Method for processing information, forwarding plane device and control plane device
09769089 · 2017-09-19
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
H04L12/14
ELECTRICITY
International classification
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for processing information, a forwarding plane device and a control plane device. The method includes: receiving a data packet, and extracting characteristic information of the data packet; searching for context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet; buffering or discarding the data packet if the context information is not found; and sending an event reporting message to a gateway control plane device, wherein the event reporting message carries the characteristic information of the data packet, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
Claims
1. A method for processing information by a gateway forwarding plane device, comprising: receiving by a gateway forwarding plane device, a data packet, and extracting the data packet's characteristic information; buffering, the data packet in the gateway forwarding plane device, when there is no context information corresponding to the the data packet's characteristic information already stored in the gateway forwarding plane device, until receiving the context information returned from a gateway control plane device, wherein the gateway control plane device and the gateway forwarding plane device are both separate and different devices; wherein prior to receiving the context information returned from the gateway control plane device, sending by the gateway forwarding plane device, the data packet's characteristic information to the gateway control plane device, wherein the data packet's characteristic information is used for the gateway control plane device to acquire the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet; and forwarding by the gateway forwarding plane device, the data packet according to the received context information.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an instruction message from the gateway control plane device if the gateway control plane device does not acquire the context information; and discarding, by the gateway forwarding plane device, the buffered data packet.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein before receiving the data packet by the gateway forwarding plane device, the method further comprises: deleting at least part of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the deleting at least part of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device, comprises: receiving a second message from a control plane device, and deleting at least part of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device according to the second message.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the deleting at least part of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device, comprises: deleting, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not transmit any data packet of a User Equipment (UE) within a predefined time period, at least part of context information of the UE stored by the gateway forwarding plane device.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the deleting part of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device, comprises: deleting part of the context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein remaining context information at least comprising a UE Internet Protocol (IP) address.
7. A gateway forwarding plane device, comprising: a processor and a memory storing programming instructions for execution by the processor, wherein the processor executes the programming instructions to: receive a data packet; extract the data packet's characteristic information, wherein the memory further buffers the data packet when there is no context information corresponding to the data packet's characteristic information already stored in the gateway forwarding plane device, until receiving the context information returned from a gateway control plane device, wherein the gateway control plane device and the gateway forwarding plane device are both separate and different devices; wherein prior to receiving the context information returned from the gateway control plane device, send the data packet's characteristic information to the gateway control plane device, wherein the data packet's characteristic information is used for the gateway control plane device to acquire the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet; and forward the data packet according to the received context information.
8. The gateway forwarding plane device of claim 7, wherein the data packet is a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) tunnel protocol (GTP) packet and the characteristic information of the data packet includes tunnel information, which includes a GTP tunnel end identifier (TEID).
9. The gateway forwarding plane device of claim 7, wherein the processor further receives an instruction message from the gateway control plane device if the gateway control plane device does not acquire the context information; and discards the buffered data packet according to the instruction message.
10. The gateway forwarding plane device of claim 7, wherein the processor further deletes at least part of context information stored by the memory of the gateway forwarding plane device before receiving the data packet.
11. The gateway forwarding plane device of claim 10, wherein that the processor deletes at least part of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device comprises the processor deletes at least part of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device according to a second message that is from the gateway control plane device.
12. The gateway forwarding plane device of claim 10, wherein that the processor deletes at least part of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device comprises the processor is configured to deletes, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not transmit any data packet of a user equipment (UE) within a predefined time period, at least part of context information of the UE stored by the gateway forwarding plane device.
13. The gateway forwarding plane device of claim 10, wherein that the processor deletes at least part of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device comprises the processor deletes part of the context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein remaining context information at least comprising a UE Internet Protocol (IP) address.
14. A gateway control plane device, comprising: a processor and a memory storing programming instructions for execution by the processor, the processor executes the programming instructions to: receive a data packet's characteristic information from a gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the gateway control plane device and the gateway forwarding plane device are both separate and different devices; wherein prior to receiving the data packet's characteristic information from the gateway forwarding device and when no context information corresponding to the data packet's characteristic information is already stored in the gateway forwarding plane device, the data packet is being first buffered in the gateway forwarding plane device waiting to receive the context information corresponding to the data packet's characteristic information, which is to be acquired by the gateway control plane device in order to send the context information to the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the context information is to be used for the gateway forwarding plane device to afterwards forward the data packet according to the context information received from the gateway control plane device.
15. The gateway control plane device of claim 14, wherein the processor further triggers, when a user equipment (UE) corresponding to the data packet is in an Idle state, the UE to exit the Idle state.
16. The gateway control plane device of claim 14, wherein the processor further sends a first message to the gateway forwarding plane device if the processor does not acquire the context information, wherein the first message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to discard the data packet.
17. The gateway control plane device of claim 14, wherein the processor further sends a second message to the gateway forwarding plane device after a UE enters into an Idle state before receiving the characteristic information of the data packet from the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the second message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to delete at least part of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device.
18. The gateway control plane device of claim 17, wherein the processor further sends the second message to the gateway forwarding plane device when the UE does not exit the Idle state within a predefined time period.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
(1) To illustrate technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention more clearly, a brief introduction on the accompanying drawings which are needed in the description of the embodiments or the prior art is given below. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the description below are merely some of the embodiments of the present invention, based on which other accompanying drawings may be obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without any creative effort.
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DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
(23) The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described below clearly and fully in combination with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Apparently, the embodiments described below are merely a part, but not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All of other embodiments, obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without any inventive effort, fall into the protection scope of the present invention.
(24) The technical solutions of the present invention may be applied to various communication systems, e.g., a global system of mobile communication (GSM, Global System of Mobile communication), a code division multiple access (CDMA, Code Division Multiple Access) system, a wideband code division multiple access wireless (WCDMA, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access Wireless), a general packet radio service (GPRS, General Packet Radio Service), a long term evolution (LTE, Long Term Evolution) and the like.
