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CN-122003921-A - Method, device and system for traffic routing

CN122003921ACN 122003921 ACN122003921 ACN 122003921ACN-122003921-A

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a device. In the method, an application function (application function, AF) sends first information about traffic routing requirements to a policy control function (policy control function, PCF). The first information regarding traffic routing requirements is used to obtain a target application location of the device from one or more application locations. Traffic originating from the device will be routed to the target application location. The first information about traffic routing requirements is also used to indicate privacy requirements during routing of the traffic between the device and the target application location. The data plane path is selected and configured according to the first information about the traffic routing requirements.

Inventors

  • LI XU
  • YANG CHENCHEN
  • SHI WEISEN
  • YING BIDI

Assignees

  • 华为技术有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20240125
Priority Date
20230929

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A method performed by an application function, AF, network entity, the method comprising: Sending first information about traffic routing requirements to a policy control function PCF network entity, wherein the first information about traffic routing requirements comprises: A first indication indicating a value, wherein the first indication indicates that the number of devices whose traffic is to be routed to a target application location for receiving traffic from at least one first device is greater than or equal to the value, and/or A second indication indicating that a source of the traffic originating from the at least one first device is indistinguishable to the target application location.
  2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second indication indicates that the source of traffic originating from the at least one first device is to be identified by a same address.
  3. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first information about traffic routing requirements further comprises at least one of: device information about one or more devices, wherein the at least one first device belongs to the one or more devices; Application location information regarding one or more application locations, wherein the one or more application locations include the target application location, or Traffic information regarding traffic originating from the one or more devices.
  4. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the device information about the at least one first device comprises at least one of: A first address of each of the at least one first device, a first identifier ID of each of the at least one first device, a public address of the at least one first device, or a public ID of the at least one first device.
  5. 5. The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first information about traffic routing requirements further comprises subscription information indicating subscriptions to one or more notifications, each notification indicating whether the number of devices whose traffic is routed to the target application location is greater than or equal to the value and/or whether the source of traffic originating from at least one first device is indistinguishable to the target application location.
  6. 6. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising: Receiving a first notification from a traffic coordination function, TCF, network entity, wherein the first notification indicates whether the number of devices whose traffic is routed to the target application location is greater than or equal to the value, and/or A second notification is received from the TCF network entity, wherein the second notification indicates whether a source of traffic originating from at least one first device is indistinguishable to the target application location.
  7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first notification comprises at least one of: Information about the at least one first device; a second address corresponding to the at least one first device, or A second port number corresponding to the at least one first device.
  8. 8. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the second notification comprises at least one of: Information about the at least one first device; a second address corresponding to the at least one first device, or A second port number corresponding to the at least one first device.
  9. 9. The method of any of claims 6 to 8, wherein the first notification and the second notification are the same notification.
  10. 10. The method according to any of claims 6 to 9, wherein the first notification further indicates the type of the first notification, and/or The second notification also indicates a type of the second notification.
  11. 11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising: Sending a synchronization indication to a TCF network entity, wherein the synchronization indication requests the TCF network entity to send a third notification to the at least one first device indicating whether the number of devices whose traffic is routed to the target application location is greater than or equal to the value and/or whether the source of traffic originating from at least one first device is indistinguishable to the target application location.
  12. 12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising: Transmitting a synchronization indication to the TCF network entity, wherein the synchronization indication requests the TCF network entity to transmit a third notification to at least one first device requesting the at least one first device to stop the traffic if the number of devices whose traffic is routed to the target application location is less than the value and/or if the source of traffic originating from the at least one first device is distinguishable for the target application location, and/or The synchronization indication requests the TCF network entity to send a fourth notification to the at least one first device requesting the at least one first device to initiate traffic if the number of devices whose traffic is routed to the target application location is greater than or equal to the value and/or if the source of traffic originating from the at least one first device is indistinguishable to the target application location.
  13. 13. The method of any of claims 1-12, wherein sending the first information regarding traffic routing requirements to the PCF network entity comprises: and sending the first information about the traffic routing requirement to the PCF network entity through the target network entity.
  14. 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the target network entity comprises a network capability open function, NEF, network entity and/or a network storage function, NSF, network entity.
  15. 15. A method performed by a policy control function, PCF, network entity, the method comprising: Receiving first information about traffic routing requirements from an application function AF network entity, wherein the first information about traffic routing requirements comprises: A first indication indicating a value, wherein the first indication indicates that the number of devices whose traffic is to be routed to a target application location for receiving traffic from at least one first device is greater than or equal to the value, and/or A second indication indicating that a source of traffic originating from the at least one first device is indistinguishable to the target application location; And sending second information indicating the traffic routing requirements to a traffic coordination function TCF network entity, wherein the second information is generated based on the first information about the traffic routing requirements.
  16. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein sending the second information indicating the traffic routing requirements to the TCF network entity comprises: One or more policies are sent to the TCF network entity, wherein the one or more policies include the second information and the one or more policies are generated based on the first information regarding traffic routing requirements.
  17. 17. The method of claim 15 or 16, wherein the second indication indicates that the source of traffic originating from the at least one first device is to be identified by the same address.
  18. 18. The method according to any of claims 15 to 17, wherein the first information about traffic routing requirements further comprises at least one of: device information about one or more devices, wherein the at least one first device belongs to the one or more devices; Application location information regarding one or more application locations, wherein the one or more application locations include the target application location, or Traffic information regarding traffic originating from the one or more devices.
  19. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the device information about the at least one first device comprises at least one of: A first address of each of the at least one first device, a first identifier ID of each of the at least one first device, a public address of the at least one first device, or a public ID of the at least one first device.
  20. 20. The method according to any of claims 15 to 19, wherein the first information about traffic routing requirements further comprises subscription information indicating subscriptions to one or more notifications, each notification indicating whether the number of devices whose traffic is routed to the target application location is greater than or equal to the value and/or whether the source of traffic originating from at least one first device is indistinguishable to the target application location.

