CN114698144A - Session management method and SMF entity - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a session management method and an SMF entity, which are used for reducing system overhead. The session management method comprises the following steps: a Session Management Function (SMF) entity receives a notification from a Radio Access Network (RAN), wherein the notification indicates whether a second Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session can be activated for a terminal device; and the SMF entity determines that the second PDU session can not be activated for the terminal equipment according to the notification, and notifies the terminal equipment to delete or deactivate the second PDU session, wherein the SMF entity serves the second PDU session.

Description

A session management method and SMF entity

The application of the present invention is a divisional application of the invention application with the application date of January 11, 2019 and the application number of 201910028652.9 and the title of the invention is "a session management method and SMF entity". The entire content of the original application is incorporated into this application by reference .

technical field

The present invention relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a session management method and an SMF entity.

Background technique

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) studies related technologies for providing ultra-low-latency and ultra-reliable communication in the fifth generation mobile network (5G) network, and proposes a solution for high reliability For reliable services, the network establishes two protocol data unit (Protocol Data Unit, PDU) sessions, and the two PDU sessions use different radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN) and user plane function (User Plane Function, UPF) entities respectively.

The prior art proposes that User Equipment (UE) uses a specific instruction to request the network to create two mutually backup PDU sessions, but this method imposes requirements on the UE, that is, the UE needs to determine whether to establish a backup path. However, the UE does not know whether the network supports the establishment of a backup path, so creating two PDU sessions may not improve reliability, but increase system overhead.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a session management method and an SMF entity, which are used to reduce system overhead.

In a first aspect, a session management method is provided, the method comprising:

The session management function SMF entity receives a notification message from the radio access network RAN, wherein the notification message carries the indication information of whether the second protocol data unit PDU session can be activated for the terminal device or the capability information of the base station;

The SMF entity determines according to the notification message that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, and then creates or activates the second PDU session, wherein the SMF entity serves the first PDU session; or;

The SMF entity determines according to the notification message that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device, and deletes or deactivates the second PDU session, wherein the SMF entity serves the second PDU session.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the RAN may inform the Session Management Function (SMF) entity whether it can activate the second PDU session for the terminal device. Therefore, when the SMF entity determines that the RAN can activate the second PDU session for the terminal device, the Notify the terminal device to activate the second PDU session, so as to effectively improve the reliability of data transmission as much as possible. If it is determined that the RAN cannot activate the second PDU session for the terminal device, at this time, the terminal device is notified to delete or deactivate the second PDU session to reduce system overhead.

Optionally, the capability information of the base station is information that the RAN supports dual connectivity or does not support dual connectivity.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the RAN may inform the SMF entity whether it supports dual connectivity, so as to inform the SMF entity whether the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device.

Optionally, also include:

During the process of creating the first PDU session, the SMF entity sends an indication message to the RAN, where the indication message is used to indicate whether the RAN can report whether the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device.

Optionally, also include:

If the SMF entity determines that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, it sends information carrying the identification ID of the second SMF entity of the second PDU session to the access and mobility management function AMF entity, so that the AMF entity The second SMF entity is selected for the second PDU session.

Optionally, also include:

The second PDU session is created for the terminal device through the SMF entity saved by the AMF entity.

Optionally, after the SMF entity determines according to the notification message that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, after creating or activating the second PDU session, the method further includes:

If the SMF entity determines that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device according to the notification received again, the SMF entity rejects the request of the terminal device to create the second PDU session.

In a second aspect, a session management function SMF entity is provided, and the SMF entity includes:

memory for storing instructions;

A processor, for reading the instructions in the memory, performs the following processes:

receiving a notification message from the radio access network RAN, wherein the notification message carries indication information of whether the second protocol data unit PDU session can be activated for the terminal device or capability information of the base station;

It is determined according to the notification message that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, creating or activating the second PDU session, wherein the SMF entity serves the first PDU session; or;

It is determined according to the notification message that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device, and the second PDU session is deleted or deactivated, wherein the SMF entity serves the second PDU session;

The transceiver is used to transmit information under the control of the processor.

Optionally, the capability information of the base station is information that the RAN supports dual connectivity or does not support dual connectivity.

Optionally, the processor is also used for:

In the process of creating the first PDU session, an indication message is sent to the RAN, where the indication message is used to indicate whether the RAN can report whether the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device.