(25) A user equipment (UE, User Equipment), also be referred to as a mobile station (Mobile Station), a mobile user equipment and the like, may communicate with one or more core networks through a radio access network (e.g., RAN, Radio Access Network). The user equipment may be a mobile station, such as, for example, a mobile phone (or referred to as a “cell” phone) and be a computer with a mobile station, such as, for example, a portable, pocket-type, handheld, computer built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile apparatus, and they exchange language and/or data with a radio access network.
(26) A control plane device may be a control plane GW-C of a P-GW (PDN Gateway)/S-GW (Serving Gateway) under an SAE architecture of a 3GPP evolved network, and a forwarding plane device may be a forwarding plane GW-U of the P-GW/S-GW. It should be noted that, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. The gateway control plane device and the gateway forwarding plane device may be a control plane device and a forwarding plane device after decoupling of control and forwarding of an RNC (Radio Network Controller, radio network controller), an SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node, serving GPRS support node) and a GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node, gateway GPRS support node) in a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service, general packet radio service) network, or an evolved base station (eNodeB), an S-GW (Serving Gateway, serving gateway entity), a P-GW (Packet Data Network Gateway, packet data network gateway), an S-GW/P-GW integrated device in an EPS (Evolved Packet System, evolved packet system) network and the like.
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(28) Moreover, the communication system of
(29) The RAN 14 may include an access network element of various systems (e.g., GERAN, UTRAN or E-UTRAN), such as, for example, an RNC, an eNodeB and the like. The PDN 16 may be in form of WAP, Internet, VPN and the like, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present invention.
(30) Alternatively, as one embodiment, the gateway control plane device 11 may be implemented with a general computing platform, and the gateway forwarding plane device 12 may be implemented by a dedicated router platform. The general computing platform is suitable for processing interface signaling; and signaling processing capability of the dedicated router platform is relatively poor, but data forwarding efficiency of the dedicated router platform is relatively high. In this way, design of a hardware platform can be simplified, cost of the hardware platform is reduced, and processing performances of a gateway control plane entity and a user plane entity are greatly enhanced.
(31) The mobility management network element 15 may be an MME and/or an SGSN, and may be implemented with a general computing platform. Accordingly, as another embodiment, the gateway control plane device 11 and the mobility management network element 15 may be integrated together, as shown in a dashed box 17 of
(32) In the embodiment of
(33) The GW-C 11 may also be referred to as a control plane entity or a control plane gateway (Control Plane Gateway), or referred to as a gateway controller (Gateway Controller), a control node (Control Node), a control gateway (Control Gateway) or the like. The embodiment of the present invention does not set limitation to a specific name of the GW-C 11, as long as it is capable of realizing control plane functionality of a gateway and is decoupled with the GW-U 12.
(34) In addition, the GW-U 12 may also be referred to as a user plane entity or a user plane gateway (User Plane Gateway), or referred to as a packet data forwarding gateway (Packet Data Forwarding Gateway), a routing forwarding node (Routing Forwarding Node), a switch node (Switch Node) or the like. The embodiment of the present invention does not set limitation to a specific name of the GW-U 12, as long as it is capable of realizing user plane functionality of a gateway and is decoupled with the GW-C 11.
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(36) 101, a data packet is received, and characteristic information of the data packet is extracted.
(37) 102, context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet is searched for.
(38) 103, if the context information is not found, the data packet is buffered or discarded.
(39) 104, an event reporting message is sent to a gateway control plane device, wherein the event reporting message carries the characteristic information of the data packet, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet.
(40) The embodiment of the present invention may be applied to conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like. It should be appreciated that the present invention does not set limitation to a condition to which the method is applied.
(41) It should be further understood that, the embodiment of the present invention does not set limitation to the number of the gateway forwarding plane devices and the number of the gateway control plane devices, e.g., one gateway forwarding plane device may correspond to at least one gateway control plane device.
(42) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.<0}
(43) Alternatively, as one embodiment, the data packet received by the gateway forwarding plane device may be an uplink data packet and/or a downlink data packet. It should be understood that the embodiment of the present invention does not set limitation to a specific form of the data packet received by the gateway forwarding plane device.
(44) Specifically, the gateway forwarding plane device receives a packet, such as, for instance, a common IP packet, a GTP (GPRS Tunneling Protocol, GPRS tunneling protocol) packet, a PMIP (Proxy Mobile IP, proxy mobile IP) packet, an MIP (Mobile IP, mobile IP) packet, a GRE (Generic Route Encapsulation) packet, an L2TP (Layer 2 Tunnelling Protocol) packet or the like.
(45) Alternatively, as another embodiment, the characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN (Access Point Name, access point name), a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID (Tunnel End Identifier, GTP tunnel end identifier). For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key (Generic Routing Encapsulation, generic routing encapsulation key).
(46) Alternatively, as another embodiment, after step 104, if the gateway control plane device acquires the context information, the gateway forwarding plane device may receive the context information sent by the gateway control plane device, and forward the data packet according to the context information.
(47) Alternatively, as another embodiment, after step 104, if the gateway control plane device does not acquire the context information, the gateway forwarding plane device may receive an instruction message sent by the gateway control plane device, and discard the data packet and/or notify a sending end of the data packet of occurrence of abnormity according to the instruction message.
(48) Alternatively, as another embodiment, before step 103, it may be judged whether a user equipment internet protocol (UE IP) address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address. Further, in step 103, if the UE IP address of the data packet is not a user-subscribed static IP address, the data packet is discarded. Alternatively, the procedure may be ended at the moment. In this way, signaling interaction between the gateway forwarding plane device and the gateway control plane device may be effectively reduced. Or, if the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, the gateway control plane device is notified that the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, so that the gateway control plane device initiates a network-triggered PDN (Packet Data Network, packet data network) connection establishment procedure.
(49) Alternatively, as another embodiment, before step 101, the gateway forwarding plane device may delete part or all of stored context information. For example, the gateway forwarding plane device receives a second message sent by the gateway control plane device, and deletes part or all of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device according to the second message. For another example, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not transmit any data packet of a UE within a predefined time period, part or all of context information of the above-mentioned UE stored by the gateway forwarding plane device is deleted. In this way, resources of the gateway forwarding plane device are saved, and cost is reduced.
