation scenarios.

[0068] A schematic diagram of some embodiments of the industrial Internet business configuration method disclosed in the present invention is shown in Figure 2. The implementation steps of the industrial Internet business configuration method can be summarized as discovery, parsing, mapping, and distribution.

[0069] In step 1 (discovery), 5GC discovers industrial terminals based on external feature recognition (static recognition, dynamic capture, etc.), industrial flow feature recognition, etc., or uses the network's synesthesia capability to achieve this; and discovers the topological relationship and communication model of industrial terminals based on external feature information or historical information collected within the network or information interacted with external network platforms.

[0070] In step 2 (parsing), the IISF in 5GC, or the Enhanced-PCF with built-in industrial Internet service capabilities, receives the user plane data information reported by each UPF and parses the industrial terminal business flow information, such as business flow identification, business flow priority, business flow type, business flow determinism requirements, etc.

[0071] In step 3 (mapping), IISF, or Enhanced-PCF with built-in industrial Internet service capabilities, performs a comprehensive calculation of the scheduling cycle for all service flows belonging to the same UE based on the topological relationship of the industrial terminals and the service flow type in the service flow information, and maps the service flow requirements in the service flow information to QoS requirements for use as input for PCF policy decisions (Enhanced PCF with industrial Internet service capabilities can be implemented directly within PCF).

[0072] In step 4 (distribution), the scheduling configuration information including the scheduling period is sent to the UPF through the SMF, and to the RAN through the SMF and AMF; the QoS configuration information is sent to the UPF, RAN, and UE.

[0073] Through this method, the core network can actively detect relevant information such as industrial terminal business characteristics and network topology and automatically generate business flow scheduling rules based on this information, effectively realizing the closed-loop automatic configuration of industrial terminal business flow scheduling rules in the industrial Internet scenario, improving the efficiency of configuration and resource scheduling, and enhancing the reliability and automation level of industrial control; on the basis of comprehensive consideration of different types of business flows, the signaling interaction process is simplified based on the scheduling-free method, and the signaling overhead is reduced. The accuracy and efficiency of business flow scheduling are improved through automatic detection of business characteristics and automatic configuration of scheduling rules, which can effectively meet the low latency requirements of the industrial Internet scenario.

[0074] In some embodiments, taking the configuration of the IISF unit separately in the core network as an example, an example of a network architecture involving the newly added network element IISF in the core network is shown in Figure 3. The IISF unit can discover industrial terminals based on feature data analysis and can obtain data reported by the user plane. In some embodiments, the industrial terminal is connected to the UE signal, or is part of the UE, or the industrial terminal itself accesses the Internet as a UE. The IISF unit sends the data used to decide QoS to the PCF, and the PCF sends the generated QoS configuration information to the SMF; the IISF sends the generated scheduling configuration information to the SMF. The SMF sends the configuration information to the UPF, or to the UE and RAN via the AMF.

[0075] Through this method, the functional units added to the core network can be combined with the functions of the existing functional units in the core network to fully utilize network resources to achieve the discovery of industrial terminals and the automatic configuration of QoS and scheduling, thereby improving the degree of automation of industrial Internet services and the efficiency and reliability of configuration.

[0076] In some embodiments, determining the duration of the scheduling period based on the service flow type includes: if the service flow type includes periodicity and the number of types of periodic service flows is one, determining the duration of the scheduling period to be the period length of the periodic service carried by the UE. Cases that can be categorized as service flows that include periodicity and the number of types of periodic service flows is one include: the UE carries only one service flow, and that service flow is periodic; the UE carries service flows that include periodicity and aperiodicity, where there is only one periodic service flow (or multiple periodic service flows have the same period). This method allows for continuous use of uplink resources within a single service cycle without requiring rescheduling, thereby improving service continuity and ensuring timely rescheduling. In some embodiments, the duration of the scheduling period can also be determined as a predetermined clock unit length. In some embodiments, the predetermined clock unit length is less than or equal to the period length of any periodic service. In some embodiments, the predetermined clock unit length can be a preset basic unit clock length. This method improves the timeliness of rescheduling while ensuring certain industrial flow scheduling-free performance. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG4A , the service flows carried by the UE are periodic and have the same period (the period is the same as T1 ), and the scheduling period is configured as a service flow period or a basic unit clock.

