CN120456131A

CN120456131A - Communication method, device, computer-readable medium, and electronic device

Info

Publication number: CN120456131A
Application number: CN202410178064.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 雷艺学
Original assignee: Tencent Technology Shenzhen Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tencent Technology Shenzhen Co Ltd
Priority date: 2024-02-08
Filing date: 2024-02-08
Publication date: 2025-08-08
Also published as: WO2025167395A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, apparatus, computer-readable medium, and electronic device. The communication method includes: generating a request message for requesting network available capacity for a service data stream; and sending the request message to a policy control function network element, so that the policy control function network element generates policy information for requesting network devices to report network available capacity. The technical solution of the embodiments of the present application can obtain a more objective network available capacity, so that the application server can adaptively adjust the transmission rate based on the network available capacity, which is conducive to improving resource utilization and user experience in processing multimedia services.

Description

Communication method, communication device, computer readable medium and electronic equipment

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of computers and communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method, a device, a computer readable medium, and an electronic apparatus.

Background

Ext> inext> theext> fifthext> Generationext> mobileext> communicationext> technologyext> (ext> 5ext> thext> -ext> Generationext>,ext> 5ext> Gext>)ext> andext> itsext> subsequentext> evolutionext> systemsext> (ext> e.g.ext>,ext> 5ext> Gext> -ext> aext>,ext> 6ext> Gext>,ext> etc.ext>)ext>,ext> highext> bandwidthext> interactiveext> servicesext> areext> importantext> serviceext> typesext> suchext> asext> cloudext> gamingext> (ext> cloudext> gamingext>)ext>,ext> virtualext> realityext> (ext> vrext>)ext>,ext> augmentedext> realityext> (ext> Augmentedext> Realityext>,ext> arext>)ext>,ext> mixedext> realityext> (ext> mrext>)ext>,ext> extendedext> realityext> (ext> xrext>)ext>,ext> imageext> realityext> (ext> CINEMATICREALITYext>,ext> CRext>)ext>,ext> xrext>,ext> andext> mediaext> servicesext> (ext> XRandMediaext> Servicesext>,ext> xrmext>)ext>,ext> etcext>.ext>

These high bandwidth interactive services have high requirements on transmission timeliness, and with the increase of indexes such as resolution, frame rate, etc., the amount of data generated by an application layer increases greatly, so that the content of data packets generated by the application layer of such services is usually transmitted by using a series of data packets with correlation, and the series of data packets are called protocol data units (Protocol Data Unit, PDU) set. For the transmission process of the series of data packets, how to effectively perform transmission control so as to cope with the challenge of high-bandwidth interactive service to wireless network transmission is a technical problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, a device, a computer readable medium and electronic equipment, which can acquire more objective network available capacity, so that an application server can adaptively adjust transmission rate according to the network available capacity, and the resource utilization rate and user experience of processing multimedia service can be improved.

Other features and advantages of the application will be apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned by the practice of the application.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which includes generating a request message, where the request message is used to request to obtain a network available capacity for a service data flow, and sending the request message to a policy control function network element, so that the policy control function network element generates policy information for requesting network equipment to report the network available capacity.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which includes receiving a request message sent by an application function network element, where the request message is used to request to obtain a network available capacity for a service data flow, generating policy information for the service data flow according to the request message, where the policy information is used to request a network device to report the network available capacity, and sending the policy information to a session management function network element, so that the session management function network element indicates, according to the policy information, a processing device of the service data flow to report the network available capacity.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which includes receiving policy information sent by a policy control function network element, where the policy information is used to request a network device to report a network available capacity for a service data flow, generating processing rule information corresponding to each type of processing device of the service data flow according to the policy information, and configuring the processing rule information to the processing device of the service data flow.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a generating unit configured to generate a request message, where the request message is used to request to obtain a network available capacity for a service data flow, and a sending unit configured to send the request message to a policy control function network element, so that the policy control function network element generates policy information for requesting network equipment to report the network available capacity.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including a receiving unit configured to receive a request message sent by an application function network element, where the request message is used to request to obtain a network available capacity for a service data flow, a generating unit configured to generate, according to the request message, policy information for requesting network equipment to report the network available capacity for the service data flow, and a sending unit configured to send the policy information to a session management function network element, so that the session management function network element indicates, according to the policy information, a processing equipment of the service data flow to report the network available capacity.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which includes a receiving unit configured to receive policy information sent by a policy control function network element, where the policy information is used to request a network device to report a network available capacity for a service data flow, a generating unit configured to generate processing rule information corresponding to each type of processing device of the service data flow according to the policy information, and a sending unit configured to configure the processing rule information to the processing device of the service data flow.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements a communication method as described in the above embodiments.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, including one or more processors, and a storage device configured to store one or more computer programs, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to implement a communication method as described in the above embodiment.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising a computer program stored in a computer readable storage medium. The processor of the electronic device reads and executes the computer program from the computer-readable storage medium to cause the electronic device to perform the communication methods provided in the various alternative embodiments described above.

In the technical solutions provided in some embodiments of the present application, an application function network element may generate a request message for requesting to acquire a network available capacity for a service data flow, and then send the request message to a policy control function network element, so that the policy control function network element may generate policy information for requesting network equipment to report the network available capacity, and send the policy information to a session management function network element, so that the session management function network element indicates, according to the policy information, a processing device of the service data flow to report the network available capacity. Therefore, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can acquire more objective network available capacity, so that the application server can adaptively adjust the transmission rate according to the network available capacity, thereby being beneficial to improving the resource utilization rate and user experience of processing the multimedia service and better coping with the challenges of high-bandwidth interactive service on wireless network transmission.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the application as claimed.

Drawings

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary system architecture to which the technical solution of an embodiment of the application may be applied;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a transmission process of a multimedia data packet according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a communication method according to one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a communication method according to one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of a communication method according to one embodiment of the application;

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a 5G network key element architecture;

FIG. 7 illustrates a network capability open flow diagram according to one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 8 illustrates a network capability open flow diagram according to one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 9 illustrates a network capability open flow diagram according to one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of a communication device according to one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of a communication device according to one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of a communication device according to one embodiment of the application;

Fig. 13 shows a schematic diagram of a computer system suitable for use in implementing an embodiment of the application.

Detailed Description

Example embodiments are now described in a more complete manner with reference being made to the figures. However, the exemplary embodiments are capable of being embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to only these examples, but rather, the embodiments are provided so as to more fully and completely embody the principles of the exemplary embodiments and to fully convey the concept of the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of the application may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the application. However, it will be recognized by one skilled in the art that the present inventive arrangements may be practiced without all of the specific details of the embodiments, that one or more specific details may be omitted, or that other methods, elements, devices, steps, etc. may be used.