(50) In the embodiment of the present invention, part or all of the context information may be lost due to failure of the gateway forwarding plane device. It should be understood that, no matter in which manner all or part of the context information is deleted by the gateway forwarding plane device, it shall fall into the scope of the embodiment of the present invention. It also should be noted that, the embodiment of the present invention does not set limitation to a reason the gateway forwarding plane device fails to find the context information.
(51) Further, part of the context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device is deleted, and remaining context information at least includes a UE IP address. Alternatively, it may be judged whether the UE IP address of the data packet is a UE IP address in the remaining context information. In step 103, if the UE IP address of the data packet is not a UE IP address in the remaining context information, the data packet is discarded. Alternatively, the procedure may be ended at the moment. In this way, signaling interaction between the gateway forwarding plane device and the gateway control plane device can be effectively reduced.
(52) Moreover, in existing network architecture, under conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address and a local end is abnormal, methods for processing context information are different from each other. Under a condition that an opposite end is abnormal, a gateway also has multiple different processing procedures. Therefore, processing of a device is relatively complex.
(53) In the embodiment of the present invention, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(54) Non-limited examples of a method, for processing information under the artitecture that control and forwarding of a gateway device are decoupled, of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail below in combination with
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(56) 201, an event reporting message sent by a gateway forwarding plane device is received, wherein the event reporting message carries characteristic information of a data packet received by the gateway forwarding plane device.
(57) 202, corresponding context information is acquired according to the characteristic information of the data packet.
(58) The embodiment of the present invention may be applied to conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like. It should be appreciated that the present invention does not set limitation to a condition to which the method is applied.
(59) It should be further understood that, the embodiment of the present invention does not set limitation to the number of the gateway forwarding plane devices and the number of the gateway control plane devices, e.g., one gateway forwarding plane device may correspond to at least one gateway control plane device.
(60) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.<0}
(61) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, the gateway forwarding plane device searches for the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, and if the search fails, the gateway forwarding plane device sends the event reporting message to the gateway control plane device, wherein the event reporting message carries the characteristic information of the data packet. The gateway control plane device acquires corresponding context information. In this way, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(62) Alternatively, as one embodiment, the data packet may be a GTP packet, a PMIP packet or the like. It should be understood that the present invention does not set limitation to specific form of the data packet.
(63) Alternatively, as another embodiment, the characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(64) Alternatively, as another embodiment, in step 202, corresponding context information is acquired according to the characteristic information of the data packet. Specifically, when a user equipment (UE) corresponding to the data packet is in an Idle state, the UE is triggered to exit the Idle state; or, when the context information is not found according to the characteristic information of the data packet, it is judged whether a user equipment internet protocol (UE IP) address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, and if the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, the gateway control plane device initiates a network-triggered PDN connection establishment procedure; or, the gateway control plane device receives information about that a UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, that is sent by the gateway forwarding plane device, and initiates a network-triggered PDN connection establishment procedure. Further, the context information is acquired, and may be sent to the gateway forwarding plane device, so that the gateway forwarding plane device forwards the data packet according to the context information.
(65) Alternatively, as another embodiment, in step 202, if the context information is not acquired, a first message may be sent to the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the first message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to discard the data packet and/or to notify a sending end of the data packet of occurrence of abnormity.
(66) Alternatively, as another embodiment, before step 201, a second message may be sent to the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the second message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to delete part or all of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device. Specifically, when a UE does not exit an Idle state within a predefined time period, the gateway control plane device sends the second message to the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the second message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to delete part or all of context information of the above-mentioned UE stored by the gateway forwarding plane device. In this way, resources of the gateway forwarding plane device are saved, and cost is reduced.
(67) It should be understood that, no matter in which manner all or part of the context information is deleted by the gateway forwarding plane device, it shall fall into the scope of the embodiment of the present invention.
(68) Further, the gateway control plane device instructs the gateway forwarding plane device to delete part of the context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein remaining context information at least includes a UE IP address.
(69) Moreover, in existing network architecture, under conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address and a local end is abnormal, methods for processing context information are different from each other. Under a condition that an opposite end is abnormal, a gateway also has multiple different processing procedures. Therefore, processing of a device is relatively complex.
(70) In the embodiment of the present invention, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(71) The embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below in combination with specific examples. In
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(73) The method of
(74) 301, a PDN connection is activated.
(75) 302, if a gateway forwarding plane device does not transmit any data packet of a UE within a predefined time period, all context information of the UE is deleted.
(76) For example, the gateway forwarding plane device may pre-configure a time period threshold, or the gateway forwarding plane device receives a time period threshold sent by a gateway control plane device. When an amount of time in which the gateway forwarding plane device does not transmit any data packet of the UE exceeds the time period threshold, the gateway forwarding plane device deletes all of the stored context information of the UE. In this way, resources of the gateway forwarding plane device are saved, and cost is reduced.
(77) 303, the gateway forwarding plane device receives an uplink or a downlink data packet.
(78) For example, the gateway forwarding plane device receives a downlink data packet, such as a common IP packet, a GTP (GPRS Tunneling Protocol, GPRS tunneling protocol) packet. a PMIP (Proxy Mobile IP, proxy mobile IP) packet, an MIP (Mobile IP, mobile IP) packet, a GRE (Generic Route Encapsulation) packet, an L2TP (Layer 2 Tunnelling Protocol) packet or the like.
(79) 304, the gateway forwarding plane device searches for context information corresponding to characteristic information of the data packet, and buffers or discards the data packet if the search fails.
(80) The characteristic information of the data packet may include an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(81) For example, since the gateway forwarding plane device has deleted the context information of the UE, the corresponding context information is not found, namely the search fails. At the moment, the gateway forwarding plane device may buffer the data packet or discard the data packet.
(82) Alternatively, the gateway forwarding plane device may further judge whether a UE IP address of the received data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address according to a list of static IP addresses. For example, the list of static IP addresses may be configured by an administrator, including configuring locally or configuring remotely. If the UE IP address is not a user-subscribed static IP address, the data packet is discarded. Alternatively, the procedure may be ended at the moment. In this way, signaling interaction between the forwarding plane device and the control plane device may be effectively reduced.