[0077] In some embodiments, determining the time length of the scheduling period based on the service flow type includes: when the service flow type includes a periodic type, and the number of types of period lengths of periodic service flows is greater than 1, determining the time length of the scheduling period as the least common multiple of the period lengths of each periodic service carried by the UE. The situations that can be classified as service flow types including periodic types, and the number of types of period lengths of periodic service flows is greater than 1 include: the UE carries multiple service flows, all of which are periodic services, and the service cycles are not exactly the same; the UE carries service flows including periodic services and non-periodic services, among which there are multiple periodic services, and the service cycles are not exactly the same. Through such a method, uplink resources can be continuously used within a single service cycle of each service flow without the need for rescheduling, thereby improving service continuity.

[0078] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG4B , the service flow carried by the UE is a plurality of periodic services (with periods of T1, T2, ..., T x , where x is the number of service flows), in some embodiments, at least two service flows have different periods. In this case, the scheduling period is configured as the least common multiple T of the service flow periods. C =Gcd(T1, T2, ..., T x ).

[0079] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG4D , the service flow carried by the UE is a periodic type (with periods of T1, T2, ..., T x , where x is the number of service flows) and the non-periodic type. The scheduling period is configured as the least common multiple T of the service flow period of the periodic type. C =Gcd(T1, T2, ..., T x ). For non-periodic service flows, T C Continue to schedule resources for it for the period (at least enough for it to send BSR), and adjust its resource allocation as needed in the first period after receiving BSR, until it receives BFR, and allocate the remaining resources reserved for it in the current scheduling period to other business flows in need.

[0080] In some embodiments, determining the time length of the scheduling period based on the service flow type includes: when the service flow type is non-periodic (i.e., only non-periodic services and no periodic services), determining the time length of the scheduling period to be a predetermined clock unit length. Through such a method, the preset clock unit length can be used as the scheduling period for non-periodic services, and the timeliness of rescheduling can be improved on the basis of ensuring a certain industrial flow scheduling-free performance. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG4C , the service flow carried by the UE is a non-periodic service. The scheduling period is configured as a basic clock unit, and resources are continuously scheduled for it in each clock period (at least enough for it to send a BSR), and its resource allocation is adjusted as needed in the first period after receiving the BSR, until the remaining resources reserved for it in the current scheduling period are allocated to other service flows in need after receiving the BFR.

[0081] The following uses several examples to introduce the process of the industrial Internet business configuration method disclosed in the present invention. The parameters in the examples are only examples of feasible solutions and do not constitute an improper limitation on the present invention.

[0082] Assuming that the service flow periods (in milliseconds) of periodic industrial terminals 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8 are 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, and 2, respectively, and the basic unit clock is 1 millisecond, the QoS automatic configuration and scheduling-free process for each service flow is as follows:

[0083] [Example 1] The service flow carried by the UE has only one cycle length

[0084] UE0 carries the service flows of industrial terminal 0 and industrial terminal 1

[0085] Step 1: IISF actively discovers industrial terminal 0, industrial terminal 1, and UE0 that provides services for them, and discovers the communication model on the UE0-RAN0-UPF0 path.

[0086] Step 2: IISF parses the service flow information about industrial terminal 0 and industrial terminal 1 reported by UPF0, including detecting that their service flow periods are both 2ms.

[0087] Step 3: IISF calculates the scheduling period of UE0 as the service flow period of 2ms (or the predetermined unit clock period of 1ms), and sends the mapped QoS requirements of industrial terminal 0 and industrial terminal 1 and the discovered communication model to PCF for QoS rule decision.

[0088] Step 4: PCF distributes the QoS rules generated in step 3 to UPF0, RAN0 and UE0. IISF distributes the scheduling-free rules to UPF0 and RAN0. RAN0 configures relevant parameters and initiates a scheduling-free process to UE0 every 2ms (or 1ms).

