Data acquisition method and apparatus, communication device, and readable storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communications, and provides a data acquisition method and apparatus, a communication device, and a readable storage medium. The data acquisition method in embodiments of the present disclosure comprises: a first device receiving first information sent by a network function at an upper layer of the first device; on the basis of the first information, determining whether subsequently received first data or packet is data or packet that needs to be acquired; and when the first data or packet is data or packet that needs to be acquired, acquiring the first data or packet.

Description

Data collection method and device, communication device and readable storage medium

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] The present disclosure claims priority from Chinese Patent Application No. 202410728079.3 filed on June 06, 2024 in China, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of communication, and particularly relates to a data collection method and device, a communication device and a readable storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0004] In the face of diversified service scenarios in a communication system, such as digital twin, sensory fusion, holographic communication, intelligent interaction and the like, large-scale and efficient data collection is needed to provide guarantee for services. In the related art, when data is collected, data is generally directly obtained from a related network function (NF) based on a service-based interface (SBI). In this case, since the amount of collected data is generally large, a great impact will be caused on network performance. SUMMARY

[0005] The purpose of the embodiments of the present disclosure is to provide a data collection method and device, a communication device and a readable storage medium, so as to solve the problem that the data collection method in the related art causes a great impact on network performance.

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

[0007] In a first aspect, a data collection method is provided, applied to a first device, comprising:

[0008] The first device receives first information sent by a network function in an upper layer of the first device;

[0009] The first device determines, according to the first information, whether first data or a message received subsequently is data or a message that needs to be collected;

[0010] When the first data or message is data or a message that needs to be collected, the first device collects the first data or message.

[0011] Optionally, before the first device receives the first information sent by the network function in the upper layer of the first device, the method further comprises:

[0012] The first device sends the received second data or message to the network function;

[0013] The first device receives first information sent by a network function of an upper layer of the first device, and the first information includes:

[0014] The first device receives the first information fed back by the network function when the second data or packet meets a data collection rule.

[0015] Optionally, the first information includes a first IP quintuple carried in the second data or packet, and when an IP quintuple carried in the first data or packet is consistent with the first IP quintuple, the first data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0016] Optionally, the first information further includes at least one of the following:

[0017] a secret key;

[0018] a user identifier;

[0019] an application identifier;

[0020] slice information related to a terminal;

[0021] a data network name (DNN);

[0022] quality of service (QoS) information;

[0023] a service identifier;

[0024] information of an access network in which the terminal is located.

[0025] Optionally, when it is impossible to determine, according to the first information, whether the first data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected, the method further includes:

[0026] The first device sends the first data or packet to the network function.

[0027] The first device receives second information fed back by the network function when the first data or packet meets the data collection rule.

[0028] The first device determines, according to the second information, whether third data or packet received subsequently is the data or packet that needs to be collected, and collects the third data or packet when the third data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0029] Optionally, after the first data or packet is collected, if the first data or packet is an encrypted packet, the method further includes:

[0030] The first device decrypts the first data or packet by using the secret key included in the first information, and sends the decrypted data or packet to a consumer.

[0031] Optionally, after collecting the first data or packet, the method further comprises:

[0032] The first device adds a general packet header and / or a special packet header to the first data or packet to obtain fourth data or packet; wherein the general packet header comprises at least one of the following: collection time information, collection port information; the special packet header comprises at least one of the following received from the network function: user identifier, application identifier, terminal-related slice information, DNN, QoS information, service identifier, information of an access network where the terminal is located;

[0033] The first device directly sends the fourth data or packet to a consumer, or sends the fourth data or packet to the consumer through a data plane.

[0034] In a second aspect, a data collection method is provided, applied to a network function, comprising:

[0035] The network function sends first information to a first device at a lower layer of the network function; wherein the first information is used by the first device to determine whether first data or packet received subsequently is data or packet that needs to be collected, and to collect the first data or packet when the first data or packet is data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0036] Optionally, before the network function sends the first information to the first device at the lower layer of the network function, the method further comprises:

[0037] The network function receives second data or packet sent by the first device;

[0038] The network function determines whether the second data or packet conforms to a data collection rule, and generates the first information when the second data or packet conforms to the data collection rule.

[0039] Optionally, the first information comprises a first IP five-tuple carried in the second data or packet, and the first data or packet is data or packet that needs to be collected when an IP five-tuple carried in the first data or packet is consistent with the first IP five-tuple.

[0040] Optionally, the first information further comprises at least one of the following:

[0041] A secret key;

[0042] A user identifier;

[0043] An application identifier;

[0044] User-related slice information;

[0045] DNN;

[0046] QoS information;

[0047] Service identification;

[0048] Information of an access network where a user is located.

[0049] Optionally, when it is unable to determine whether the first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected according to the first information, the method further includes:

[0050] The network function receives the first data or message sent by the first device;

[0051] The network function determines whether the first data or message meets a data collection rule, and generates second information when the first data or message meets the data collection rule;

[0052] The network function sends the second information to the first device, the second information being used for the first device to determine whether third data or message received subsequently is data or message that needs to be collected, and collect the third data or message when the third data or message is data or message that needs to be collected.

[0053] Optionally, the method further includes at least one of the following:

[0054] The network function receives first configuration information, the first configuration information being used for configuring the data collection rule;

[0055] The network function acquires data collection request information or configuration information, and constructs the data collection rule according to the data collection request information or configuration information.