(83) 305, the gateway forwarding plane device sends an event reporting message to the gateway control plane device, wherein the event reporting message carries the characteristic information of the data packet.
(84) Alternatively, the gateway forwarding plane device may also send a judgment result of whether the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address to the gateway control plane device. For example, if the UE IP address of the data packet belongs to the list of static IP addresses, then the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, and the gateway forwarding plane device sends information about that the UE IP address is a user-subscribed static IP address to the gateway control plane device.
(85) 306, the gateway control plane device acquires the corresponding context information.
(86) Alternatively, in one implementation manner, the gateway control plane device acquires the corresponding context information, and step 307 is executed. For example, when a UE corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet received by the network control plane device in step 305 is in an Idle state, the gateway control plane device may trigger the UE to exit the Idle state. Specifically, a service request triggered by network is initiated. Or, when the gateway control plane device searches for the corresponding context information according to the characteristic information of the data packet received in step 305, and the search fails, it is judged whether a UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, and if the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, the control plane device initiates a network-triggered packet data network (PDN) connection establishment procedure. Or, the gateway control plane device receives information about that a UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, that is sent by the gateway forwarding plane device, and initiates a network-triggered PDN connection establishment procedure.
(87) In another implementation manner, when the gateway control plane device does not acquire the corresponding context information, e.g., the gateway control plane device searches for the context information according to the characteristic information of the data packet received in step 305, and the search fails, and further, if it is judged that the UE IP address of the data packet is not a user-subscribed static IP address, the gateway control plane device may send an instruction message to the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the instruction message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to discard the data packet and/or to notify a sending end of the data packet of occurrence of abnormity.
(88) 307, the gateway control plane device sends the acquired context information to the gateway forwarding plane device.
(89) 308, the gateway forwarding plane device forwards the data packet according to the context information.
(90) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(91) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
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(93) The method of
(94) 401, a gateway control plane device modifies context information when a UE enters into an Idle state or after a UE enters into an Idle state for a period of time.
(95) Alternatively, a gateway control plane device may instruct the gateway forwarding plane device to modify related context information.
(96) 402, if the gateway forwarding plane device does not transmit any data packet of the UE within a predefined time period, the gateway forwarding plane device deletes all context information of the UE.
(97) For example, the gateway forwarding plane device may pre-configure a time period threshold, or the gateway forwarding plane device receives a time period threshold sent by a gateway control plane device. When an amount of time in which the gateway forwarding plane device does not transmit any data packet of the UE exceeds the time period threshold, the gateway forwarding plane device deletes all of the stored context information of the UE. In this way, resources of the gateway forwarding plane device are saved, and cost is reduced.
(98) 403, the gateway forwarding plane device receives an uplink or a downlink data packet.
(99) For example, the gateway forwarding plane device receives a downlink data packet, such as a GTP packet or a PMIP packet.
(100) 404, the gateway forwarding plane device searches for context information corresponding to characteristic information of the data packet, and buffers or discards the data packet if the search fails.
(101) The characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(102) For example, since the gateway forwarding plane device has deleted the context information of the UE, the corresponding context information is not found, namely the search fails. At the moment, the gateway forwarding plane device may buffer the data packet or discard the data packet.
(103) Alternatively, the gateway forwarding plane device may further judge whether a UE IP address of the received data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address according to a list of static IP addresses. For example, the list of static IP addresses may be configured by an administrator, including configuring locally or configuring remotely. If the UE IP address is not a user-subscribed static IP address, the data packet is discarded. Alternatively, the procedure may be ended at the moment. In this way, signaling interaction between the forwarding plane device and the control plane device may be effectively reduced.
(104) 405, the gateway forwarding plane device sends an event reporting message to the gateway control plane device, wherein the event reporting message carries the characteristic information of the data packet.
(105) Alternatively, the gateway forwarding plane device may also send a judgment result of whether the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address to the gateway control plane device. For example, if the UE IP address of the data packet belongs to the list of static IP addresses, then the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, and the gateway forwarding plane device sends information about that the UE IP address is a user-subscribed static IP address to the gateway control plane device.
(106) 406, the gateway control plane device triggers the UE to exit the Idle state.
(107) Alternatively, in one implementation manner, the gateway control plane device acquires the corresponding context information, and step 407 is executed. For example, when a UE corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet received by the network control plane device in step 405 is in an Idle state, the gateway control plane device may trigger the UE to exit the Idle state. For example, the gateway control plane device initiates a network-triggered service request procedure.
(108) In another implementation manner, when the gateway control plane device does not acquire the corresponding context information, the gateway control plane device may send an instruction message to the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the instruction message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to discard the data packet and/or to notify a sending end of the data packet of occurrence of abnormity.
(109) 407, the gateway control plane device sends the acquired context information to the gateway forwarding plane device.
(110) 408, the gateway forwarding plane device forwards the data packet according to the context information.
(111) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the UE is in an Idle state, and the g gateway forwarding plane device does not transmit any data packet of the UE, the g gateway forwarding plane device deletes all context information, thereby saving resources. When the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(112) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(113)
(114) In the schematic flowchart shown in
(115) 501, a gateway control plane device modifies context information when a UE enters into an Idle state.
(116) Alternatively, a gateway control plane device may instruct the gateway forwarding plane device to modify related context information.
(117) 502, the gateway control plane device instructs the gateway forwarding plane device to delete all context information of the UE stored by the gateway forwarding plane device.
(118) For example, the gateway control plane device may send a second message to the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the second message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to delete all of stored context information of the UE. Further, the gateway control plane device may pre-configure a time period threshold, and send the above-mentioned second message to the gateway forwarding plane device when an amount of time in which the UE does not exit the Idle state exceeds the time period threshold. In this way, resources of the gateway forwarding plane device are saved, and cost is reduced.
(119) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(120) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(121)
(122) In the schematic flowchart shown in
(123) 601, a gateway control plane device modifies context information after a UE enters into an Idle state for a period of time.
(124) Alternatively, the gateway control plane device may instruct a gateway forwarding plane device to modify corresponding context information.