In the present embodiment, the term "module" or "unit" refers to a computer program or a part of a computer program having a predetermined function and working together with other relevant parts to achieve a predetermined object, and may be implemented in whole or in part by using software, hardware (such as a processing circuit or a memory), or a combination thereof. Also, a processor (or multiple processors or memories) may be used to implement one or more modules or units. Furthermore, each module or unit may be part of an overall module or unit that incorporates the functionality of the module or unit.

The block diagrams depicted in the figures are merely functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically separate entities. That is, the functional entities may be implemented in software, or in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different networks and/or processor devices and/or microcontroller devices.

The flow diagrams depicted in the figures are exemplary only, and do not necessarily include all of the elements and operations/steps, nor must they be performed in the order described. For example, some operations/steps may be decomposed, and some operations/steps may be combined or partially combined, so that the order of actual execution may be changed according to actual situations.

It should be noted that the term "plurality" as used herein means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the association object, and indicates that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B may indicate that there are three cases of a alone, a and B together, and B alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship.

Ext> withext> theext> developmentext> ofext> 5ext> Gext> andext> itsext> subsequentext> evolutionext> systemsext> (ext> suchext> asext> 5ext> Gext> -ext> aext> andext> 6ext> Gext>)ext>,ext> manyext> multimediaext> servicesext> requiringext> multipleext> dataext> volumesext> andext> shortext> delayext> areext> appliedext>.ext> Such as cloud gaming services, VR, AR, MR, XR, CR, and the like.

For example, in the cloud game scenario shown in fig. 1, the cloud server 101 is configured to run a cloud game, where the cloud server 101 may render a game frame, perform encoding processing on an audio signal and a rendered image, and finally transmit encoded data obtained by the encoding processing to each game client through a network. The game client may be a User Equipment (UE) having basic streaming media playing capability, man-machine interaction capability, communication capability, etc., for example, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a smart tv, a smart home, a car-mounted terminal, an aircraft, etc., or the game client may be an application running in the terminal device. Specifically, the game client may decode the encoded data transmitted by the cloud server 101, obtain an analog audio/video signal, and play the analog audio/video signal.

It should be understood that the system architecture of the cloud gaming system is only exemplary in fig. 1 and is not limited to a particular architecture of the cloud gaming system, and that in other embodiments, a background server for scheduling, etc. may be included in the cloud gaming system. The cloud server 101 may be an independent physical server, a server cluster or a distributed system formed by a plurality of physical servers, or a cloud server providing cloud services, cloud databases, cloud computing, cloud functions, cloud storage, network services, cloud communication, middleware services, domain name services, security services, a content distribution network (Content Delivery Network, CDN), basic cloud computing services such as big data and an artificial intelligence platform. The game client and the cloud server 101 may be directly or indirectly connected through wired or wireless communication, which is not limited herein.

In the above-mentioned various multimedia-based interactive service application scenarios, since the multimedia data packets are huge, they need to be split into multiple data packets for transmission during transmission. Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, taking a 5G system as an example, the user plane mainly includes an application server, a user plane function (User Plane Function, UPF), a base station (next generation nodeB, gNB), and a UE. The transmission of the multimedia data packets is mainly in the downstream direction for some typical traffic scenarios, such as from an application server (ApplicationServer, AS) to the UPF, and then sent to the UE via the gNB. When transmitting, the multimedia data packet (XR data packet is taken as an example in fig. 2) is split at the application layer of the application server, after the split data packet reaches the UPF as an IP packet from the application server, the 5G system transmits the sub-data packet to the UE end through the PDU session, and the UE end submits the sub-data packet up step by step from the protocol stack and reconfigures to recover the multimedia data packet.

In the system shown in fig. 2, the L1 layer refers to a Physical layer for ensuring that original data can be transmitted on various Physical media, the L2 layer refers to a data link layer, the data link layer provides services to a network layer based on services provided by the Physical layer, an internet protocol (Internet Protocol, IP) layer is a network layer for realizing data transmission between two end systems, UDP is User Datagram Protocol, a chinese name is a user datagram protocol, GTP-U is GPRS (GENERAL PACKET radio service) TunnelingProtocol, a chinese name is a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane, PHY is a Physical short, a chinese name is a Physical layer, MAC is MEDIA ACCESS Control, a chinese name is media access Control, RLC is Radio Link Control, a chinese name is a radio link Control layer protocol, PDCP is PACKET DATA Convergence Protocol, a chinese name is a packet data convergence protocol, ap is SERVICE DATA Adaptation Protocol, and a chinese name is a service data adaptation protocol.

As mentioned above, it is common for multimedia services (such as XRM services) to divide a frame of multimedia data Packets into a plurality of data Packets for transmission, and the data Packets formed by a single multimedia service frame or a Group of data Packets (GoP) may have a relatively large byte size, and need to be carried by a series of IP data Packets. Certain correlation exists among the IP data packets, and the wireless network bandwidth can be effectively saved by processing the messages according to the correlation.

For example, assume that a transmission is performed over a plurality of IP packets, which may constitute PDUset (set of PDUs) at the time of transmission. If a partial packet loss in PDUset may result in the inability to decode the entire frame, the GoP, or other video portion, the remaining data in PDUset is also of no significance to the decoding end. If the application layer forward error correction (Forward Error Correction, FEC) or other mechanisms are introduced, the media application layer has a certain packet loss recovery capability or packet loss resistance capability, the remaining data in the PDU set can still be recovered after part of the packet is discarded, and then the remaining data in the PDU set is still meaningful for decoding at the receiving end.

In the related art, the network state is generally determined by detecting the QoS index of the QoS flow (QoSflow) based on a quality of service (Quality of Service, qoS) monitoring mechanism, but the mechanism is mainly based on historical information and emphasizes a statistically significant value, and cannot indicate the maximum network rate that a burst data flow can use, so that the mechanism is not suitable for a burst traffic flow which may occur in a multimedia scene, such as replaying a video, fast forwarding the video, mutating the video background, and the like, which may cause difficulties in terms of selecting FEC, resolution, frame rate, and the like at an application layer.

