CN111130906A - Gateway fault recovery method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a gateway failure recovery method and device, wherein the gateway failure recovery method includes: the SGW-U receives downlink data from the PGW-U, where the downlink data corresponds to a bearer identifier; If the U determines that there is no bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, the SGW-U sends error indication information to the PGW-U, where the error indication information includes the bearer identifier, and the error indication information is used for The control plane packet gateway PGW-C is instructed to start the downlink trigger notification PDTN process for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; by implementing the embodiment of the present application, the service corresponding to the bearer of the downlink data can be quickly restored.

Description

Gateway fault recovery method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for recovering a failure of a gateway.

Background

Based on the concept of separation of the Control plane and the User plane, the network architecture includes a Control plane Gateway and a User plane Gateway, for example, in a 4G network architecture, the Control plane Gateway may include a Control plane PDN Gateway (PDN Gateway for Control plane, PGW-C) and a Control plane Serving Gateway (SGW-C), the User plane Gateway may include a User plane PDN Gateway (PDN Gateway for User plane, PGW-U) and a User plane Serving Gateway (SGW-U), the PGW-C is used for managing a session of the PGW-U, and the SGW-C is used for managing a session of the SGW-U.

In the prior art, in a restart scenario after an SGW-C fails, a PGW-C detects an SGW-C failure through a heartbeat, and the PGW-C sets a bearer associated with the SGW-C as a reserved bearer, that is, context information of the bearer associated with the SGW-C is not deleted, and triggers a PGW Downlink Triggering Notification (PDTN) flow when the PGW-C receives a downlink signaling associated with the bearer, and reselects the SGW-C and the SGW-U through the PDTN flow, thereby recovering the service of the bearer. The failure recovery mode depends on that the PGW-C detects the SGW-C failure and the failure recovery is not timely when further triggered downlink signaling is required to be received.

In a scenario where the SGW-U fails, the SGW-C may select a backup SGW-U, which may take over the session in the failed SGW-U, but this approach is difficult to implement and requires reservation of backup resources.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a method and a device for recovering a failure of a gateway, which can be triggered by downlink data to quickly recover a service correspondingly borne by the downlink data, so that the timeliness of recovery of the service borne by the service is improved.

In a first aspect, a method for recovering a failure of a gateway is provided, where the method for recovering a failure of a gateway may be performed by an SGW-U or a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system-on-a-chip) of the SGW-U. The method comprises the following steps: and the SGW-U receives downlink data from the PGW-U, wherein the downlink data corresponds to the bearer identification. The SGW-U may analyze the packet corresponding to the downlink data to obtain the bearer identifier corresponding to the downlink data.

And when the SGW-U determines that no bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier exists, the SGW-U sends Error Indication information (e.g., Error Indication) to the PGW-U, where the Error Indication information includes the bearer identifier, and the Error Indication information is used to indicate the PGW-C to start a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, so as to recover the service of the bearer. Wherein the PGW-C is configured to manage a session of the PGW-U. Correspondingly, after receiving the error indication information, the PGW-C sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer, and starts a PDTN procedure to recover the service of the bearer.

Optionally, the reason why the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier does not exist in the SGW-U includes, but is not limited to, a restart of the SGW-U, and/or a failure of the SGW-C, where the failure may include restart after the SGW-C failure or restart after the SGW-C failure. If the SGW-U is restarted, the context information of the bearer associated with the SGW-U before the restart is lost, and the bearer associated with the SGW-U before the restart includes a bearer corresponding to downlink data.

If the SGW-C fails, when the SGW-U detects the SGW-C failure, the SGW-U deletes the context information of the bearer associated with the SGW-C, wherein the bearer associated with the SGW-C comprises the bearer corresponding to the downlink data. Therefore, when the SGW-U receives the downlink data, the SGW-U cannot find the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier of the downlink data.

By implementing the embodiment of the application, the SGW-U can be triggered to send the error indication information in time through the downlink data, the error indication information comprises the bearing identifier, and the PGW-C is indicated through the error indication information to start the PDTN flow aiming at the bearing corresponding to the bearing identifier, so that the service of the bearing is recovered quickly, the implementation mode is simple, and the timeliness is good.