Optionally, the processor is also used for:

If it is determined that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, the information carrying the identification ID of the second SMF entity of the second PDU session is sent to the access and mobility management function AMF entity, so that the AMF entity is the second SMF entity for the second PDU session. The second PDU session selects the second SMF entity.

Optionally, the processor is also used for:

The second PDU session is created for the terminal device through the SMF entity saved by the AMF entity.

Optionally, the processor is also used for:

If it is determined according to the notification received again that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device, the request of the terminal device to create the second PDU session is rejected.

In a third aspect, a session management function SMF entity is provided, and the SMF entity includes:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a notification message from the radio access network RAN, wherein the notification message carries the indication information of whether the second protocol data unit PDU session can be activated for the terminal device or the capability information of the base station;

a first notification unit, configured to determine according to the notification message that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, and then create or activate the second PDU session, wherein the SMF entity serves the first PDU session; or;

a second notification unit, configured to determine according to the notification message that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device, and then delete or deactivate the second PDU session, wherein the SMF entity serves the second PDU session .

Optionally, the capability information of the base station is information that the RAN supports dual connectivity or does not support dual connectivity.

Optionally, the first notification unit is further configured to:

In the process of creating the first PDU session, an indication message is sent to the RAN, where the indication message is used to indicate whether the RAN can report whether the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device.

Optionally, the first notification unit is further configured to:

If it is determined that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, the information carrying the identification ID of the second SMF entity of the second PDU session is sent to the access and mobility management function AMF entity, so that the AMF entity is the second SMF entity for the second PDU session. The second PDU session selects the second SMF entity.

Optionally, the first notification unit is further configured to:

The second PDU session is created for the terminal device through the SMF entity saved by the AMF entity.

Optionally, the receiving unit is also used for:

If it is determined according to the notification received again that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device, the request of the terminal device to create the second PDU session is rejected.

In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, the computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to the first aspect.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the RAN may inform the SMF entity whether it can activate the second PDU session for the terminal device. Therefore, when the SMF entity determines that the RAN can activate the second PDU session for the terminal device, it creates or activates the second PDU session to Try to effectively improve the reliability of data transmission. If the SMF entity determines that the RAN cannot activate the second PDU session for the terminal device, it deletes or deactivates the second PDU session at this time to reduce system overhead.

Description of drawings

In order to illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings that need to be used in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the drawings introduced below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can also be obtained from these drawings without any creative effort.

1 is a schematic flowchart of a session management method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic flowchart of a session management method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic flowchart of a session management method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic flowchart of a session management method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a schematic flowchart of a session management method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an SMF entity provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is another schematic structural diagram of an SMF entity provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention.

Currently, the UE uses a specific instruction to request the network to create two mutually backup PDU sessions, but the UE needs to determine whether to establish a backup path, and the UE does not know whether the network supports the establishment of a backup path, so creating two PDU sessions may not bring In order to improve the reliability, it will increase the system overhead.

In view of this, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session management method, in which the RAN can inform the SMF entity whether it can activate the second PDU session for the terminal device, so that the SMF entity determines that the RAN can activate the second PDU session for the terminal device. In the case of a PDU session, a second PDU session is created or activated, so as to effectively improve the reliability of data transmission as much as possible. If the SMF entity determines that the RAN cannot activate the second PDU session for the terminal device, it deletes or deactivates the second PDU session at this time to reduce system overhead.

The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session management method. The session management method can be performed by the SMF entity provided by the embodiment of the present invention. The flow of the session management method is described as follows.

S101. The SMF entity receives a notification message from the RAN, where the notification message carries the indication information of whether the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device or the capability information of the base station;

S102, the SMF entity determines according to the notification message that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, then creates or activates the second PDU session, and the SMF entity serves the first PDU session;

S103. The SMF entity determines according to the notification message that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device, then deletes or deactivates the second PDU session, and the SMF entity serves the second PDU session.

In this embodiment of the present invention, a terminal device may request to establish a PDU session according to an existing process. Specifically, please refer to the process shown in FIG. 2 :

S201. A terminal device, such as a UE, sends a PDU Session Establishment Request (PDU Session Establishment Request) to an Access and Mobility Management Function (Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF) entity.