Based on this, the embodiment of the application provides a new communication scheme, so that the application function network element can generate a request message for requesting to acquire the network available capacity for the service data flow, and then send the request message to the policy control function network element, and further the policy control function network element can generate policy information for requesting the network equipment to report the network available capacity, and send the policy information to the session management function network element, so that the session management function network element indicates the processing equipment of the service data flow to report the network available capacity according to the policy information. Therefore, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can obtain the network available capacity which more objectively reflects the actual condition of the network, so that the application server can adaptively adjust the transmission rate according to the network available capacity, and further the resource utilization rate and the user experience of processing the multimedia service can be improved, and the challenges of the high-bandwidth interactive service on the wireless network transmission can be better dealt with.

The implementation details of the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application are described in detail below:

fig. 3 shows a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the application, which may be performed by an application function (Application Function, AF) network element or by other network elements capable of performing similar functions. Referring to fig. 3, the communication method at least includes S310 to S320, and is described in detail as follows:

In S310, a request message is generated for requesting acquisition of network available capacity for the traffic data stream.

It should be noted that the service data stream may be a multimedia service data stream, such as a cloud service data stream, a VR service data stream, an AR service data stream, an MR service data stream, an XR service data stream, an XRM service data stream, a CR service data stream, and the like. The service data stream may be transmitted in a manner of a service data packet set (i.e. PDU set), because the data packets formed by a single multimedia service frame or the gip may have a relatively large byte size, and need to be split into a series of data packets for carrying, and these data packets have a certain correlation, so these data packets with correlation may be referred to as PDUset. In other embodiments of the present application, the traffic data stream may also be transmitted in a per-packet manner.

In some alternative embodiments, the network available capacity may be used to represent the amount of bandwidth, data capacity, or other related resources that the user device may actually use. The available capacity of a network may be affected by a number of factors, such as physical limitations of the device, network congestion, quality of service settings, etc. For example, the network available capacity may relate to one or more aspects of network bandwidth, device processing power, storage space, and the like. In particular, in terms of network bandwidth, the available capacity of a network may be the amount of data that the network can process and transmit in a particular time. In terms of device processing capabilities, the network available capacity may be the number or complexity of tasks that a device is capable of handling. In terms of storage space, network available capacity refers to the amount of data that a device or system can store, and the like.

The network available capacity in the embodiment of the application can comprise the available capacity determined from the QoS flow performance detection angle of the UE, the capacity of UPF forwarding processing, the available capacity obtained by the processing capacity of a network element (such as a base station) side of a wireless access network (Radio Access Network, RAN) and the like, so that the determined network available capacity can more objectively show the actual situation of a wireless link state, and the application server can conveniently carry out self-adaptive adjustment of the transmission rate according to the network available capacity.

In particular, the network available capacity for the traffic data flows comprises at least one of a network available capacity of the user equipment, a network available capacity of the radio access network element and a network available capacity of the user plane function element.

Optionally, the network available capacity of the user equipment is determined based on at least one of a resolution supported by the user equipment, a frame rate supported by the user equipment, a transmission capability of the user equipment, a reception capability of the user equipment, a processing capability of the user equipment (e.g., decoding capability, etc.).

Optionally, the network available capacity of the radio access network element is determined according to at least one of frequency resources of the radio access network element, the number of user equipments served by the radio access network element, computing processing power of the radio access network element, subscription information of the user equipments (such as an upper and a lower limit of network capacity provided for the user equipments, etc.).

Optionally, the network available capacity of the user plane function network element is determined according to at least one of the following factors, namely, the routing forwarding capability of the user plane function network element, the service data flow processing capability (such as the processing capability aiming at PDUset) of the user plane function network element, and the like.

With continued reference to fig. 3, in S320, a request message is sent to the policy control function network element, so that the policy control function network element generates policy information for requesting the network device to report the available network capacity.

In some alternative embodiments, the AF may send the request message to the policy control function (Policy Control Function, PCF) network element directly to the policy control function network element, in a manner suitable for the AF to be in a trusted environment. If the AF is in an untrusted environment, the AF may also send a request message to a network opening function (Network Exposure Function, NEF) network element, which then forwards the request message to a policy control function network element.

In some alternative embodiments, after sending the request message to the PCF, the PCF may generate policy information for requesting the network device to report the network available capacity and send the policy information to the session management function network element (Session Management Function, SMF), and then the SMF may generate processing rule information corresponding to each type of processing device of the service data flow according to the policy information sent by the PCF, where the processing rule information is used to instruct the devices to report the network available capacity, for example, generate an N4 rule for the UPF, qoS configuration information for the RAN (QoSProfiles), and QoS rule information for the UE (QoSrules), and then the SMF configures the processing rule information to the corresponding devices, for example, configures an N4 rule for the UPF, configures QoS Profiles for the RAN, and configures QoSrules for the UE, so as to instruct the devices to report the network available capacity.

In some alternative embodiments, the AF may receive the network available capacity fed back by the PCF, where the network available capacity fed back by the PCF is calculated by the SMF according to the network available capacity fed back by at least one of the user equipment, the radio access network element, and the user plane function element, and sent to the policy control function element. For example, the UE, the RAN and the UPF may all feed back their network available capacities to the SMF, and then the SMF calculates the network available capacity for the service data flow according to the network available capacities fed back by the UE, the RAN and the UPF, and then sends the network available capacity to the PCF. Or the UE can feed back the network available capacity of the UE to the RAN, then the RAN calculates the network available capacity of the whole access network side according to the network available capacity of the UE and the network available capacity fed back by the UE, and sends the calculated network available capacity of the whole access network side to the SMF, and then the SMF calculates the network available capacity aiming at the service data stream according to the network available capacity of the whole access network side fed back by the RAN and the network available capacity of the UPF fed back by the UPF, and then sends the network available capacity to the PCF.

In the above embodiment, the SMF is used to aggregate the available network capacity, and in other embodiments of the present application, the PCF may be used to aggregate the available network capacity. For example, the UE, RAN and UPF may all feed back their network available capacities to the SMF, and then the SMF resends the PCF, and the PCF calculates the network available capacity for the service data flow according to the network available capacities fed back by the UE, RAN and UPF. It should be noted that, in the above example, the network available capacity for the service data flow is calculated according to the network available capacities of the UE, the RAN and the UPF, and in other embodiments of the present application, the network available capacity for the service data flow may also be calculated according to the network available capacities of some devices in the UE, the RAN and the UPF.

In some alternative embodiments, the AF may obtain the network available capacity for the traffic data flows through the user plane in addition to the control plane.

