Policy association management method and apparatus, and device, storage medium and program product

Abstract

The present application relates to a policy association management method and apparatus, and a device, a storage medium and a program product. The method comprises: receiving a subscription information notification message sent by a unified data management (UDM) network element, and performing policy association management on the basis of target information, wherein the subscription information notification message comprises a policy association identifier, and the target information comprises a policy association identifier. In the method, a policy association identifier is added to a subscription information notification message, and UDM sends to an AMF the subscription information notification message carrying the identifier, such that the AMF can determine, on the basis of the policy association identifier, which type of policy association is performed, such as any one of operations of policy establishment, policy non-establishment, policy termination and policy maintenance. Compared with the method in conventional technology in which policy association needs to be established in any scenario, the method reduces unnecessary policy associations, thereby solving the problem of waste of network resources.

Description

Policy association management method, device, equipment, storage medium and program product

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on April 2, 2024, with application number 2024103932571, and application name “Policy Association Management Method, Device, Equipment, Storage Medium and Program Product”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a policy association management method, apparatus, device, storage medium, and program product. Background Art

[0003] When a user terminal performs initial registration, the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) initiates a UE policy association establishment request and an Access and Mobility Management (AM) policy association establishment request to the Policy Control Function (PCF) based on the policy configuration information or local configuration information received from the User Equipment (UE) to establish a policy association between the AMF and the PCF.

[0004] However, existing policy management methods have the problem of wasting network resources.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a policy association management method, apparatus, device, storage medium, and program product, which can solve the problem of network resource waste in policy management methods.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a policy association management method, which is applied to an access and mobility management function network element AMF, and the method includes:

[0008] Receiving a contract information notification message sent by a unified data management network element (UDM); wherein the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier;

[0009] Policy association management is performed according to target information; the target information includes a policy association identifier.

[0010] In one embodiment, the target information further includes local configuration information, and the performing policy association management based on the target information includes:

[0011] Policy association management is performed according to the policy association identifier and the local configuration information.

[0012] In one embodiment, performing policy association management according to the target information includes:

[0013] Determine whether the AMF has established a policy association with the policy control function network element PCF;

[0014] When the AMF has established a policy association with the PCF, determining whether to terminate the policy association according to the target information;

[0015] When the AMF has not established a policy association with the PCF, it is determined whether to establish the policy association according to the target information.

[0016] In one embodiment, determining whether to terminate the policy association according to the target information includes:

[0017] When the target information indicates that the policy association is not to be established, the policy association is terminated.

[0018] In one embodiment, the termination policy association includes:

[0019] Sending a termination policy association request to the PCF to instruct the PCF to terminate the policy association;

[0020] Receive a termination policy association response returned by the PCF.

[0021] In one embodiment, determining whether to establish the policy association according to the target information includes:

[0022] When the target information indicates that the policy association is not to be established, no policy association is established;

[0023] When the target information indicates that the policy association is to be established, a policy association establishment request is sent to the PCF to establish the policy association.

[0024] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0025] When the policy association is established, receiving the policy information returned by the PCF;

[0026] In the case of not establishing a policy association, a policy service is provided for the UE according to the local configuration information.

[0027] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0028] Sending a contract information subscription request to the UDM;

[0029] The receiving of the contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM includes:

[0030] When the UE's contract information changes, the UE receives a contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information subscription request; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0031] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0032] Upon receiving a registration request from the UE, a subscription information acquisition request is sent to the UDM;

[0033] The receiving of the contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM includes:

[0034] Receive the contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information acquisition request; the contract information notification message also includes the contract information of the UE.

[0035] In one embodiment, the policy association includes a UE policy association and / or an AM policy association, and the policy association identifier includes a UE policy association identifier and / or an AM policy association identifier.

[0036] In a second aspect, the present application provides a policy association management method, applied to UDM, the method comprising:

[0037] Send a contract information notification message to the AMF to instruct the AMF to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier in the contract information notification message.

[0038] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0039] Receive a subscription request for contract information sent by the AMF;

[0040] The sending a contract information notification message to the AMF includes:

[0041] When the UE's contract information changes, a contract information notification message based on the contract information subscription request is sent to the AMF; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0042] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0043] Receive a contract information acquisition request sent by the AMF; the contract information acquisition request is sent by the AMF when it receives a registration request sent by the UE;

[0044] The sending a contract information notification message to the AMF includes:

[0045] Send a contract information notification message based on the contract information acquisition request returned to the AMF; the contract information notification message also includes the contract information of the UE.

[0046] In a third aspect, the present application provides a policy association management method, which is applied to a communication system including a UDM and an AMF, and the method includes:

[0047] The AMF is configured to execute the method according to the first aspect;

[0048] The UDM is used to execute the method as described in the second aspect.

[0049] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a policy association management device, the device comprising:

[0050] A first receiving module is configured to receive a contract information notification message sent by a unified data management network element (UDM); the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier;

[0051] A management module is used to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier.

[0052] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a policy association management device, the device comprising:

[0053] The first sending module is used to send a contract information notification message to the AMF to instruct the AMF to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier in the contract information notification message.

[0054] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a transceiver and a processor;

[0055] The transceiver is configured to receive a contract information notification message sent by a unified data management network element (UDM); the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier;

[0056] The processor is configured to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier.

