Policy association establishment method and apparatus, electronic device and storage medium

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are a policy association establishment method and apparatus, a device, a medium and a program product. The method comprises: receiving a user information acquisition request sent by an access control network element; and, in response to the user information acquisition request and on the basis of stored user policy association configuration data, sending policy association indication information to the access control network element, the policy association indication information at least comprising first indication information or second indication information, the first indication information being used for representing that the access control network element is allowed to establish a policy association with a policy control network element, and the second indication information being used for representing that the access control network element is not allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element. The present method allows terminals to, on the basis of service demands, choose to establish a policy association or not to establish a policy association, thus providing suitable services on the basis of actual demands of users, and simultaneously avoiding network load increase caused by unnecessary network interaction, and avoiding network resource waste.

Description

Strategy association establishment methods, devices, electronic equipment and storage media

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410520229.1, filed on April 26, 2024, entitled "Strategy Association Establishment Method, Apparatus, Electronic Device and Storage Medium", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates to the field of computer technology, and more specifically, to a method, apparatus, electronic device, storage medium, and computer program product for establishing policy associations. Background Technology

[0004] 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) is a collaborative project agreement among telecommunications industry partners (organizational partners) aimed at formally defining a global mobile 3G wireless system based on radio access technologies and the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMC) specification.

[0005] In 3GPP, after a user terminal registers with the network, the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) network element will establish a policy association for the user with the PCF (Policy Control Function) network element based on the local pre-configured information.

[0006] Currently, once a terminal connects to the network, the network indiscriminately establishes policy associations for user devices, resulting in a waste of network resources.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] This disclosure provides a method, apparatus, electronic device, storage medium, and computer program product for establishing policy associations.

[0009] Other features and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part from practice of this disclosure.

[0010] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a policy association establishment method is provided, applied to a user-subscribed data network element. The method includes: receiving a user information acquisition request sent by an access control network element; the user information acquisition request includes at least user identification information; in response to the user information acquisition request, sending policy association indication information to the access control network element according to stored user policy association configuration data; the policy association indication information includes at least: first indication information or second indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element; the second indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is not allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element.

[0011] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes: sending a subscription request for the user policy-related configuration data to a user configuration data storage network element; the subscription request includes at least the user identification information; and in response to a response message from the user configuration data storage network element approving the subscription request, establishing a subscription relationship with the user configuration data storage network element for the user policy-related configuration data.

[0012] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes: in response to a change in the user policy association configuration data, receiving change information of the user policy association configuration data sent by the user configuration data storage network element; updating the stored user policy association configuration data according to the change information of the user policy association configuration data; and sending the policy association indication information to the access control network element according to the change information of the user policy association configuration data; wherein the policy association indication information includes at least: the first indication information or the second indication information.

[0013] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes: the change information of the user configuration data storage network element includes a change validity period; in response to the expiration of the change validity period, the user policy associated configuration data is restored to the user policy associated configuration data before the change.

[0014] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes: in response to the user policy association configuration data being restored to the user policy association configuration data before the change, sending the policy association indication information to the access control network element; the policy association indication information includes at least: the first indication information or the second indication information.

[0015] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes: in response to the terminal identifier indicating that policy association is not supported, the policy association indication information further includes third indication information; the third indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is prohibited from establishing policy association with the policy control network element.

[0016] In an exemplary embodiment, the user information acquisition request is issued in response to the terminal's initial access to the access control network element.

[0017] In an exemplary embodiment, the policy association includes at least one of the following: user equipment policy association; access and mobility management policy association.

[0018] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a policy association establishment apparatus is provided, comprising: a request receiving module configured to receive a user information acquisition request sent by an access control network element; the user information acquisition request includes at least user identification information; and an indication information sending module configured to, in response to the user information acquisition request, send policy association indication information to the access control network element according to stored user policy association configuration data; the policy association indication information includes at least: first indication information or second indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element; and the second indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is not allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element.

[0019] According to another aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising: one or more processors; and a storage device configured to store one or more programs, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the policy association establishment method as described in the above embodiments.

[0020] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, the computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the policy association establishment method as described in the above embodiments.

[0021] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program / instructions, characterized in that, when the computer program / instructions are executed by a processor, they implement the policy association establishment method as described in the above embodiments.

[0022] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not intended to limit this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0023] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure, and are not intended to unduly limit this disclosure.

