JP-7855102-B1 - Information processing equipment, communication systems, edge servers, and control programs

JP7855102B1JP 7855102 B1JP7855102 B1JP 7855102B1JP-7855102-B1

Abstract

[Problem] To reduce the delay when acquiring information from a mobility device when the edge server to which the mobility device is connected switches. [Solution] The information processing device (60) includes a pre-movement detection unit (62) that detects, by referring to switching information obtained from the core network (30), that the second edge server (100b) will become the connection destination in advance of the edge servers (100a, 100b) to which the mobility device (10) is connected, switching from the first edge server (100a) to the second edge server (100b) as the mobility device (10) moves, and a pre-movement notification unit (63) that notifies one or both of the first edge server (100a) and the second edge server (100b) that the second edge server (100b) will become the connection destination by transmitting switching information. [Selection Diagram] Figure 1

Inventors

今野慎太郎
山田悠士
磯部翔

Assignees

ソフトバンク株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20250311

Claims (6)

A pre-movement detection unit detects, by referencing switching information obtained from the core network using the Nnef_TrafficInfluence function, that the edge server to which the mobility device connects via the core network will switch from the first edge server to the second edge server in order for the mobility device to move, before the switch occurs. A pre-movement notification unit that, prior to the switchover from the first edge server to the second edge server due to the movement of the mobility device, notifies one or both of the first and second edge servers that the second edge server will be the destination for the connection by transmitting the switching information, An information processing device equipped with the following features.
A communication system comprising an information processing device, a first edge server, and a second edge server, The aforementioned information processing device is A pre-movement detection unit detects, by referring to switching information obtained from the core network, that the edge server to which the mobility device connects via the core network will switch from the first edge server to the second edge server in order for the mobility device to move, before the switch occurs. The system includes a pre-movement notification unit that, prior to the switchover from the first edge server to the second edge server due to the movement of the mobility device, the second edge server will become the destination for the connection, by transmitting the switching information to one or both of the first and second edge servers. On the first edge server, an application that references the device information of the mobility device is running. The first edge server mentioned above is After the connection destination of the mobility device switches to the second edge server, the application obtains the device information from the mobility device via the core network and the second edge server in order to refer to the device information. Communication system.
The first edge server mentioned above is The system comprises a first ICN (Information Centric Networking) router, and a first gateway device that relays the core network and the first ICN router. The second edge server described above is The system includes a second ICN router and a second gateway device that relays the connection between the core network and the second ICN router. The first ICN router described above is The communication system according to claim 2, wherein after receiving the switching information, and following (1) failure to obtain the device information via the first gateway device, or (2) at a timing in which it can be considered that the connection destination of the mobility device has switched to the second edge server, the system obtains the device information from the mobility device via the core network, the second gateway device, and the second ICN router.
The first ICN router and the second ICN router are, They belong to the same ICN, In response to the first ICN router receiving the switching information, it updates the routing information indicating the connection path to the mobility device. The communication system according to claim 3.
An edge server that serves as the destination for mobility devices via the core network, The system includes an ICN router and a gateway device that relays between the core network and the ICN router. The aforementioned ICN router is When the edge server to which the mobility device is connected is the same device, the device information of the mobility device is obtained from the mobility device via the core network and the gateway device. Before the edge server to which the mobility device is connected switches from itself to another edge server in response to the movement of the mobility device, it receives switching information from an external device connected to the core network indicating that the other edge server will be the destination for the connection switch. In response to receiving the aforementioned switching information, the routing information indicating the connection path to the mobility device is updated. After receiving the switching information, and following (1) the inability to obtain the device information via the gateway device, or (2) at a time when it can be considered that the connection destination of the mobility device has switched to the other edge server, the device information is obtained from the mobility device via the core network and the gateway device and ICN router of the other edge server. Edge server.
A control program for causing a computer to function as an information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the control program causes the computer to function as the pre-movement detection unit and the pre-movement notification unit.

Description

One aspect of the present invention relates to an information processing device, a communication system, an edge server, and a control program. Conventionally, there are known technologies for applications running on edge servers such as MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing) to acquire information indicating the location of mobility devices installed in vehicles via the core network and, as appropriate, other edge servers. In addition, there are known technologies that enable access to mobility devices with a single IP address even when going through other edge servers by introducing a server device that centrally manages the IP addresses of mobility devices, and ICN (Information Centric Networking) routing that enables access to mobility devices using content names (device names). Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for updating routing in an information-oriented network (ICN). Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-6988 This is a diagram showing an example of a communication system configuration.This figure shows an example of a configuration that represents the communication system shown in Figure 1 from a different perspective.This is an example of a flowchart illustrating the processing flow in an existing communication system.This is an example of a flowchart illustrating the processing flow in the communication system of this invention. The following describes in detail one embodiment of the present invention. <Example of a communication system configuration> Figure 1 shows an example of the configuration of the communication system 1 according to this embodiment. The communication system 1 is a system that collects device information (IoT data) indicating the location of a mobility device 10 equipped on a moving object such as a vehicle, and has a configuration that can shorten the switching delay time when the edge server to which the mobility device 10 is connected handovers, i.e., when it switches over. Note that the device information may include information other than the location of the mobility device 10, or may contain information other than the location of the mobility device 10. Figure 2 shows an example of the configuration of the communication system 1 shown in Figure 1 from a different side. Therefore, one or more components included in Figure 1 and one or more components included in Figure 2 correspond to each other. The core network 30 is a 5G communication system network that includes various nodes not shown in the diagram, such as UPF (User Plane Function), AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function), SMF (Session Management Function), PCF (Policy Control Function), AF (Application Function), AUSF (Authentication Server Function), and UDM (User Data Management). Each of these nodes is also referred to as an NF (Network Function). The architecture of the core network 30 was formulated by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). Typically, the core network 30 is connected to numerous (R)ANs ((Radio) Access Networks, gNBs, base station equipment), and each RAN is wirelessly connected to one or more mobility devices 10 corresponding to UEs (User Equipment). In this disclosure, (R)ANs not shown in Figure 1, etc., may be considered to be included in the core network 30. Furthermore, the core network 30 collects individual information of the mobility devices 10, information about the GW (Gateway) to which each mobility device 10 is connected, and information about the handover of the mobility devices 10, etc. Application 50 is an application that receives device information transmitted from the mobility device 10 and provides predetermined services. Examples of users of Application 50 include businesses related to autonomous driving and businesses that provide information on traffic congestion. ICN (Information Centric Networking) 40 is an information-oriented network architecture composed of multiple ICN routers, such as ICN router 40a. Each ICN router holds routing information indicating the connection path to the mobility device 10, and enables access to the mobility device 10 using a device name (content name) that uniquely identifies the mobility device 10. In addition, each ICN router automatically updates the routing information when the edge server to which the mobility device 10 is connected switches. Since NDN (Named Data Networking) and Zenoh are specific examples of ICN 40, the description of this embodiment may be applied by substituting ICN 40 with NDN or Zenoh. Each GW, namely GW20a and GW20b, is a device that acts as a gateway when the mobility device 10 connects to the ICN40 via the core network 30, and relays communication between the core network 30 and the ICN40. Each GW can be implemented as part of the functionality of the IoT-PF (Internet of Things Platform), which serves as the IoT data termination point. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, each ICN router and each GW are components of a MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing), which is a type of edge server. Specif