[0057] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including: a transceiver;

[0058] The transceiver is used to send a contract information notification message to the AMF to instruct the AMF to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier in the contract information notification message.

[0059] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps described in the first, second and third aspects above.

[0060] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, comprising a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps described in the first, second and third aspects above are implemented.

[0061] The above-mentioned policy association management method, apparatus, device, storage medium and program product receive the contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM and perform policy association management according to the target information, wherein the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier, and the target information includes a policy association identifier. The above-mentioned method adds a policy association identifier to the contract information notification message, and the UDM sends the contract information notification message carrying the identifier to the AMF, so that the AMF can determine what type of policy association to perform based on the policy association identifier, such as any of the policy establishment, non-establishment, termination and maintenance operations. Compared with the method in traditional technology that requires the establishment of policy associations in any scenario, the above-mentioned method reduces unnecessary policy associations, thereby solving the problem of network resource waste. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] FIG1 is a diagram illustrating an application environment of a policy association management method according to an embodiment;

[0063] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a process flow of a policy association management method according to an embodiment;

[0064] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a process flow of a policy association management method according to another embodiment;

[0065] FIG4 is a schematic flow chart of a policy association management method according to another embodiment;

[0066] FIG5 is a flow chart of a policy association management method according to another embodiment;

[0067] FIG6 is a flow chart of a policy association management method according to another embodiment;

[0068] FIG7 is a schematic flow chart of a policy association management method according to another embodiment;

[0069] FIG8 is a schematic flow chart of a policy association management method according to another embodiment;

[0070] FIG9 is a schematic flow chart of a policy association management method according to another embodiment;

[0071] FIG10 is a schematic flow chart of a policy association management method according to another embodiment;

[0072] FIG11 is a schematic flow chart of a policy association management method according to another embodiment;

[0073] FIG12 is a structural block diagram of a policy association management device according to an embodiment;

[0074] FIG13 is a diagram showing the internal structure of a policy association management device according to an embodiment;

[0075] FIG14 is a diagram showing the internal structure of a policy association management device in another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0076] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of this application more clear, the following further describes this application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain this application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0077] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a policy association management method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, in this scenario, an access and mobility management function (AMF) 100, a policy control function (PCF) 200, and a unified data management (UDM) 300 are provided. Data is transmitted between the AMF 100 and the PCF 200 via the network, and data is transmitted between the AMF 100 and the UDM 300 via the network.

[0078] Among them, AMF 100 can perform registration, connection, reachability, and mobility association, provide a session management message transmission channel for the terminal and the session management function network element (Session Management Function, SMF), provide authentication and authorization functions for user access, and is the terminal and wireless core network control plane access point; PCF 200 can provide a unified policy framework and provide policy rules for control plane functions; UDM 300 can perform 3GPP AKA authentication, user identification, access rights, registration, mobility, subscription, SMS management and other functions.

[0079] When a user terminal performs initial registration, the AMF will initiate a UE policy association establishment request and an Access and Mobility Management (AM) policy association establishment request to the PCF based on the policy configuration information or local configuration information received from the UE to establish a policy association between the AMF and the PCF. However, some terminals do not require the PCF to provide UE policy and / or AM policy. The AMF will still initiate a UE policy association establishment request and an AM policy association establishment request to the PCF, resulting in a waste of network resources.

[0080] Based on the above-mentioned traditional technology, an embodiment of the present application provides a policy association management method, which solves the problem of network resource waste by performing policy association management according to target information.

[0081] It should be noted that the beneficial effects or technical problems solved by the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this one, but may also include other implicit or related problems. For details, please refer to the description of the following embodiments.

[0082] The following specific embodiments describe in detail the technical solution of the present application and how the technical solution of the present application solves the above-mentioned technical problems. The following specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be repeated in some embodiments. The embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0083] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG2 , a policy association management method is provided, which is described by taking the method applied to the AMF device in FIG1 as an example, including the following steps:

[0084] S201, receiving a contract information notification message sent by a unified data management network element (UDM); the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier.

[0085] Among them, the Unified Data Management (UDM) network element can perform 3GPP AKA authentication, user identification, access rights, registration, mobility, subscription, SMS management and other functions; the contract information notification information can include policy association identifiers and changed contract information.

[0086] In an embodiment of the present application, the access and mobility management function (AMF) network element can subscribe to the subscription data from the UDM. When the subscription data or policy association identifier changes, the UDM sends a subscription information notification message to the AMF so that the AMF receives the policy association identifier; alternatively, when the UE initiates registration, the AMF can receive the subscription information notification message sent by the UDM.

[0087] S202, performing policy association management according to target information; the target information includes a policy association identifier.

[0088] In an embodiment of the present application, when the target information is a policy association identifier, the AMF performs policy association management based on the policy association identifier. In one embodiment, the AMF can determine whether to establish a policy association based on the policy association identifier, or the AMF can determine whether to terminate the policy association based on the policy association identifier. For example, when the policy association identifier indicates that the policy association is established, the AMF interacts with the Policy Control Function (PCF) to establish the policy association; when the policy association identifier indicates that the policy association is not established, the AMF does not establish an association identifier with the PCF.