[0056] Optionally, information related to the data collection rule includes at least one of the following:

[0057] Source IP, source port, destination IP, destination port, user identification, application identification, service identification.

[0058] Optionally, the data collection request information or configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0059] Data type, collection period, collection frequency, collection granularity, data transmission time window.

[0060] In a third aspect, a data collection apparatus is provided, and is applied to a first device, and includes:

[0061] A first receiving module, configured to receive first information sent by a network function in an upper layer of the first device;

[0062] The first judging module is configured to judge, according to the first information, whether the first data or packet received subsequently is data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0063] The first collecting module is configured to collect the first data or packet when the first data or packet is data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0064] In a fourth aspect, a data collection apparatus is provided, which is applied to a network function and includes:

[0065] The fourth sending module is configured to send first information from the network function to a first device at a lower layer of the network function.

[0066] The first information is used by the first device to judge whether the first data or packet received subsequently is data or packet that needs to be collected, and to collect the first data or packet when the first data or packet is data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0067] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor, and the program or instruction, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the method according to the first aspect or the steps of the method according to the second aspect.

[0068] In a sixth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, which stores a program or instruction, and the program or instruction, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method according to the first aspect or the steps of the method according to the second aspect.

[0069] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes computer instructions, and the computer instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method according to the first aspect or the steps of the method according to the second aspect.

[0070] According to the scheme in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first device (such as an intelligent network card) can judge, according to the information received from the network function at a higher layer, whether the first data or packet received subsequently is data or packet that needs to be collected, and collect the first data or packet when it is data or packet that needs to be collected, thereby avoiding collecting data directly from the network function, improving the data collection efficiency, and reducing the impact of data collection on network performance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0071] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a data collection method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0072] FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of data or packet according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0073] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of another data collection method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0074] FIG. 4 is an interaction flow diagram of a data collection request in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0075] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a data collection processing flow in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0076] FIG. 6 is a structural schematic diagram of a data collection device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0077] FIG. 7 is a structural schematic diagram of another data collection device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0078] FIG. 8 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0079] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0080] The terms "first", "second", and the like in the specification and claims of the present disclosure are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first", "second", etc. are generally of a kind and do not limit the number of objects, for example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, "and / or" in the specification and claims means at least one of the connected objects, and the character " / ", generally represents a "or" relationship between the objects before and after it.

[0081] The data collection method, device, communication device and readable storage medium provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings and specific embodiments and their application scenarios.

[0082] Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a flowchart of a data collection method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, and the method is applied to a first device. As shown in FIG. 1, the method includes the following steps:

[0083] Step 11: The first device receives first information sent by a network function of an upper layer of the first device;

[0084] Step 12: The first device determines whether the first data or packet received subsequently is data or packet that needs to be collected according to the first information;

[0085] Step 13: When the first data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected, the first device collects the first data or packet.

[0086] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the network function can be, but is not limited to, a user plane function (UPF), a network data analytics function (NWDAF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), and the like.

[0087] The first device can be a smart NIC or other device with information receiving and sending functions.

[0088] The relationship between the first device (such as a smart NIC) and the network function above it can be understood as follows: the network function is deployed in the corresponding system, and the first device is the bottom layer device of the system for receiving or outputting data. In an optional embodiment, when the first device interacts with the network function above it, it can achieve this by interacting with the logical function layer in the network function, that is, the first device directly interacts with the logical function layer in the network function above it.

[0089] The first information can be understood as detection information sent / feedback by the network function to the first device below it, which is used by the first device to judge whether the data or packet subsequently received by it is the data or packet that needs to be collected, and to collect data when it is judged to be the data or packet that needs to be collected. For example, the first information can include Internet Protocol (IP) five-tuple (i.e., source IP address, source port, destination IP address, destination port, and transport layer protocol), and the like.

[0090] The above-mentioned required data or packet can be understood as the data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0091] The first data or packet can be understood as data or packet received by the first device from other network functions (NFs) or devices after receiving the first information.

[0092] In an optional embodiment, if the first information comprises an IP five-tuple, when judging whether the first data or packet received subsequently is the data or packet that needs to be collected according to the first information, the first data or packet can be determined to be the data or packet that needs to be collected when the IP five-tuple carried in the first data or packet is the IP five-tuple, otherwise it cannot be determined that the first data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0093] In an optional embodiment, the first device can store the first information in the storage unit of the first device after receiving the first information, so as to be used.

[0094] According to the scheme in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first device can judge whether the first data or packet received subsequently is the data or packet that needs to be collected according to the information received from the network function in the upper layer thereof, and collect the first data or packet when it is the data or packet that needs to be collected, thereby avoiding collecting data directly from the network function, improving the data collection efficiency, and reducing the impact of data collection on network performance.

[0095] It should be noted that the data or packet in the embodiments of the present disclosure can also be referred to as a data packet.

[0096] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first information can be determined by the network function by means of a pre-configured or pre-constructed data collection rule.

[0097] Optionally, before the first device receives the first information sent by the network function in the upper layer thereof, the method further comprises:

[0098] The first device sends the second data or packet received to the network function; wherein the second data or packet can be understood as the data or packet received by the first device from other NFs or devices before receiving the first information, such as the data or packet initially received by the first device, etc.