In one possible design, before the SGW-U receives downlink data from the PGW-U, the method further includes: the SGW-U is restarted, possibly due to a failed restart, wherein context information of a bearer associated with the SGW-U is lost before the restart, and the bearer associated with the SGW-U comprises a bearer corresponding to the bearer identification of the downlink data. Therefore, when the SGW-U receives the downlink data of the bearer identifier, the context information corresponding to the bearer identifier cannot be searched, and it is determined that there is no bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. And the SGW-U sends error indication information to the PGW-U, so that the PGW-C is triggered to start a PDTN flow through the error indication information, and the loaded service is quickly recovered.

By implementing the embodiment, when the SGW-U is restarted, the recovery of the bearer service can be rapidly triggered through the downlink data, and the timeliness of fault recovery is improved.

In one possible design, before the SGW-U receives downlink data from the PGW-U, the method further includes: SGW-U detects SGW-C failure in a manner including, but not limited to, Echo detection. Further, the SGW-U deletes the context information of the bearer associated with the SGW-C, wherein the bearer associated with the SGW-C comprises the bearer corresponding to the bearer identification. Therefore, when the SGW-U receives the downlink data of the bearer identifier, the context information corresponding to the bearer identifier cannot be searched, and it is determined that there is no bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. And the SGW-U sends error indication information to the PGW-U, so that the PGW-C is triggered to start a PDTN flow through the error indication information, and the loaded service is quickly recovered.

By implementing the embodiment, when the SGW-C fails, the recovery of the bearer service can be rapidly triggered through the downlink data, and the timeliness of failure recovery is improved.

In a second aspect, a method for recovering a failure of a gateway is provided, where the method for recovering a failure of a gateway may be performed by a PGW-C, or may be performed by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system-on-chip) of the PGW-C. The method comprises the following steps: and the PGW-C receives the error indication information from the PGW-U, namely after the PGW-U receives the error indication information sent by the SGW-U, the error indication information is sent to the PGW-C. The error indication information is triggered when the SGW-U receives the downlink data and determines that the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier of the downlink data does not exist.

The error indication information includes a bearer identifier corresponding to the downlink data, and the error indication information is used to indicate the PGW-C to start the PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. Optionally, after receiving the error indication information, the PGW-C sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer, and starts a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, so as to recover the service of the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

Wherein the PGW-C is configured to manage a session of the PGW-U.

By implementing the embodiment of the application, the PGW-C can be triggered in time through the downlink data to start the PDTN flow aiming at the bearer corresponding to the downlink data, so that the service of the bearer can be recovered quickly, the implementation mode is simple, and the timeliness is good.

In a possible design, the PGW-C may start a PDTN procedure for a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, where the PGW-C may select a new SGW-C and send a PDTN message to the new SGW-C, where the PDTN message includes the bearer identifier, the new SGW-C sends the PDTN message to the MME, the MME reselects an SGW-C for the bearer, and the service of the bearer is recovered on the SGW-C. It can be understood that the new SGW-C selected by the PGW-C and the SGW-C reselected by the MME for the bearer may be the same or different. The SGW-C reselected by the MME for the bearer may also be the same as or different from the failed SGW-C or the SGW-C associated with the restart SGW-U, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited. An SGW-C associated with a restarting SGW-U may be understood as the SGW-C that is used to manage the session for that SGW-U.

By implementing the embodiment, the service carried by the downlink data corresponding to the PDTN flow can be quickly recovered.

In a third aspect, a method for recovering a failure of a gateway is provided, where the method for recovering a failure of a gateway may be performed by a PGW-U, or may be performed by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system-on-chip) of the PGW-U. The method comprises the following steps: and the PGW-U receives downlink data, and the downlink data corresponds to the bearing identification. The PGW-U may obtain the bearer identifier corresponding to the downlink data from the header corresponding to the downlink data.

The PGW-U may traverse to search for a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, and if the PGW-U determines that the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer, the PGW-U sends a first message to the PGW-C, where the first message includes the bearer identifier. The first message is used for requesting the PGW-C to start a PDTN procedure for a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, so as to recover the service of the bearer. Wherein the PGW-C is configured to manage a session of the PGW-U. Correspondingly, after receiving the first message, the PGW-C starts a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, thereby recovering the service of the bearer.