[0089] In one embodiment, the policy association includes UE policy association and / or AM policy association, and the policy association identifier includes the UE policy association identifier and / or the AM policy association identifier. When the policy association identifier includes the UE policy association identifier, the AMF performs UE policy association management based on the UE policy association identifier; when the policy association identifier includes the AM policy association identifier, the AMF performs UE policy association management based on the AM policy association identifier; when the policy association identifier includes the UE policy association identifier and the AM policy association identifier, the AMF performs UE policy association management and AM policy association management based on the UE policy association identifier.

[0090] In the above-mentioned policy association management method, the contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM is received, and policy association management is performed according to the target information, wherein the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier, and the target information includes a policy association identifier. The above-mentioned method adds a policy association identifier to the contract information notification message, and the UDM sends the contract information notification message carrying the identifier to the AMF, so that the AMF can determine what type of policy association to perform based on the policy association identifier, such as any of the policy establishment, non-establishment, termination and maintenance operations. Compared with the method in traditional technology that requires the establishment of policy associations in any scenario, the above-mentioned method reduces unnecessary policy associations, thereby solving the problem of network resource waste.

[0091] In one embodiment, an implementation of the above S202 is provided, where the target information further includes local configuration information, and performing policy association management according to the target information may include: performing policy association management according to the policy association identifier and the local configuration information.

[0092] In an embodiment of the present application, the target information includes local configuration information and a policy association identifier, and the AMF can perform policy association management based on the local configuration information and the policy association identifier.

[0093] As an optional implementation method, when both the local configuration information and the policy association identifier represent establishment, the AMF establishes a policy association with the PCF; when either the local configuration information or the policy association identifier represents not being established, the AMF does not establish a policy association with the PCF.

[0094] As another optional implementation, the local configuration information may include the priority of the local configuration information and the policy association identifier. If the priority of the local configuration information is higher than the policy association identifier, policy association management is performed based on the local configuration information; if the priority of the policy association identifier is higher than the local configuration information, policy association management is performed based on the policy association identifier.

[0095] In this embodiment, policy association management is performed when the target information includes local configuration information and policy association identifier, making the policy association management more flexible. At the same time, the integration of local configuration information and policy management identifier makes the policy association management more accurate.

[0096] In one embodiment, an implementation of the above S202 is provided, as shown in FIG3 , wherein the policy association management based on the target information may include:

[0097] S301, determine whether the AMF has established a policy association with the policy control function network element PCF.

[0098] In an embodiment of the present application, AMF can determine whether AMF has established a policy association with the policy control function network element PCF by determining the data interaction or communication content between AMF and PCF, thereby determining whether to establish a policy association or terminate the policy association based on the determination result.

[0099] S302: When the AMF has established a policy association with the PCF, it determines whether to terminate the policy association based on the target information.

[0100] In an embodiment of the present application, when the AMF has established a policy association with the PCF, it is determined whether to terminate the policy association based on the policy association identifier; or, it is determined whether to terminate the policy association based on the policy association identifier and local configuration information.

[0101] In one embodiment, when the target information indicates that a policy association is not to be established, the policy association is terminated; when the target information indicates that a policy association is to be established, the current policy association is maintained; or when the policy association identifier does not exist, the current policy association is maintained.

[0102] Furthermore, in one embodiment, as shown in FIG4 , the termination policy association may include:

[0103] S401: Send a termination policy association request to the PCF to instruct the PCF to terminate the policy association.

[0104] S402: Receive a termination policy association response returned by the PCF.

[0105] In an embodiment of the present application, if the AMF determines to terminate the policy association, it sends a termination policy association request to the PCF. The PCF terminates the policy association according to the termination policy association request and returns a termination policy association response to the AMF. In one embodiment, the policy association response may indicate whether the termination policy association is successful.

[0106] In one embodiment, if the subscription information includes roaming service, the AMF sends a termination policy association request to the PCF corresponding to the roaming service, and receives a termination policy association response returned by the PCF corresponding to the roaming service. Further, the PCF corresponding to the roaming service sends a termination policy association request to the PCF corresponding to the local service, and receives a termination policy association response returned by the PCF corresponding to the local service.

[0107] S303: When the AMF has not established a policy association with the PCF, it determines whether to establish a policy association based on the target information.

[0108] In an embodiment of the present application, when the AMF has not established a policy association with the PCF, it is determined whether to establish a policy association based on the policy association identifier; or, it is determined whether to establish a policy association based on the policy association identifier and local configuration information.

[0109] Furthermore, in one embodiment, as shown in FIG5 , the above-mentioned determination of whether to establish a policy association based on the target information may include:

[0110] S501: When the target information indicates that a policy association is not to be established, no policy association is established.

[0111] S502: When the target information indicates that a policy association needs to be established, a policy association establishment request is sent to the PCF to establish the policy association.

[0112] In an embodiment of the present application, when the policy association identifier indicates that a policy association is not established, the AMF does not send a policy association establishment request to the PCF. When the policy association identifier indicates that a policy association is established, the AMF sends a policy association establishment request to the PCF to establish a policy association; or, when the policy association identifier and the local configuration information indicate that a policy association is not established, the AMF does not send a policy association establishment request to the PCF. When the policy association identifier and the local configuration information indicate that a policy association is established, the AMF sends a policy association establishment request to the PCF to establish a policy association.

