Session management method, communication system, and related device

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of wireless communications, and provides a session management method, a communication system, and a related device. The method comprises: a session control node receiving a first session establishment request orginating from a terminal sent via a first access control node, wherein the terminal has a first subscriber identifier and a second subscriber identifier, and the first session establishment request comprises the first subscriber identifier and a session identifier; detecting whether a session has been established for the session identifier; and when no session has been established for the session identifier, allocating, to a session corresponding to the session identifier, a session address, first session parameters corresponding to the first subscriber identifier, and second session parameters corresponding to the second subscriber identifier, and sending the session address and the first session parameters to the terminal, so that the terminal establishes a first session channel on the basis of the session address and the first session parameters. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, one terminal can use two 3GPP networks to simultaneously transmit data.

Description

Session management methods, communication systems and related equipment

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411897406.4, filed on December 20, 2024, entitled "Session Management Method and Communication System", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a session management method, communication system and related equipment. Background Technology

[0004] In Release 16, 3GPP defined the ATSSS technology, which is a data offloading, diversion, and handover based on a 3GPP technology plus a non-3GPP technology (such as Wi-Fi).

[0005] Dual 3GPP access features focus on core network-based policy scheduling. Since wireless base stations cannot identify user application layer information, core network-based policy scheduling is more conducive to selecting access based on the overall network status, user application characteristics, and application function (AF) requirements, thereby optimizing resource allocation. However, multi-homing technology in related technologies only applies to single-SIM terminal devices and does not support simultaneous transmission and handover using 3GPP with dual-SIM terminal devices.

[0006] Therefore, a new session management method based on dual-SIM terminal devices is needed.

[0007] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the background section above is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of this disclosure, and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0008] This disclosure provides a session management method, a communication system, and related equipment, which at least to some extent overcomes the problem that dual-SIM terminal devices cannot use two 3GPP devices to transmit data simultaneously due to limitations and defects in related technologies.

[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 session management method is provided, the method being executed by a session control node, the method comprising: receiving a first session establishment request from a terminal sent by a first access control node, the terminal having a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier, the first session establishment request including the first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier; detecting whether a session has been established for the session identifier; if no session has been established for the session identifier, allocating a session address, a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier, and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier to the session corresponding to the session identifier; and sending the session address and the first session parameter to the terminal, so that the terminal establishes a first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameter.

[0011] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a session management method is provided. The method is executed by a terminal, which has a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier. The method includes: sending a first session establishment request to a session control node through a first access control node. The first session establishment request includes the first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier, so that the session control node, if it determines that no session has been established for the session identifier, allocates a session address corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier; receiving the session address and the first session parameter sent by the session control node; and establishing a first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameter.

[0012] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a session management device is provided, which is set in a session control node. The device includes a first request receiving module, an information determination module, a detection module, and an information sending module.

[0013] The first request receiving module is used to receive a first session establishment request from a terminal sent by a first access control node. The terminal has a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier. The first session establishment request includes the first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier.

[0014] The detection module is used to detect whether a session has been established for the session identifier;

[0015] The information determination module is used to assign a session address to the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier, when no session has been established for the session identifier.

[0016] The information sending module is used to send the session address and the first session parameters to the terminal so that the terminal can establish the first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameters.

[0017] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a session management device is provided, which is installed in a terminal. The terminal has a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier. The device includes a request sending module, an information receiving module, and a first session establishment module.

[0018] The request sending module is used to send a first session establishment request to the session control node through the first access control node. The first session establishment request includes a first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier, so that the session control node can allocate a session address to the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier, if it determines that no session has been established for the session identifier.

[0019] The information receiving module is used to receive the session address and the first session parameters sent by the session control node;

[0020] The first session establishment module is used to establish the first session channel based on the session address and first session parameters.

[0021] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a communication system is provided, including a terminal, a first access control node, and a session control node.

[0022] The terminal sends a first session establishment request to the first access control node. The first session establishment request includes a first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier. The terminal is a dual-SIM terminal that supports dual 3GPP type sessions. The terminal has a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier.

[0023] The first access control node sends the first session establishment request to the session control node;

[0024] The session control node receives the first session establishment request, allocates a session address to the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as the first session parameters corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and the second session parameters corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier, and sends the session address and the first session parameters to the terminal.

[0025] The terminal establishes the first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameters.

[0026] According to another aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising: a memory for storing instructions; and a processor for calling the instructions stored in the memory to implement the above-described session management method.