For example, the AF (of course, also may be the application server (ApplicationServer, AS)) may receive the network available capacity fed back by the user plane function network element, where the network available capacity fed back by the user plane function network element is calculated by the user plane function network element according to the network available capacity fed back by the radio access network element and the network available capacity of the user plane function network element, and meanwhile, the AF (of course, also may be the AS) may also receive the network available capacity of the user equipment fed back by the user equipment through the application layer. That is, in this embodiment, the UE may directly feed back the network available capacity of the UE to the AF/AS through the application layer, and the UPF may aggregate the network available capacity of the UPF with the network available capacity of the RAN, and then send the aggregate to the AF/AS.

In some optional embodiments, the AF/AS may receive the network available capacity fed back by the user plane function network element, where the network available capacity fed back by the user plane function network element is calculated by the user plane function network element according to the network available capacity fed back by the radio access network element and the network available capacity fed back by the user plane function network element, and the network available capacity fed back by the radio access network element includes the network available capacity of the radio access network element and the network available capacity fed back by the user equipment. That is, in this embodiment, the UE may feed back its own network available capacity to the RAN, and the RAN may aggregate the network available capacity of the RAN and the network available capacity of the UE, and then send the aggregate to the UPF, and further the UPF may aggregate its own network available capacity and then send the aggregate to the AF/AS.

In some optional embodiments, after the AF obtains the network available capacity for the service data flow reported by the network device, the AF may adjust, according to the network available capacity, a transmission parameter of the service data flow sent to the user device, so as to implement adaptive adjustment of a transmission rate, which is beneficial to improving a resource utilization rate and user experience of processing the multimedia service, so as to better cope with challenges of high-bandwidth interactive service on wireless network transmission.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is described above from the perspective of the application function network element, and the implementation details of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application are further described below from the perspective of the policy control function network element in conjunction with fig. 4:

fig. 4 shows a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the application, which may be performed by a policy control function PCF network element or by other network elements as well.

Referring to fig. 4, the communication method at least includes S410 to S430, and is described in detail as follows:

In S410, a request message sent by an application function network element is received, the request message being for requesting acquisition of network available capacity for a traffic data flow.

In some alternative embodiments, the service data stream may be transmitted in a service data packet set (i.e. PDU set) manner, or may be transmitted in a per-packet manner.

It should be noted that, the description of the network available capacity for the service data flow may refer to the technical solution of the foregoing embodiment, and will not be repeated.

In S420, policy information for the service data flow is generated according to the request message, where the policy information is used to request the network device to report the available network capacity.

Optionally, the Policy information for the service data flow generated by the PCF according to the request message may be a Policy Control and Charging (PCC) rule, where the PCC rule includes rule information for requesting the network device to report the available network capacity. Optionally, the network device in this embodiment may include one or more of a UE, RAN, and UPF.

In S430, the policy information is sent to the session management function network element, so that the session management function network element indicates, according to the policy information, the processing device of the service data flow to report the available network capacity.

In some alternative embodiments, the PCF may instruct the processing device of the traffic data flow to report the network available capacity in accordance with the policy information after sending the policy information to the SMF. For example, the SMF may generate an N4 rule according to the policy information, where the N4 rule includes information requesting to report the network available capacity, and then send the N4 rule to the UPF to indicate the UPF to report the network available capacity, the SMF may generate QoSProfiles according to the policy information, where the N4 rule includes information requesting to report the network available capacity, and then send QoSProfiles to the RAN to indicate the RAN to report the network available capacity, and the SMF may generate QoSrules according to the policy information, where the N4 rule includes information requesting to report the network available capacity, and then send QoSrules to the UE to indicate the UE to report the network available capacity.

In some alternative embodiments, the PCF may receive the network available capacity fed back by the session management function network element, where the network available capacity fed back by the session management function network element is calculated by the session management function network element according to the network available capacity fed back by at least one of the user equipment, the radio access network element, and the user plane function network element, and then the PCF may send the network available capacity fed back by the session management function network element to the application function network element.

For example, the UE, the RAN and the UPF may all feed back their network available capacities to the SMF, and then the SMF calculates the network available capacity for the service data flow according to the network available capacities fed back by the UE, the RAN and the UPF, and then sends the network available capacity to the PCF. Or the UE can feed back the network available capacity of the UE to the RAN, then the RAN calculates the network available capacity of the whole access network side according to the network available capacity of the UE and the network available capacity fed back by the UE, and sends the calculated network available capacity of the whole access network side to the SMF, and then the SMF calculates the network available capacity aiming at the service data stream according to the network available capacity of the whole access network side fed back by the RAN and the network available capacity of the UPF fed back by the UPF, and then sends the network available capacity to the PCF.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is described above from the perspective of the application function network element and the policy control function network element, and the implementation details of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application are further described below from the perspective of the session management function network element with reference to fig. 5:

Fig. 5 shows a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the application, which may be performed by the session management function SMF network element or by other devices as well.

Referring to fig. 5, the communication method at least includes S510 to S530, which are described in detail as follows:

In S510, policy information sent by a policy control function network element is received, where the policy information is used to request a network device to report a network available capacity for a service data flow.

Alternatively, the policy information received by the SMF may be a PCC rule, where the PCC rule includes rule information for requesting the network device to report the available network capacity. Optionally, the network device in this embodiment may include one or more of a UE, RAN, and UPF.

In S520, processing rule information corresponding to each type of processing device that generates the service data flow according to the policy information is generated.

In some alternative embodiments, the SMF may generate an N4 rule according to the policy information, where the N4 rule includes information requesting to report the network available capacity, and then send the N4 rule to the UPF to indicate that the UPF reports the network available capacity, the SMF may generate QoSProfiles according to the policy information, where the N4 rule includes information requesting to report the network available capacity, and then send QoSProfiles to the RAN to indicate that the RAN reports the network available capacity, and the SMF may generate QoSrules according to the policy information, where the N4 rule includes information requesting to report the network available capacity, and then send QoSrules to the UE to indicate that the UE reports the network available capacity.

In S530, the processing rule information is configured to the processing device of the service data flow.

In some alternative embodiments, the SMF may send the N4 rule to the UPF, qoSProfiles to the RAN, and QoSrules to the UE.

Specifically, taking a 5G system as an example, fig. 6 shows a 5G network key network element architecture defined by a third generation partnership project (The 3rd Generation Partnership Project,3 GPP) organization, where an access and mobility management function (ACCESS AND Mobility Management Function, AMF), SMF, UPF, PCF, a network slice selection function (Network SliceSelection Function, NSSF), an authentication server function (Authentication Server Function, AUSF), a Unified data management function (Unified DATA MANAGEMENT, UDM), and The like are 5G network core network elements. The UE can be a 5G terminal such as a mobile phone and a tablet personal computer, the (R) AN (Radio Access Network) can be a 5G base station, and DN (DataNetwork) is a data Network, namely a service server accessed by the UE.