S202. After receiving the PDU session establishment request, the AMF entity sends a PDU session SM context creation request message (Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext_Request) to the SMF entity 1.

S203: After receiving the PDU session establishment SM context request message, the SMF entity 1 or the UPF entity 1 acquires a session management (Session Management, SM) subscription.

S204, the SMF entity 1 or the UPF entity 1 sends a PDU session create SM context response message (Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext_Response) to the AMF entity according to the SM subscription.

S205: After accepting the PDU session establishment request, the SMF entity 1 invokes the N1N2 message transfer (Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer) service of the AMF to transfer the N2 message.

S206 , the AMF entity sends an N2 PDU Session Request (N2 PDU Session Request) to the RAN to request to create an air interface bearer for the PDU session. In a possible implementation manner, the air interface transmission of the PDU session is provided by the primary base station.

S207: The RAN creates an air interface bearer for the PDU session and sends an N2 PDU Session Response (N2 PDU Session Response) to the AMF entity.

S208: The AMF entity sends a PDU session creation SM context message (Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext) to the SMF entity 1 or the UPF entity 1, and the SMF entity 1 or the UPF entity 1 creates the first PDU session for the terminal device.

Considering that for high-reliability services, the terminal device can request the network to create two mutually backup PDU sessions. Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, the SMF entity 1 may send an instruction message to the RAN during the process of creating the first PDU session. The indication message requests the RAN to report whether the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device. The RAN receives the indication message and reports to the SMF entity 1 whether the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device. In a possible implementation manner, the RAN reports a notification message to the SMF entity 1 or the UPF entity 1, and the notification message carries the indication information of whether the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device or the capability information of the base station, wherein the capability message of the base station is, for example, The RAN supports dual connectivity or does not support dual connectivity information. If the RAN supports dual connectivity, it means that the RAN can activate the second PDU session for the terminal device, and if the RAN does not support dual connectivity, it means that the RAN cannot activate the second PDU for the terminal device. session.

Due to reasons such as terminal equipment movement or network equipment configuration changes, the RAN may also change from supporting dual connectivity to not supporting dual connectivity, and may also cause the RAN to never support dual connectivity to supporting dual connectivity. At this time, if the terminal device establishes two mutually backup PDU sessions, it sends a notification to the SMF entity 2 or UPF entity 2 serving the second PDU session for the PDU session served by the slave network device, that is, the second PDU session. notification1 to inform the RAN that dual connectivity is not supported, the notification1 is forwarded by the AMF entity, for example, please continue to refer to the process shown in FIG. 2 .

S209. The RAN sends a first notification to the AMF entity, where the first notification carries the identifier of the second PDU session.

S210, the AMF entity sends the second PDU session to the SMF entity 2 or the UPF entity 2 to establish the SM context.

Wherein, the SMF entity 2 or the UPF entity 2 serving the second PDU session receives the notification message from the slave network device.

Similarly, due to reasons such as terminal equipment movement or network equipment configuration changes, the RAN may never support dual connectivity to support dual connectivity. At this time, if the terminal device establishes two mutually backup PDU sessions, for the PDU session served by the main network device, that is, the first PDU session, it sends the first PDU session to the SMF entity 1 or UPF entity 1 serving the first PDU session. The second notification (notification2) is to inform the RAN that dual connectivity is supported, and the notification2 is forwarded by the AMF entity. For example, please continue to refer to the flow shown in FIG. 2 .

S211. The RAN sends a second notification to the AMF entity, where the second notification carries the identifier of the first PDU session.

S212, the AMF entity sends the first PDU session to the SMF entity 1 or the UPF entity 1 to establish the SM context.

If the terminal device has established the first PDU session according to the process shown in FIG. 2, and then if the SMF entity 1 or UPF entity 1 serving the first PDU session determines that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device according to the RAN report, Then the terminal equipment is notified to create or activate the second PDU session. Specifically, the SMF entity 1 or UPF entity 1 serving the first PDU session may determine the SMF entity 2 or UPF entity 2 serving the second PDU session according to the subscription information of the terminal device and/or the configuration of the operator, and assign the service to the SMF entity 2 or UPF entity 2 serving the second PDU session. The SMF entity 2 or the UPF entity 2 of the second PDU session informs the AMF entity, and the specific process is shown in FIG. 3 .