[0089] [Example 2] UE carries service flows with multiple periods

[0090] UE1 carries the service flows of industrial terminals 2 and 3.

[0091] Step 1: IISF actively discovers industrial terminal 2, industrial terminal 3, and UE1 that provides services for them, and discovers the communication model on the UE1-RAN0-UPF0 path.

[0092] Step 2: IISF parses the service flow information about industrial terminal 2 and industrial terminal 3 reported by UPF0, including the detected service flow periods of industrial terminal 2 and industrial terminal 3 being 2ms and 3ms respectively.

[0093] Step 3: IISF calculates the scheduling period of UE1 as 6ms, and sends the mapped QoS requirements of industrial terminal 2 and industrial terminal 3 and the discovered communication model to PCF for QoS rule decision.

[0094] Step 4: PCF distributes the QoS rules generated in step 3 to UPF0, RAN0, and UE1. IISF distributes the scheduling-free rules to UPF0 and RAN0. RAN0 configures relevant parameters and initiates a scheduling-free process to UE1 every 6 ms.

[0095] [Example 3] All traffic flows carried by the UE are aperiodic and have at least two period lengths

[0096] UE2 carries the service flows of industrial terminals 4 and 5.

[0097] Step 1: IISF actively discovers industrial terminal 4, industrial terminal 5 and UE2 that provides services for them, and discovers the communication model on the UE2-RAN0-UPF1 path.

[0098] Step 2: IISF parses the service flow information about industrial terminal 4 and industrial terminal 5 reported by UPF1, including detecting that the service flow type is aperiodic.

[0099] Step 3: IISF calculates the scheduling period of UE2 as 1ms, and sends the mapped QoS requirements of industrial terminal 4 and industrial terminal 5 and the discovered communication model to PCF for QoS rule decision.

[0100] Step 4: The PCF distributes the QoS rules generated in Step 3 to UPF1, RAN0, and UE2. The IISF distributes the scheduling exemption rules to UPF1 and RAN0. RAN0 configures the relevant parameters and initiates a scheduling exemption process to UE2 every 1ms. UE2 must send a BSR and a BFR to RAN0 at the start and end of a service, respectively. Resources are continuously scheduled for UE2 in each clock cycle (at least enough for it to send a BSR). Resource allocation is adjusted as needed in the first cycle after receiving the BSR. Upon receiving the BFR, the remaining resources reserved for UE2 in the current scheduling cycle are allocated to other service flows in need.

[0101] [Example 4] The UE carries both periodic and aperiodic traffic flows

[0102] UE3 carries the service flows of industrial terminals 6 and 7.

[0103] Step 1: IISF actively discovers industrial terminal 6, industrial terminal 7 and UE3 that provides services for them, and discovers the communication model on the UE3-RAN1-UPF2 path.

[0104] Step 2: IISF parses the service flow information about industrial terminal 6 and industrial terminal 7 reported by UPF2, including detecting that the service flow period of industrial terminal 6 is 2ms and the service flow type of industrial terminal 7 is aperiodic.

[0105] Step 3: IISF calculates the scheduling period of UE3 as 2ms, and sends the mapped QoS requirements of industrial terminal 6 and industrial terminal 7 and the discovered communication model to PCF for QoS rule decision.

[0106] Step 4: The PCF distributes the QoS rules generated in Step 3 to UPF2, RAN1, and UE3. The IISF distributes the scheduling exemption rules to UPF2 and RAN1. RAN1 configures the relevant parameters and initiates a scheduling exemption process with UE3 every 2ms. UE3 must send a BSR and BFR to the RAN at the start and end of industrial terminal 7's service, respectively. Within every 2ms, resources are continuously scheduled for it (at least enough for it to send a BSR). Resource allocation is adjusted as needed in the first cycle after receiving the BSR. After receiving the BFR, the remaining resources reserved for non-periodic services in the current scheduling cycle are allocated to other service flows in need.

[0107] [Example 5] For the service flow of industrial terminal 8 carried by UE4, the scheduling process refers to [Example 1].

[0108] [Example 6] For the service flow of industrial terminal 9 carried by UE5, the scheduling process refers to [Example 3].