The AMF is responsible for terminating the N2 interface of the base station control plane, and implementing the codec of the next generation application protocol (Next Generation Application Protocol, NGAP) based on the stream control transmission protocol (Stream Control Transmission Protocol, SCTP) protocol. The base station and AMF transmit application layer NGAP protocol through SCTP transmission layer protocol, and bear Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling data of UE in NGAP. The AMF is also responsible for terminating the N1 interface of the UE, realizing the encryption and integrity protection of the NAS, and is responsible for the functions of UE access verification, authorization management, registration, connection, accessibility, mobility management and the like, and the transparent transmission of session management messages between the UE and the SMF.

In addition, (R) AN interacts with UPF through N3 interface, UPF interacts with UPF through N9 interface, UPF interacts with SMF through N4 interface, UPF interacts with DN through N6 interface, SMF interacts with AMF through N11 interface, SMF interacts with PCF through N7 interface, SMF interacts with UDM through N10 interface, PCF interacts with AF through N5 interface, AMF interacts with PCF through N14 interface, AMF interacts with UDM through N15 interface, AMF interacts with UDM through N8 interface, AMF interacts with NSSF through N22 interface, AMF interacts with AUSF through N12 interface, AUSF interacts with UDM through N13 interface.

Based on the system architecture shown in fig. 6, the SMF may configure the generated N4 rule to the UPF through the N4 interface. And to (R) AN by AMF QoSProfiles, to UE by amf+nas connection QoSrules.

In some optional embodiments, after configuring the processing rule information to the processing device of the service data flow, the SMF may calculate the network available capacity for the service data flow according to the network available capacity fed back by at least one of the user equipment, the radio access network element, and the user plane function element, and then send the network available capacity for the service data flow to the policy control function element, so that the policy control function element sends the network available capacity for the service data flow to the application function element.

Therefore, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can acquire more objective network available capacity, so that the application server can adaptively adjust the transmission rate according to the network available capacity, thereby being beneficial to improving the resource utilization rate and user experience of processing the multimedia service and better coping with the challenges of high-bandwidth interactive service on wireless network transmission.

The following details of implementation of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application are described in detail by taking transmission of the data stream of the XRM service in the 5G system by means of PDUset as an example with reference to fig. 7 and 8:

Referring to fig. 7, a network capability open flow according to one embodiment of the present application includes the steps of:

s701, establishing end-to-end PDU session, and starting XRM service between UE and AF/AS. In other embodiments of the present application, other types of multimedia services may also be initiated.

S702a, the AF sends a request message to the PCF via the NEF to request acquisition of the real-time available capacity of the network. S702b, the AF directly sends a request message to the PCF to request acquisition of the real-time available capacity of the network. Wherein, S702a is suitable for AF in an untrusted network environment, and S702b is suitable for AF in a trusted network environment.

It should be noted that, the network real-time available capacity in the embodiment of the present application not only includes the network capacity determined from the perspective of single QoS flow performance detection of the UE, but also may consider the available capacity obtained by combining the factors such as user subscription, UPF forwarding processing capacity, available radio resources of the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN), and processing capacity of the UE side.

Optionally, the purpose of the AF/AS to obtain the real-time available capacity of the network is to cope with the burst XRM large data size and short latency requirements, and determine whether the available network capacity can meet the requirements. The network real-time available capacity is PDUset-oriented, which can be understood that the network real-time available capacity is one or more burst states oriented to the XRM application layer, for example, burst data is easy to be generated when the application layer drags a playing progress bar or performs re-open playing, and the background of the video is suddenly changed.

S703, the PCF generates a PCC rule for QoS monitoring or capability open services, including information requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S704, the PCF configures PCCrules to the SMF, which includes information requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S705, the SMF configures N4rules to the UPF, wherein the UPF contains information for requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S706, the SMF configuration QoSprofiles gives the NG-RAN, which contains information requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S707, the SMF configuration QoSrules includes information for requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network to the UE.

S708, the NG-RAN (i.e. the gNB) feeds back the network real-time available capacity on the gNB side to the SMF.

Optionally, the real-time available capacity of the network on the gNB side may comprehensively consider the frequency resource of the gNB, the number of terminals currently served, the computing processing capability of the gNB, and the like, where the given capacity represents the maximum capacity of the gNB side for serving the UE.

Note that, the information such as the aggregate maximum bit rate (AGGREGATE MAXIMUM BIT RATE, AMBR) limiting the UE in the user subscription information is for per-packet, not for PDUset, and thus for the network capacity of PDUset, the characteristic of PDUset may be considered, for example, may be obtained in combination with the PDU set delay budget (PDUSetDelayBudget, PSDB). Specifically, if the latency requirement of PDUset is high, the network real-time available capacity will be low in order to guarantee PDUset quality of service, and if the latency requirement of PDUset is low, the network real-time available capacity will be high.

S709, the UE feeds back the network real-time available capacity of the UE side to the SMF through NAS.

Alternatively, the network real-time available capacity at the UE side may be given in combination with, but not limited to, information of resolution, frame rate, etc. that the UE can support, reception (RX) capability, transmission (TX) capability, etc. of the UE under the current serving base station, and processing capability of the UE, such as coding capability, decoding capability, etc.

S710, the UPF feeds back the real-time available capacity to the SMF.

Alternatively, the real-time available capacity of the network on the UPF side may be given in combination with information such as routing forwarding and PDUset processing capabilities of the UPF.

S711, the SMF performs analysis in combination with feedback information of the UE, NG-RAN, and UPF to obtain real-time available network capacity for PDUset, such as maximum available network capacity information.

And S712, the SMF feeds back the obtained real-time available network capacity, such as maximum available network capacity information, to the PCF.

S713a, PCF sends the real-time available capacity to AF through NEF, S713b, PCF sends the real-time available capacity to AF directly. The AF can then perform media layer adaptation operations according to the network real-time available capacity, such as performing adaptive adjustment of the transmission rate according to the network real-time available capacity. Wherein, S713a is suitable for AF in an untrusted network environment, and S713b is suitable for AF in a trusted network environment.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the real-time available capacity of the network is fed back through the control plane, and the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application also provides a method for feeding back the real-time available capacity of the network through the user plane, specifically as shown in fig. 8, comprising the following steps:

S801, establishing end-to-end PDU session, and starting XRM service between UE and AF/AS. In other embodiments of the present application, other types of multimedia services may also be initiated.