[0113] In one embodiment, when the contract information includes roaming service, the AMF sends a policy association establishment request to the PCF corresponding to the roaming service, and receives a policy association establishment response returned by the PCF corresponding to the roaming service. Further, the PCF corresponding to the roaming service sends a policy association establishment request to the PCF corresponding to the local service, and receives a policy association establishment response returned by the PCF corresponding to the local service.

[0114] In this embodiment, the AMF determines whether to terminate the policy association or establish the policy association based on whether the AMF has established a policy association with the policy control function network element PCF, so that the policy association management is more accurate, thereby further saving network resources.

[0115] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG6 , the policy association management method may further include:

[0116] S503: When the policy association is established, receive the policy information returned by the PCF.

[0117] In an embodiment of the present application, when the AMF establishes a policy association with the PCF, the AMF receives policy information returned by the PCF and provides policy services to the UE based on the policy information. In one embodiment, when the policy association is a UE policy association, the PCF returns the UE policy information corresponding to the UE; when the policy association is an AM policy association, the PCF returns the AM policy information corresponding to the UE.

[0118] S504: Provide policy services for the UE according to local configuration information without establishing policy association.

[0119] In an embodiment of the present application, when the AMF and the PCF do not establish a policy connection, the AMF reads the policy information in the local configuration information and provides policy services for the UE according to the policy information in the local configuration information.

[0120] In this embodiment, the AMF uses different methods to provide policy services to the UE when a policy connection is established or not, so that the UE can perform the required services normally.

[0121] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG7 , the policy association management method may further include:

[0122] S203: Send a contract information subscription request to the UDM.

[0123] The subscription information may include a policy association identifier and other subscription information corresponding to the UE.

[0124] In an embodiment of the present application, AMF sends a contract information subscription request to UDM, and UDM returns a contract information subscription response to AMF, so that when the contract information changes, AMF can receive the changed contract information.

[0125] S204, when the UE's contract information changes, receives a contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information subscription request; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0126] In an embodiment of the present application, when the UE's contract information changes, the UDM sends the changed contract information to the AMF, so that the AMF can perform policy association management based on the policy association policy in the changed contract information.

[0127] In this embodiment, UDM sends the changed contract information to AMF, so that AMF can promptly perform policy association management based on the policy association identifier in the changed contract data, thereby improving the timeliness and accuracy of policy association management and saving network resources.

[0128] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG8 , the policy association management method may further include:

[0129] S205: Upon receiving the registration request sent by the UE, a request for obtaining the contract information is sent to the UDM.

[0130] In an embodiment of the present application, when the UE initiates a registration request, the policy configuration information can be carried in the registration request, the AMF sends a contract information acquisition request to the UDM, and the UDM responds to the contract information acquisition request and encapsulates the policy association identifier and other contract information into a contract information notification message.

[0131] S206, receiving the contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information acquisition request; the contract information notification message also includes the contract information of the UE.

[0132] In an embodiment of the present application, when the target information represents the establishment of a policy association, if the UE sends policy configuration information, the AMF establishes a policy association with the PCF based on the policy configuration information sent by the UE; if the UE does not send policy configuration information, the AMF establishes a policy association with the PCF based on the local configuration information.

[0133] In this embodiment, before establishing a policy association for the first time, the AMF receives a contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information acquisition request, so that the AMF can determine whether to establish a policy association based on the policy association identifier carried in the contract information notification message.

[0134] In one embodiment, a policy association management method is provided, which is illustrated by applying the method to the UDM device in Figure 1 as an example, including the following steps: sending a contract information notification message to the AMF to instruct the AMF to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier in the contract information notification message.

[0135] In an embodiment of the present application, the AMF may subscribe to the contract data from the UDM. When the contract data or the policy association identifier changes, the UDM sends a contract information notification message to the AMF so that the AMF receives the policy association identifier; or, when the UE initiates registration, the AMF may receive the contract information notification message sent by the UDM. Furthermore, the AMF performs policy association management based on the policy association identifier. In one embodiment, the AMF may determine whether to establish a policy association based on the policy association identifier, or the AMF may determine whether to terminate the policy association based on the policy association identifier. For example, when the policy association identifier representation is established, the AMF interacts with the PCF to establish a policy association; when the policy association identifier representation is not established, the AMF does not establish an association identifier with the PCF.

[0136] In the above-mentioned policy association management method, the contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM is received, and policy association management is performed according to the target information, wherein the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier, and the target information includes a policy association identifier. The above-mentioned method adds a policy association identifier to the contract information notification message, and the UDM sends the contract information notification message carrying the identifier to the AMF, so that the AMF can determine what type of policy association to perform based on the policy association identifier, such as any of the policy establishment, non-establishment, termination and maintenance operations. Compared with the method in traditional technology that requires the establishment of policy associations in any scenario, the above-mentioned method reduces unnecessary policy associations, thereby solving the problem of network resource waste.

[0137] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG9 , the policy association management method may further include:

[0138] S601, receiving a contract information subscription request sent by AMF.

[0139] The subscription information may include a policy association identifier and other subscription information corresponding to the UE.