[0024] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0025] Figure 2 shows a flowchart of a strategy association establishment method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 3 shows a flowchart of a user policy association configuration data subscription method according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0027] Figure 4 shows a flowchart of a user policy association configuration data modification method according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0028] Figure 5 shows a flowchart of the user policy association configuration data recovery method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0029] Figure 6 shows a flowchart of a strategy association establishment method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] Figure 7 shows a flowchart of another strategy association establishment method according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0031] Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of a strategy association establishment device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0032] Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device suitable for implementing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0033] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, these exemplary embodiments can be implemented in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, they are provided so that this disclosure will be more comprehensive and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0034] Furthermore, the accompanying drawings are merely illustrative of this disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, and therefore repeated descriptions of them will be omitted. Some block diagrams shown in the drawings are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities may be implemented in software, in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different network and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0035] It should be noted that the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of this disclosure are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects. Furthermore, the descriptions of "first" and "second" do not limit the objects to necessarily being different.

[0036] Currently, in 3GPP, when a user equipment initially registers with a 5G (5th-Generation Mobile Communication Technology) network, the AMF network element will establish a policy association between the user and the PCF network element based on the local pre-configured information.

[0037] However, in reality, operators may not have pre-configured specific policy association rules for this user (SUPI), or the user equipment may not support network-deployed policy associations. Therefore, indiscriminately establishing policy associations for user equipment will result in a waste of network resources.

[0038] To address the aforementioned problems, this disclosure proposes a method applicable to various communication systems, such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Termevolution), LTE Frequency Division Duplex, LTE Time Division Duplex, UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System), WIMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), 5G (5th generation), or future communication systems or other similar systems.

[0039] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system to which an embodiment of this disclosure applies. As shown in Figure 1, the network architecture includes UE, RAN (Radio Access Network) equipment, AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) network elements, SMF (Session Management function) network elements, UPF (User Plane Function) network elements, PCF (Policy Control Function) network elements, NSSF (Network Slice Selection Function) network elements, NRF (Network Repository Function) network elements, NWDAF (Network Data Analytics Function) network elements, UDM (Unified Data Management) network elements, UDR (Unified Data Repository) network elements, ASF (Authentication Server Function) network elements, NEF (Network Exposure Function) network elements, AF (Application Function) network elements, and DN (Data Network) connecting to the operator's network.

[0040] The UE can be various electronic devices, deployed on land (indoor or outdoor, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted); on water (e.g., ships); or in the air (e.g., airplanes, balloons, and satellites). The UE can communicate with the core network without RAN equipment, exchanging voice and / or data with RAN equipment. The UE can be a mobile phone, tablet, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, mobile internet device, wearable device, virtual reality terminal device, augmented reality terminal device, wireless terminal in industrial control, wireless terminal in autonomous driving, wireless terminal in telemedicine, wireless terminal in smart grids, wireless terminal in transportation safety, wireless terminal in smart cities, wireless terminal in smart homes, etc. Optionally, the client applications installed in different UEs can be the same, or clients of the same type of application based on different operating systems. Depending on the terminal platform, the specific form of the application client can also differ; for example, the application client can be a mobile phone client, a computer client, etc.

[0041] RAN equipment is a device in the network used to connect UEs to the wireless network. It can include devices in the access network that communicate with wireless terminals through one or more sectors on the air interface. UEs can access AMF network elements through RAN equipment. Specifically, when a UE accesses an AMF network element through RAN equipment, the UE can access the AMF network element through network-side equipment such as 5G and later versions of base stations (e.g., 5G NR NB) or base stations in other communication systems (e.g., eNB base stations).

[0042] The AMF network element is mainly used for mobility management and access authentication / authorization of UEs, and is also responsible for transmitting user policies between UEs and PCF network elements.

[0043] SMF network elements are mainly used for session management, UE Internet Protocol address allocation and management, selection of manageable user plane functions, policy control, or terminal points for charging function interfaces, and downlink data notification, etc.

[0044] UPF network elements can be used for packet routing and forwarding, or QoS processing of user plane data. User data can be accessed to the DN through this network element.

[0045] PCF network elements are a unified policy framework used to guide network behavior, providing policy rule information for control plane functional network elements (such as AMF and SMF network elements).

[0046] The NSSF network element is mainly used to select the appropriate network slice for the UE's services.