By implementing the embodiment of the application, the PGW-U can set the reserved bearer and inform the PGW-C to start the PDTN flow aiming at the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier when receiving the downlink data matched with the reserved bearer, so that the service of the bearer is quickly recovered, and the fault recovery is timely.

Optionally, the reason why the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as the reserved bearer includes but is not limited to: SGW-U failure, and/or SGW-C failure. The failure recovery processing methods in the two cases are described below, respectively.

In a first optional implementation manner, in case of an SGW-U failure, when a PGW-U detects the SGW-U failure, a bearer associated with the SGW-U is set as a reserved bearer, where the bearer associated with the failed SGW-U includes a bearer corresponding to a bearer identifier of downlink data. Therefore, when the PGW-U receives the downlink data corresponding to the bearer identifier, the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier that will be matched is set as a reserved bearer.

And the PGW-U determines that the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer, and sends a first message for indicating the PGW-C to start a PDTN flow aiming at the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier to the PGW-C.

Correspondingly, after receiving the first message, the PGW-C sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer, and starts a PDTN procedure to quickly recover the service of the bearer.

By the embodiment, under the condition that the PGW-U detects the SGW-U fault, the corresponding bearer is set to be the bearer retaining mode through the PGW-U, and the PDTN flow is started quickly, so that the fault bearer service is recovered in time.

In a second alternative embodiment, the SGW-C fails and the PGW-C detects the SGW-C failure. Wherein, the PGW-C sets the bearer associated with the failed SGW-C as a reserved bearer. The PGW-C may further send a second message to the PGW-U, where the second message includes an identifier of the failed SGW-C, and the second message is used to instruct the PGW-U to set the bearer associated with the identifier of the SGW-C as a reserved bearer.

Correspondingly, the PGW-U receives the second message, and sets the bearer associated with the identifier of the faulty SGW-C as a reserved bearer, where the bearer associated with the identifier of the faulty SGW-C includes a bearer corresponding to a bearer identifier of downlink data, and therefore, when the PGW-U receives the downlink data corresponding to the bearer identifier, the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is matched to be set as the reserved bearer, and further sends, to the PGW-C, a first message for instructing the PGW-C to start a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, so as to recover the service of the bearer through the PDTN procedure.

By the embodiment of the implementation manner, in a scenario where the PGW-C detects an SGW-C failure, and further indicates that the PGW-U sets the bearer associated with the SGW-C as a reserved bearer, and the service of the bearer is quickly recovered when the bearer matched to the downlink data by the PGW-U is the reserved bearer.

In one possible design, the second message may further include timestamp information indicating that the PGW-U will precede a timestamp indicated by the timestamp information and that the bearer associated with the identity of the SGW-C is set as a reserved bearer. Optionally, the timestamp indicated by the timestamp information may be a timestamp when the PGW-C detects the SGW-C failure, or may also be a timestamp of the SGW-C failure, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In a fourth aspect, a method for recovering a failure of a gateway is provided, where the method for recovering a failure of a gateway may be performed by a PGW-C or a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system-on-chip) of the PGW-C. The method comprises the following steps: the method includes the steps that a PGW-C receives a first message from the PGW-U, the first message comprises a bearer identifier, a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set to be a reserved bearer in the PGW-U, and the first message is used for requesting the PGW-C to start a PDTN flow aiming at the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. The first message may be triggered when the PGW-U receives downlink data and determines that a bearer corresponding to the downlink data is set as a reserved bearer.

And the PGW-C starts a PDTN flow aiming at the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier so as to recover the service of the bearer, wherein the PGW-C is used for managing the session of the PGW-U.

In a possible design, after receiving the first message, if it is determined that the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is not set as a reserved bearer in the PGW-C, the PGW-C sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as the reserved bearer, and starts a PDTN procedure.

For example, if the PGW-U detects an SGW-U failure, the PGW-U sets a bearer associated with the SGW-U as a reserved bearer. When receiving the downlink data matched with the reserved bearer, the PGW-U sets the bearer as the reserved bearer, but the PGW-C does not set the bearer as the reserved bearer, so that when receiving the first message sent by the PGW-U, the PGW-C sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as the reserved bearer, and then starts the PDTN procedure.