[0099] The first device receives the first information sent by the network function in the upper layer thereof, which comprises that the first device receives the first information fed back by the network function when the second data or packet meets the data collection rule. That is, the network function performing data collection pre-configures or constructs a data collection rule, and performs analysis and rule matching on a small amount of data or packet based on the data collection rule, obtains user information and other related information corresponding to the IP five-tuple carried in the data or packet, and sends these information to the first device; then, the first device judges whether the data or packet received subsequently is the data or packet that needs to be collected based on these information, and directly collects the data or packet when it is the data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0100] Optionally, the first information includes a first IP quintuple carried in the second data or packet, and when an IP quintuple carried in the first data or packet is consistent with the first IP quintuple, the first data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected; and when the IP quintuple carried in the first data or packet is inconsistent with the first IP quintuple, it cannot be judged that the first data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0101] Optionally, the first information can further include at least one of the following:

[0102] a secret key; the secret key can be used by the first device (such as a smart network card) to perform decryption processing on the received data or packet;

[0103] a user identifier; for example, the user identifier can also be referred to as a terminal identifier, and includes a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) and the like;

[0104] an application identifier, such as an application identifier (ID);

[0105] slice information related to a terminal, such as single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) and the like;

[0106] a data network name (DNN);

[0107] quality of service (QoS) information;

[0108] a service identifier, such as a service ID;

[0109] information of an access network in which the terminal is located.

[0110] It should be noted that the user identifier, the application identifier, the slice information related to the terminal, the data network name DNN, the QoS information, the service identifier, and the information of the access network in which the terminal is located can be understood as valid messages associated with the corresponding data or packet, and can be used for subsequent data processing.

[0111] Optionally, the attribute / information related to the data collection rule can include at least one of the following: a source IP, a source port, a destination IP, a destination port, a user identifier, an application identifier, and a service identifier. For example, if the request of the data requester is to obtain user traffic data of a certain user under a certain application, the data collection rule constructed / set can be:

[0112] - a user identity (SUPI);

[0113] - an application ID;

[0114] - a service ID = "user traffic".

[0115] For example, the data request can be to obtain a data flow from a certain source IP to a certain destination IP.

[0116] After the above data collection rule is constructed / set, the corresponding network function can collect and process the passing data or packet according to the data collection rule, such as judging whether it meets the data collection rule.

[0117] Optionally, when the first data or packet cannot be judged to be the data or packet that needs to be collected according to the first information, the data collection method in the embodiment of the present disclosure can further include:

[0118] The first device sends the first data or packet to the network function in the upper layer thereof;

[0119] The first device receives second information fed back by the network function when the first data or packet meets the data collection rule;

[0120] The first device judges whether the third data or packet received subsequently is the data or packet that needs to be collected according to the second information, and collects the third data or packet when the third data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0121] It can be understood that the related meanings of the first information and the second information are consistent, and both are information received by the first device (such as an intelligent network card) from the network function in the upper layer thereof for judging whether the received data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected, such as containing different IP quintuples. After receiving the second information, the first device needs to judge whether the data or packet received subsequently is the data or packet that needs to be collected according to the first information and the second information, that is, as long as the data or packet received subsequently is judged to be the data or packet that needs to be collected according to the first information or the second information, data collection is performed.

[0122] Optionally, the second information includes a second IP quintuple carried in the first data or packet, when the IP quintuple carried in the third data or packet is consistent with the second IP quintuple, the third data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected; and when the IP quintuple carried in the third data or packet is inconsistent with the second IP quintuple, it cannot be judged that the third data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0123] Optionally, the second information can further include at least one of the following: a secret key, which can be used by the first device to decrypt the received data or packet; a user identifier, such as SUPI, etc.; an application identifier; terminal-related slice information, such as single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), etc.; a data network name (DNN); QoS information; a service identifier; and information of an access network in which the terminal is located.

[0124] The third data or packet can be understood as data or packet received by the first device from other NFs or devices after the first device receives the second information.

[0125] Since there can be multiple types of data required when collecting data, such as requesting to obtain user traffic data of multiple users under an application (the traffic data of each user is regarded as a type of data), and there can be multiple corresponding data collection rules, in order to avoid missing the required data or packet, the first device can send a certain data or packet to the network function in its upper layer when it cannot determine from the information (such as IP five-tuple) received from the network function in its upper layer that the received data or packet is the required data or packet, and the network function determines whether the data or packet meets the data collection rule, and feeds back the related information (such as the IP five-tuple carried in the data or packet) when it meets the data collection rule. Then, the first device determines whether the subsequently received data or packet is the required data or packet according to the information (such as IP five-tuple) received twice, thereby avoiding missing the required data or packet and achieving high-quality data collection.

[0126] Optionally, after collecting the first data or packet, the first device can directly send the first data or packet to the consumer, or send the first data or packet to the consumer through the data plane for use. The consumer can be a data requester, such as an application server (Application Function, AF) or other NFs (such as NWDAF, etc.).

[0127] Optionally, after collecting the first data or packet, if the first data or packet is an encrypted packet, the first device can use the secret key included in the first information to decrypt the first data or packet, and send the decrypted data or packet to the consumer. In this way, decryption can be directly performed at the first device, without the need to upload to the logical function layer in the related NF for decryption, thereby simplifying the decryption process and avoiding the reduction of network performance caused by a large amount of encrypted data being parsed at the NF layer. Further, sending the decrypted data or packet to the consumer is conducive to data use.