[0027] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores computer instructions thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implement the session management method described above.

[0028] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product is provided, which stores instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the session management method described above.

[0029] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a chip is provided, including at least one processor and an interface; the interface is used to provide program instructions or data to at least one processor; the at least one processor is used to execute the program instructions to implement the above-described session management method.

[0030] The session management method, communication system, and related equipment provided in this disclosure allow a terminal to send a session establishment request along with a subscribed user identifier and a session identifier. The network side can then identify the user as a terminal that supports dual 3GPP type sessions based on the subscribed user identifier, and generate a session address. The session channels corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and the second subscribed user identifier are both connected to this session address, thereby enabling a terminal to transmit data simultaneously using two 3GPP methods.

[0031] 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

[0032] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure.

[0033] Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are merely some embodiments of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without any creative effort.

[0034] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0035] Figure 2 shows a flowchart of a session management method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] Figure 3 shows a flowchart of another session management method in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0037] Figure 4 shows a flowchart of another session management method according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0038] Figure 5 shows a flowchart of another session management method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0039] Figure 6 shows a session management interaction flowchart according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0040] Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram of a session management device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0041] Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of a session management device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0042] Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0043] Figure 10 shows a structural block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0044] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this disclosure clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this disclosure, and not all of them. The components of the embodiments of this disclosure described and shown in the accompanying drawings can generally be arranged and designed in various different configurations. Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of this disclosure provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed disclosure, but merely represents selected embodiments of this disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this disclosure without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0045] It is understood that before using the technical solutions disclosed in the various embodiments of this disclosure, users should be informed of the types, scope of use, and usage scenarios of the personal information involved in this disclosure in an appropriate manner in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and user authorization should be obtained.

[0046] As described in the background section, 3GPP defined ATSSS technology in Release 16, which is a data offloading, redirection, and redirection based on one 3GPP technology plus one non-3GPP technology (such as Wi-Fi). However, the demand for dual 3GPP access has not been met.

[0047] In the 5G-A phase, limited by terminal chip capabilities, 3GPP will discuss a scheme for dual-SIM terminals to achieve dual 3GPP access in Release 19. Unlike the previous DC (dual-link) scheme, which relied on the radio base station to determine which wireless technology to use for data transmission, dual 3GPP access focuses on core network-based policy scheduling. Since radio base stations cannot identify user application layer information, core network policy-based scheduling is more conducive to selecting access based on the overall network status, user application characteristics, and AF (application function) requirements, thereby optimizing resource allocation.

[0048] Compared with existing dual-SIM terminal service transmission routing, which is implemented by the terminal-side logic, the network can better manage the service routing, diversion, and distribution of dual-3GPP access dual-SIM terminals.

[0049] The session management method provided in this embodiment can be applied to scenarios where terminals simultaneously access the same PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) or two 3GPP radio access paths from different PLMNs. The network architecture is shown in Figure 1. It includes a dual-SIM terminal device, radio access control node 1, radio access control node 2, access control node 1, access control node 2, session control node, session control policy node, user plane node 1, user plane node 2, user plane anchor point (UPF), and a data network; the user plane node can be co-located with user plane node 1 or user plane node 2. The dual-SIM terminal device includes two subscription permanent identifiers, SUPI#1 and SUPI#2, representing the SIM cards of the dual-SIM terminal device, respectively.

[0050] It should be noted that dual 3GPP access in this disclosure embodiment refers to the user using two 3GPP technologies simultaneously, such as a combination of 4G base stations, 5G and future 6G base stations, terrestrial base stations or non-terrestrial base stations, to achieve data diversion, diversion, and diversion.

[0051] Wireless access control nodes, also known as wireless base stations, include network elements with the same function as eNBs in 4G, gNBs in 5G, or 6G networks.

[0052] The access control node can be the MME in 4G, the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) in 5G, or a network element with the same function that appears in 6G networks.

[0053] The session control node can be a 5G SMF (Session Management Function), a 4 / 5G converged network element SMF+PGW-C, or a network element with the same function that appears in 6G networks.

[0054] The session control policy node can be a 5G PCF (Policy Control Function) or a network element with the same function that appears in 6G networks.

[0055] User database nodes can be 5G SMF, 4 / 5G converged network element UDM+HSS, or network elements with the same function appearing in 6G networks.

[0056] Multi-homed: This refers to a device having multiple different IP addresses, which can come from different network prefixes. This configuration is typically used to improve network redundancy and flexibility.

[0057] User plane anchors can be UPF (User Plane Function).