[0140] In an embodiment of the present application, AMF sends a contract information subscription request to UDM, and UDM returns a contract information subscription response to AMF, so that when the contract information changes, AMF can receive the changed contract information.

[0141] S602: When the UE's contract information changes, a contract information notification message based on the contract information subscription request is sent to the AMF; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0142] In an embodiment of the present application, when the UE's contract information changes, the UDM sends the changed contract information to the AMF, so that the AMF can perform policy association management based on the policy association policy in the changed contract information.

[0143] In this embodiment, UDM sends the changed contract information to AMF, so that AMF can promptly perform policy association management based on the policy association identifier in the changed contract data, thereby improving the timeliness and accuracy of policy association management and saving network resources.

[0144] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG10 , the policy association management method may further include:

[0145] S603, receive the contract information acquisition request sent by AMF; the contract information acquisition request is sent by AMF when it receives the registration request sent by UE.

[0146] In an embodiment of the present application, when the UE initiates a registration request, the policy configuration information can be carried in the registration request, the AMF sends a contract information acquisition request to the UDM, and the UDM responds to the contract information acquisition request and encapsulates the policy association identifier and other contract information into a contract information notification message.

[0147] S604: Send a contract information notification message based on the contract information acquisition request returned to the AMF; the contract information notification message also includes the UE's contract information.

[0148] In this embodiment of the present application, the UDM returns a contract information notification message in response to the contract information acquisition request sent by the AMF. It should be noted that, in the case where the target information represents the establishment of a policy association, if the UE sends policy configuration information, the AMF establishes a policy association with the PCF based on the policy configuration information sent by the UE; if the UE does not send policy configuration information, the AMF establishes a policy association with the PCF based on the local configuration information.

[0149] In this embodiment, before establishing a policy association for the first time, the AMF receives a contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information acquisition request, so that the AMF can determine whether to establish a policy association based on the policy association identifier carried in the contract information notification message.

[0150] In one embodiment, a policy association management method is provided. The method can be applied to the AMF and UDM in Figure 1. The specific implementation of the method can be found in the above embodiment.

[0151] In one embodiment, FIG11 provides a signaling interaction flow chart of a policy association management method. As shown in FIG11 , the method includes the following steps:

[0152] S1, when receiving the registration request sent by the UE, sends a contract information acquisition request to the UDM; receives the contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information acquisition request; the contract information notification message also includes the UE's contract information; the policy association includes the UE policy association and / or the AM policy association, and the policy association identifier includes the UE policy association identifier and / or the AM policy association identifier.

[0153] S2, send a contract information subscription request to the UDM; when the UE's contract information changes, receive a contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information subscription request; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0154] S3, determine whether the AMF has established a policy association with the policy control function network element PCF;

[0155] S4: If the AMF has established a policy association with the PCF, execute S5 or S6; if the AMF has not established a policy association with the PCF, execute S7-S8.

[0156] S5: If the target information indicates that a policy association is not to be established, then no policy association is established; in the case where no policy association is to be established, a policy service is provided to the UE according to the local configuration information.

[0157] S6: If the target information indicates that a policy association needs to be established, a policy association establishment request is sent to the PCF to establish the policy association; and the policy information returned by the PCF is received.

[0158] S7: Send a policy association termination request to the PCF to instruct the PCF to terminate the policy association; and receive a policy association termination response returned by the PCF.

[0159] In the above-mentioned policy association management method, the contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM is received, and policy association management is performed according to the target information, wherein the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier, and the target information includes a policy association identifier. The above-mentioned method adds a policy association identifier to the contract information notification message, and the UDM sends the contract information notification message carrying the identifier to the AMF, so that the AMF can determine what type of policy association to perform based on the policy association identifier, such as any of the policy establishment, non-establishment, termination and maintenance operations. Compared with the method in traditional technology that requires the establishment of policy associations in any scenario, the above-mentioned method reduces unnecessary policy associations, thereby solving the problem of network resource waste.

[0160] It should be understood that, although the various steps in the flowcharts of Figures 2-11 are shown in sequence as indicated by the arrows, these steps are not necessarily performed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless otherwise specified herein, there is no strict order restriction on the execution of these steps, and these steps can be performed in other orders. Moreover, at least a portion of the steps in Figures 2-11 may include multiple steps or multiple stages, and these steps or stages are not necessarily performed at the same time, but can be performed at different times. The execution order of these steps or stages is not necessarily to be performed in sequence, but can be performed in turn or alternately with other steps or at least a portion of steps or stages in other steps.

[0161] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG12 , a policy association management device is provided, comprising: a first receiving module 10 and a management module 11 , wherein:

[0162] The first receiving module 10 is used to receive the contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM; the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier; the policy association includes a UE policy association and / or an AM policy association, and the policy association identifier includes a UE policy association identifier and / or an AM policy association identifier.

[0163] The management module 11 is used to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier.

[0164] In one embodiment, the management module 11 may include: a management unit configured to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier and local configuration information.

[0165] In one embodiment, the management module 11 may include: a first determining unit, a second determining unit, and a third determining unit, wherein:

[0166] The first determining unit is used to determine whether the AMF has established a policy association with the policy control function network element PCF;

[0167] The second determining unit determines whether to terminate the policy association according to the target information when the AMF has established a policy association with the PCF;

[0168] The third determination unit determines whether to establish a policy association based on the target information when the AMF has not established a policy association with the PCF.