S301. The SMF entity 1 or the UPF entity 1 sends the information carrying the identification ID of the second SMF entity of the second PDU session to the AMF entity, for example, the SMF entity sends the N1N2 message transfer (Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer) service to the AMF entity to transfer the N2 message, so that the AMF The entity selects SMF entity 2 or UPF entity 2 for the second PDU session.

S302, the AMF entity saves the ID of the SMF entity 2 or the UPF entity 2 serving the second PDU session, and saves the ID in the context of the second PDU session. In this way, in the embodiment of the present invention, when creating the second PDU session, the terminal device can create the second PDU session for the terminal device through the SMF entity stored in the AMF entity. Specifically, please continue to refer to the process shown in FIG. 3 .

S303: The AMF entity responds to the PDU session establishment request sent by the terminal device, and sends a PDU Session Establishment Accept message (PDU Session Establishment Accept) to the terminal device.

S304, the terminal device requests to create a second PDU session, and may send a PDU session establishment request (PDUSession Establishment Request) to the AMF entity, where the PDU session establishment request carries the second PDU session identifier, or carries the first PDU session identifier and the second PDU. Session ID (old and new PDU Session ID).

S305. The AMF entity receives the PDU session establishment request, and searches for the corresponding saved SMF entity 2 or UPF entity 2 according to the second PDU session identifier.

S306, the AMF entity sends a PDU session establishment SM context request to the SMF entity 2 or the UPF entity 2, so as to inform the SMF entity 2 or the UPF entity 2 to establish the second PDU session. Certainly, the SMF entities of the first PDU session and the second PDU session may be the same or different.

In a possible implementation manner, referring to FIG. 4 , the embodiment of the present invention may also trigger the establishment of the second PDU session through signaling. The process of establishing the first PDU session is the same as that shown in FIG. 3 , and details are not repeated here. In FIG. 4 , after the AMF entity saves the SMF entity 2 serving the second PDU session, step S401 is performed, and the AMF entity sends a PDU session modification request to the terminal device to trigger the terminal device to create the second PDU session.

S402 , the terminal device sends a second PDU session creation request to the AMF to request to create a second PDU session. The process of creating the second PDU session is the same as that shown in FIG. 3 , and details are not repeated here.

In the embodiment of the present invention, if the SMF entity 1 serving the first PDU session determines according to the received notification that the RAN cannot activate the second PDU session for the terminal device, the terminal device is not allowed to establish the second PDU session.

Due to the movement of the terminal device or the configuration change of the network device, the RAN can activate the second PDU session for the terminal device and cannot activate the second PDU session for the terminal device, that is, the RAN has changed from supporting dual connectivity to not supporting dual connectivity. If the SMF entity of the first PDU session determines that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device according to the notification received again, the SMF entity rejects the request of the terminal device to create the second PDU session.

The terminal device establishes two PDU sessions that are mutually backed up. Due to the movement of the terminal device or the configuration change of the network device, the RAN changes from supporting dual connectivity to not supporting dual connectivity, and the SMF entity serving the second PDU session is deleted or deactivated. For the second PDU session, specifically, please refer to the flow shown in FIG. 5 .

S501. The RAN sends a first notification (notification1) to the AMF entity, indicating that the RAN does not support dual connectivity, where the notification1 carries the identifier of the second PDU session.

S502, the AMF entity sends a PDU session update SM context (Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext) to the SMF entity 2 serving the second PDU session according to notification1.

S503. The SMF entity 2 of the second PDU session served by the slave network device decides to initiate a release process or a user plane connection deactivation process of the second PDU session based on a local configuration or a policy.

Subsequently, when the RAN never supports dual connectivity to support dual connectivity due to terminal movement or base station configuration changes, the execution process is as follows for all the first PDU sessions:

S504. The RAN sends a second notification (notification2) to the AMF entity.

S505, the AMF entity sends the PDU session update SM context (Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext) to the SMF entity 1 serving the first PDU session according to notification2.

S506, the SMF entity 1 receives the PDU session update SM context, and sends an N1N2 message to the AMF entity.

S507: The AMF entity receives the second notification, and if it finds that there is no context for the second PDU session, it initiates a PDU session modification request to the terminal device, and notifies the terminal device to establish a second PDU session.