[0058] Figure 2 shows a flowchart of a session management method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2, the session management method provided in this embodiment includes S201-S205.

[0059] In S201, the terminal sends a first session establishment request to the session control node through the first access control node. The first session establishment request includes a first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier.

[0060] It should be noted that the aforementioned terminal possesses a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier. The subscribed user identifier is used to uniquely identify a subscribed user; one subscribed user identifier can correspond to one SIM card, and different SIM cards can correspond to different subscribed users. It is understood that in this embodiment, the subscribed user does not correspond to a specific person in reality. In reality, if a person has multiple SIM cards, each SIM card corresponds to one subscribed user.

[0061] In some embodiments, the subscriber identifier may also be referred to as the user identifier, specifically SUPI / GPSI / MISDN, etc.

[0062] In S202, the session control node detects whether a session has been established for the session identifier.

[0063] In some embodiments, the session control node may detect whether the terminal is a terminal that supports dual 3GPP type sessions based on the first subscribed user identifier; if the terminal is a terminal that supports dual 3GPP type sessions, it may detect whether a session has been established for the session identifier.

[0064] In S203, the session control node assigns a session address, a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier, and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier to the session corresponding to the session identifier, provided that no session has been established for the session identifier.

[0065] In S204, the session control node sends the session address and the first session parameters to the terminal.

[0066] In S205, the terminal establishes a first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameters.

[0067] It should be noted that the second session parameter is used to establish a second session channel based on the aforementioned session address. Consequently, both the first session channel and the second session channel are connected to the same session address, thereby enabling a terminal to transmit data simultaneously using two 3GPP protocols.

[0068] Figure 3 shows a flowchart of a session management method in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3, the session management method provided in this embodiment includes S301-S309, wherein S301-S305 is the same as S201-S205 above, and will not be described again here.

[0069] In S306, the terminal sends a second session establishment request to the session control node through the second access control node. The second session establishment request includes a second subscribed user identifier and a session identifier.

[0070] In S307, the session control node detects whether a session has been established for the session identifier;

[0071] In S308, if a session has been established for a session identifier before, the session control node sends the previously assigned session address and the second session parameters to the terminal.

[0072] In S309, the terminal establishes a second session channel based on the session address and the second session parameters.

[0073] In this embodiment of the disclosure, only one session is established for the same session identifier, and the session channels corresponding to different subscriber identifiers are all connected to the same session address, thereby enabling one terminal to transmit data simultaneously using two 3GPPs.

[0074] In some embodiments, the first session parameters include a network address for the terminal side and a network address for the user plane anchor side corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier; the second session parameters include a network address for the terminal side and a network address for the user plane anchor side corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier.

[0075] Following S203 above, the session address and the network address used for the user plane anchor point in the first session parameter will also be sent to the user plane anchor point, or the session address, the network address used for the user plane anchor point in the first session parameter and the network address used for the user plane anchor point in the second session parameter will be sent to the user plane anchor point.

[0076] It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the disclosure, for a specified session of the same dual-SIM terminal, the network (session control node) will assign a unique (group) session address, and two pairs (four groups) of port / interface addresses corresponding to two SUPIs respectively. Each SUPI corresponds to two sets of addresses, one for the terminal and one for the user plane anchor point, serving the session address. The two SUPIs connect to the user plane anchor point through their respective IPs via the interfacing 3GPP radio network, and cannot communicate across IP groups.

[0077] In some embodiments, when the session control node sends the session address and the first session parameter to the terminal in S204, the session control node may also send the second session parameter to the terminal, so that the terminal can establish a second session channel based on the session address and the second session parameter when it needs to establish a second session channel.

[0078] In some embodiments, the first session establishment request may also include a slice or a target data network.

[0079] In some embodiments, the second session establishment request may also include a slice or a target data network.

[0080] In some embodiments, prior to S203, the session control node may also perform authentication, establish a session control association with the session control policy node, and receive the session policy sent by the session control policy node; and send the session policy to the terminal. Embodiments of this disclosure support network control of service links for multi-SIM terminals.

[0081] In some embodiments, after assigning a session address to the session corresponding to the session identifier, and a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier, the session address, the first session parameter and the second session parameter may be stored in a local database, or the session address, the first session parameter and the second session parameter may be sent to a user data node for storage.

[0082] Existing technologies do not support simultaneous transmission and routing using dual 3GPP protocols by the UE. Existing multi-homed technologies are designed for single-SIM terminals and only support IPv6 addresses. The embodiments disclosed in this disclosure can be used in dual-SIM terminals and support IPv4 addresses.