S802a, the AF sends a request message to the PCF via the NEF to request acquisition of the real-time available capacity of the network. S802b, the AF directly sends a request message to the PCF to request acquisition of the real-time available capacity of the network. Wherein S802a is suitable for AF in an untrusted network environment, and S802b is suitable for AF in a trusted network environment.

It should be noted that, the network real-time available capacity in the embodiment of the present application not only includes the network capacity determined from the perspective of single QoS flow performance detection of the UE, but also may consider the available capacity comprehensively obtained by factors such as user subscription, UPF forwarding processing capacity, available radio resources of NG-RAN, and processing capacity of the UE side.

S803, the PCF generates a PCC rule for QoS monitoring or capability open services, including information requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S804, the PCF configures PCCrules to the SMF, which includes information requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S805, the SMF configures N4rules to the UPF, wherein the UPF contains information for requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S806, the SMF configuration QoSprofiles gives the NG-RAN, which contains information requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S807, the SMF configuration QoSrules is given to the UE, which includes information requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S808, the NG-RAN (i.e., the gNB) feeds back the network real-time available capacity on the gNB side to the UPF by means of a user plane.

Note that, for the network capacity PDUset, the characteristics of PDUset may be considered, for example, may be obtained in combination with PSDB. Specifically, if the latency requirement of PDUset is high, the network real-time available capacity will be low in order to guarantee PDUset quality of service, and if the latency requirement of PDUset is low, the network real-time available capacity will be high.

S809, the UE directly feeds back the network real-time available capacity of the UE side to the AF/AS through the application layer connection. Alternatively, the network real-time available capacity at the UE side may be given in combination with, but not limited to, information of resolution, frame rate, etc. that the UE can support, RX capability, TX capability, etc. of the UE under the current serving base station, and processing capability of the UE, such as coding capability, decoding capability, etc.

And S810, summarizing the network real-time available capacity of the UPF by combining the network real-time available capacity of the UPF and the network real-time available capacity of the gNB side fed back by the NG-RAN to obtain the network real-time available capacity, such as maximum available network capacity information and the like.

S811, the UPF feeds back the obtained real-time available network capacity, such AS maximum available network capacity information, to the AF/AS.

In another embodiment of the present application for feeding back real-time available capacity of a network by means of a user plane, as shown in fig. 9, the method comprises the following steps:

S901, establishing end-to-end PDU session, and starting XRM service between UE and AF/AS. In other embodiments of the present application, other types of multimedia services may also be initiated.

S902a, the AF sends a request message to the PCF via the NEF to request acquisition of the real-time available capacity of the network. S902b, the AF directly sends a request message to the PCF to request acquisition of the real-time available capacity of the network. Wherein, S902a is suitable for AF in an untrusted network environment, and S902b is suitable for AF in a trusted network environment.

S903, the PCF generates a PCC rule for QoS monitoring or capability open services, including information requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S904, the PCF configures PCCrules to the SMF, which contains information requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S905, the SMF configures N4rules to the UPF, wherein the UPF contains information for requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S906, the SMF configuration QoSprofiles gives the NG-RAN, which includes information requesting to acquire real-time available capacity of the network.

S907, the SMF configuration QoSrules is given to the UE, which includes information requesting to acquire the real-time available capacity of the network.

S908, the UE feeds back the network real-time available capacity at the UE side to the NG-RAN (i.e., the gNB). Alternatively, the network real-time available capacity at the UE side may be given in combination with, but not limited to, information of resolution, frame rate, etc. that the UE can support, RX capability, TX capability, etc. of the UE under the current serving base station, and processing capability of the UE, such as coding capability, decoding capability, etc.

And S909, summarizing the network real-time available capacity of the gNB and the network real-time available capacity of the UE side fed back by the UE to obtain the network real-time available capacity.

S910, the gNB feeds back the network real-time available capacity to the UPF in a user plane mode, wherein the network real-time available capacity of the gNB and the network real-time available capacity of the UE are included.

And S911, summarizing the UPF by combining the network real-time available capacity of the UPF and the network real-time available capacity fed back by the gNB to obtain the network real-time available capacity, such as maximum available network capacity information and the like.

S912, the UPF feeds back the obtained real-time available network capacity, such AS the maximum available network capacity information, to the AF/AS.

In summary, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application mainly extracts the available capacity of the network from the network side or the user equipment side through network information opening, and the rate self-adaptive adjustment is carried out by the supply server. The network information opening in the embodiment of the application is not only statistics of data stream transmission performance of a certain UE, but also contains capacity information related to the capacity and the capacity of a base station, and can characterize the available rate range of the UE in a specific time range. The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can overcome the information unilateral property of judging the wireless link state based on the QoS monitoring mechanism, provide better rate self-adaptive information reference for the application server, and avoid user experience degradation caused by mismatch of application requirements and network capabilities.

It should be noted that, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is not only applicable to the 5G system, but also applicable to the mobile communication system evolving in the future.

The following describes embodiments of the apparatus of the present application that may be used to perform the communication methods of the above-described embodiments of the present application. For details not disclosed in the embodiments of the apparatus of the present application, please refer to the embodiments of the communication method of the present application.

Fig. 10 shows a block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application, which may be applied to AF or to other network elements capable of similar functions.

Referring to fig. 10, a communication apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application includes a generating unit 1002 and a transmitting unit 1004.

Wherein the generating unit 1002 is configured to generate a request message, where the request message is used to request to obtain the network available capacity for the service data flow, and the sending unit 1004 is configured to send the request message to the policy control function network element, so that the policy control function network element generates policy information for requesting the network device to report the network available capacity.

In some embodiments of the present application, based on the foregoing solution, the communication apparatus 1000 further includes a receiving unit configured to receive, after the request message is sent to the policy control function network element, a network available capacity fed back by the policy control function network element, where the network available capacity fed back by the policy control function network element is calculated by the session management function network element according to the network available capacity fed back by at least one of the user equipment, the radio access network element, and the user plane function network element, and is sent to the policy control function network element.

In some embodiments of the present application, based on the foregoing solution, the communication apparatus 1000 further includes a receiving unit configured to receive, after the request message is sent to the policy control function element, a network available capacity fed back by the user plane function element, where the network available capacity fed back by the user plane function element is calculated by the user plane function element according to the network available capacity fed back by the radio access network element and the network available capacity of the user plane function element, and receive a network available capacity of the user equipment fed back by the user equipment through an application layer.