[0128] Optionally, after collecting the first data or packet, the data collection method in the embodiment can further include:

[0129] The first device adds a general packet header and / or a special packet header to the first data or packet to obtain fourth data or packet; wherein the general packet header includes at least one of the following: collection time information, collection port information; the special packet header includes at least one of the following received from the network function: secret key, user identifier, application identifier, terminal-related slice information, DNN, QoS information, service identifier, information of the access network where the terminal is located; for example, the special packet header can include at least one of the following in the first information: secret key, user identifier, application identifier, terminal-related slice information, DNN, QoS information, service identifier, information of the access network where the terminal is located;

[0130] The first device directly sends the fourth data or packet to the consumer, or sends the fourth data or packet to the consumer through the data plane for use. The consumer is, for example, a data requester, which is, for example, an application server AF or other NF (such as NWDAF, etc.).

[0131] In an optional embodiment, the content included in the special packet header can be configured in the data collection request of the data requester, or determined by the NF logical function layer according to the data collection request. The content included in the special packet header can be different according to different data collection requests.

[0132] In this way, with the collection time information / collection port information in the general packet header, the target party can obtain the data collection time / collection port through unpacking; with the related information in the special packet header, the target party can obtain the effective information associated with the data, such as secret key, terminal-related slice information, DNN, QoS information, etc., through unpacking, thereby facilitating subsequent data processing.

[0133] In an optional embodiment, the structure of the fourth data or packet can be as shown in FIG. 2, which includes a general packet header, a special packet header, and a payload (Payload), the general packet header includes collection time information and collection port information, and the special packet header includes at least one of the following: secret key, user identifier, application identifier, terminal-related slice information, DNN, QoS information, service identifier, information of the access network where the terminal is located, etc.

[0134] Referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a data collection method provided by an embodiment of the disclosure, which is applied to a network function, which can be, but is not limited to, UPF, NWDAF, AMF, SMF, etc. As shown in FIG. 3, the method includes the following steps:

[0135] Step 31: the network function sends first information to a first device under the network function; the first information is used for the first device to determine whether subsequent received first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected, and collect the first data or message when the first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected.

[0136] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first device can be an intelligent network card or other device with information receiving and sending functions.

[0137] The relationship between the first device (such as an intelligent network card) and the network function above it can be understood as follows: the network function is deployed in a corresponding system, and the first device is a bottom-layer device for receiving or outputting data of the system. In an optional embodiment, when the first device interacts with the network function above it, the first device can interact with a logical function layer in the network function above it, that is, the first device directly interacts with the logical function layer in the network function above it.

[0138] The first information can be understood as detection information sent / feedback by the network function to the first device under it, which is used for the first device to determine whether subsequent received data or message is data or message that needs to be collected, and collect the data or message when it is determined to be data or message that needs to be collected. For example, the first information can include IP five-tuple (i.e., source IP address, source port, destination IP address, destination port, and transport layer protocol) and the like.

[0139] The above-mentioned required data or message can be understood as data or message that needs to be collected.

[0140] The first data or message can be understood as data or message received by the first device from other NFs or devices after receiving the first information.

[0141] It should be noted that the data or message in the embodiments of the present disclosure can also be referred to as a data packet.

[0142] Through the scheme in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first device can determine whether subsequent received first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected according to the information received from the network function above it, and collect the first data or message when it is data or message that needs to be collected, thereby avoiding directly collecting data from the network function, improving data collection efficiency, and reducing the impact of data collection on network performance.

[0143] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first information can be determined by the network function by means of preconfigured or preconstructed data collection rules.

[0144] Optionally, before step 31, the data collection method in the embodiments can further include:

[0145] The network function receives second data or a packet sent by the first device; wherein the second data or the packet can be understood as data or a packet received by the first device from other NFs or devices before the first information is received, such as data or a packet initially received by the first device, etc.

[0146] The network function determines whether the second data or the packet conforms to the data collection rule, and generates the first information when the second data or the packet conforms to the data collection rule.

[0147] Optionally, the first information includes a first IP five-tuple carried in the second data or the packet, and when an IP five-tuple carried in the first data or the packet is consistent with the first IP five-tuple, the first data or the packet is data or a packet that needs to be collected; and when the IP five-tuple carried in the first data or the packet is inconsistent with the first IP five-tuple, it is unable to determine that the first data or the packet is data or a packet that needs to be collected.

[0148] Optionally, the first information can further include at least one of the following:

[0149] A secret key; the secret key can be used by the first device (such as an intelligent network card) to perform decryption processing on the received data or packet;

[0150] A user identifier; for example, the user identifier can also be referred to as a terminal identifier, including SUPI, etc.

[0151] An application identifier, such as an application ID;

[0152] Slice information related to a terminal, such as single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), etc.

[0153] A data network name (DNN);

[0154] QoS information;

[0155] A service identifier, such as a service ID;

[0156] Information of an access network in which the terminal is located.

[0157] It should be noted that the above-mentioned user identifier, application identifier, slice information related to a terminal, data network name (DNN), QoS information, service identifier, and information of an access network in which the terminal is located can be understood as valid messages associated with the corresponding data or packet, and can be used for subsequent data processing.

[0158] Optionally, the attribute / information related to the data collection rule can include at least one of the following: source IP, source port, destination IP, destination port, user identifier, application identifier, service identifier. For example, if the request of the data requester is to obtain user traffic data of a certain user under a certain application, the data collection rule constructed / set can be:

[0159] - user identifier (SUPI);

[0160] - application ID;

[0161] - service ID = "user traffic".