(125) 602, the UE does not exit the Idle state within a predefined time period.
(126) 603, the gateway control plane device instructs the gateway forwarding plane device to delete all context information of the UE stored by the gateway forwarding plane device.
(127) For example, the gateway control plane device may pre-configure a time period threshold, and send a second message to the gateway forwarding plane device when an amount of time in which UE does not exit the Idle state exceeds the time period threshold, wherein the second message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to delete all context information of the UE stored by the gateway forwarding plane device. In this way, resources of the gateway forwarding plane device are saved, and cost is reduced.
(128) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(129) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(130)
(131) In the schematic flowchart shown in
(132) 702, a gateway forwarding plane device does not transmit any data packet within a predefined time period, and deletes part of context information.
(133) For example, the gateway forwarding plane device may pre-configure a time period threshold or the forwarding plane device receives a time period threshold sent by a control plane device, and when an amount of time in which the gateway forwarding plane device transmit any data packet of a UE exceeds the time period threshold, the gateway forwarding plane device deletes part of the context information. In this way, resources of the gateway forwarding plane device are saved, and cost is reduced. Further, remaining part of the context information which is not deleted at least includes a UE IP address. Alternatively, the remaining part of the context information may further include an access point name (APN) and tunnel information. Further, if one gateway forwarding plane device corresponds to multiple gateway control plane devices, at least one gateway control plane device IP address may be further reserved.
(134) 704, the gateway forwarding plane device searches for context information corresponding to characteristic information of a data packet, and buffers or discards the data packet if the search fails.
(135) The characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(136) For example, since the gateway forwarding plane device has deleted the context information of the UE, the corresponding context information is not found, namely the search fails. The gateway forwarding plane device may buffer the data packet or discard the data packet.
(137) Alternatively, if a UE IP address of the received data packet is not a UE IP address in the undeleted part of context information in step 702, the data packet is discarded. Alternatively, the procedure may be ended at the moment, or the gateway forwarding plane device may further judge whether the UE IP address of the received data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address according to a list of static IP addresses. For example, the list of static IP addresses may be configured by an administrator, including configuring locally or configuring remotely. If the UE IP address is not a user-subscribed static IP address, the data packet is discarded. Alternatively, the procedure may be ended at the moment. In this way, signaling interaction between the forwarding plane device and the control plane device may be effectively reduced.
(138) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(139) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(140)
(141) In the schematic flowchart shown in
(142) 802, a gateway forwarding plane device fails, which results in that all or part of context information is lost.
(143) 804, the gateway forwarding plane device searches for context information corresponding to characteristic information of a data packet, and buffers or discards the data packet if the search fails.
(144) The characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(145) For example, all of the context information is lost, and the gateway forwarding plane device cannot find corresponding context information, namely the search fails. The gateway forwarding plane device may buffer the data packet or discard the data packet. Alternatively, the gateway forwarding plane device may further judge whether a UE IP address of the received data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address according to a list of static IP addresses. For example, the list of static IP addresses may be configured by an administrator, including configuring locally or configuring remotely. If the UE IP address is not a user-subscribed static IP address, the data packet is discarded. Alternatively, the procedure may be ended at the moment. In this way, signaling interaction between the forwarding plane device and the control plane device may be effectively reduced.
(146) For another example, part of the context information is lost, and the gateway forwarding plane device cannot find corresponding context information, namely the search fails. The gateway forwarding plane device may buffer the data packet or discard the data packet. Alternatively, if part of the context information which is not lost includes a UE IP address, and a UE IP address of the received data packet is not a UE IP address in the remaining part of context information in step 802, the data packet is discarded. Alternatively, the procedure may be ended at the moment, or the gateway forwarding plane device may further judge whether the UE IP address of the received data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address according to a list of static IP addresses. For example, the list of static IP addresses may be configured by an administrator, including configuring locally or configuring remotely. If the UE IP address is not a user-subscribed static IP address, the data packet is discarded. Alternatively, the procedure may be ended at the moment. In this way, signaling interaction between the forwarding plane device and the control plane device may be effectively reduced.
(147) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(148) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(149)
(150) The method of
(151) 901, a gateway forwarding plane device receives a downlink data packet.
(152) For example, the gateway forwarding plane device receives a GTP packet or a PMIP packet.
(153) Alternatively, as one embodiment, the data packet received by the gateway forwarding plane device may be an uplink data packet and/or a downlink data packet. It should be understood that the embodiment of present invention does not set limitation to specific form of the data packet.
(154) 902, gateway forwarding plane does not find context information corresponding to characteristic information of the data packet.
(155) The characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(156) For example, under the condition that a UE is configured with a static IP address and a PDN connection is not activated, the gateway forwarding plane device fails to find the context information.
(157) Alternatively, step 903 is executed.
(158) 903, the gateway forwarding plane device judges whether a UE IP address is a user-subscribed static IP address.
(159) Alternatively, the gateway forwarding plane device may judge whether a UE IP address of the received data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address according to a list of static IP addresses. For example, the list of static IP addresses may be configured by an administrator, including configuring locally or configuring remotely.
(160) 904, the gateway forwarding plane device buffers or discards the data packet.
(161) For example, if the UE IP address is not a user-subscribed static IP address, the data packet is discarded, and alternatively, the procedure may be ended at the moment. In this way, signaling interaction between the forwarding plane device and the control plane device may be effectively reduced. If the UE IP address is a user-subscribed static IP address, step 905 may be further executed.
(162) 905, the gateway forwarding plane device sends information about that the UE IP address is a user-subscribed static IP address to a gateway control plane device.
(163) 906, the gateway forwarding plane device sends an event reporting message to the gateway control plane device, wherein the event reporting message carries the characteristic information of the data packet.
(164) 907, the gateway control plane device judges whether the UE IP address is a user-subscribed static IP address.
(165) 908, the gateway control plane device initiates a network-triggered PDN connection establishment procedure.
(166) Alternatively, in one implementation manner, the gateway control plane device acquires corresponding context information, and step 909 is executed. For example, if in step 905, the information about that the UE IP address is a user-subscribed static IP address, that is sent by the forwarding plane device, is received, or in step 907, the gateway control plane device judges that the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, the gateway control plane device initiates the network-triggered PDN connection establishment procedure.