[0169] In one embodiment, the second determining unit may be specifically configured to terminate the policy association when the target information indicates that the policy association is not to be established.

[0170] In one embodiment, the second determining unit may be specifically configured to send a termination policy association request to the PCF to instruct the PCF to terminate the policy association; and receive a termination policy association response returned by the PCF.

[0171] In one embodiment, the second determining unit may be configured to not establish a policy association if the target information indicates that a policy association is not to be established; and to send a policy association establishment request to the PCF to establish a policy association if the target information indicates that a policy association is to be established.

[0172] In one embodiment, the second determining unit may be specifically configured to receive policy information returned by the PCF when a policy association is established; and provide policy services to the UE according to local configuration information when a policy association is not established.

[0173] In one embodiment, the policy association management device may further include: a second sending module, wherein:

[0174] The second sending module is used to send a contract information subscription request to the UDM.

[0175] The first receiving module 10 is used to receive a contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on a contract information subscription request when the contract information of the UE changes; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0176] In one embodiment, the policy association management device may further include: a third sending module, wherein:

[0177] The third sending module is used to send a contract information acquisition request to the UDM when receiving a registration request sent by the UE.

[0178] The first receiving module 10 is used to receive the contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information acquisition request; the contract information notification message also includes the contract information of the UE.

[0179] In one embodiment, a policy association management device is provided, including: a first sending module, configured to send a contract information notification message to the AMF to instruct the AMF to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier in the contract information notification message.

[0180] In one embodiment, the policy association management device may further include: a second receiving module, wherein:

[0181] The second receiving module is used to receive the contract information subscription request sent by AMF.

[0182] The first sending module is used to send a contract information notification message returned based on the contract information subscription request to the AMF when the contract information of the UE changes; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0183] In one embodiment, the policy association management device may further include: a third receiving module, wherein:

[0184] The third receiving module is used to receive the contract information acquisition request sent by AMF; the contract information acquisition request is sent by AMF when it receives the registration request sent by UE.

[0185] The first sending module is used to send a contract information notification message returned based on the contract information acquisition request to the AMF; the contract information notification message also includes the UE's contract information.

[0186] The specific definition of the policy association management device can be found in the definition of the policy association management method above and will not be repeated here. Each module in the aforementioned policy association management device may be implemented in whole or in part via software, hardware, or a combination thereof. Each module may be embedded in or independent of a processor in a computer device in hardware form, or may be stored in a computer device memory in software form, so that the processor can call and execute the corresponding operations of each module.

[0187] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may include a transceiver 31, a memory 32, a processor 33 and at least one communication bus 34. The communication bus 34 is used to implement communication connections between components. The memory 32 may include a high-speed RAM memory, and may also include a non-volatile storage NVM, such as at least one disk memory. Various programs can be stored in the memory 32 to perform various processing functions and implement the method steps of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the transceiver 31 can also be a radio frequency processing module or a baseband processing module in an access network device. The transceiver 31 can be coupled to the processor 33, which can perform receiving or transmitting actions under the instruction or control of the processor 33.

[0188] In this embodiment, the transceiver 31 is used to receive a contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM; the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier; the policy association includes a UE policy association and / or an AM policy association, and the policy association identifier includes a UE policy association identifier and / or an AM policy association identifier.

[0189] The processor 33 is configured to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier.

[0190] In one embodiment, the processor 33 is configured to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier and the local configuration information.

[0191] In one embodiment, the processor 33 is used to determine whether the AMF has established a policy association with the policy control function network element PCF; if the AMF has established a policy association with the PCF, it determines whether to terminate the policy association based on the target information; if the AMF has not established a policy association with the PCF, it determines whether to establish a policy association based on the target information.

[0192] In one embodiment, the processor 33 is configured to terminate the policy association when the target information indicates that the policy association is not to be established.

[0193] In one embodiment, the transceiver 31 is configured to send a termination policy association request to the PCF to instruct the PCF to terminate the policy association; and receive a termination policy association response returned by the PCF.

[0194] In one embodiment, the processor 33 is configured to not establish a policy association if the target information indicates that a policy association is not to be established; and to send a policy association establishment request to the PCF to establish a policy association if the target information indicates that a policy association is to be established.

[0195] In one embodiment, the transceiver 31 is configured to receive policy information returned by the PCF when a policy association is established.

[0196] The processor 33 is configured to provide policy services for the UE according to local configuration information without establishing a policy association.

[0197] In one embodiment, the transceiver 31 is used to send a contract information subscription request to the UDM; when the contract information of the UE changes, the transceiver 31 receives a contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information subscription request; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0198] In one embodiment, the transceiver 31 is used to send a contract information acquisition request to the UDM when receiving a registration request sent by the UE; receive a contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information acquisition request; the contract information notification message also includes the contract information of the UE.

[0199] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may include a transceiver 41, a memory 42, a processor 43 and at least one communication bus 44. The communication bus 44 is used to implement communication connections between components. The memory 42 may include a high-speed RAM memory, and may also include a non-volatile storage NVM, such as at least one disk memory. Various programs can be stored in the memory 42 to perform various processing functions and implement the method steps of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the transceiver 41 can be a radio frequency processing module or a baseband processing module in an access network device. The transceiver 41 can be coupled to the processor 43, which can perform receiving or transmitting actions under the instruction or control of the processor 43.