S508: After receiving the PDU session modification request, the terminal device initiates a PDU session creation process according to the cause value indication in the prior art.

S509. If the terminal device can find that the second PDU session has been created, for example, the terminal device finds that the second PDU session has been created according to the redundancy sequence number (Redundancy Sequence Number, RSN) provided by the network device, then the terminal device can initiate a service request procedure to activate the second PDU session.

S510. If the SMF entity 1 receives the second notification and finds that the SMF entity 1 stores the context Context of the second PDU session, the SMF entity 1 initiates a PDU session user plane activation process for the second PDU session.

To sum up, in this embodiment of the present invention, the RAN can inform the Session Management Function (SMF) entity whether it can activate the second PDU session for the terminal device, so when the SMF entity determines that the RAN can activate the second PDU session for the terminal device , the second PDU session is created or activated to effectively improve the reliability of data transmission as much as possible. If it is determined that the RAN cannot activate the second PDU session for the terminal device, the second PDU session is deleted or deactivated at this time to reduce system overhead. The specific implementation of the SMF creating or activating the second PDU session includes: the SMF notifying the terminal to initiate a second PDU session creation process or a service request process; or the SMF initiates an activation process of the second PDU session. Specific implementations of the SMF deletion or deactivation of the second PDU session include: the SMF notifies the terminal device to initiate a second PDU session deletion process; or the SMF initiates a deactivation process of the second PDU session.

Referring to FIG. 6 , based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an SMF entity, where the SMF entity includes a memory 601 , a processor 602 , and a transceiver 603 . The memory 601 and the transceiver 603 can be connected to the processor 602 through a bus interface (as an example in FIG. 6 ), or can also be connected to the processor 602 through a special connection line.

Among them, the memory 601 can be used to store programs. The processor 602 can be used to read the program in the memory 601, and perform the following processes:

Receive a notification message from the RAN, wherein the notification message carries the indication information of whether the PDU session can be activated for the terminal device or the capability information of the base station;

It is determined according to the notification message that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, creating or activating the second PDU session, wherein the SMF entity serves the first PDU session; or;

It is determined according to the notification message that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device, and the second PDU session is deleted or deactivated, wherein the SMF entity serves the second PDU session.

Optionally, the capability information of the base station is information that the RAN supports dual connectivity or does not support dual connectivity.

Optionally, the processor 602 is further configured to:

In the process of creating the first PDU session, an indication message is sent to the RAN, where the indication message is used to indicate whether the RAN can report whether the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device.

Optionally, the processor 602 is further configured to:

If it is determined that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, the information carrying the identification ID of the second SMF entity of the second PDU session is sent to the access and mobility management function AMF entity, so that the AMF entity selects the second PDU session for the second PDU session. The second SMF entity.

Optionally, the processor 602 is further configured to:

A second PDU session is created for the terminal device through the SMF entity saved by the AMF entity.

Optionally, the processor 602 is further configured to:

If it is determined according to the notification received again that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device, the request of the terminal device to create the second PDU session is rejected.

6, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically, one or more processors represented by processor 602 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 601 are linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits, such as peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides the interface. Transceiver 603 may be a number of elements, including transmitters and transceivers, that provide means for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium. The processor 602 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 601 may store data used by the processor 602 in performing operations.

Optionally, the memory 601 may include a read only memory (English: Read Only Memory, ROM for short), a random access memory (English: Random Access Memory, RAM for short), and a disk memory. The memory 601 is used for storing data required by the processor 602 when running, that is, storing instructions that can be executed by at least one processor 602, and at least one processor 602 executes the instructions provided by the above embodiments of the present invention by executing the instructions stored in the memory 601 method. Wherein, the number of the memory 601 is one or more. The memory 601 is shown together in FIG. 6 , but it should be known that the memory 601 is not a required functional module, so it is shown with a dotted line in FIG. 6 .

Referring to FIG. 7 , based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides an SMF entity, where the SMF entity includes a receiving unit 701 , a first notifying unit 702 and a second notifying unit 703 . The receiving unit 701 is configured to receive a notification message from the radio access network RAN, wherein the notification message carries the indication information of whether the second protocol data unit PDU session can be activated for the terminal device or the capability information of the base station; the first notification unit 702 is used for determining according to the notification message that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, then creating or activating the second PDU session, wherein the SMF entity serves the first PDU session; or; the second notification unit 703 is used for determining according to the notification message that the second PDU session cannot be activated When the terminal device activates the second PDU session, the second PDU session is deleted or deactivated, wherein the SMF entity serves the second PDU session.