(167) In another implementation manner, when the gateway control plane device does not acquire corresponding context information, for example, in step 906, the gateway control plane device fails to find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet received, and in step 907, further judges that a user IP address of the data packet is not a user-subscribed static IP address, the gateway control plane device sends an instruction message to the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the instruction message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to discard the data packet and/or to notify a sending end of the data packet of occurrence of abnormity.
(168) 909, the gateway control plane device sends the acquired context information to the forwarding plane device.
(169) 910, the gateway forwarding plane device forwards the data packet according to the context information.
(170) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(171) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(172)
(173) The method of
(174) 1001, a gateway forwarding plane device receives an uplink or a downlink data packet.
(175) For example, the gateway forwarding plane device receives a downlink data packet. Specifically, the gateway forwarding plane device receives a common IP packet, a GTP (GPRS Tunneling Protocol, GPRS tunneling protocol) packet, a PMIP (Proxy Mobile IP, proxy mobile IP) packet, an MIP (Mobile IP, mobile IP) packet, a GRE (Generic Route Encapsulation) packet, an L2TP (Layer 2 Tunnelling Protocol) packet or the like.
(176) 1002, the gateway forwarding plane device searches for context information corresponding to characteristic information of the data packet, and buffers or discards the data packet if the search fails.
(177) The characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(178) For example, in the embodiment of the present invention, all or part of context information is lost due to failure of the forwarding plane device; or, the gateway forwarding plane device deletes all or part of context information, so that the search of the context information fails. It should be understood that, no matter in which manner all or part of the context information is deleted by the gateway forwarding plane device, it shall fall into the scope of the embodiment of the present invention. It also should be noted that, the embodiment of the present invention does not set limitation to a reason the gateway forwarding plane device fails to find the context information.
(179) Alternatively, the gateway forwarding plane device may further judge whether a UE IP address of the received data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address according to a list of static IP addresses. For example, the list of static IP addresses may be configured by an administrator, including configuring locally or configuring remotely. If the UE IP address is not a user-subscribed static IP address, the data packet is discarded. Alternatively, the procedure may be ended at the moment. In this way, signaling interaction between the forwarding plane device and the control plane device may be effectively reduced.
(180) 1003, the gateway forwarding plane device sends an event reporting message to a gateway control plane device, wherein the event reporting message carries the characteristic information of the data packet.
(181) Alternatively, the gateway forwarding plane device may also send a judgment result of whether the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address to the gateway control plane device. For example, if the UE IP address of the data packet belongs to the list of static IP addresses, then the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, and the gateway forwarding plane device sends information about that the UE IP address is a user-subscribed static IP address to the gateway control plane device.
(182) 1004, the gateway forwarding plane device fails to find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet.
(183) Alternatively, step 1005 is executed or step 1006 is executed.
(184) 1005, the gateway control plane device judges whether the UE IP address is a user-subscribed static IP address.
(185) Further, when in step 1005, the gateway control plane device judges that the UE IP address of the data packet is not a user-subscribed static IP address, step 1006 is alternatively executed.
(186) 1006, the gateway control plane device sends an instruction message to the gateway forwarding plane device.
(187) 1007, the gateway forwarding plane device discards the data packet and/or notifies a sending end of the data packet of occurrence of abnormity according to the instruction message.
(188) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the characteristic information of the received data packet is reported to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. If the control plane device does not acquire the corresponding context information, the control plane device may instruct the forwarding plane device to discard the data packet and/or to notify the sending end of the data packet of occurrence of abnormity. In this way, information processing under the conditions that, a local end is abnormal, and in the meanwhile, a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(189)
(190) 1101, an error notification sent by a receiving end of a data packet is received.
(191) 1102, an error event reporting message is sent to a gateway control plane device, wherein the error event reporting message carries characteristic information of the data packet, so that the gateway control plane device releases a packet data network (PDN) connection or initiates reestablishment according to the characteristic information of the data packet.
(192) The embodiment of the present invention may be applied to conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like. It should be understood that the present invention does not set limitation to a specific condition to which the method is applied.
(193) It should be further understood that the embodiment of the present invention does not set limitation to the number of the gateway forwarding plane devices and the number of the gateway control plane devices, e.g., one gateway forwarding plane device may correspond to at least one gateway control plane device.
(194) The characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(195) Alternatively, as one embodiment, the data packet may be a GTP packet, a PMIP packet or the like.
(196) Alternatively, as another embodiment, the error notification may be a GTP error instruction packet, an ICMIP (Internet Control Message Protocol, internet control message protocol) packet or the like.
(197) Alternatively, as another embodiment, in step 1102, an error instruction packet may be sent to the gateway control plane device and the error instruction packet carries the characteristic information of the data packet, and may notify the gateway control plane in a signaling format, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto.
(198) Non-limited examples of a method for processing information under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail below in combination with
(199) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the error notification sent by the receiving end of the data packet is received, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device releases the PDN connection or initiates reestablishment according to the characteristic information of the data packet. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire the context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(200) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(201)
(202) 1201, an error event reporting message sent by a gateway forwarding plane device is received, wherein the error event reporting message carries characteristic information of a data packet.
(203) 1202, a packet data network (PDN) connection is released or reestablishment is initiated according to the characteristic information of the data packet.
(204) The embodiment of the present invention may be applied to conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like. It should be understood that the present invention does not set limitation to a specific condition to which the method is applied.
(205) It should be further understood that, the embodiment of the present invention does not set limitation to the number of the gateway forwarding plane devices and the number of the gateway control plane devices, e.g., one gateway forwarding plane device may correspond to at least one gateway control plane device.
(206) The characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(207) Alternatively, as one embodiment, the data packet may be a GTP packet, a PMIP packet or the like.
(208) Alternatively, as another embodiment, in step 1201, the gateway control plane device may receive an error instruction packet sent by the gateway forwarding plane device and the characteristic information of the data packet. However, it should be appreciated that the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto.