[0047] NRF network elements are primarily used to provide registration and discovery functions for network elements or the services they provide.

[0048] NWDAF network elements can collect data from various network functions and perform analysis and prediction.

[0049] UDM network elements are mainly used to manage UE subscription information. For example, during the authentication process, they perform authentication vector calculation, key deduction, user identifier decryption, etc. In the resynchronization process, they verify AUTS according to the corresponding algorithm and initiate a re-authentication process.

[0050] UDR network elements are mainly used to store structured data information, including subscription information, policy information, and network data or service data with standard format definitions.

[0051] The AUSF network element is mainly used for security authentication of terminal devices.

[0052] The NEF (Network Element) is located between the 5G core network and external third-party application functions, and may also have some internal application functions. It is responsible for managing the network data exposed to the outside world. All external applications that want to access the internal data of the 5G core network must go through the NEF. The NEF provides corresponding security guarantees to ensure the security of external applications to the network, and provides functions such as opening up QoS customization capabilities for external applications, subscription to mobility state events, and distribution of application function requests.

[0053] AF (Application Filter) network elements are primarily used to convey application-side requests to the network side, such as QoS requirements and user state event subscriptions. AF network elements can be third-party functional entities or application services deployed by the operator. For third-party application functional entities, authorization processing can also be handled through NEF (Network Filter) network elements when interacting with the core network. For example, a third-party application function may directly send a request to an NEF network element. The NEF network element determines whether the AF network element is authorized to send the request. If the verification is successful, the request will be forwarded to the corresponding PCF (Physical Processing Filter) network element or UDM (User Filtering Filter) network element.

[0054] It should be understood that the aforementioned network elements or functions can be network components in hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

[0055] Figure 2 shows a flowchart of a policy association establishment method according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The policy association establishment method provided in Figure 2 can be executed by a user-subscribed data network element. As shown in Figure 2, the policy association establishment method may include the following steps.

[0056] In step S210, a user information acquisition request sent by the access control network element is received; the user information acquisition request includes at least user identification information.

[0057] In this embodiment of the disclosure, a user-subscribed data network element receives a user information acquisition request sent by an access control network element. This user information acquisition request is used to request user subscription information from the user-subscribed data network element. The user subscription information includes at least policy association indication information. This policy association indication information is used to indicate whether the user has established a policy association configuration. The user information acquisition request also includes at least user identification information to represent the user corresponding to the request.

[0058] In an exemplary embodiment, the user information acquisition request is sent by the access control network element to the user's subscribed data network element in response to the terminal's initial access to the access control network element. This is to determine whether a policy association needs to be established during the terminal's initial access and registration process.

[0059] In an exemplary embodiment, policy association includes at least one of the following: user equipment policy association (UE policy) and access and mobility management policy association (AM policy).

[0060] User equipment policies (UE policies) primarily focus on UE behavior and configuration. Specifically, they can include: UE capability management (i.e., identifying and managing UE capabilities, such as the communication protocols and data processing capabilities supported by the UE), UE configuration management (configuring UE parameters and settings based on network requirements and UE capabilities to optimize UE performance and network resource utilization), and UE behavior management (managing UE behavior in the network, such as UE power consumption and data transmission policies).

[0061] Access and Mobility Management (AM) policies are primarily responsible for handling user access requests, mobility management, and session management. This can include: access control (determining whether a user's device is allowed to access the network and which network resources are allocated to the user), mobility management (when a user moves within the network, such as when switching from one base station to another, AM policies are responsible for updating the user's location information to ensure service continuity), and session management (managing the user's network connection sessions, including session establishment, modification, and termination).

[0062] In an exemplary embodiment, the receiving access control network element may be an AMF.

[0063] In an exemplary embodiment, the user-subscribed data network element can be a UDM.

[0064] In step S220, in response to the user information acquisition request, policy association indication information is sent to the access control network element according to the stored user policy association configuration data; the policy association indication information includes at least: first indication information or second indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element; the second indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is not allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element.

[0065] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the user subscription data network element pre-stores user subscription information, including user policy association configuration data. This user policy association configuration data is used to configure relevant indication information regarding whether the AMF and PCF are allowed to establish a policy association in the user's access network. In response to the user information acquisition request, the user subscription data network element searches for the user policy association configuration data corresponding to the user based on the user identification information, and then sends policy association indication information to the access control network element. This policy association indication information includes at least one first indication information or a second indication information.