Optionally, the capability information of the base station is information that the RAN supports dual connectivity or does not support dual connectivity.

Optionally, the first notification unit 702 is further configured to:

In the process of creating the first PDU session, an indication message is sent to the RAN, where the indication message is used to indicate whether the RAN can report whether the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device.

Optionally, the first notification unit 702 is further configured to:

If it is determined that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device, the information carrying the identification ID of the second SMF entity of the second PDU session is sent to the access and mobility management function AMF entity, so that the AMF entity selects the second PDU session for the second PDU session. The second SMF entity.

Optionally, the first notification unit 702 is further configured to:

A second PDU session is created for the terminal device through the SMF entity saved by the AMF entity.

Optionally, the receiving unit 701 is further configured to:

If it is determined according to the notification received again that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device, the request of the terminal device to create the second PDU session is rejected.

The device can be used to execute the methods provided by the embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, for the functions that can be implemented by each functional module of the device, reference may be made to the descriptions of the embodiments of the present invention, and details are not repeated.

Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of the present invention provide a computer-readable storage medium, where computer instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the computer executes the methods shown in the above embodiments of the present invention.

The session management method and the SMF entity provided by the embodiments of the present invention can be applied to a wireless communication system, such as a 5G system. However, applicable communication systems include, but are not limited to, the 5G system or its evolution system, other systems based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), DFT-S-OFDM (DFT-Spread OFDM, DFT spread OFDM) ), an Evolved Long Term Evolution (Evolved Long Term Evolution, eLTE) system, and a new network equipment system. In practical applications, the connections between the above-mentioned devices may be wireless connections or wired connections.

It should be noted that the above communication system may include multiple terminal devices, and the network device may communicate (transmit signaling or transmit data) with multiple terminal devices. The terminal device involved in the embodiments of the present invention may be a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with a wireless connection function, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. Wireless user equipment may communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio Access Network (RAN), and the terminal equipment may be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone) and a mobile phone with a mobile terminal. Computers, for example, may be portable, pocket-sized, hand-held, computer-built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange language and/or data with the wireless access network. For example, personal communication service (Personal Communication Service, PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (Wireless Local Loop, WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA) and other devices. A terminal may also be called a system, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, an access point, a remote terminal (Remote Terminal), Access Terminal (Access Terminal), User Terminal (User Terminal), User Agent (User Agent), User Device (User Device), wireless device (wireless device).

The network device provided in this embodiment of the present invention may be a base station, or may be used to convert received air frames and IP packets to each other, and act as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, where the The remainder may include Internet Protocol (IP) network equipment. The network device may also be a device coordinating attribute management of the air interface. For example, the network device may be a network device in a 5G system, such as a Next Generation Node B (gNB), or a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (Code Division) A base station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in Multiple Access (CDMA), a base station (NodeB) in Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), or an evolved base station ( evolutional Node B, eNB or e-NodeB), which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

It should be understood that, in the description of the embodiments of the present invention, words such as "first" and "second" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description, and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor should it be understood as indicating or implied order. In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, "plurality" refers to two or more.

In some possible implementations, the session management method and various aspects of the SMF entity provided by the present invention can also be implemented in the form of a program product, which includes program codes, and when the program product runs on a computer device, all the The program code is used to cause the computer device to execute the steps in the session management method according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention described above in this specification. For example, the computer device may execute the implementation shown in the embodiments of the present invention. Examples of session management methods provided.

The program product of the signal processing method for a wireless communication system of the embodiment of the present invention may employ a portable compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM) and include program code, and may be executed on a computing device. However, the program product of the present invention is not limited thereto, and in this document, a readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that contains or stores a program that can be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

It should be noted that although several units or sub-units of the apparatus are mentioned in the above detailed description, this division is merely exemplary and not mandatory. Indeed, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the features and functions of two or more units described above may be embodied in one unit. Conversely, the features and functions of one unit described above may be further subdivided to be embodied by multiple units.