(209) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the error notification sent by the receiving end of the data packet is received, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device releases the PDN connection or initiates reestablishment according to the characteristic information of the data packet. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire the context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(210) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(211) The embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter in combination with a specific example. In
(212)
(213) The method of
(214) 1301, a gateway forwarding plane device receives an uplink or a downlink data packet.
(215) For example, the gateway forwarding plane device receives a downlink data packet, and specifically, the gateway forwarding plane device receives a GTP packet or a PMIP packet.
(216) 1302, the gateway forwarding plane device forwards the data packet according to context information.
(217) 1303, the gateway forwarding plane device receives an error notification.
(218) For example, the error notification may be a GTP error instruction packet, an ICMIP packet or the like.
(219) 1304, the gateway forwarding plane device sends an error event reporting message to a gateway control plane device, wherein the error event reporting message carries characteristic information of the data packet.
(220) The characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(221) 1305, the gateway control plane releases a packet data network (PDN) connection or initiates reestablishment according to the characteristic information of the data packet.
(222) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the error notification sent by the receiving end of the data packet is received, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device releases the PDN connection or initiates reestablishment according to the characteristic information of the data packet. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire the context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(223) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(224)
(225) 1401, a data packet is received, and characteristic information of the data packet is extracted.
(226) 1402, context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet is searched for.
(227) 1403, if the context information is not found, it is judged whether a user equipment internet protocol (UE IP) address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address.
(228) 1404, if the UE IP address of the data packet is not a user-subscribed static IP address, the data packet is discarded.
(229) The embodiment of the present invention may be applied to conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like. It should be understood that the present invention does not set limitation to a specific condition to which the method is applied.
(230) It should be further understood that the embodiment of the present invention does not set limitation to the number of the gateway forwarding plane devices and the number of the gateway control plane devices, e.g., one gateway forwarding plane device may correspond to at least one gateway control plane device.
(231) The characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(232) Alternatively, as one embodiment, the data packet may be a GTP packet, a PMIP packet or the like.
(233) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, the gateway forwarding plane device searches for the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, judges, if the search fails, whether the user equipment Internet Protocol (UE IP) address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, and discards the data packet if the UE IP address of the data packet is not a user-subscribed static IP address. In this way, signaling interaction between the gateway forwarding plane device and the gateway control plane may be effectively reduced.
(234) The embodiments of the present invention further provide apparatus embodiments for implementing the respective steps and methods in the above-mentioned method embodiments. The embodiments of the present invention may be applied to a gateway forwarding plane device and a gateway control plane device in various communication systems.
(235) The methods disclosed by the above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention may be implemented by the above-mentioned device 1500, or are primarily implemented by the processor 1506 and the transmitting circuit 1502 therein. The processor 1506 may be an integrated circuit chip, and has a signal processing capability. In an implementation process, the respective steps of the above-mentioned methods may be completed through an integrated logic circuit of a hardware in the processor 1506 or through an instruction in a software form. For executing the methods disclosed by the embodiments of the present invention, the above-mentioned decoding processor may be a general processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate, transistor logic device, and a discrete hardware component. The decoding processor may implement or execute the respective methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention. The general processor may be a microprocessor, any conventional processor or decoder or the like. The steps of the methods disclosed by the embodiments of the present invention can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor or executed by a combination of a hardware and a software module in the decoding processor. The software module may be positioned in a mature storage medium in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register and the like. The storage medium is positioned in the memory 1507. A decoding unit reads information in the memory 1507, and the steps of the above-mentioned methods are completed in combination with the hardware thereof.
(236) Further,
(237) The first receiving unit 1601 is configured to receive a data packet.
(238) The processor 1602 is configured to extract characteristic information of the data packet received by the first receiving unit 1601, and search for context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet. If the processor 1602 fails to find the context information, the memory 1603 is configured to buffer the data packet received by the first receiving unit 1601, or the processor 1602 is further configured to discard the data packet received by the first receiving unit 1601.
(239) The second sending unit 1604 is configured to send an event reporting message to a gateway control plane device, wherein the event reporting message carries the characteristic information of the data packet received by the first receiving unit 1601, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet.
(240) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(241) The gateway forwarding plane device 1600 may realize the operations involving a gateway forwarding plane device in the embodiments of
(242) Alternatively, as one embodiment, the gateway forwarding plane device 1600 may further include: a second receiving unit 1605, configured to receive the context information sent by the gateway control plane device; and a first sending unit 1606, configured to forward the data packet according to the context information received by the second receiving unit 1605.
(243) Alternatively, as another embodiment, the second receiving unit 1605 is further configured to receive an instruction message sent by the gateway control plane device; and the processor 1602 is further configured to discard the data packet according to the instruction message, and/or the first sending unit 1606 is further configured to notify a sending end of the data packet of occurrence of abnormity.
(244) Alternatively, as another embodiment, the processor is further configured to judge whether a user equipment internet protocol (UE IP) address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address. Further, the processor 1602 is specifically configured to discard the data packet if the UE IP address of the data packet is not a user-subscribed static IP address. In this way, signaling interaction between the forwarding plane device and the control plane device can be effectively reduced. Or, the second sending unit 1604 is further configured to notify, if the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, the gateway control plane device that the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, so that the gateway control plane device initiates a network-triggered packet data network (PDN) connection establishment procedure.
(245) Alternatively, as another embodiment, the processor 1602 is further configured to delete part or all of context information stored by a memory of the gateway forwarding plane device. In this way, resources of the gateway forwarding plane device are saved, and cost is reduced. Further, the processor 1602 is specifically configured to delete part or all of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device according to a second message that is received by the second receiving unit 1605 and sent by the gateway control plane device; or, the processor 1602 is specifically configured to delete, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not transmit any data packet of a UE within a predefined time period, part or all of context information of the UE stored by the gateway forwarding plane device.
(246) Alternatively, as another embodiment, the processor 1602 is specifically configured to delete part of the context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein remaining context information at least including a UE IP address.
(247) Information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(248)
(249) The gateway control plane device 1700 may implement the respective steps involving a gateway control plane device in the methods of
(250) The receiving unit 1701 is configured to receive an event reporting message sent by a gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the event reporting message carries characteristic information of a data packet received by the gateway forwarding plane device.