[0162] After the above data collection rule is constructed / set, the corresponding network function can collect / process the passing data or packet according to the data collection rule, such as judging whether it meets the data collection rule.

[0163] Optionally, when the first data or packet cannot be judged to be the data or packet that needs to be collected according to the first information, the data collection method in the embodiments of the present disclosure can further include:

[0164] The network function receives the first data or packet sent by the first device under the network function;

[0165] The network function judges whether the first data or packet meets the data collection rule, and generates second information when the first data or packet meets the data collection rule;

[0166] The network function sends the second information to the first device, and the second information is used by the first device to judge whether the third data or packet received subsequently is the data or packet that needs to be collected, and the third data or packet is collected when it is the data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0167] It can be understood that the related meanings of the first information and the second information are consistent, and both are information received by the first device (such as an intelligent network card) from the network function above for judging whether the received data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected, such as containing different IP quintuples. After receiving the second information, the first device needs to judge whether the data or packet received subsequently is the data or packet that needs to be collected according to the first information and the second information, that is, whether according to the first information or according to the second information, as long as it is judged that the data or packet received subsequently is the data or packet that needs to be collected, data collection is performed.

[0168] Optionally, the second information includes a second IP quintuple carried in the first data or packet, when an IP quintuple carried in the third data or packet is consistent with the second IP quintuple, the third data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected; and when the IP quintuple carried in the third data or packet is inconsistent with the second IP quintuple, it cannot be judged that the third data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0169] Optionally, the second information can further include at least one of the following: a secret key, which can be used by the first device to decrypt the received data or packet; a user identifier such as SUPI; an application identifier; slice information related to the terminal such as single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI); a data network name (DNN); QoS information; a service identifier; and information of an access network in which the terminal is located.

[0170] The third data or packet can be understood as data or packet received by the first device from other NFs or devices after receiving the second information.

[0171] Since there can be multiple types of data required when collecting data, such as requesting to obtain user traffic data of multiple users under a certain application (the traffic data of each user is regarded as a type of data), and there can be multiple data collection rules accordingly, in order to avoid missing the required data or packet, the first device can send a certain data or packet to the network function in its upper layer when it cannot judge, according to the information (such as IP quintuple) received from the network function in its upper layer, that the received data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected, so that the network function judges whether the data or packet meets the data collection rule, and feeds back relevant information (such as the IP quintuple carried in the data or packet) when it meets the data collection rule. Then, the first device judges whether the subsequently received data or packet is the data or packet that needs to be collected according to the information (such as IP quintuple) received twice, thereby avoiding missing the required data or packet and achieving high-quality data collection.

[0172] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the above-mentioned data collection rule can be pre-configured or pre-built. The data collection method can further include:

[0173] (1) The network function receives first configuration information, which is used to configure the data collection rule; for example, the network function can receive the first configuration information from other network functions to configure the required data collection rule.

[0174] (2) The network function obtains data collection request information or configuration information, and constructs the data collection rule according to the data collection request information or configuration information.

[0175] For example, the network function can receive a data collection request, which includes data collection request information; for example, the network function can receive a data collection request from a data requester (such as other NF or device).

[0176] For another example, the network function can receive data collection configuration information from other network functions to construct data collection rules.

[0177] Optionally, the data collection request information or configuration information can include at least one of the following:

[0178] (a) Data type: can contain a service ID indicating the type of data requested; for example, if NF-1 (NWDAF) wants to obtain user traffic data of a certain user under a certain application from NF-2 (UPF), the data collection request can carry user information, application information, and service ID = 'user traffic';

[0179] (b) Collection period or collection frequency: this parameter indicates how long the data is collected once, how long each collection lasts, or it can be collected in real time, that is, collected when requested;

[0180] (c) Collection granularity: indicates the granularity of the collected data, such as S-NSSAI level, device level, user level, protocol data unit (PDU) session level, etc.

[0181] (d) Data transmission time window: this parameter indicates the time period for feeding back the collected data, or real-time collection and real-time transmission.

[0182] For example, referring to FIG. 4, the interaction process of the data collection request can include:

[0183] S1: NF-1 (such as a data consumer) sends a data collection request to NF-2 (such as a data source), which can carry data collection request information, such as (a) to (d) described above; for example, NF-1 can be a third-party server or NWDAF, etc.; NF-2 can be UPF, AMF or NWDAF, etc.

[0184] S2: NF-2 constructs data collection rules according to the content carried in the received data collection request, which can include but is not limited to source IP, source port, destination IP, destination port, user identifier (such as SUPI), application identifier, and service identifier.

[0185] For example, referring to FIG. 5, the data collection processing flow in the present scheme can include:

[0186] S2-1: The first device (such as an intelligent network card) under the VNF-2 receives data or packets sent by other NFs or devices, and sends the data or packets to the VNF-2 deployed on the upper layer, and the VNF-2 unpacks the data or packets.

[0187] S2-2: After the VNF-2 unpacks the received data or packets, it matches according to the constructed data collection rule. If the data or packets meet the collection rule, it feeds back an information to the first device, which can be realized through kernel bypass technology (such as DPDK, eBPF). The feedback information (such as the first information mentioned above) can include but is not limited to one or more of the following parameters:

[0188] - IP quintuple;

[0189] - User identifier, such as SUPI;

[0190] - Application ID;

[0191] - User-related S-NSSAI;

[0192] - DNN;

[0193] - QoS information;

[0194] - Service ID;

[0195] - Secret key;

[0196] - Base station information where the user is located.

