Slice-Specific Counter Subscription for 5G Policy Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current 5G network architectures fail to support subscription resources for multiple network slice instances, leading to incomplete or inaccurate counter management, which hampers refined policy control and charging operations.
Innovation Solution
A counter subscription method that allows policy control devices to subscribe to slice instance-specific counters by sending requests with identifiers, enabling accurate management of subscription resources and counter information at the slice instance level.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a policy control device subscribes to counter information at user equipment granularity in existing 5G network architecture, then the subscription process is simple, but it cannot support multiple network slice instances and fails to provide slice granularity-based refined operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the subscription resource management by introducing slice instance identifiers to distinguish different network slice instances. The policy control device subscribes to counter information separately for each slice instance, enabling independent management and monitoring of resources across multiple slices while maintaining the overall subscription framework.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a policy control device is deployed on a dynamically created and allocated network slice instance, then network flexibility is improved, but the device cannot obtain valid counter information or subscribe to counter changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes the subscription relationship between the policy control device and counter information before the device needs to use it. By pre-configuring the subscription with the charging processing device using the slice instance identifier, the system ensures that counter information is ready and valid when the dynamically deployed policy control device needs to access it.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces the slice instance identifier as an intermediary that connects the dynamically deployed policy control device with the counter information in the charging processing device. This identifier enables the device to locate and subscribe to the correct counter information regardless of its dynamic deployment position.
3Ease of operation
If existing subscription methods are used without slice instance identifiers, then the subscription process is straightforward, but slice granularity-based refined operation cannot be supported
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by adding slice instance identifiers to specific subscription requests without changing the overall subscription mechanism. This allows the system to maintain simple subscription processes for general cases while providing granular, slice-specific counter information when needed, achieving both simplicity and precision in different contexts.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of this application disclose a service processing method and product, applied to a charging field in a network architecture for a slice instance. The policy control device sends a subscription request to a charging processing device, where the subscription request carries an identifier of a first slice instance and an identifier of user equipment. Then, the policy control device receives a subscription response returned by the charging processing device, where the subscription response includes first information of a first counter corresponding to the first slice instance and a subscription identifier.