(251) The processor 1702 is configured to acquire context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet received by the receiving unit 1701.
(252) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(253) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(254) The gateway control plane device 1700 may implement the respective steps involving the gateway control plane device in the methods of
(255) Alternatively, as one embodiment, the processor 1702 is specifically configured to trigger, when a user equipment (UE) corresponding to the data packet is in an Idle state, the UE to exit the Idle state; or specifically configured to judge, >when the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet is not found, whether a user equipment internet protocol (UE IP) address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, and if the UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, the gateway control plane device initiates a network-triggered packet data network (PDN) connection establishment procedure; or specifically configured to initiate, when the receiving unit 1701 receives information about that a UE IP address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, that is sent by the gateway forwarding plane device, a network-triggered PDN connection establishment procedure.
(256) The gateway control plane device 1700 may further include a sending unit 1703.
(257) Alternatively, as another embodiment, the sending unit 1703 is further configured to send, if the processor 1702 acquires the context information, the context information to the gateway forwarding plane device, so that the gateway forwarding plane device forwards the data packet according to the context information; and configured to send, if the processor 1702 does not acquire the context information, a first message to the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the first message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to discard the data packet and/or to notify a sending end of the data packet of occurrence of abnormity.
(258) Alternatively, as another embodiment, the sending unit 1703 is further configured to send a second message to the gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the second message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to delete part or all of context information stored by the gateway forwarding plane device. Further, the sending unit 1703 is specifically configured to send the second message to the gateway forwarding plane device when a UE does not exit an Idle state within a predefined time period, wherein the second message is used for instructing the gateway forwarding plane device to delete part or all of context information of the UE stored by the gateway forwarding plane device. In this way, resources of the gateway forwarding plane device are saved, and cost is reduced.
(259)
(260) The receiving unit 1801 is configured to receive an error notification sent by a receiving end of a data packet.
(261) The sending unit 1802 is configured to send an error event reporting message to a gateway control plane device, wherein the error event reporting message carries characteristic information of the data packet received by the receiving unit 1801, so that the gateway control plane device releases a packet data network (PDN) connection or initiates reestablishment according to the characteristic information of the data packet.
(262) The characteristic information of the data packet includes an APN, a UE IP address, tunnel information or the like. For example, tunnel information of a GTP packet includes a gateway IP address and a TEID. For another example, tunnel information of a PMIP packet includes a gateway IP address and a GRE key.
(263) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(264) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(265) The gateway forwarding plane device 1800 may realize the operations involving a gateway forwarding plane device of
(266) Alternatively, as one embodiment, the sending unit 1802 is specifically configured to send an error notification packet to the gateway control plane device, wherein the error notification packet may be a common IP packet, a GTP (GPRS Tunneling Protocol, GPRS tunneling protocol) packet, a PMIP (Proxy Mobile IP, proxy mobile IP) packet, an MIP (Mobile IP, mobile IP) packet, a GRE (Generic Route Encapsulation) packet, an L2TP (Layer 2 Tunnelling Protocol) packet or the like.
(267)
(268) The receiving unit 1901 is configured to receive an error event reporting message sent by a gateway forwarding plane device, wherein the error event reporting message carries characteristic information of a data packet.
(269) The processor 1902 is configured to release a packet data network (PDN) connection or initiate reestablishment according to the characteristic information of the data packet received by the receiving unit 1901.
(270) The gateway control plane device 1900 may realize the respective steps involving a gateway control plane device of
(271) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, when the gateway forwarding plane device does not find the context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, the gateway forwarding plane device reports the characteristic information of the received data packet to the gateway control plane device, so that the gateway control plane device acquires the context information. In this way, the gateway forwarding plane device can acquire context information to the greatest extent under the condition that the context information is lost, thereby ensuring accurate forwarding of the data packet to the greatest extent.
(272) Moreover, information processing under the conditions that a UE is in an Idle state, a UE is configured with a static IP address, a local end is abnormal and the like, is normalized to the greatest extent, namely a same processing mechanism may be adopted. Therefore, it is unnecessary to maintain complex service logics, and processing complexity of a device is reduced.
(273) Alternatively, as one embodiment, the receiving unit 1901 is specifically configured to receive an error notification packet sent by the gateway forwarding plane device.
(274)
(275) The receiving unit 2001 is configured to receive a data packet.
(276) The processor 2002 is configured to extract characteristic information of the data packet received by the receiving unit 2001, search for context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the data packet, judge, if the context information is not found, whether a user equipment internet protocol (UE IP) address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, and discard the data packet if the UE IP address of the data packet is not a user-subscribed static IP address.
(277) According to the embodiment of the present invention, under the architecture that control and forwarding are decoupled, the gateway forwarding plane device searches for context information corresponding to the characteristic information of the received data packet, judges, if the search fails, whether the user equipment Internet Protocol (UE IP) address of the data packet is a user-subscribed static IP address, and discards the data packet if the UE IP address of the data packet is not a user-subscribed static IP address. In this way, signaling interaction between the gateway forwarding plane device and the gateway control plane may be effectively reduced.
(278) It can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that, for the purpose of convenience and briefness in description, reference may be made to corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments for specific working processes of the above-described systems, devices and units, and will not be described redundantly herein.
(279) In several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be appreciated that the disclosed systems, apparatuses and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely exemplary, e.g., division of the units is just a logic function division, and other division manners may be adopted in practical implementation, e.g., a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated in another system, or some features may be omitted or not executed. From another point of view, the displayed or discussed mutual coupling, direct coupling or communication connection may be indirect coupling or communication connection of apparatuses or units through some interfaces, and may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.
(280) The units illustrated as separate components may be or may not be physically separated, and a component displayed as a unit may be or may not be a physical unit, that is to say, the component may be positioned at one place or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. The objectives of the solutions of the embodiments may be fulfilled by selecting part or all of the units according to actual needs.
(281) In addition, in various embodiments of the present invention, the respective functional units may be integrated in one processing unit, or the respective function units may separately and physically exist, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit.