Visited Policy Control Function Notification for Unreachable Terminal
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Solution Overview
Problem
In 5G systems, there is no defined method for the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to send a user equipment (UE) policy to a terminal when it is unreachable, leading to inefficiencies and unnecessary resource allocation.
Innovation Solution
A method where the Visited Policy Control Function (V-PCF) network element receives a notification from the Mobility Management Network Element that a message fails to be forwarded, and sends a second message to the Home Policy Control Function (H-PCF) network element with indication information and a Procedure Transaction Identity (PTI), allowing the H-PCF to suspend policy sending and prevent unnecessary operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the AMF continuously attempts to send UE policy to the terminal, then the policy delivery reliability is improved, but the network resource waste increases due to unnecessary sending attempts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the V-PCF receives failure notifications from the AMF about policy delivery attempts and uses this information to adjust its behavior. The V-PCF sends notification messages to the H-PCF about delivery failures, allowing the system to learn from previous attempts and avoid redundant sending operations, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and resource waste.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the V-PCF check terminal reachability status before initiating policy delivery to the H-PCF. The V-PCF maintains information about terminal reachability status and uses this pre-check to determine whether to proceed with policy delivery, preventing unnecessary sending attempts and optimizing network resource utilization.
2Reliability
If the H-PCF continues to send policy to V-PCF without knowing delivery status, then the policy provision completeness is improved, but the system complexity increases due to undefined failure handling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes a feedback loop where the V-PCF notifies the H-PCF about policy delivery failures through notification messages. This feedback mechanism allows the H-PCF to understand the delivery status and adjust its behavior accordingly, maintaining policy provision completeness while managing system complexity through standardized failure handling procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The V-PCF acts as an intermediary between the AMF and the H-PCF, receiving failure information from the AMF and translating it into appropriate notifications for the H-PCF. This intermediary role simplifies the overall system architecture by providing a clear interface for failure communication, avoiding the need for complex direct error handling between all components.
3Loss of information
If the AMF sends failure notification to V-PCF, then the information accuracy is improved, but the message processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses parameter changes in the notification message structure to convey failure information efficiently. The notification messages include specific parameters such as PTI (Procedure Transaction ID) and failure indicators that allow the V-PCF to accurately identify and process failure cases without requiring complex message parsing, thus maintaining information accuracy while managing processing complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
This application provides a method, an apparatus, and a system for sending a terminal policy. After determining that a terminal is not reachable, a mobility management network element may send, to a visited policy control function network element, a notification indicating that a first message fails to be forwarded. The visited policy control function network element may determine, based on the notification, a first PTI allocated by a home policy control function network element to a first policy, and send, to the home policy control function network element, both the first PTI and the indication indicating that the first message fails to be forwarded, to notify the home policy control function network element. This can effectively prevent the home policy control function network element from performing unnecessary sending