[0109] A schematic diagram of some embodiments of the industrial Internet service device disclosed in the present invention is shown in FIG5 .

[0110] The discovery unit 501 is capable of discovering terminals and discovering the topological relationships and communication models of the terminals. In some embodiments, the discovery unit 501 can be implemented through enhanced functions in the PCF or a newly added IISF unit in the core network. In some embodiments, the discovery unit 501 can discover terminals in the network by at least one of identifying industrial flow characteristics and identifying characteristics collected by sensors deployed in the network. In some embodiments, the discovery unit 501 can obtain the topological relationships and communication models of the terminals by at least one of identifying characteristics collected by sensors deployed in the network, analyzing characteristics of collected network performance data, or interacting with the platform.

[0111] The detection unit 502 is capable of detecting service flow information of the terminal on the forwarding path. In some embodiments, the detection unit 502 obtains user plane data information detected and reported by the UPF, and then obtains service flow information based on the user plane data information, where the service flow information includes at least one of a service flow identifier, a service flow priority, a service flow type, and a service flow determinism requirement.

[0112] The configuration information determination unit 503 can determine the quality of service configuration information and the scheduling configuration information based on the service flow information, topology relationship, and communication model. In some embodiments, the configuration information determination unit 503 determines the quality of service requirement based on the service flow information, topology relationship, and communication model, and then based on the quality of service requirement, sends the quality of service requirement and the communication model as input information to the PCF (Policy Control Function), and obtains feedback from the PCF as the quality of service configuration information.

[0113] The information sending unit 504 can send the quality of service configuration information and the scheduling configuration information to the relevant network devices. In some embodiments, the information sending unit 504 distributes the quality of service configuration information to the UPF, RAN and UE, and distributes the scheduling rules to the UPF and RAN.

[0114] Such a device improves the efficiency of business flow scheduling, enhances the reliability and automation level of industrial control through automatic identification, detection and discovery of features and automatic configuration of scheduling rules, reduces the delay of UE periodic waiting and resource request in traditional dynamic scheduling schemes, simplifies the resource scheduling process of UE business flows, reduces the overhead of uplink and downlink signaling interactions, and improves flexibility in adapting to diversified business flows, thereby more efficiently meeting the low-latency and high-reliability deterministic requirements of industrial automation scenarios.

[0115] A structural diagram of an embodiment of the industrial Internet service device disclosed in the present invention is shown in Figure 6. The industrial Internet service device includes a memory 601 and a processor 602. Wherein: the memory 601 can be a disk, a flash memory or any other non-volatile storage medium. The memory is used to store the instructions in the corresponding embodiment of the industrial Internet business configuration method above. The processor 602 is coupled to the memory 601 and can be implemented as one or more integrated circuits, such as a microprocessor or a microcontroller. The processor 602 is used to execute instructions stored in the memory, which can improve the efficiency and reliability of the industrial Internet configuration.

[0116] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG7 , an industrial internet service device 700 includes a memory 701 and a processor 702. The processor 702 is coupled to the memory 701 via a BUS 703. The industrial internet service device 700 can also be connected to an external storage device 705 via a storage interface 704 to access external data, and can also be connected to a network or another computer system (not shown) via a network interface 706. A detailed description is omitted here.

[0117] In this embodiment, by storing data instructions in a memory and then processing the instructions through a processor, the efficiency and reliability of the industrial Internet configuration can be improved.

[0118] In another embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium stores computer program instructions thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method in the corresponding embodiment of the industrial Internet business configuration method. Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be provided as methods, devices, or computer program products. Therefore, the present disclosure can take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Moreover, the present disclosure can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable non-transitory storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0119] A schematic diagram of some embodiments of the core network device 81 of the present disclosure is shown in FIG8 .

[0120] Core network device 81 includes an Industrial Internet service device 810, which can be any of the devices mentioned above. In some embodiments, the core network device can be a newly added device in the current core network, such as the IISF mentioned above. In some embodiments, the core network device can also be an improved implementation based on the existing core network device, such as the enhanced PCF mentioned above.