Through the embodiment of the application, when the PGW-U detects the SGW-U, the bearer associated with the SGW-U may be set as a reserved bearer, so that when downlink data of the reserved bearer is matched, a service of the bearer corresponding to the downlink data is quickly recovered.

In one possible design, in the case that the PGW-C detects the SGW-C failure, the PGW-C sets a bearer associated with the failed SGW-C as a reserved bearer, where the bearer associated with the failed SGW-C includes a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

And the PGW-C sends a second message to the PGW-U, wherein the second message comprises the identifier of the failed SGW-C, and the second message is used for indicating the PGW-U to set the bearer associated with the identifier of the failed SGW-C as a reserved bearer.

Optionally, to facilitate the PGW-U to determine which bearers are bearers associated with the SGW-C, the PGW-C indicates, to the PGW-U, an identifier of the SGW-C through a session level message, where the session level message corresponds to the bearer, and therefore, the bearer associated with the SGW-C may be determined through the session level message and the identifier of the SGW-C included in the session level message. Optionally, the second message may be a network element level message.

Through the embodiment of the application, when the PGW-C detects that the SGW-C fails, the PGW-C may notify the PGW-U to set the bearer associated with the failed SGW-C as the reserved bearer, so that when downlink data of the reserved bearer is matched, a service corresponding to the downlink data is quickly recovered.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the method described in the first aspect above. The communication device may be an SGW-U. For example, an apparatus includes: a transceiving unit and a processing unit. The receiving and sending unit is used for receiving downlink data from a user plane packet data gateway (PGW-U), and the downlink data corresponds to the bearer identifier. If the processing unit determines that the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier does not exist, the transceiver unit is further configured to send error indication information to the PGW-U, where the error indication information includes the bearer identifier, and the error indication information is used to indicate a control plane packet gateway PGW-C to start a downlink trigger notification PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. Wherein the PGW-C is configured to manage a session of the PGW-U.

Optionally, the SGW-U restarts, wherein context information of a bearer associated with the SGW-U is lost before the restart, and the bearer associated with the SGW-U includes a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, so that there is no bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier of the downlink data.

In a possible implementation manner, in a case that an SGW-C failure is detected, the processing unit deletes context information of a bearer associated with the SGW-C, where the bearer associated with the SGW-C includes a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, so that there is no bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier of downlink data;

wherein the SGW-C is configured to manage sessions of the SGW-U.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the method described in the second aspect above. The communication device may be a PGW-C. For example, an apparatus includes: a transceiving unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit is configured to receive error indication information from a PGW-U, where the error indication information includes a bearer identifier, and the error indication information is used to indicate the PGW-C to start a PDTN procedure for a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. The processing unit is configured to set the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer, and start a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

Wherein the PGW-C is configured to manage a session of the PGW-U.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit is further configured to send a downlink trigger notification PDTN message, where the PDTN message includes the bearer identifier, and the PDTN message is used to instruct the access and mobility management network element MME to select the serving gateway SGW for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the method described in the third aspect. The communication device may be a PGW-U. For example, an apparatus includes: a transceiving unit and a processing unit. The receiving and sending unit is used for downlink data, and the downlink data corresponds to the bearing identification; the transceiver unit is further configured to send a first message to a PGW-C when the processing unit determines that the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer, where the first message includes the bearer identifier, and the first message is used to request the PGW-C to start a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier;

wherein the PGW-C is configured to manage a session of the PGW-U.

In a possible design, the processing unit is further configured to, in a case that an SGW-U failure is detected, set a bearer associated with the SGW-U as a reserved bearer, where the bearer associated with the SGW-U includes a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

In a possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a second message, where the second message includes an identifier of an SGW-C, and the second message is used to instruct the PGW-U to set a bearer associated with the identifier of the SGW-C as a reserved bearer; the processing unit is further configured to set a bearer associated with the identifier of the SGW-C as a reserved bearer, where the bearer associated with the identifier of the SGW-C includes a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

In one possible design, the second message further includes timestamp information, where the timestamp information is used to indicate that the PGW-U will precede a timestamp indicated by the timestamp information, and a bearer associated with the identifier of the SGW-C is set as a reserved bearer.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the method described in the fourth aspect above. The communication device may be a PGW-C. For example, an apparatus includes: a transceiving unit and a processing unit. The receiving and sending unit is configured to receive a first message from a PGW-U, where the first message includes a bearer identifier, where a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer in the PGW-U, and the first message is used to request the PGW-C to start a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; and the processing unit is used for starting a PDTN flow aiming at the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

Wherein the PGW-C is configured to manage a session of the PGW-U.