In some embodiments of the present application, based on the foregoing solution, the communication apparatus 1000 further includes a receiving unit configured to receive, after the request message is sent to the policy control function element, a network available capacity fed back by the user plane function element, where the network available capacity fed back by the user plane function element is calculated by the user plane function element according to the network available capacity fed back by the radio access network element and the network available capacity of the user plane function element, where the network available capacity fed back by the radio access network element includes the network available capacity of the radio access network element and the network available capacity fed back by the user equipment.

In some embodiments of the present application, based on the foregoing solutions, the communication apparatus 1000 further includes an obtaining unit configured to obtain a network available capacity reported by a network device, and an adjusting unit configured to adjust, according to the network available capacity, a transmission parameter of a service data stream sent to a user device.

In some embodiments of the present application, based on the foregoing solution, the network available capacity for the service data flow includes at least one of a network available capacity of the user equipment, a network available capacity of the radio access network element, and a network available capacity of the user plane function element;

the network available capacity of the user equipment is determined according to at least one of the following factors, namely the resolution supported by the user equipment, the frame rate supported by the user equipment, the sending capability of the user equipment, the receiving capability of the user equipment and the processing capability of the user equipment;

The network available capacity of the wireless access network element is determined according to at least one of the following factors, namely, the frequency resource of the wireless access network element, the number of user equipment served by the wireless access network element, the computing processing capacity of the wireless access network element and the subscription information of the user equipment;

The network available capacity of the user plane function network element is determined according to at least one of the following factors, namely the routing forwarding capacity of the user plane function network element and the service data flow processing capacity of the user plane function network element.

In some embodiments of the present application, based on the foregoing solution, the sending unit 1004 is configured to send the request message directly to the policy control function network element, or send the request message to a network open function network element, so that the network open function network element forwards the request message to the policy control function network element.

In some embodiments of the present application, based on the foregoing scheme, the service data stream is transmitted by means of a service data packet set, or the service data stream is transmitted by means of a service data packet-by-service data packet.

Fig. 11 shows a block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application, which may be applied to a PCF or to other network elements capable of similar functions.

Referring to fig. 11, a communication apparatus 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application includes a receiving unit 1102, a generating unit 1104, and a transmitting unit 1106.

The receiving unit 1102 is configured to receive a request message sent by an application function network element, where the request message is used to request to obtain a network available capacity for a service data flow, the generating unit 1104 is configured to generate policy information for the service data flow according to the request message, where the policy information is used to request network equipment to report the network available capacity, and the sending unit 1106 is configured to send the policy information to a session management function network element, so that the session management function network element indicates, according to the policy information, a processing device of the service data flow to report the network available capacity.

In some embodiments of the present application, based on the foregoing, the receiving unit 1102 is further configured to receive, after sending the policy information to a session management function network element, a network available capacity fed back by the session management function network element, where the network available capacity fed back by the session management function network element is calculated by the session management function network element according to a network available capacity fed back by at least one of a user equipment, a radio access network element, and a user plane function network element, and the sending unit 1106 is further configured to send the network available capacity fed back by the session management function network element to the application function network element.

Fig. 12 shows a block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application, which may be applied to SMF or to other network elements capable of similar functions.

Referring to fig. 12, a communication apparatus 1200 according to an embodiment of the present application includes a receiving unit 1202, a generating unit 1204, and a transmitting unit 1206.

The receiving unit 1202 is configured to receive policy information sent by a policy control function network element, where the policy information is used to request network equipment to report network available capacity for a service data flow, the generating unit 1204 is configured to generate processing rule information corresponding to each type of processing equipment of the service data flow according to the policy information, and the sending unit 1206 is configured to configure the processing rule information to the processing equipment of the service data flow.

In some embodiments of the present application, based on the foregoing, the communication apparatus 1200 further includes a processing unit configured to calculate a network available capacity for the service data flow according to a network available capacity fed back by at least one of a user equipment, a radio access network element, and a user plane function element, and the sending unit 1206 is further configured to send the network available capacity for the service data flow to a policy control function element, so that the policy control function element sends the network available capacity for the service data flow to an application function element.

Fig. 13 shows a schematic diagram of a computer system suitable for use in implementing an electronic device, which may be an AF, PCF or SMF in the foregoing embodiments, according to an embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that, the computer system 1300 of the electronic device shown in fig. 13 is only an example, and should not impose any limitation on the functions and the application scope of the embodiments of the present application.

As shown in fig. 13, the computer system 1300 may include a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU) 1301, which may perform various appropriate actions and processes according to a program stored in a Read-Only Memory (ROM) 1302 or a program loaded from a storage portion 1308 into a random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) 1303, for example, performing the method described in the above embodiment. In the RAM 1303, various programs and data required for the system operation are also stored. The CPU 1301, ROM 1302, and RAM 1303 are connected to each other through a bus 1304. An Input/Output (I/O) interface 1305 is also connected to bus 1304.

The following components may be connected to the I/O interface 1305, an input portion 1306 including a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, an output portion 1307 including a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), a Liquid crystal display (Liquid CRYSTAL DISPLAY, LCD), and the like, and a speaker, and the like, a storage portion 1308 including a hard disk, and the like, and a communication portion 1309 including a network interface card such as a LAN (Local Area Network) card, a modem, and the like. The communication section 1309 performs a communication process via a network such as the internet. The drive 1310 is also connected to the I/O interface 1305 as needed. Removable media 1311, such as magnetic disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, semiconductor memory, and the like, is installed as needed on drive 1310 so that a computer program read therefrom is installed as needed into storage portion 1308.

In particular, according to embodiments of the present application, the processes described above with reference to flowcharts may be implemented as computer software programs. For example, embodiments of the present application include a computer program product comprising a computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for performing the method shown in the flowchart. In such embodiments, the computer program may be downloaded and installed from a network via the communication portion 1309 and/or installed from the removable medium 1311. When executed by a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 1301, performs various functions defined in the system of the present application.

It should be noted that, the computer readable medium shown in the embodiments of the present application may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium, or any combination of the two. The computer readable storage medium can be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or a combination of any of the foregoing. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium may include, but are not limited to, an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-Only Memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-Only Memory (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory, EPROM), a flash Memory, an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a computer program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In the present application, however, a computer-readable signal medium may include a data signal propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, with a computer-readable computer program embodied therein. Such a propagated data signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable signal medium may also be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present application. Where each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems which perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer programs.

The units involved in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by software, or may be implemented by hardware, and the described units may also be provided in a processor. Wherein the names of the units do not constitute a limitation of the units themselves in some cases.