[0121] Such core network equipment improves the efficiency of service flow scheduling, enhances the reliability and automation of industrial control, simplifies the resource scheduling process of UE service flows, reduces the overhead of uplink and downlink signaling interactions, and improves flexibility in adapting to diversified service flows through automatic identification, detection and discovery of features, and automatic configuration of scheduling rules. This enables more efficient meeting the low-latency, high-reliability, and deterministic requirements of industrial automation scenarios.

[0122] A schematic diagram of some embodiments of the network system of the present disclosure is shown in FIG9 .

[0123] The core network device 91 can be any one of the ones mentioned above.

[0124] The radio access network 92 can receive the quality of service configuration information and the scheduling configuration information from the core network device, and determine the time interval for initiating the scheduling-free process to the UE according to the scheduling configuration information.

[0125] Such a network system improves the efficiency of business flow scheduling, enhances the reliability and automation of industrial control, simplifies the resource scheduling process of UE business flows, reduces the overhead of uplink and downlink signaling interactions, and improves flexibility in adapting to diversified business flows through automatic identification, detection and discovery of features and automatic configuration of scheduling rules, thereby more efficiently meeting the low-latency, high-reliability and deterministic requirements of industrial automation scenarios.

[0126] The present disclosure is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems) and computer program products according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that each process and / or box in the flowchart and / or block diagram and the combination of the processes and / or boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0127] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0128] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0129] The present disclosure has been described in detail. To avoid obscuring the concept of the present disclosure, some details known in the art have not been described. Based on the above description, those skilled in the art can fully understand how to implement the technical solutions disclosed herein.

[0130] The methods and apparatus of the present disclosure may be implemented in many ways. For example, the methods and apparatus of the present disclosure may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination of software, hardware, and firmware. The above order of steps for the method is for illustration only, and the steps of the method of the present disclosure are not limited to the order specifically described above, unless otherwise specifically stated. In addition, in some embodiments, the present disclosure may also be implemented as programs recorded in a recording medium, which include machine-readable instructions for implementing the methods according to the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure also covers recording media that store programs for executing the methods according to the present disclosure.

[0131] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification, claims, and drawings of the present disclosure are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the numbers used in this way are interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products, or apparatus.

[0132] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present disclosure and not to limit it. Although the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, ordinary technicians in the relevant field should understand that the specific implementation methods of the present disclosure can still be modified or some technical features can be replaced by equivalents without departing from the spirit of the technical solutions of the present disclosure, which should all be included in the scope of the technical solutions requested for protection in the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An industrial Internet service configuration method, executed by a core network, comprising: Discovering terminals, and discovering topological relationships and communication models of the terminals; Detecting service flow information of the terminal on the forwarding path; Determine quality of service configuration information and scheduling configuration information according to the service flow information, the topology relationship and the communication model; The quality of service configuration information and the scheduling configuration information are sent to relevant network devices.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The terminal discovery includes: the core network discovering the terminal through network feature identification.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The enhanced policy control function PCF unit or the industrial Internet service function IISF unit in the core network discovers the terminal.

4. The configuration method according to claim 2, wherein: The method of discovering a terminal by identifying network features includes: discovering the terminal in the network by at least one of identifying industrial flow features and identifying features collected by sensors deployed in the network.

5. The configuration method according to claim 1, wherein: The discovering the topological relationship and communication model of the terminal includes: The topological relationship and the communication model of the terminal are obtained by at least one of identifying features collected by sensors deployed in the network, analyzing features of collected network performance data, or interacting with a platform.

6. The configuration method according to claim 5, wherein: The topological relationship includes the topology of the industrial network where the terminal is located, and the communication model includes at least one of average delay, jitter, packet loss rate, and burst rate on a transmission path associated with the terminal.

7. The configuration method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The detecting the service flow information of the terminal on the forwarding path comprises: Obtain user plane data information detected and reported by the user plane functional unit; The service flow information is acquired according to the user plane data information, wherein the service flow information includes at least one of a service flow identifier, a service flow priority, a service flow type, and a service flow determinism requirement.

8. The configuration method according to claim 7, wherein: The service flow priority is positively correlated with the real-time requirement of the service.