[0066] The first indication information indicates that the access control network element is permitted to establish a policy association with the policy control network element. In response to this first indication information, the AMF can send a policy association establishment request to the PCF. This request can be an association establishment request for UE policies and / or AM policies. If the AMF receives a response from the PDF indicating successful policy association establishment, the AMF can determine that a policy association for the UE has been successfully established with the PCF.

[0067] The second indication information indicates that the access control network element is not allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element. In response to this second indication information, the AMF can postpone sending a policy association establishment request to the PCF, thereby avoiding the problem of wasted network resources caused by indiscriminate establishment of policy associations in related technologies. It should be noted that this second indication information only postpones the PCF from sending the policy association establishment request; when the relevant policy association configuration of the user terminal changes, the AMF can still send the policy association establishment request to the PCF according to the change in policy association configuration.

[0068] In an exemplary embodiment, in response to the terminal identifier indicating that it does not support establishing policy associations, the policy association indication information further includes third indication information; the third indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is prohibited from establishing policy associations with the policy control network element. Unlike the aforementioned second indication information, since the terminal itself does not support establishing policy associations, the AMF is prohibited from sending policy association establishment requests to the PCF, and there is no need to monitor changes in the relevant policy association configuration. This further avoids the waste of relevant network resources based on the terminal's own capabilities. Those skilled in the art should understand the differences between "allowed," "disallowed," and "prohibited" in the above first, second, and third indication information.

[0069] In an exemplary embodiment, the user policy association configuration data can configure the same or different settings for user equipment policy association, access and mobility management policy association. That is, the user policy association configuration data can configure the user to establish user equipment policy association, access and mobility management policy association when accessing the network, or not to establish user equipment policy association, access and mobility management policy association, or configure the user to establish one of the policy associations when accessing the network.

[0070] The policy association establishment method provided in this disclosure, when a terminal accesses the network, instructs the access control network element whether to establish a policy association with the policy control network element based on the user policy association configuration data stored in the user's subscribed data network element. This method allows the terminal to choose whether to establish a policy association or not based on service needs, thereby providing appropriate services according to the user's actual requirements. It also avoids unnecessary network interactions that could increase network load and waste network resources.

[0071] Figure 3 shows a flowchart of a user policy association configuration data subscription method according to an embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 3, the policy association establishment method may further include the following steps.

[0072] In step S310, a subscription request for the user policy-related configuration data is sent to the user configuration data storage network element; the subscription request includes at least the user identification information.

[0073] As mentioned above, the aforementioned second instruction information only temporarily suspends the PCF from sending the policy association establishment request. When the relevant policy association configuration of the user terminal changes, the AMF can still send the policy association establishment request to the PCF again according to the change in the policy association configuration.

[0074] In this embodiment of the disclosure, in order to follow up on the establishment of policy associations based on changes in the relevant policy association configurations of the user terminal, the user subscription data network element also sends a subscription request to the user configuration data storage network element. This subscription request includes at least the user identification information. This subscription request is used to subscribe to the user's user policy association configuration data from the user configuration data storage network element.

[0075] In an exemplary embodiment, the user configuration data storage network element may be a UDR. The UDR is responsible for storing and managing user subscription information, policy data, and other structured service data.

[0076] In step S320, in response to the response message returned by the user configuration data storage network element approving the subscription request, a subscription relationship for the user policy-related configuration data is established with the user configuration data storage network element.

[0077] In this embodiment, the user configuration data storage network element responds to the subscription request by returning a response message approving the subscription request. Based on this, a subscription relationship is established between the user subscription data network element and the user configuration data storage network element, corresponding to the user's policy-related configuration data. When the user's policy-related configuration data in the user configuration data storage network element changes, it is sent to the user subscription data network element based on the subscription rules to update the user policy-related configuration data stored locally in the user subscription data network element.

[0078] The policy association establishment method provided in this disclosure further establishes a subscription relationship for user policy association configuration data between the user's subscribed data network element and the user configuration data storage network element. Through this method, the user's subscribed data network element can obtain updated user policy association configuration data according to changes in terminal service requirements, thereby adjusting the policy association establishment strategy and providing flexibility for users to establish or not establish policy associations.