In one possible design, the processing unit is further configured to set a bearer corresponding to the bearer identification as a reserved bearer.

In one possible design, the processing unit is further configured to set, in a case that an SGW-C failure is detected, a bearer associated with the SGW-C as a reserved bearer, where the bearer associated with the SGW-C includes a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; the transceiver unit is further configured to send a second message to the PGW-U, where the second message includes the identifier of the SGW-C, and the second message is used to instruct the PGW-U to set a bearer associated with the identifier of the SGW-C as a reserved bearer.

It should be noted that the functional modules in the fifth aspect to the eighth aspect may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions. E.g. a transceiver for performing the functions of the receiving unit and the transmitting unit, a processor for performing the functions of the processing unit, a memory for the processor to process the program instructions of the methods of the present application. The processor, transceiver and memory are connected by a bus and communicate with each other. In particular, reference may be made to the functionality of the behavior of the gateway device in the method of the first aspect to the method of the fourth aspect.

In a ninth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device for implementing the method described in the first aspect. The communication device includes a system-on-chip. For example the communication device comprises a processor for implementing the functions in the method described in the first aspect above. The communication device may also include a memory for storing program instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor may call and execute the program instructions stored in the memory, so as to implement the functions of the method described in the above first aspect. The communication device may further comprise a communication interface for the communication device to communicate with other devices. Illustratively, the communication device is an SGW-U, and the other device is a PGW-U.

In one possible arrangement, the communication interface may be a transceiver. And the transceiver is used for receiving the downlink data and sending the error indication information. The processor is configured to determine whether a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier of the downlink data exists, which may specifically refer to the descriptions in the foregoing aspects and is not described herein again.

In a tenth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device for implementing the method described in the second aspect. The communication device includes a system-on-chip. For example the communication device comprises a processor for implementing the functions in the method described in the second aspect above. The communication device may also include a memory for storing program instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor can call and execute the program instructions stored in the memory, so as to implement the functions in the method described in the second aspect. The communication device may further comprise a communication interface for the communication device to communicate with other devices. Illustratively, if the communication device is a PGW-C, the other device is a PGW-U.

In one possible arrangement, the communication interface may be a transceiver. And the transceiver is used for sending the PDTN message and receiving the error indication information. The processor is configured to set a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier in the error indication information as a reserved bearer, which may specifically refer to the descriptions in the foregoing aspects and is not described in detail.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application further provides a communication device for implementing the method described in the third aspect. The communication device includes a system-on-chip. For example the communication device comprises a processor for implementing the functions in the method described in the third aspect above. The communication device may also include a memory for storing program instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor may call and execute the program instructions stored in the memory for implementing the functions in the method described in the third aspect. The communication device may further comprise a communication interface for the communication device to communicate with other devices. Illustratively, if the communication device is a PGW-U, the other device is a PGW-C.

In one possible arrangement, the communication interface may be a transceiver. And the transceiver is used for receiving the downlink data and transmitting the first message. The processor is configured to determine whether a bearer identifier corresponding to the downlink data is set as a reserved bearer, which may specifically refer to the descriptions in the foregoing aspects and is not described herein again.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application further provides a communication apparatus for implementing the method described in the fourth aspect. The communication device includes a system-on-chip. For example, the communication device comprises a processor for implementing the functions in the method described in the fourth aspect above. The communication device may also include a memory for storing program instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor can call and execute the program instructions stored in the memory, so as to implement the functions in the method described in the above fourth aspect. The communication device may further comprise a communication interface for the communication device to communicate with other devices. Illustratively, if the communication device is a PGW-C, the other device is a PGW-U.

In one possible arrangement, the communication interface may be a transceiver. A transceiver for receiving the first message and transmitting the second message. The processor is configured to set the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer, which may specifically refer to the descriptions in the foregoing aspects and is not described in detail.