[0197] The first device is informed through the feedback of the information that the data or packets carrying the IP quintuple in the subsequent received data or packets are all data requested by the NF-1, which can be directly collected from the first device, and there is no need to judge each data or packet through the VNF-2. The information is stored in the storage unit of the first device, and the first device can pack the parameters contained in the information in a special packet header when processing data and send it to the external Consumer.

[0198] Take the example of NF-1 (NWDAF) requesting user traffic data of a certain user under a certain application from NF-2 (UPF): After the UPF parses the received data or packet, it matches according to the data collection rule to determine whether it is the data stream of the target user under the target application: if so, it feeds back an information to the first device (such as an intelligent network card), which contains IP quintuple, user identity (such as SUPI), application ID, service ID, etc., to inform the first device that the data or packet carrying the IP quintuple received subsequently is the data requested by the NF-1, which can be directly collected from the first device. The first device can encapsulate the IP quintuple, user identity (such as SUPI), application ID and service ID in a special packet header and send them to the NWDAF when processing the data.

[0199] It should be noted that when the first device subsequently receives data or packet, it can first query in the storage unit according to the IP quintuple it carries: if the record information corresponding to the IP quintuple already exists, it does not need to be sent to the upper layer network function for judgment, but is directly collected from the first device (such as an intelligent network card); if the record information corresponding to the IP quintuple does not exist in the storage unit, it is sent to the upper layer VNF-2. By adding a query judgment logic, the amount of data sent from the first device to the upper layer VNF-2 can be minimized, and the data collection efficiency can be optimized.

[0200] The mainstream implementation schemes of the kernel bypass technology are DPDK and eBPF, which bypass the kernel protocol stack, do not use the functions of the linux kernel subsystem, use the code of the same function implemented by themselves to process, access and control the device memory between the user spaces, avoid copying data from the device to the kernel and then from the kernel to the user space, and can realize high-performance data transmission.

[0201] S2-3: The first device sends the received data or packet to the external Consumer (such as the data plane or NF-1) after encapsulation and processing as follows:

[0202] a) The first device adds a general packet header to each data or packet to be output, which contains collection time information and collection port information; the Consumer can obtain the collection time and port information by unpacking;

[0203] b) The first device adds a special packet header to each data or packet to be output, which contains the information sent by the VNF-2 to the first device. The content of the special packet header is different according to different data collection requests.

[0204] Optionally, for encrypted data streams, the corresponding collection processing flow can include:

[0205] S3-1: Other NFs or devices send data or packet to NF-2;

[0206] S3-2: VNF-2 performs unpacking, filtering, and parsing processing to obtain the key of the encrypted content;

[0207] S3-3: VNF-2 feeds back an information (for example, through a kernel bypass technology such as DPDK or eBPF) to the first device, which carries the key of the encrypted content:

[0208] S3-4: The first device can directly perform decryption processing on the data or packet carrying the same encrypted information without uploading to VNF-2 for decryption. The key (for example, containing other decryption information, user information, service information, etc.) can be added in the Payload or a special packet header.

[0209] For encrypted data streams, direct collection from the first device usually cannot well parse the meaning of the data or requires complex decryption processing. After unpacking, filtering, and parsing processing by the network function, the encrypted content can be decrypted and the key information can be sent to the first device through the network function. That is, an optional parameter: key is added in the feedback parameter. Subsequently received same encrypted information can be directly decrypted in the first device. The decryption information can be added in the Payload or a special packet header.

[0210] It should be noted that the data collection method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can be executed by a data collection device or a control module in the data collection device for executing the data collection method. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the data collection device executes the data collection method as an example to illustrate the data collection device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0211] Please refer to FIG. 6, which is a structural schematic diagram of a data collection device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The device is applied to a first device. As shown in FIG. 6, the data collection device 60 includes:

[0212] The first receiving module 61 is configured to receive first information transmitted by a network function of an upper layer of the first device.

[0213] The first judging module 62 is configured to judge whether the first data or packet received subsequently is data or packet that needs to be collected according to the first information.

[0214] The first collecting module 63 is configured to collect the first data or packet when the first data or packet is data or packet that needs to be collected.

[0215] The first device can be an intelligent network card or other device with information receiving and transmitting functions.

[0216] According to the scheme in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first device can determine whether the first data or message received subsequently is data or message that needs to be collected according to the information received from the upper-layer network function, and collect the first data or message when it is data or message that needs to be collected, thereby avoiding collecting data directly from the network function, improving the data collection efficiency, and reducing the impact of data collection on network performance.

[0217] Optionally, the data collection apparatus 60 further comprises:

[0218] a sending module, configured to send the received second data or message to the network function;

[0219] The first receiving module 61 is specifically configured to receive the first information fed back by the network function when the second data or message meets the data collection rule.

[0220] Optionally, the first information comprises a first IP quintuple carried in the second data or message, and when the IP quintuple carried in the first data or message is consistent with the first IP quintuple, the first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected.

[0221] Optionally, the first information further comprises at least one of the following:

[0222] a secret key;

[0223] a user identifier;

[0224] an application identifier;

[0225] slice information related to a terminal;

[0226] a data network name (DNN);

[0227] quality of service (QoS) information;

[0228] a service identifier;

[0229] information of an access network where the terminal is located.