[0079] Figure 4 shows a flowchart of a user policy association configuration data modification method according to an embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 4, the policy association establishment method may further include the following steps.

[0080] In step S410, in response to a change in the user policy association configuration data, the change information of the user policy association configuration data sent by the user configuration data storage network element is received.

[0081] As mentioned earlier, a subscription relationship is established between the user-subscribed data network element and the user configuration data storage network element, corresponding to the user's policy-related configuration data. When the user's policy-related configuration data in the user configuration data storage network element changes, it will be sent to the user-subscribed data network element based on the subscription rules.

[0082] Specifically, when an Application Function (AF) element (e.g., the Carrier Management System) or a Network Data Analysis (NWDAF) element (e.g., other network nodes) changes the target policy parameters in the User Configuration Data Storage (UDR) element, the Network Open Function (NEF) element writes the parameter change information to the UDR based on the change in the target policy parameters. The UDR can send a parameter change notification to the User Policy Association (UDM) (for example, the parameter change notification may include change information of the user policy association configuration data). This change information of the user policy association configuration data can be parameters that determine whether a policy association needs to be established between the AMF and PCF, such as network transmission rate, data transmission latency, and access restriction areas. The UDM receives the change information of the user policy association configuration data sent by the UDR.

[0083] In step S420, the stored user policy association configuration data is updated according to the change information of the user policy association configuration data.

[0084] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the user subscription data network element updates the user policy association configuration data stored locally based on the change information of the user policy association configuration data.

[0085] In step S430, the policy association indication information is sent to the access control network element according to the change information of the user policy association configuration data; the policy association indication information includes at least the first indication information or the second indication information.

[0086] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the user-subscribed data network element also sends the policy association indication information to the access control network element based on the change information of the user policy association configuration data. The policy association indication information includes at least one of the first indication information or the second indication information. The first and second indication information have already been described in the aforementioned step S220 and will not be repeated here.

[0087] In an exemplary embodiment, the user policy association configuration data originally stored in the user subscription data network element disallows the access control network element from establishing a policy association with the policy control network element, while the change information in the user policy association configuration data allows the access control network element to establish a policy association with the policy control network element. Based on this, the user subscription data network element sends a first indication message to the access control network element to instruct the access control network element to establish a policy association with the policy control network element.

[0088] In an exemplary embodiment, the user policy association configuration data originally stored in the user subscription data network element allows the access control network element to establish a policy association with the policy control network element, while the change information in the user policy association configuration data disallows the access control network element from establishing a policy association with the policy control network element. Based on this, the user subscription data network element sends a second indication message to the access control network element to instruct the access control network element to stop establishing a policy association with the policy control network element.

[0089] In an exemplary embodiment, the change information of the user policy association configuration data can be independently configured based on user equipment policy association or access or mobility management policy association. The user subscription data network element then independently instructs and controls the corresponding policy association based on the change information.

[0090] The policy association establishment method provided in this disclosure synchronizes with the user-subscribed data network element after the user configuration data storage network element obtains change information on the user policy association configuration data. The user-subscribed data network element updates the locally stored user policy association configuration data based on this change information and sends updated policy association indication information to the access control network element. This method allows the user-subscribed data network element to adjust the policy association establishment strategy according to changes in terminal service requirements, providing flexibility for users to establish or not establish policy associations.

[0091] Figure 5 shows a flowchart of a user policy association configuration data recovery method according to an embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 5, the policy association establishment method may further include the following steps.

[0092] In step S510, the change information of the user policy association configuration data also includes the change validity period; it is determined whether the change validity period has been exceeded.

[0093] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the change information of the user policy association configuration data may further include a change validity period. This change validity period indicates the effective time of the change information for the user policy association configuration data; that is, the relevant change information is only valid within this validity period. If the validity period expires, the change information becomes invalid, and the original default user policy association configuration data is restored.

[0094] The effective time of this change can be the expiration date (e.g., 23:59:59 on April 30, 2024), the effective duration (e.g., 4 hours), a recurring cycle (e.g., every weekend), or a triggering event (e.g., it expires after completing a task or meeting specific conditions).

[0095] When the change information includes the validity period of the change, the user's subscribed data network element will determine whether the validity period of the change has expired after receiving the change information of the user's policy-related configuration data.

[0096] In step S520, the user policy association configuration data is restored to the user policy association configuration data before the change.