[0083] Figure 4 shows a flowchart of a session management method in an embodiment of the present disclosure. The session management method is executed by a session control node. As shown in Figure 4, the session management method provided in this embodiment includes S401-S403.

[0084] In S401, a first session establishment request from a terminal is received from a first access control node. The terminal has a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier. The first session establishment request includes the first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier.

[0085] In S402, it checks whether a session has already been established for the session identifier;

[0086] In S403, if no session has been established for the session identifier, a session address is assigned to the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier. The session address and the first session parameter are then sent to the terminal so that the terminal can establish a first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameter.

[0087] In some embodiments, the session management method may further include: receiving a second session establishment request from a terminal sent by a second access control node, the second session establishment request including a second subscribed user identifier and a session identifier; detecting whether a session has been established for the session identifier; and if a session has been established for the session identifier, sending the previously allocated session address and second session parameters to the terminal so that the terminal establishes a second session channel based on the session address and second session parameters.

[0088] In some embodiments, S402 detects whether a session has been established for the session identifier, including: detecting whether the terminal is a terminal that supports dual 3GPP type sessions based on the first subscribed user identifier; and if the terminal is a terminal that supports dual 3GPP type sessions, detecting whether a session has been established for the session identifier.

[0089] In some embodiments, the first session parameter includes a network address for the terminal side and a network address for the user plane anchor side corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier; the second session parameter includes a network address for the terminal side and a network address for the user plane anchor side corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier; the method further includes sending the session address and the network address for the user plane anchor side in the first session parameter to the user plane anchor, or sending the session address, the network address for the user plane anchor side in the first session parameter and the network address for the user plane anchor side in the second session parameter to the user plane anchor.

[0090] In some embodiments, when sending the session address and the first session parameter to the terminal, the second session parameter may also be sent to the terminal, so that the terminal can establish a second session channel based on the session address and the second session parameter when it needs to establish a second session channel.

[0091] In some embodiments, after assigning a session address to the session corresponding to the session identifier, and a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier, the session address, the first session parameter and the second session parameter may be stored in a local database, or the session address, the first session parameter and the second session parameter may be sent to a user data node for storage.

[0092] Figure 5 shows a flowchart of a session management method in an embodiment of the present disclosure. The session management method is executed by a terminal, which has a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier. As shown in Figure 5, the session management method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure includes S501-S503.

[0093] In S501, the first access control node sends a first session establishment request to the session control node. The first session establishment request includes a first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier, so that the session control node, if it determines that no session has been established for the session identifier, allocates a session address for the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier.

[0094] In S502, the session address and first session parameters sent by the session control node are received;

[0095] In S503, the first session channel is established based on the session address and the first session parameters.

[0096] In some embodiments, after receiving the first session establishment request, the first access control node queries the user data node to see if the first subscribed user identifier has subscribed to support the dual 3GPP access function. If it is confirmed that the dual 3GPP access function is supported, it checks whether a session has been established for the session identifier. If a session has been established for the session identifier, it sends the first session establishment request to the session control node corresponding to the session.

[0097] This disclosed embodiment can achieve core network policy-based scheduling, which is more conducive to selecting access based on the overall network status, user application characteristics, and AF (application function) requirements, thereby achieving optimized resource allocation. It can be applied to:

[0098] 1. In scenarios where 5G simultaneously accesses both satellite and terrestrial base stations, latency caused by traffic diversion is reduced, and reliability is improved;

[0099] 2. Enable cross-carrier wireless resource collaboration;

[0100] 3. It is beneficial for operators to operate multiple cross-generational technology networks (such as 4G / 5G / 6G coexistence), allowing UEs to use multiple wireless resources simultaneously and make more rational use of the advantages of different frequencies.

[0101] Furthermore, in preparation for the evolution to 6G networks, to avoid the situation in the early stages of 5G networks where NSA networks consume a lot of manpower and resources from operators but are only used for a short period of time, resulting in wasted resources, it is advisable to introduce a new dual 3GPP access network mode. For example, terminals can register on both the next-generation network (such as 5G or 6G) and the old network (such as 4G or 5G) at the same time, and achieve data interaction with the network through different wireless access transmissions according to different service traffic requirements.