[0200] In this embodiment, the transceiver 41 is used to send a contract information notification message to the AMF to instruct the AMF to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier in the contract information notification message.

[0201] In one embodiment, the transceiver 41 is used to receive a contract information subscription request sent by the AMF; when the contract information of the UE changes, a contract information notification message returned based on the contract information subscription request is sent to the AMF; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0202] In one embodiment, the transceiver 41 is used to receive a contract information acquisition request sent by the AMF; the contract information acquisition request is sent by the AMF when the AMF receives a registration request sent by the UE; and a contract information notification message returned based on the contract information acquisition request is sent to the AMF; the contract information notification message also includes the contract information of the UE.

[0203] In one embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are implemented:

[0204] Receive a contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element (UDM); the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier;

[0205] Policy association management is performed based on target information; the target information includes a policy association identifier.

[0206] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0207] Policy association management is performed based on the policy association identifier and local configuration information.

[0208] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0209] Determine whether the AMF has established a policy association with the policy control function network element PCF;

[0210] If the AMF has established a policy association with the PCF, it determines whether to terminate the policy association based on the target information;

[0211] If the AMF has not established a policy association with the PCF, it determines whether to establish a policy association based on the target information.

[0212] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0213] If the target information representation does not establish a policy association, the policy association is terminated.

[0214] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0215] Send a termination policy association request to the PCF to instruct the PCF to terminate the policy association;

[0216] Receive the termination policy association response returned by the PCF.

[0217] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0218] If the target information representation does not establish a policy association, then no policy association is established;

[0219] If the target information indicates that a policy association needs to be established, a policy association establishment request is sent to the PCF to establish the policy association.

[0220] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0221] When a policy association is established, receive the policy information returned by PCF;

[0222] Without establishing a policy association, policy services are provided to the UE based on local configuration information.

[0223] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0224] Send a contract information subscription request to UDM;

[0225] Receive contract information notification messages sent by the unified data management (UDM) network element, including:

[0226] When the UE's contract information changes, the receiving UDM returns a contract information notification message based on the contract information subscription request; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0227] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0228] Upon receiving a registration request from the UE, the UE sends a request to the UDM for obtaining the subscription information.

[0229] Receive contract information notification messages sent by the unified data management (UDM) network element, including:

[0230] Receive the contract information notification message returned by UDM based on the contract information acquisition request; the contract information notification message also includes the UE's contract information.

[0231] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0232] The policy association includes a UE policy association and / or an AM policy association, and the policy association identifier includes a UE policy association identifier and / or an AM policy association identifier.

[0233] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0234] Send a contract information notification message to AMF to instruct AMF to perform policy association management based on the policy association identifier in the contract information notification message.

[0235] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0236] Receive the contract information subscription request sent by AMF;

[0237] Send a contract information notification message to the AMF, including:

[0238] When the UE's contract information changes, a contract information notification message based on the contract information subscription request is sent to the AMF; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0239] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are further implemented:

[0240] Receive the contract information acquisition request sent by the AMF; the contract information acquisition request is sent by the AMF when it receives the registration request sent by the UE;

[0241] Send a contract information notification message to the AMF, including:

[0242] Send a contract information notification message based on the contract information acquisition request returned to the AMF; the contract information notification message also includes the UE's contract information.

[0243] The present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the following steps:

[0244] Receive a contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element (UDM); the contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier;

[0245] Policy association management is performed based on target information; the target information includes a policy association identifier.

[0246] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0247] Policy association management is performed based on the policy association identifier and local configuration information.

[0248] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0249] Determine whether the AMF has established a policy association with the policy control function network element PCF;

[0250] If the AMF has established a policy association with the PCF, it determines whether to terminate the policy association based on the target information;

[0251] If the AMF has not established a policy association with the PCF, it determines whether to establish a policy association based on the target information.

[0252] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0253] If the target information representation does not establish a policy association, the policy association is terminated.

[0254] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0255] Send a termination policy association request to the PCF to instruct the PCF to terminate the policy association;

[0256] Receive the termination policy association response returned by the PCF.

[0257] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0258] If the target information representation does not establish a policy association, then no policy association is established;

[0259] If the target information indicates that a policy association needs to be established, a policy association establishment request is sent to the PCF to establish the policy association.

[0260] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0261] When a policy association is established, receive the policy information returned by PCF;

[0262] Without establishing a policy association, policy services are provided to the UE based on local configuration information.

[0263] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0264] Send a contract information subscription request to UDM;

[0265] Receive contract information notification messages sent by the unified data management (UDM) network element, including:

[0266] When the UE's contract information changes, the receiving UDM returns a contract information notification message based on the contract information subscription request; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0267] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0268] Upon receiving a registration request from the UE, the UE sends a request to the UDM for obtaining the subscription information.

[0269] Receive contract information notification messages sent by the unified data management (UDM) network element, including:

[0270] Receive the contract information notification message returned by UDM based on the contract information acquisition request; the contract information notification message also includes the UE's contract information.