[0097] In this embodiment of the disclosure, in response to the expiration of the effective time of the change, the user subscription data network element restores the locally stored user policy association configuration data from the change information to the original default user policy association configuration data before the change.

[0098] In step S530, in response to the user policy association configuration data being restored to the user policy association configuration data before the change, the policy association indication information is sent to the access control network element; the policy association indication information includes at least: the first indication information or the second indication information.

[0099] In this embodiment of the disclosure, in response to the user policy association configuration data being restored to the user policy association configuration data before the change, the user subscription data network element sends policy association indication information to the access control network element. This policy association indication information includes at least one first indication information or a second indication information. The first and second indication information have already been described in the aforementioned step S220 and will not be repeated here.

[0100] The policy association establishment method provided in this disclosure further includes a change validity period in the change information of user policy association configuration data, and determines the validity duration of the changed user policy association configuration data based on the change validity period. This method allows for the preset validity period of change information, facilitating the restoration of the user policy association configuration data to its pre-change state after the change validity period has expired.

[0101] Figure 6 shows a flowchart of a strategy association establishment method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 6, the strategy association establishment method may include the following steps S610-S660:

[0102] In step S610, the AMF triggers a request to the UDM to obtain user information based on the UE's access to the network, in order to obtain policy association indication information from the user's subscription information.

[0103] In step S620, the UDM determines whether the configuration data indicates no policy association should be established based on the stored user policy association configuration data. Based on this, it returns policy association indication information to the AMF. This policy association indication information may include: first indication information, second indication information, or third indication information.

[0104] If the configuration data is to establish a policy association, then proceed to step S660, instructing the AMF to establish an AM policy association and / or a UE policy association with the PCF.

[0105] If the configuration data indicates that no policy association will be established, then proceed to step S630, instructing the AMF and PCF not to establish AM policy association and / or UE policy association.

[0106] In step S630, according to the policy association indication information of the UDM, the AMF and PCF do not establish AM policy association and / or UE policy association. Then, the UDM and UDR establish a subscription relationship for the policy association configuration data for that user.

[0107] In step S640, if the user policy associated configuration data in the UDR changes, the change information of the user policy associated configuration data is sent to the UDM based on the subscription rules.

[0108] In step S650, the UDM updates the locally stored user policy association configuration data based on the received change information. Furthermore, according to the change information, the UDM sends policy association indication information to the AMF. This policy association indication information may include either first indication information or second indication information.

[0109] In step S660, in response to the policy association indication information sent by the UDM including the first indication information, the AMF sends a policy association establishment request to the PCF to establish AM policy association and / or UE policy association with the PCF.

[0110] Figure 7 shows a flowchart of another policy association establishment method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 7, the policy association establishment method may include the following steps S701-S707:

[0111] In step S701, the AMF triggers a user information retrieval request from the UDM based on the UE's network access, in order to obtain policy association indication information from the user's subscription information. Based on the indication information returned by the UDM, the AMF determines whether to initiate the relevant policy association process with the PCF.

[0112] In step S702, the UDM subscribes to the user's policy association configuration data from the UDR. The UDM and UDR establish a subscription relationship for the user's policy association configuration data.

[0113] In step S703, the AF (or NWDAF) learns of the change in the terminal's service requirements and then generates change information for the policy-related configuration data.

[0114] In step S704, AF writes the change information of policy association configuration data to UDR through NEF.

[0115] In step S705, based on the subscription relationship established between UDM and UDR, UDR notifies UDM that the policy-related configuration data has changed, and sends the change information of the policy-related configuration data to UDM.

[0116] In step S706, the UDM updates the locally stored policy association configuration data according to the change information of the policy association configuration data. Simultaneously, based on the change information of the policy association configuration data, the UDM sends the modified policy association indication information to the AMF.

[0117] In step S707, based on the modified policy association instruction information, the AMF initiates the relevant policy association process to the PCF. The PCF responds to the AMF's policy association establishment request, provides the relevant policy based on the user policy association configuration data in the UDR, and sends the relevant policy to the UE through the AMF.

[0118] Based on the same inventive concept, this disclosure provides a policy association establishment apparatus, as described in the following embodiments. Since the principle by which this apparatus solves the problem is similar to that of the method embodiments described above, the implementation of this communication authentication apparatus can be directly referenced to the methods described above, and repeated details will not be repeated.

[0119] Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of a policy association establishment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 8, the policy association establishment apparatus 800 may include a request receiving module 810 and an indication information sending module 820.

[0120] The request receiving module 810 is configured to receive a user information acquisition request sent by the access control network element; the user information acquisition request includes at least user identification information.

[0121] The instruction information sending module 820 is configured to, in response to the user information acquisition request, send policy association instruction information to the access control network element according to the stored user policy association configuration data; the policy association instruction information includes at least: a first instruction information or a second instruction information; the first instruction information is used to indicate that the access control network element is allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element; the second instruction information is used to indicate that the access control network element is not allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element.

[0122] In an exemplary embodiment, the subscription module is configured to send a subscription request for the user policy-related configuration data to the user configuration data storage network element; the subscription request includes at least the user identification information; and in response to a response message from the user configuration data storage network element approving the subscription request, a subscription relationship for the user policy-related configuration data is established with the user configuration data storage network element.

[0123] In an exemplary embodiment, the change module is configured to, in response to a change in the user policy association configuration data, receive change information of the user policy association configuration data sent by the user configuration data storage network element; update the stored user policy association configuration data according to the change information of the user policy association configuration data; and send the policy association indication information to the access control network element according to the change information of the user policy association configuration data; the policy association indication information includes at least: the first indication information or the second indication information.

[0124] In an exemplary embodiment, the change module is further configured such that the change information of the user policy associated configuration data also includes a change validity period; in response to the expiration of the change validity period, the user policy associated configuration data is restored to the user policy associated configuration data before the change.

[0125] In an exemplary embodiment, the indication information sending module 820 is further configured to send the policy association indication information to the access control network element in response to the user policy association configuration data being restored to the user policy association configuration data before the change; the policy association indication information includes at least: the first indication information or the second indication information.

[0126] In an exemplary embodiment, the indication information sending module 820 is further configured to respond to a terminal identifier indicating that policy association is not supported, wherein the policy association indication information further includes third indication information; the third indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is prohibited from establishing a policy association with the policy control network element.

[0127] In an exemplary embodiment, the user information acquisition request is issued in response to the terminal's initial access to the access control network element.

[0128] In an exemplary embodiment, the policy association includes at least one of the following: user equipment policy association; access and mobility management policy association.

[0129] Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device suitable for implementing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. An electronic device 900 according to this embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figure 9. The electronic device 900 shown in Figure 9 is merely an example and should not be construed as limiting the functionality and scope of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0130] As shown in Figure 9, the electronic device 900 is presented in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of the electronic device 900 may include, but are not limited to: at least one processing unit 910, at least one storage unit 920, a bus 930 connecting different system components (including storage unit 920 and processing unit 910), and a display unit 940.

[0131] Storage unit 920 may include readable media in the form of volatile storage units, such as random access memory (RAM) 9201 and / or cache memory 9202, and may further include read-only memory (ROM) 9203.

[0132] Storage unit 920 may also include a program / utility 9204 having a set (at least one) program module 9205, such program module 9205 including but not limited to: operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules and program data, each or some combination of these examples may include an implementation of a network environment.

[0133] Bus 930 can represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory cell bus or memory cell controller, a peripheral bus, a graphics acceleration port, a processing unit, or a local bus using any of the various bus structures.

[0134] Electronic device 900 can also communicate with one or more external devices 970 (e.g., keyboard, pointing device, Bluetooth device, etc.), and with one or more devices that enable a user to interact with electronic device 900, and / or with any device that enables electronic device 900 to communicate with one or more other computing devices (e.g., router, modem, etc.). This communication can be performed via input / output (I / O) interface 950. Furthermore, electronic device 900 can also communicate with one or more networks (e.g., local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and / or public networks, such as the Internet) via network adapter 960. As shown, network adapter 960 communicates with other modules of electronic device 900 via bus 930. It should be understood that, although not shown in the figures, other hardware and / or software modules can be used in conjunction with electronic device 900, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems.

[0135] In exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, on which a program product capable of implementing the methods described above is stored.