[0102] The session management method provided in this disclosure is described in detail below with reference to Figure 6. This session management method is applied to the network architecture shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 6, a dual-SIM terminal initiates a dual-access type session establishment through access control node 1 via wireless network 1. That is, in the previous embodiment, the terminal sends a first session establishment request, which includes SUPI#1, slice / target DN, and session ID. Access control node 1 selects a session control node that supports dual-access type sessions.

[0103] After authentication steps based on user subscription information, the session control node determines whether to establish a dual-access type session. Based on the DN information in the request, the session control node assigns a 3GPP session address to the dual-SIM terminal and assigns two pairs of port addresses (IPv4 or IPv6 prefixes) for each dual 3GPP session.

[0104] The session control node registers with the user data node, including established dual 3GPP sessions and allocated address information. It establishes user plane resources for the SUPI#1 session request and provides the corresponding port address of the user plane node, enabling the user plane node to recognize that the session is a dual 3GPP access type.

[0105] The session control node sends a session establishment acceptance message, establishes radio resources (providing an IPv4 address or IPv6 prefix, and configuring routing information to the UE). The dual-SIM terminal establishes a data channel with user plane node 1 via SUPI#1 through radio access network 1. The dual-SIM terminal repeats the above steps via SUPI#2 to establish a data channel with user plane node 2 via radio access network 2. Since the session request carries the same slice / target DN, it is not necessary to repeat the session layer address allocation in step 4.

[0106] It should be noted that in the above embodiments, the terminal is a dual-SIM terminal that supports dual 3GPP type sessions. The dual-SIM terminal has two users' SIM cards (such as USIM cards), and the two users' USIM cards have been contracted to support dual 3GPP access and have been bound and paired.

[0107] When a dual-SIM terminal sends a session establishment request to the network through one of its SUPIs (e.g., SUPI#1), carrying information such as the user identifier, slice / target DN, dual 3GPP session type identifier, session ID, and slice / target DN, and the network accepts the request, the network will then send a session establishment request with the same slice / target DN, dual 3GPP session type identifier, and session ID to the network through another SUPI (e.g., SUPI#2).

[0108] When the access control node receives a dual 3GPP session establishment request: it queries the user data node for the user's identifier (e.g., SUPI) to confirm whether the user has subscribed to support dual 3GPP access functionality. If not, it rejects the dual 3GPP session establishment request or processes it according to the normal session establishment procedure. If it confirms that the user supports dual 3GPP access functionality, it checks whether the user's paired user has already established a session for the same slice / target DN and selected the same session control node.

[0109] When the session control node receives a dual 3GPP session establishment request: it checks whether a session with the same ID (user or paired user's session ID) has already been established. If it has, no new session layer address needs to be generated. If it has not been established, the session request is a new request from the dual-SIM terminal for the slice / target DN, and a new session and session address need to be generated.

[0110] For a given session on the same dual-SIM terminal, the network (session control node) assigns a unique (group) of session addresses, and two pairs (four groups) of port / interface addresses corresponding to two SUPIs. Each SUPI corresponds to two sets of addresses: one for the terminal and one for the user plane anchor, serving the session address. The two SUPIs connect to the user plane anchor via their respective IP addresses through the connected 3GPP radio network, and cannot communicate across IP groups, as shown in the table below where IP-1-1 connects to IP-2-2. One set of addresses can be IPv4, IPv6, or IPv4, IPv6.

[0111] Table 1

[0112] For port / interface address allocation, it can be done by allocating two pairs of addresses together when the session management node receives a new session establishment, binding them with the session ID, and storing them locally on the session management node or on the user data node.

[0113] For the terminal: During the first session establishment request response, the session address and two pairs of (terminal-side) port / interface addresses are sent to the dual-SIM terminal together. Alternatively, during the first session establishment request response, the session address and the (terminal-side) port / interface address of the first SUPI are sent to the dual-SIM terminal together; during the second session establishment request response, the (terminal-side) port / interface address of the second SUPI is sent.

[0114] For user plane anchors: During the first session establishment, both pairs of (network-side) port / interface addresses are sent to the user plane anchor together. Alternatively, during the first session establishment request response, the (network-side) port / interface addresses of the first SUPI are sent to the user plane anchor together; during the second session establishment request response, the (network-side) port / interface addresses of the second SUPI are sent.

[0115] For the SUPI that establishes the sending session, a separate pair of addresses is allocated on the session management node, bound to the session ID, and stored locally on the session management node or on the user data node. The port / interface address is sent to the terminal and the user plane anchor respectively.

[0116] The terminal selects a link for the service based on the policy instructions issued by the network. The policy includes traffic redirection, traffic splitting, and traffic redirection control for specific services, and may include port / interface address information, transmission mode (such as primary / backup, minimum latency, redundancy, etc.) and routing guidance.