[0271] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0272] The policy association includes a UE policy association and / or an AM policy association, and the policy association identifier includes a UE policy association identifier and / or an AM policy association identifier.

[0273] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0274] Send a contract information notification message to AMF to instruct AMF to perform policy association management based on the policy association identifier in the contract information notification message.

[0275] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0276] Receive the contract information subscription request sent by AMF;

[0277] Send a contract information notification message to the AMF, including:

[0278] When the UE's contract information changes, a contract information notification message based on the contract information subscription request is sent to the AMF; the contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

[0279] In one embodiment, the computer further performs the following steps:

[0280] Receive the contract information acquisition request sent by the AMF; the contract information acquisition request is sent by the AMF when it receives the registration request sent by the UE;

[0281] Send a contract information notification message to the AMF, including:

[0282] Send a contract information notification message based on the contract information acquisition request returned to the AMF; the contract information notification message also includes the UE's contract information.

[0283] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program, and the computer program can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed, it can include the processes of the embodiments of the above-mentioned methods. Among them, any reference to memory, storage, database or other media used in the embodiments provided in this application may include at least one of non-volatile and volatile memory. Non-volatile memory may include read-only memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory or optical memory, etc. Volatile memory may include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory. As an illustration and not limitation, RAM can be in various forms, such as static random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM).

[0284] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0285] The above-described embodiments merely represent several implementation methods of the present application. While the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that a person skilled in the art could make various modifications and improvements without departing from the spirit of the present application, all of which fall within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present patent application shall be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A policy association management method, the method being applied to an access and mobility management function (AMF), the method comprising: Receive contract information notification messages sent by the unified data management network element UDM; The contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier; Policy association management is performed according to target information; the target information includes a policy association identifier.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The target information also includes local configuration information, and the policy association management based on the target information includes: Policy association management is performed according to the policy association identifier and the local configuration information.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The performing policy association management according to the target information includes: Determine whether the AMF has established a policy association with the policy control function network element PCF; When the AMF has established a policy association with the PCF, determining whether to terminate the policy association according to the target information; When the AMF has not established a policy association with the PCF, it is determined whether to establish the policy association according to the target information.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The determining whether to terminate the policy association according to the target information includes: When the target information indicates that the policy association is not to be established, the policy association is terminated.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The termination policy association includes: Sending a termination policy association request to the PCF to instruct the PCF to terminate the policy association; Receive a termination policy association response returned by the PCF.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The determining whether to establish the policy association according to the target information includes: When the target information indicates that the policy association is not to be established, no policy association is established; When the target information indicates that the policy association is to be established, a policy association establishment request is sent to the PCF to establish the policy association.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising: When the policy association is established, receiving the policy information returned by the PCF; In the case of not establishing a policy association, a policy service is provided for the UE according to the local configuration information.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: Sending a contract information subscription request to the UDM; The receiving of the contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM includes: When the UE's subscription information changes, receiving a subscription information notification message returned by the UDM based on the subscription information subscription request; The contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

9. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: Upon receiving a registration request from the UE, a subscription information acquisition request is sent to the UDM; The receiving of the contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM includes: Receive a contract information notification message returned by the UDM based on the contract information acquisition request; The contract information notification message also includes the contract information of the UE.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The policy association includes a UE policy association and / or an AM policy association, and the policy association identifier includes a UE policy association identifier and / or an AM policy association identifier.

11. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The local configuration information includes the priority of the local configuration information and the priority of the policy association identifier; The performing policy association management according to the policy association identifier and the local configuration information includes: When the priority of the local configuration information is higher than the priority of the policy association identifier, performing policy association management according to the local configuration information; When the priority of the policy association identifier is higher than the priority of the local configuration information, policy association management is performed according to the policy association identifier.

12. A policy association management method, applied to UDM, comprising: Send a contract information notification message to the AMF to instruct the AMF to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier in the contract information notification message.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: Receive a subscription request for contract information sent by the AMF; The sending a contract information notification message to the AMF includes: If the UE's subscription information changes, send a subscription information notification message returned based on the subscription information subscription request to the AMF; The contract information notification message also includes the changed contract information.

14. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: Receive the contract information acquisition request sent by the AMF; The subscription information acquisition request is sent by the AMF when it receives the registration request sent by the UE; The sending a contract information notification message to the AMF includes: Sending a contract information notification message returned based on the contract information acquisition request to the AMF; The contract information notification message also includes the contract information of the UE.

15. A policy association management method, the method being applied to a communication system including a UDM and an AMF, the method comprising: The AMF is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11; The UDM is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 12 to 14.

16. A policy association management device, comprising: The first receiving module is used to receive a contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM; The contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier; A management module is used to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier.

17. A policy association management device, comprising: The first sending module is used to send a contract information notification message to the AMF to instruct the AMF to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier in the contract information notification message.

18. A communication device comprising: transceivers and processors; The transceiver is used to receive the contract information notification message sent by the unified data management network element UDM; The contract information notification message includes a policy association identifier; The processor is configured to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier.

19. A communication device comprising: transceiver; The transceiver is used to send a contract information notification message to the AMF to instruct the AMF to perform policy association management according to the policy association identifier in the contract information notification message.

20. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 are implemented.

21. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 are implemented.

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