Description

Method, device and system for traffic routing The present application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/586,733 filed on 9/29 of 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly, to a method, apparatus, and system for traffic routing, and a computer readable storage medium. Background When a device accesses an application through a communication system (e.g., a 5G system or future 6G system), the communication system connects the device to the application location, i.e., the network location where the application is located, through a data plane path. The application location corresponds to an application server hosting or running the application. After the device accesses the application, the device communicates with the application server via the data plane path. The application location associated with an application may be more than one. If multiple devices access an application, the communication system needs to select one or more appropriate application locations for the multiple devices. This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. It is not necessarily to be construed as an admission that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention. Disclosure of Invention The present invention provides a method for traffic routing to help improve data transmission efficiency and to protect privacy during data transmission. According to a first aspect, a method performed by an application function (application function, AF) network entity is provided. The method comprises sending first information about traffic routing requirements to a policy control function (policy control function, PCF) network entity, wherein the first information about traffic routing requirements comprises a first indication indicating a value, wherein the first indication indicates that the number of devices whose traffic is to be routed to a target application location for receiving traffic from at least one first device is greater than or equal to the value, and/or a second indication indicating that a source of the traffic originating from the at least one first device is indistinguishable to the target application location. Thus, the AF may request to affect traffic routing by sending first information about traffic routing requirements to the PCF. In this way, suitable application locations can be selected for different devices based on the first information about the traffic routing requirements. Traffic originating from different devices may be routed to different application locations instead of to a common application location, thereby improving traffic routing performance, according to the first information regarding traffic routing requirements. Furthermore, the source of traffic originating from the at least one first device will become indistinguishable for the target application location. In this way, the target application location will not know from which device(s) the traffic originated, thus achieving privacy protection. The first indication indicates a requirement for the number of devices whose traffic is to be routed to the target application location. Further, the second indication indicates a requirement for indistinguishability of traffic to be routed to the target application location. In one possible implementation, the method further comprises obtaining the first information about traffic routing requirements. In another possible implementation, the second indication indicates that the source of the traffic originating from the at least one first device is to be identified by the same address. In this way, the source of traffic originating from the at least one first device will become indistinguishable from the target application location, thereby enabling privacy protection of the device. In another possible implementation, the first information about traffic routing requirements further comprises at least one of device information about one or more devices to which the at least one first device belongs, application location information about one or more application locations, wherein the one or more application locations comprise the target application location, or traffic information about traffic originating from the one or more devices. In this case, one or more devices whose traffic (i.e., application traffic) is to be routed may be identified by the device information. The first target application location may be selected from application locations identified by the application location information. Traffic originating from one or more devices that needs to be routed is identified by traffic information. In another possible implementation, the device information about the at least one first d