[0117] Existing technologies do not allow networks to simultaneously transmit or redirect services from two 3GPP access points for the same terminal. This disclosure, based on the multi-homed concept, enables network-side control over the redirection, distribution, and failover of services from multi-SIM terminals, achieving optimized resource allocation. Furthermore, unlike existing methods where operators cannot control the data link selection for dual-SIM terminals, this disclosure allows operators to maintain control over the data link for dual-SIM terminals.

[0118] In embodiments of this disclosure, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0119] In this disclosure, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, or B existing alone. Additionally, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship.

[0120] 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.

[0121] In some embodiments, certain steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined into one step for execution, and / or one step may be broken down into multiple steps for execution.

[0122] Based on the same inventive concept, this disclosure also provides a session management device, as shown in FIG7. The session management device is set in the session control node and includes a first request receiving module 701, a detection module 702, an information determination module 703 and an information sending module 704.

[0123] The first request receiving module 701 is used to receive a first session establishment request from a terminal sent by a first access control node. The terminal has a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier. The first session establishment request includes the first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier.

[0124] Detection module 702 is used to detect whether a session has been established for the session identifier;

[0125] The information determination module 703 is used to assign a session address to the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier, when no session has been established for the session identifier.

[0126] The information sending module 704 is used to send the session address and the first session parameters to the terminal so that the terminal can establish a first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameters.

[0127] Regarding the session management device in the above embodiments, the specific methods by which each module performs operations have been described in detail in the embodiments related to the session management method, and will not be elaborated here.

[0128] Based on the same inventive concept, this disclosure also provides a session management device, as shown in FIG8. The session management device is installed on a terminal, the terminal has a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier, and the device includes a first request sending module 801, an information receiving module 802 and a first session establishment module 803.

[0129] The first request sending module 801 is used to send a first session establishment request to the session control node through the first access control node. The first session establishment request includes a first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier, so that the session control node, in determining that no session has been established for the session identifier, allocates a session address for the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier.

[0130] The information receiving module 802 is used to receive the session address and the first session parameters sent by the session control node;

[0131] The first session establishment module 803 is used to establish a first session channel based on the session address and first session parameters.

[0132] Regarding the session management device in the above embodiments, the specific methods by which each module performs operations have been described in detail in the embodiments related to the session management method, and will not be elaborated here.

[0133] Based on the same inventive concept, this disclosure also provides a communication system, as shown in FIG9, which includes:

[0134] Terminal 901 sends a first session establishment request to the first access control node 902. The first session establishment request includes a first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier. The terminal is a dual-SIM terminal that supports dual 3GPP type sessions. The terminal has a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier.

[0135] The first access control node 902 sends the first session establishment request to the session control node 903;

[0136] Session control node 903 receives the first session establishment request, allocates a session address to the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as the first session parameters corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and the second session parameters corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier, and sends the session address and the first session parameters to terminal 901.

[0137] Terminal 901 establishes a first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameters.

[0138] The concepts of "first" and "second" mentioned in this disclosure are used only to distinguish different devices, modules or units, and are not used to define the order of functions performed by these devices, modules or units or their interdependencies.

[0139] It should be noted that although several modules or units of the device used for action execution are mentioned in the detailed description above, this division is not mandatory.

[0140] In fact, according to the 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.

[0141] Some of the block diagrams shown in the accompanying drawings are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities can 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.

[0142] The electronic device provided in the present disclosure will now be described with reference to FIG10. The electronic device 1000 shown in FIG10 is merely an example and should not be construed as limiting the functionality and scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0143] Figure 10 shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of an electronic device 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 10, the electronic device 1000 includes, but is not limited to, at least one processor 1010 and at least one memory 1020.

[0144] Memory 1020 is used to store instructions.

[0145] In some embodiments, memory 1020 may include a readable medium in the form of volatile storage cells, such as random access memory (RAM) 10201 and / or cache memory 10202, and may further include read-only memory (ROM) 10203.

[0146] In some embodiments, the memory 1020 may also include a program / utility 10204 having a set (at least one) of program modules 10205, such program modules 10205 including but not limited to: an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, each or some combination of these examples may include an implementation of a network environment.

[0147] In some embodiments, the memory 1020 may store an operating system. This operating system may be a real-time operating system (RTX), such as Linux, UNIX, Windows, or OS X.