In a thirteenth aspect, a method for recovering a failure of a gateway is provided, where the method includes:

the SGW-U receives downlink data from the PGW-U, wherein the downlink data corresponds to the bearing identification;

under the condition that the SGW-U determines that no bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier exists, the SGW-U sends error indication information to the PGW-U, wherein the error indication information comprises the bearer identifier, and the error indication information is used for indicating a control plane packet gateway (PGW-C) to start a downlink trigger notification (PDTN) process for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier;

the PGW-U receives the error indication information and sends the error indication information to a PGW-C;

the PGW-C receives the error indication information, sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer, and starts a PDTN flow aiming at the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier;

wherein the PGW-C is configured to manage a session of the PGW-U.

In one possible design, in case that the SGW-U detects an SGW-C failure, the SGW-U deletes context information of a bearer associated with the SGW-C, where the bearer associated with the SGW-C includes a bearer corresponding to the bearer identification;

wherein the SGW-C is configured to manage sessions of the SGW-U.

In a fourteenth aspect, a method for recovering a failure of a gateway is provided, where the method includes:

the PGW-U receives downlink data, and the downlink data corresponds to the bearing identification;

sending, by the PGW-U, a first message to a PGW-C, where the first message includes the bearer identifier, and the first message is used to request the PGW-C to start a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, when the PGW-U determines that the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer;

the PGW-C receives a first message from the PGW-U, and starts a PDTN flow aiming at the load corresponding to the load identification;

wherein the PGW-C is configured to manage a session of the PGW-U.

In a possible design, before the PGW-C starts a PDTN procedure for a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, the method further includes:

and the PGW-C sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identification as a reserved bearer.

In a fifteenth aspect, the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium comprising: computer software instructions; the computer software instructions, when executed in the communication apparatus, cause the communication apparatus to perform the method of any of the first to fourth aspects described above.

In a sixteenth aspect, the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions for causing a communication device to perform the method of any of the first to fourth aspects described above, when the computer program product is run in the communication device.

In a seventeenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor and may further include a memory, and is configured to implement the function of the gateway in the foregoing method. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

Eighteenth aspect, the present application also provides a communication system comprising the SGW-U described in the fifth aspect and the PGW-C described in the sixth aspect; or the communication system comprises the PGW-U described in the seventh aspect, and the PGW-C described in the eighth aspect.

In addition, the technical effects brought by the design manners of any aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought by different design manners in the first aspect to the fourth aspect, and are not described herein again.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments or the background art of the present application, the drawings required to be used in the embodiments or the background art of the present application will be described below.

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method for recovering from a failure of a gateway according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of fault recovery in an SGW-U restart scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of fault recovery in an SGW-C fault scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of a method for recovering a failure of a gateway according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of fault recovery in an SGW-U fault scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of fault recovery in an SGW-C fault scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication apparatus according to the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in the present application.

Detailed Description

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments section of the present application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments of the present application only and is not intended to be limiting of the present application.

The terms "first," "second," and "third," etc. in the description and claims of this application and the above-described drawings are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for limiting a particular order.

In the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the system may be divided into an access network and a core network. The access network is used for implementing functions related to radio access, and mainly includes Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment. For example, the terminal device may access the core network through an evolved universal Radio access network (E-UTRAN).

According to the concept of separating a control plane from a user plane, an S-GW and a P-GW in a core network are divided into an SGW-C, SGW-U, PGW-C and a PGW-U, and the access of GPRS/UMTS/LTE users is supported. Specifically, optionally, the core network may include the following key logic network elements: an access and Mobility Management Entity (MME), a PGW-C, PGW-U, SGW-C, SGW-U, Policy and Charging control (PCRF), a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN), and a third party Server, among others. The interfaces between the network elements are shown in figure 1. The functions of the network elements are described in detail below:

a UE may also be referred to as a terminal device. A terminal device may communicate with one or more Core Networks (CNs) via an access network device. A terminal device may be called an access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless network device, user agent, gateway device, or user equipment. The terminal may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capability, a computing device or other device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device or internet of things, a terminal device in a vehicle network, a terminal device in any form in a future network, and the like.