9. The configuration method according to claim 7, wherein: The service flow type includes at least one of a periodic type and a non-periodic type, wherein when the service flow type includes a periodic type, the service flow information includes a service flow period.

10. The configuration method according to claim 7, wherein: The service flow deterministic requirement includes at least one of the service's delay upper bound, jitter upper bound, bandwidth lower bound, reliability lower bound, and packet loss rate upper bound.

11. The configuration method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: Determining the quality of service configuration information includes: Determine the quality of service requirement according to the service flow information, the topological relationship and the communication model; According to the quality of service requirement, based on a policy control functional unit, the quality of service configuration information is determined.

12. The configuration method according to claim 1, wherein: The scheduling configuration information includes scheduling period configuration information and time-frequency resource configuration information of the service flow carried by the user equipment connected to the terminal, wherein the wireless access network determines the time interval for initiating a scheduling-free process to the user equipment according to the scheduling period configuration information.

13. The configuration method according to claim 1 or 12, wherein: The determining of the scheduling configuration information includes: Determine a service flow type of a service flow carried by a user equipment connected to the terminal; The time length of the scheduling period is determined based on the service flow type as the scheduling period configuration information, wherein the scheduling configuration information includes the scheduling period configuration information.

14. The configuration method according to claim 13, wherein: Determining the time length of the scheduling period based on the service flow type includes: When the service flow type includes a periodic type and the number of types of cycle lengths of the periodic service flow is 1, the time length of the scheduling cycle is determined to be the cycle length of the periodic service carried by the user equipment or a predetermined clock unit length.

15. The configuration method according to claim 13, wherein: Determining the time length of the scheduling period based on the service flow type includes: When the service flow type includes a periodic type and the number of types of cycle lengths of the periodic service flows is greater than 1, the time length of the scheduling period is determined to be the least common multiple of the cycle lengths of each periodic service flow carried by the user equipment.

16. The configuration method according to claim 13, wherein: Determining the time length of the scheduling period based on the service flow type includes: In the case where the service flow type is a non-periodic type, the time length of the scheduling period is determined to be a predetermined clock unit length.

17. The configuration method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein: The determining of the scheduling configuration information further includes: In the case where the service flow type includes a non-periodic type, wireless resource network scheduling control information is generated, wherein the wireless resource network adjusts the resource allocation to the target non-periodic service as needed after the first cycle after receiving the cache status report reported by the user equipment at the start of the target non-periodic service according to the wireless resource network scheduling control information, until the service end report is received, and the remaining resources reserved for the non-periodic service in the current scheduling cycle are allocated to other service flows in need.

18. The configuration method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: Sending the quality of service configuration information to relevant network devices includes: Sending the quality of service rules to a user equipment connected to the terminal; sending the quality of service profile to the radio access network; and A user plane rule for performing at least one of classification, bandwidth policy enforcement, or user plane traffic marking is sent to a user plane functional unit.

19. The configuration method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: Sending the scheduling configuration information to relevant network devices includes: The scheduling configuration information is sent to the user plane function unit through the session management function unit, and is sent to the radio access network through the session management function unit and the access and mobility management function unit.

20. An industrial Internet service device, comprising: A discovery unit, configured to discover terminals, and discover topological relationships and communication models of the terminals; A detection unit, configured to detect service flow information of the terminal on the forwarding path; a configuration information determining unit, configured to determine quality of service configuration information and scheduling configuration information according to the service flow information, the topology relationship and the communication model; The information sending unit is configured to send the quality of service configuration information and the scheduling configuration information to relevant network devices.

21. An industrial Internet service device, comprising: Memory; as well as A processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 based on instructions stored in the memory.

22. A computer-readable storage medium having computer program instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19.

23. A core network device, comprising the industrial Internet service device described in claim 20 or 21.

24. A network system comprising: The core network device as claimed in claim 23; and The wireless access network is configured to receive service quality configuration information and scheduling configuration information from a core network device, and determine a time interval for initiating a scheduling-free process to a user equipment connected to a terminal according to the scheduling configuration information.

25. A computer program for causing a processor to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19.

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