Furthermore, although the operations of the methods of the present invention are depicted in the figures in a particular order, this does not require or imply that the operations must be performed in the particular order, or that all illustrated operations must be performed to achieve desirable results. Additionally or alternatively, certain steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined to be performed as one step, and/or one step may be decomposed into multiple steps to be performed.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to the processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine such that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce Means for implementing the functions specified in a flow or flow of a flowchart and/or a block or blocks of a block diagram.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory result in an article of manufacture comprising instruction means, the instructions The apparatus implements the functions specified in the flow or flow of the flowcharts and/or the block or blocks of the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process such that The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flow or blocks of the flowcharts and/or the block or blocks of the block diagrams.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional changes and modifications to these embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once the basic inventive concepts are known. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be construed to include the preferred embodiment and all changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the present invention.

Above, the above embodiments are only used to describe the technical solutions of the present application in detail, but the descriptions of the above embodiments are only used to help understand the methods of the embodiments of the present invention, and should not be construed as limitations on the embodiments of the present invention. Changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art should all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims (17)

1. A session management method, comprising:

a Session Management Function (SMF) entity receives a notification from a Radio Access Network (RAN), wherein the notification indicates whether a second Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session can be activated for a terminal device;

and the SMF entity deletes or deactivates the second PDU session if determining that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal equipment according to the notification, wherein the SMF entity serves the second PDU session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein after the SMF entity receives the notification from the RAN, the method further comprises:

and the SMF entity establishes or activates the second PDU session if determining that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal equipment according to the notification, wherein the SMF entity serves the first PDU session.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

and the SMF entity sends an indication message to the RAN in the process of creating the first PDU session, wherein the indication message is used for indicating whether the RAN can activate a second PDU session for the terminal equipment or not.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

and if the SMF entity determines that a second PDU session can be activated for the terminal equipment, sending information carrying the identification ID of the second SMF entity of the second PDU session to an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity so that the AMF entity selects the second SMF entity for the second PDU session.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

and establishing the second PDU session for the terminal equipment through the SMF entity stored by the AMF entity.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein after the SMF entity determines that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal device based on the notification, and creates or activates the second PDU session, further comprising:

and if the SMF entity determines that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal equipment according to the re-received notification, the SMF entity refuses the request of the terminal equipment for creating the second PDU session.

7. A session management function, SMF, entity, comprising:

a memory to store instructions;

a processor for reading the instructions in the memory, performing the following processes:

receiving a notification from a Radio Access Network (RAN), wherein the notification indicates whether a second Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session can be activated for a terminal device;

deleting or deactivating the second PDU session if it is determined that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal equipment according to the notification, wherein the SMF entity serves the second PDU session;

a transceiver for transmitting information under control of the processor.

8. The SMF entity of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and if the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal equipment according to the notification, the second PDU session is created or activated, wherein the SMF entity serves the first PDU session.

9. The SMF entity of claim 8, wherein the processor is further to:

and in the process of creating the first PDU session, sending an indication message to the RAN, wherein the indication message is used for indicating whether the RAN can activate a second PDU session for the terminal equipment or not.

10. The SMF entity of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and if the fact that the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal equipment is determined, sending information carrying the identification ID of a second SMF entity of the second PDU session to an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, so that the AMF entity selects the second SMF entity for the second PDU session.

11. The SMF entity of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and establishing the second PDU session for the terminal equipment through the SMF entity stored by the AMF entity.

12. The SMF entity of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and if the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal equipment according to the re-received notification, rejecting the request of the terminal equipment for creating the second PDU session.

13. The SMF entity of claim 8, wherein the SMF entities of the first PDU session and the second PDU session may be the same or different.

14. The SMF entity of claim 8, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

receiving the notification from a primary network device if the first PDU session is serviced by a primary RAN node.

15. A session management function, SMF, entity, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a notification from a radio access network RAN, where the notification indicates whether a second protocol data unit PDU session can be activated for a terminal device;

a second notifying unit, configured to delete or deactivate the second PDU session if it is determined that the second PDU session cannot be activated for the terminal device according to the notification, where the SMF entity serves the second PDU session.

16. The SMF entity of claim 15, further comprising a first notification unit to:

and if the second PDU session can be activated for the terminal equipment according to the notification, the second PDU session is created or activated, wherein the SMF entity serves the first PDU session.

17. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-6.

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