As another aspect, the present application also provides a computer-readable medium that may be included in the electronic device described in the above embodiment, or may exist alone without being incorporated into the electronic device. The computer readable medium carries one or more computer programs which, when executed by the electronic device, cause the electronic device to implement the methods described in the above embodiments.

It should be noted that although in the above detailed description several modules or units of a device for action execution are mentioned, such a division is not mandatory. Indeed, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above may be embodied in one module or unit in accordance with embodiments of the application. Conversely, the features and functions of one module or unit described above may be further divided into a plurality of modules or units to be embodied.

From the above description of embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the example embodiments described herein may be implemented in software, or may be implemented in software in combination with the necessary hardware. Thus, the technical solution according to the embodiments of the present application may be embodied in the form of a software product, which may be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (which may be a CD-ROM, a usb disk, a mobile hard disk, etc.) or on a network, comprising several instructions for causing an electronic device to perform the method according to the embodiments of the present application.

For example, the electronic device may be an AF, which may perform the communication method shown in FIG. 3, and for another example, the electronic device may be a PCF, which may perform the communication method shown in FIG. 4, and for another example, the electronic device may be an SMF, which may perform the communication method shown in FIG. 5.

Other embodiments of the application will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the embodiments disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the application following, in general, the principles of the application and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the application pertains.

It is to be understood that the application is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, which have been described above, and that various modifications and changes may be effected without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the application is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

generating a request message for requesting acquisition of network available capacity for a traffic data stream;

and sending the request message to a strategy control function network element so that the strategy control function network element generates strategy information for requesting network equipment to report the available network capacity.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that after sending the request message to a policy control function network element, the communication method further comprises:

and receiving the network available capacity fed back by the strategy control function network element, wherein the network available capacity fed back by the strategy control function network element is obtained by calculating the network available capacity fed back by the session management function network element according to at least one of user equipment, a wireless access network element and a user plane function network element and is sent to the strategy control function network element.

3. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that after sending the request message to a policy control function network element, the communication method further comprises:

Receiving network available capacity fed back by a user plane function network element, wherein the network available capacity fed back by the user plane function network element is calculated by the user plane function network element according to the network available capacity fed back by a radio access network element and the network available capacity of the user plane function network element, and

And receiving the network available capacity of the user equipment fed back by the user equipment through an application layer.

4. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that after sending the request message to a policy control function network element, the communication method further comprises:

Receiving network available capacity fed back by a user plane function network element, wherein the network available capacity fed back by the user plane function network element is calculated by the user plane function network element according to the network available capacity fed back by a wireless access network element and the network available capacity of the user plane function network element;

The network available capacity fed back by the wireless access network element comprises the network available capacity of the wireless access network element and the network available capacity fed back by the user equipment.

5. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that after sending the request message to a policy control function network element, the communication method further comprises:

Acquiring network available capacity reported by network equipment;

And adjusting the transmission parameters of the service data stream sent to the user equipment according to the network available capacity.

6. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the network available capacity for traffic data flows comprises at least one of the network available capacity of the user equipment, the network available capacity of the radio access network element and the network available capacity of the user plane function element;

7. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that sending the request message to a policy control function network element comprises:

directly transmitting the request message to the policy control function network element, or

And sending the request message to a network opening function network element so that the network opening function network element forwards the request message to the strategy control function network element.

8. A communication method according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the traffic data stream is transmitted by means of a set of traffic data packets or by means of a per-traffic data packet basis.

9. A method of communication, comprising:

Receiving a request message sent by an application function network element, wherein the request message is used for requesting to acquire network available capacity for a service data stream;

Generating policy information for the service data flow according to the request message, wherein the policy information is used for requesting network equipment to report network available capacity;

and sending the strategy information to a session management function network element so that the session management function network element indicates the processing equipment of the service data flow to report the network available capacity according to the strategy information.

10. The communication method according to claim 9, wherein after sending the policy information to a session management function network element, the communication method further comprises:

receiving network available capacity fed back by a session management function network element, wherein the network available capacity fed back by the session management function network element is calculated by the session management function network element according to the network available capacity fed back by at least one of user equipment, a wireless access network element and a user plane function network element;

And sending the network available capacity fed back by the session management function network element to the application function network element.

11. A method of communication, comprising:

Receiving policy information sent by a policy control function network element, wherein the policy information is used for requesting network equipment to report network available capacity for service data flow;

Generating processing rule information corresponding to each type of processing equipment of the service data flow according to the strategy information;

and configuring the processing rule information to processing equipment of the service data flow.

12. The communication method according to claim 11, characterized in that after configuring the processing rule information to the processing device of the service data flow, the communication method further comprises:

according to the network available capacity fed back by at least one of the user equipment, the wireless access network element and the user plane function network element, calculating to obtain the network available capacity aiming at the service data flow;

and transmitting the network available capacity for the service data flow to a strategy control function network element, so that the strategy control function network element transmits the network available capacity for the service data flow to an application function network element.

13. A communication device, comprising:

A generation unit configured to generate a request message for requesting acquisition of a network available capacity for a traffic data stream;

and the sending unit is configured to send the request message to the policy control function network element so that the policy control function network element generates policy information for requesting the network equipment to report the available network capacity.

14. A communication device, comprising:

A receiving unit configured to receive a request message sent by an application function network element, where the request message is used to request to obtain a network available capacity for a service data flow;

The generation unit is configured to generate policy information for the service data flow according to the request message, wherein the policy information is used for requesting network equipment to report network available capacity;

And the sending unit is configured to send the strategy information to a session management function network element so that the session management function network element indicates the processing equipment of the service data flow to report the network available capacity according to the strategy information.

15. A communication device, comprising:

The receiving unit is configured to receive policy information sent by the policy control function network element, wherein the policy information is used for requesting the network equipment to report the network available capacity for the service data flow;

the generation unit is configured to generate processing rule information corresponding to each type of processing equipment of the service data flow according to the strategy information;

And the sending unit is configured to configure the processing rule information to the processing equipment of the service data stream.

16. A computer readable medium on which a computer program is stored, characterized in that the computer program, when being executed by a processor, implements the communication method of any of claims 1 to 12.

17. An electronic device, comprising:

One or more processors;

A memory for storing one or more computer programs that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to implement the communication method of any of claims 1-12.

18. A computer program product, characterized in that it comprises a computer program stored in a computer readable storage medium, from which a processor of an electronic device reads and executes the computer program, causing the electronic device to perform the communication method of any one of claims 1 to 12.