[0136] In some possible implementations, various aspects of the present invention may also be implemented as a program product comprising program code that, when the program product is run on a terminal device, causes the terminal device to perform the steps described in the "Exemplary Methods" section of this specification according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0137] According to embodiments of the present invention, a program product for implementing the above-described method may employ a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) and include program code, and may run on a terminal device, such as a personal computer. However, the program product of the present invention is not limited thereto. In this document, a readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that may be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0138] The program product may employ any combination of one or more readable media. A readable medium may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. A readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples of readable storage media (a non-exhaustive list) include: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable disk, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0139] Computer-readable signal media may include data signals propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, carrying readable program code. Such propagated data signals may take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. A readable signal medium may also be any readable medium other than a readable storage medium, capable of sending, propagating, or transmitting programs for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0140] The program code contained on the readable medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber, RF, etc., or any suitable combination thereof.

[0141] Program code for performing the operations of this invention can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java and C++, and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as C or similar languages. The program code can execute entirely on the user's computing device, partially on the user's device, as a standalone software package, partially on the user's computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server. In cases involving remote computing devices, the remote computing device can be connected to the user's computing device via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or it can be connected to an external computing device (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0142] It should be noted that although several modules or units for the device used to perform actions have been mentioned in the detailed description above, this division is not mandatory. In fact, according to embodiments of this disclosure, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above can be embodied in one module or unit. Conversely, the features and functions of one module or unit described above can be further divided and embodied by multiple modules or units.

[0143] Furthermore, although the steps of the method in this disclosure are described in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that the steps must be performed in that specific order, or that all the steps shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. Additional or alternative steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined into one step, and / or a step may be broken down into multiple steps.

[0144] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the exemplary embodiments described herein can be implemented by software or by combining software with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solutions according to the embodiments of this disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, external hard drive, etc.) or on a network, including several instructions to cause a computing device (such as a personal computer, server, mobile terminal, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods according to the embodiments of this disclosure. Industrial applicability

[0145] This disclosure applies to the field of computer technology and is used to solve the problem of network resource waste caused by the indiscriminate establishment of policy associations for user equipment in related technologies, so as to realize the provision of appropriate services according to the actual needs of users and avoid the increase in network load caused by unnecessary network interactions.

[0146] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the appended claims.

[0147] It should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the precise structures described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a policy association, applied to a user-subscribed data network element, the method comprising: Receive user information retrieval requests sent by access control network elements; The user information acquisition request includes at least user identification information; In response to the user information acquisition request, policy association indication information is sent to the access control network element according to the stored user policy association configuration data; The policy association indication information includes at least: a first indication information or a second indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element; the second indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is not allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The method further includes: A subscription request for the user policy-related configuration data is sent to the user configuration data storage network element; the subscription request includes at least the user identification information; In response to the user configuration data storage network element's reply message approving the subscription request, a subscription relationship for the user policy-related configuration data is established with the user configuration data storage network element.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The method further includes: In response to a change in the user policy associated configuration data, the system receives change information about the user policy associated configuration data sent by the user configuration data storage network element. Update the stored user policy association configuration data according to the change information of the user policy association configuration data; Based on the change information of the user policy association configuration data, the policy association indication information is sent to the access control network element; the policy association indication information includes at least: the first indication information or the second indication information.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The method further includes: The change information of the user policy associated configuration data also includes the effective time of the change; In response to the expiration of the change's effective time, the user policy association configuration data is restored to the user policy association configuration data before the change.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The method further includes: In response to the user policy association configuration data being restored to the user policy association configuration data before the change, the policy association indication information is sent to the access control network element; the policy The associated indication information includes at least: the first indication information or the second indication information.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The method further includes: In response to the terminal identifier indicating that policy association is not supported, the policy association indication information further includes third indication information; the third indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is prohibited from establishing policy association with the policy control network element.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The user information acquisition request is issued in response to the terminal's initial access to the access control network element.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The policy association includes at least one of the following: User equipment policy association; Linking access and mobility management policies.

9. A strategy association establishment device, comprising: The request receiving module is configured to receive user information acquisition requests sent by the access control network element. The user information acquisition request includes at least user identification information; The instruction information sending module is configured to, in response to the user information acquisition request, send policy association instruction information to the access control network element according to the stored user policy association configuration data; The policy association indication information includes at least: a first indication information or a second indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element; the second indication information is used to indicate that the access control network element is not allowed to establish a policy association with the policy control network element.

10. An electronic device, comprising: One or more processors; A storage device configured to store one or more programs, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

11. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

12. A computer program product comprising a computer program / instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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