[0148] In some embodiments, the memory 1020 may also store data.

[0149] As an example, processor 1010 can read data stored in memory 1020, which may be stored at the same memory address as the instruction, or the data may be stored at a different memory address than the instruction.

[0150] Processor 1010 is configured to invoke instructions stored in memory 1020 to implement the steps described in the "Exemplary Methods" section above, according to various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. For example, processor 1010 may execute the steps of the above method embodiments.

[0151] It should be noted that the processor 1010 described above can be a general-purpose processor or a special-purpose processor. The processor 1010 may include one or more processing cores, and the processor 1010 executes various functional applications and data processing by running instructions.

[0152] In some embodiments, the processor 1010 may include a central processing unit (CPU) and / or a baseband processor.

[0153] In some embodiments, the processor 1010 may determine an instruction based on the priority identifier and / or function category information carried in each control instruction.

[0154] In this disclosure, the processor 1010 and the memory 1020 can be configured separately or integrated together.

[0155] As an example, the processor 1010 and memory 1020 can be integrated on a single board or a system on chip (SOC).

[0156] As shown in Figure 10, the electronic device 1000 is presented in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The electronic device 1000 may also include a bus 1030.

[0157] Bus 1030 can represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, peripheral bus, graphics acceleration port, processor, or a local bus using any of the various bus structures.

[0158] The electronic device 1000 can also communicate with one or more external devices 1040 (e.g., keyboard, pointing device, Bluetooth device, etc.), and with one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the electronic device 1000, and / or with any device that enables the electronic device 1000 to communicate with one or more other computing devices (e.g., router, modem, etc.). Such communication can be performed through the input / output (I / O) interface 1050.

[0159] Furthermore, the electronic device 1000 can also communicate with one or more networks (such as local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and / or public networks, such as the Internet) via the network adapter 1060.

[0160] As shown in Figure 10, the network adapter 1060 communicates with other modules of the electronic device 1000 via the bus 1030.

[0161] It should be understood that, although not shown in the figure, other hardware and / or software modules may be used in conjunction with the electronic device 1000, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems.

[0162] It is understood that the structures illustrated in the embodiments of this disclosure do not constitute a specific limitation on the electronic device 1000. In other embodiments of this disclosure, the electronic device 1000 may include more or fewer components than those shown in FIG. 10, or combine some components, or split some components, or have different component arrangements. The components shown in FIG. 10 may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0163] This disclosure also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implement the session management method described in the above method embodiments.

[0164] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the computer-readable storage medium is a computer instruction that can be sent, propagated, or transmitted for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0165] As an example, a computer-readable storage medium is a non-volatile storage medium.

[0166] In some embodiments, more specific examples of computer-readable storage media in this disclosure may include, but are not limited to: electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, 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, USB flash drives, portable hard drives, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0167] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the computer-readable storage medium may include data signals propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, wherein computer instructions (readable program code) are carried.

[0168] The transmitted data signal can take many forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0169] In some examples, computational instructions contained on a computer-readable storage medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber, RF, etc., or any suitable combination thereof.

[0170] This disclosure also provides a computer program product that stores instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement the session management method described in the above method embodiments.

[0171] The aforementioned instructions can be program code. In practice, the program code can be written using any combination of one or more programming languages.

[0172] Programming languages ​​include object-oriented programming languages—such as Java and C++—as well as conventional procedural programming languages—such as the "C" language or similar programming languages.

[0173] The program code can be executed entirely on the user's computing device, partially on the user's computing 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.

[0174] In cases involving remote computing devices, the remote computing devices can be connected to user computing devices via any type of network, including local area networks (LANs) or wide area networks (WANs), or they can be connected to external computing devices (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0175] This disclosure also provides a chip, including at least one processor and an interface;

[0176] An interface is used to provide program instructions or data to at least one processor;

[0177] At least one processor is used to execute program instructions to implement the session management method described in the above method embodiments.

[0178] In some embodiments, the chip may further include a memory for storing program instructions and data, the memory being located within or outside the processor.

[0179] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps of the above embodiments can be specifically implemented in the following forms: a completely hardware implementation, a completely software implementation (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or a combination of hardware and software implementations, which can be collectively referred to as "circuit", "module" or "system".

[0180] 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.

[0181] This disclosure 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 description and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A session management method, the method being executed by a session control node, the method comprising: The terminal receives a first session establishment request from a first access control node. The terminal has a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier. The first session establishment request includes the first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier. Detect whether a session has already been established for the session identifier; If no session has been established for the session identifier, a session address is assigned to the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier. The session address and the first session parameter are then sent to the terminal so that the terminal establishes a first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameter.