[0230] Optionally, the data collection apparatus 60 further comprises:

[0231] a first sending module, configured to send the first data or message to the network function when it is determined according to the first information that the first data or message is not data or message that needs to be collected;

[0232] a second receiving module, configured to receive second information fed back by the network function when the first data or message meets the data collection rule;

[0233] A second judging module is configured to judge, according to the second information, whether third data or a packet received subsequently is data or a packet that needs to be collected.

[0234] A second collecting module is configured to collect the third data or the packet when the third data or the packet is data or a packet that needs to be collected.

[0235] Optionally, the data collection apparatus 60 further comprises:

[0236] A decrypting module is configured to, when the first data or the packet is an encrypted packet, perform decryption processing on the first data or the packet by using a secret key included in the first information.

[0237] A second sending module is configured to send the decrypted data or the packet to the consumer.

[0238] Optionally, the data collection apparatus 60 further comprises:

[0239] An adding module is configured to add a general packet header and / or a special packet header to the first data or the packet to obtain fourth data or a packet, wherein the general packet header includes at least one of the following: collection time information, collection port information; and the special packet header includes at least one of the following received from the network function: a user identifier, an application identifier, slice information related to a terminal, a DNN, QoS information, a service identifier, and information of an access network in which the terminal is located.

[0240] A third sending module is configured to directly send the fourth data or the packet to the consumer, or send the fourth data or the packet to the consumer through a data plane.

[0241] The data collection apparatus 60 of the embodiments of the present disclosure can implement each process of the method embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0242] Please refer to FIG. 7, which is a structural schematic diagram of a data collection apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus is applied to a network function. As shown in FIG. 7, the data collection apparatus 70 comprises:

[0243] A fourth sending module 71 is configured to send first information from a network function to a first device at a lower layer.

[0244] The first information is used for the first device to judge whether first data or a packet received subsequently is data or a packet that needs to be collected, and collect the first data or the packet when the first data or the packet is data or a packet that needs to be collected.

[0245] Optionally, the data collection apparatus 70 further comprises:

[0246] The third receiving module is configured to receive second data or a packet sent by the first device before sending the first information to the first device.

[0247] The third judging module is configured to judge whether the second data or the packet conforms to a data collection rule.

[0248] The first generating module is configured to generate the first information when the second data or the packet conforms to the data collection rule.

[0249] Optionally, the first information comprises a first IP quintuple carried in the second data or the packet, and when an IP quintuple carried in the first data or the packet is consistent with the first IP quintuple, the first data or the packet is the data or the packet that needs to be collected.

[0250] Optionally, the first information further comprises at least one of the following:

[0251] a secret key;

[0252] a user identifier;

[0253] an application identifier;

[0254] slice information related to a user;

[0255] a DNN;

[0256] QoS information;

[0257] a service identifier;

[0258] information of an access network in which the user is located.

[0259] Optionally, the data collection device 70 further comprises:

[0260] The fourth receiving module is configured to receive the first data or the packet sent by the first device when it is impossible to judge whether the first data or the packet is the data or the packet that needs to be collected according to the first information.

[0261] The fourth judging module is configured to judge whether the first data or the packet conforms to a data collection rule.

[0262] The second generating module is configured to generate second information when the first data or the packet conforms to the data collection rule.

[0263] The fifth sending module is configured to send the second information to the first device, and the second information is used for the first device to judge whether third data or a packet received subsequently is the data or the packet that needs to be collected, and to collect the third data or the packet when the third data or the packet is the data or the packet that needs to be collected.

[0264] Optionally, the data collection device 70 further comprises:

[0265] The fifth receiving module is configured to receive first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring the data collection rule.

[0266] The constructing module is configured to acquire data collection request information or configuration information, and construct the data collection rule according to the data collection request information or the configuration information.

[0267] Optionally, the information related to the data collection rule comprises at least one of the following:

[0268] source IP, source port, destination IP, destination port, user identifier, application identifier, service identifier.

[0269] Optionally, the data collection request information or the configuration information comprises at least one of the following:

[0270] data type, collection period, collection frequency, collection granularity, data transmission time window.

[0271] The data collection device 70 of the embodiments of the present disclosure can implement each process of the method embodiments shown in FIG. 3 and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0272] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 8, the embodiments of the present disclosure further provide an electronic device 80, which comprises a processor 81, a memory 82, and a program or instruction stored in the memory 82 and executable on the processor 81. For example, when the electronic device 80 is a first device (such as a smart network card), the program or instruction is executed by the processor 81 to implement each process of the data collection method embodiments shown in FIG. 1 and achieve the same technical effects. When the electronic device 80 is a network function, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 81 to implement each process of the data collection method embodiments shown in FIG. 3 and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0273] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer program product comprising computer instructions executable by a processor to implement each process of the data collection method embodiments and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0274] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a readable storage medium having a program or instruction stored thereon, wherein the program or instruction is executable by a processor to implement each process of the data collection method embodiments and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0275] Computer-readable media includes permanent and non-permanent, movable and non-movable media, which can be implemented by any method or technology to store information. The information can be computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, programmable read-only memory (PRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), other types of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassette, magnetic tape disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information accessible by a computing device. According to the definition herein, computer-readable media does not include transitory media such as modulated data signals and carriers.