The access network device is a device for accessing the terminal device to the wireless network, and may specifically be a base station. The base stations may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also referred to as small stations), relay stations, access points, etc. The method specifically comprises the following steps: an Access Point (AP) in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a base station (NodeB, NB) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), an Evolved Node B (Evolved Node B, eNB, or eNodeB) in LTE, or a relay station or access point, or a vehicle-mounted device.

And the PCRF is mainly responsible for policy control and charging control, makes decisions according to the service information used by the user and the policy information signed by the user, determines the policies for using and charging the user service, and issues the policies to a policy execution entity in the gateway.

The HSS is mainly used for storing a database of user subscription information, and the stored information comprises: user identification information, user security control information, user location information, user policy control information, and the like.

The SGSN, as an important component of GPRS/TD-SCDMA (WCDMA) core network packet domain equipment, mainly completes the functions of packet data packet routing forwarding, mobility management, session management, logical link management, authentication and encryption, ticket generation and output, and the like.

The MME is mainly responsible for processing control signaling such as user access control, service bearing control, paging, switching control and the like.

The third-party server, which may be an application server, may belong to the operator, or may belong to a third party.

The SGW-C and the PGW-C are used as session management functional entities to realize session access and management, selection of the SGW-U and the PGW-U, full interconnection between the SGW-C and the SGW-U, and full interconnection between the PGW-C and the PGW-U, so that all session or non-session message interaction processes between a control plane (SGW-C, PGW-C) and a user plane (SGW-U, PGW-U) are realized. The control plane needs to perform service interaction with peripheral entities, maintain a session, for example, interact with the PCRF through a Gx interface, and interact with the OCS through a Gy interface to implement online charging, and is a centralized interface of external signaling.

The SGW-U and PGW-U, as functional entities of the user plane, can perform session or non-session message interaction with the control plane through the Sx interface, and can issue the S1-U interface address of the home terminal to the (R) AN side and implement session management, and also issue the routing policy of the UE IP address of the session to the SGi side, so that the downlink packet can find the user plane to perform data forwarding processing.

Before describing the method of the present application in detail, a brief description of some concepts involved in the present application will be provided.

The application scenario of the embodiment of the application may be that when the SGW-C and/or the SGW-U fails, the service of the corresponding bearer associated with the failed SGW-C and/or the SGW-U may be quickly recovered through downlink data. For example, the method can be applied to a paging scenario of voice service, and can quickly recover the carried service through downlink data.

In this embodiment of the present application, setting a corresponding bearer as a reserved bearer may mean that context information of the bearer is not deleted.

The PDTN procedure in this embodiment may refer to that, when an SGW-C and/or an SGW-U fails and downlink data of a bearer associated with the SGW-C and/or the SGW-U is received, a PGW-C may select a new SGW-C and send a PDTN message to the new SGW-C, where the PDTN message includes a bearer identifier corresponding to the downlink data, and the new SGW-C sends the PDTN message to an MME to trigger the MME to reselect an SGW for the bearer identifier (the reselect SGW may include the SGW-C and further reselect the SGW-U), and further, a service of the bearer identifier is recovered in the reselected SGW. Optionally, the new SGW-C, MME selected by the PGW-C may be the same or different between the reselected SGW-C and the failed SGW-C for the bearer identity. Optionally, the new SGW-C, MME selected by the PGW-C may be the same or different between the SGW-C reselected for the bearer identity and the SGW-C associated with the failed SGW-U. The SGW-C associated with the failed SGW-U may be understood as the SGW-C that is used to manage the SGW-U's session.

In this embodiment of the present application, the configuration of the PGW-C to start the reserved bearer PDTN function means that the PGW-C has a function of setting the reserved bearer and starting the PDTN procedure.

In this embodiment of the present application, the configuration of the PGW-U to open the reserved bearer PDTN function means that the PGW-U has a function of setting the reserved bearer and triggering the PGW-C associated with the PGW-U to start the PDTN procedure, where the PGW-C associated with the PGW-U means that the PGW-C is used for managing a session of the PGW-U.

The bearer corresponding to the downlink data in the embodiment of the present application may be understood as a bearer resource used for transmitting the downlink data, and may include, for example, a tunnel resource between an SGW-U and a PGW-U;

the failure mentioned in the embodiment of the present application may include, but is not limited to, restart after failure or restart after failure, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

Referring to fig. 2, a flowchart of a method for recovering from a failure of a gateway according to an embodiment of the present application is shown, where the method for recovering from a failure of a gateway according to an embodiment of the present application includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s101, the SGW-U receives downlink data from the PGW-U, and the downlink data corresponds to the bearer identification.