2. The session management method according to claim 1, wherein, The method further includes: The terminal receives a second session establishment request sent by the second access control node, the second session establishment request including the second subscribed user identifier and the session identifier; Detect whether a session has already been established for the session identifier; If a session has been previously established for the session identifier, the previously assigned session address and the second session parameter are sent to the terminal so that the terminal can establish a second session channel based on the session address and the second session parameter.

3. The session management method according to claim 1, wherein, The first session parameters include a network address for the terminal side and a network address for the user plane anchor side corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier; the second session parameters include a network address for the terminal side and a network address for the user plane anchor side corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier. The method further includes: sending the session address and the network address used for the user plane anchor in the first session parameters to the user plane anchor, or sending the session address, the network address used for the user plane anchor in the first session parameters and the network address used for the user plane anchor in the second session parameters to the user plane anchor.

4. The session management method according to claim 1, wherein, When sending the session address and the first session parameter to the terminal, the second session parameter is also sent to the terminal, so that the terminal can establish the second session channel based on the session address and the second session parameter when it needs to establish the second session channel.

5. The session management method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein, The first session establishment request also includes a slice or target data network.

6. The session management method according to claim 2, wherein, The second session establishment request also includes a slice or target data network.

7. The session management method according to claim 1, wherein, The method further includes: Perform authentication, establish a session control association with the session control policy node, and receive the session policy sent by the session control policy node; The session policy is sent to the terminal.

8. The session management method according to claim 1, wherein, After allocating a session address to the session corresponding to the session identifier, and assigning a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier, the method further includes: The session address, the first session parameter, and the second session parameter are stored in a local database, or the session address, the first session parameter, and the second session parameter are sent to a user data node for storage.

9. The session management method according to claim 1, wherein, The detection of whether a session has been established for the session identifier includes: Based on the first subscribed user identifier, detect whether the terminal is a terminal that supports dual 3GPP type sessions; If the terminal is a terminal that supports dual 3GPP type sessions, detect whether a session has been established for the session identifier.

10. A session management method, the method being executed by a terminal, the terminal having a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier, the method comprising: The first access control node sends a first session establishment request to the session control node. The first session establishment request includes the first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier, so that the session control node, if it determines that no session has been established for the session identifier, allocates a session address for the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier. Receive the session address and the first session parameter sent by the session control node; A first session channel is established based on the session address and the first session parameters.

11. The session management method according to claim 10, wherein, After receiving the first session establishment request, the first access control node queries the user data node to see if the first subscribed user identifier is subscribed to support dual 3GPP access function. If it is confirmed that dual 3GPP access function is supported, it checks whether a session has been established for the session identifier. If a session has been established for the session identifier, it sends the first session establishment request to the session control node corresponding to the session.

12. A session management device, disposed at a session control node, comprising: The first request receiving module is used to receive a first session establishment request from a terminal sent by a first access control node. The terminal has a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier. The first session establishment request includes the first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier. The detection module is used to detect whether a session has been established for the session identifier; The information determination module is used to assign a session address to the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier, when no session has been established for the session identifier. The information sending module is used to send the session address and the first session parameters to the terminal, so that the terminal establishes a first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameters.

13. A session management device, disposed in a terminal, the terminal having a first subscribed user identifier and a second subscribed user identifier, the session management device comprising: The request sending module is used to send a first session establishment request to the session control node through the first access control node. The first session establishment request includes a first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier, so that the session control node, if it determines that no session has been established for the session identifier, allocates a session address for the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier. The information receiving module is used to receive the session address and the first session parameters sent by the session control node; The first session establishment module is used to establish a first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameters.

14. A communication system, characterized in that, include: The terminal sends a first session establishment request to the first access control node. The first session establishment request includes a first subscribed user identifier and a session identifier. The terminal is a terminal that supports dual 3GPP type sessions. The terminal has the first subscribed user identifier and the second subscribed user identifier. The first access control node sends the first session establishment request to the session control node; The session control node receives the first session establishment request, allocates a session address to the session corresponding to the session identifier, as well as a first session parameter corresponding to the first subscribed user identifier and a second session parameter corresponding to the second subscribed user identifier, and sends the session address and the first session parameter to the terminal. The terminal establishes a first session channel based on the session address and the first session parameters.

15. A computer program product having stored computer program instructions thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implement the session management method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11.

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