[0276] It should be noted that in this paper, the term "includes", "contains" or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that the process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not explicitly listed, or includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without more limitations, the element defined by the statement "includes a" does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element.

[0277] The above-mentioned sequence number of the embodiments of the present disclosure is only for description, and does not represent the advantages and disadvantages of the embodiments.

[0278] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand the above-mentioned embodiment method can be realized by means of software and necessary general hardware platform, of course, also can be through hardware, but in many cases the former is the better embodiment. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the disclosure essentially or say the part of the related art contribution can be embodied in the form of software product, the computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disc, optical disc), including a number of instructions to make a service classification device (may be a mobile phone, computer, server, air conditioner, or network equipment, etc.) executes the method described in various embodiments of the disclosure.

[0279] The above only is the preferred embodiment of the disclosure, it should be pointed out that, for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the disclosure, can also make a number of improvements and refinements, these improvements and refinements also should be considered as the protection scope of the disclosure.

Claims

1. A data collection method, comprising: receiving, by a first device, first information sent by a network function at an upper layer of the first device; determining, by the first device, whether a first data or packet subsequently received is a data or packet to be collected according to the first information; collecting, by the first device, the first data or packet when the first data or packet is a data or packet to be collected.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, Before the receiving, by the first device, of the first information sent by the network function at the upper layer of the first device, the method further comprises: sending, by the first device, a second data or packet received to the network function; wherein the receiving, by the first device, of the first information sent by the network function at the upper layer of the first device comprises: receiving, by the first device, the first information fed back by the network function when the second data or packet meets a data collection rule. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein: the first information comprises a first IP quintuple carried in the second data or packet, and the first data or packet is a data or packet to be collected when an IP quintuple carried in the first data or packet is consistent with the first IP quintuple.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, the first information further comprises at least one of: a secret key; a user identifier; an application identifier; slice information related to a terminal; a data network name (DNN) ; quality of service (QoS) information; a service identifier; and information of an access network in which the terminal is located.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, When it is impossible to determine whether the first data or packet is a data or packet to be collected according to the first information, the method further comprises: sending, by the first device, the first data or packet to the network function; receiving, by the first device, second information fed back by the network function when the first data or packet meets a data collection rule; determining, by the first device, whether a third data or packet subsequently received is a data or packet to be collected according to the second information, and collecting the third data or packet when the third data or packet is a data or packet to be collected.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, After the collecting of the first data or packet, if the first data or packet is an encrypted packet, the method further comprises: decrypting, by the first device, the first data or packet using the secret key included in the first information, and sending the decrypted data or packet to a consumer.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, After the collecting of the first data or packet, the method further comprises: adding, by the first device, a general packet header and / or a special packet header to the first data or packet to obtain a fourth data or packet, wherein the general packet header comprises at least one of collection time information and collection port information, and the special packet header comprises at least one of a user identifier, an application identifier, slice information related to a terminal, a DNN, QoS information, a service identifier, and information of an access network in which the terminal is located, which are received from the network function; sending, by the first device, the fourth data or packet directly to the consumer or sending the fourth data or packet to the consumer through a data plane. 8.A data collection method, comprising: The network function sends first information to a first device at a lower level of the network function; wherein the first information is used by the first device to determine whether subsequently received first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected, and to collect the first data or message when the first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, Before the network function sends the first information to the first device at the lower level of the network function, the method further comprises: The network function receives second data or message sent by the first device; The network function determines whether the second data or message conforms to a data collection rule, and generates the first information when the second data or message conforms to the data collection rule.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein The first information comprises a first IP quintuple carried in the second data or message, and the first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected when an IP quintuple carried in the first data or message is consistent with the first IP quintuple.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein, When it is impossible to determine whether the first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected according to the first information, the method further comprises: The network function receives the first data or message sent by the first device; The network function determines whether the first data or message conforms to a data collection rule, and generates second information when the first data or message conforms to the data collection rule; The network function sends the second information to the first device, and the second information is used by the first device to determine whether subsequently received third data or message is data or message that needs to be collected, and to collect the third data or message when the third data or message is data or message that needs to be collected.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising at least one of the following: The network function receives first configuration information, and the first configuration information is used to configure the data collection rule; The network function obtains data collection request information or configuration information, and constructs the data collection rule according to the data collection request information or configuration information; wherein The information related to the data collection rule comprises at least one of the following: source IP, source port, destination IP, destination port, user identifier, application identifier, service identifier.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The data collection request information or configuration information comprises at least one of the following: data type, collection period, collection frequency, collection granularity, data transmission time window.

14. A data collection apparatus, comprising: a first receiving module configured to receive, by a first device, first information sent by a network function at a higher level of the first device; a first determining module configured to determine, according to the first information, whether subsequently received first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected; a first collecting module configured to collect the first data or message when the first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected.

15. A data collection apparatus, comprising: a fourth sending module configured to send, by a network function, first information to a first device at a lower level of the network function; The first information is used by the first device to determine whether subsequent received first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected, and the first data or message is collected when the first data or message is data or message that needs to be collected. 16.A communication device comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and executable on the processor, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implement the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 7, or implement the steps of the method of any one of claims 8 to 13. 17.A readable storage medium having a program or instructions stored thereon, the program or instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 7, or implement the steps of the method of any one of claims 8 to 13. 18.A computer program product comprising computer instructions, the computer instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 7, or implement the steps of the method of any one of claims 8 to 13.

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