In an embodiment, after receiving the downlink data, the PGW-U may encapsulate the bearer identifier corresponding to the downlink data and the downlink data as a packet and send the packet to the SGW-U. And the SGW-U can obtain the bearer identifier corresponding to the downlink data.

S102, when the SGW-U determines that there is no bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, the SGW-U sends error indication information to the PGW-U, where the error indication information includes the bearer identifier, and the error indication information is used to indicate a control plane packet gateway PGW-C to start a downlink trigger notification PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; wherein the PGW-C is configured to manage a session of the PGW-U.

In one embodiment, the SGW-U traverses bearers associated with the SGW-U, and determines whether a bearer corresponding to the bearer identification exists. Optionally, it may be determined whether a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier exists in a Packet Detection Rule (PDR) matching manner. For example, the SGW-U matches the bearer identifier of the downlink data with the bearer identifier in each PDR of the at least one PDR, determines that a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier exists if there is a matched PDR, and determines that no bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier exists if there is no matched PDR. It can be understood that, if there is no bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, the SGW-U does not have context information of the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, and thus transmission of downlink data cannot be achieved.

The reason why the SGW-U does not have the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier may include, but is not limited to: SGW-U restart, and/or SGW-C failure, as set forth separately below.

In a first optional implementation manner, if the SGW-U is restarted, context information of a bearer associated with the SGW-U before the SGW-U is restarted is lost, and the bearer associated with the SGW-U before the SGW-U is restarted includes a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. Here, the bearer associated with the SGW-U before the SGW-U is restarted may be understood as a bearer in an active state on the SGW-U before the SGW-U is restarted. Because the context information of the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is lost, when the SGW-U receives the downlink data corresponding to the bearer identifier, the SGW-U may not match the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

In a second optional implementation manner, if the SGW-C fails, when the SGW-U detects the SGW-C failure, context information of a bearer associated with the SGW-C is deleted, where the bearer associated with the SGW-C includes a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. Because the context information of the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is deleted, when the SGW-U receives the downlink data corresponding to the bearer identifier, the SGW-U may not match the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

And in the case that the SGW-U determines that no bearer corresponding to the bearer identification exists, the SGW-U sends Error Indication information (such as Error Indication) to the PGW-U, wherein the Error Indication information comprises the bearer identification.

S103, the PGW-U sends error indication information to the PGW-C, wherein the error indication information comprises a bearing identifier.

And S104, the PGW-C sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer, and starts a PDTN flow aiming at the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

In an embodiment, after receiving the error indication information, the PGW-C does not delete the context information corresponding to the bearer identifier, but sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer, and further starts a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier to quickly recover the service of the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

The method shown in fig. 2 is described in more detail below in conjunction with fig. 3 and 4. Fig. 3 is an exemplary flowchart of recovering the service of the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier in the SGW-U restart scenario, that is, a first optional implementation corresponding to step S102 in fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an exemplary flowchart of recovering the service of the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier in an SGW-C failure scenario, that is, a second alternative implementation corresponding to step S102 in fig. 2, and fig. 3 and fig. 4 are respectively described below.

Referring to fig. 3, in the SGW-U restart scenario, the fault recovery method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

the PGW-U detects that the SGW-U is normal through the Echo, so that the subsequent PGW-U receives downlink data and then sends the downlink data to the SGW-U.

S201, the SGW-U restarts, and the context information of the load associated with the SGW-U is lost before restarting.

And the PGW-U receives the downlink data, and because the PGW-U/SGW-C does not detect the SGW-U restart, the PGW-U forwards the downlink data to the SGW-U.

S202, the SGW-U receives downlink data sent by the PGW-U, and as the carried context information is lost, the matching PDR fails, and the SGW-U has no corresponding carrier.

S203, the SGW-U sends an Error Indication information Error Indication message to the PGW-U.

S204, the PGW-U receives the Error Indication message replied by the SGW-U and sends the Error Indication message to the PGW-C.

S205, the PGW-C is configured to start a reserved bearer PDTN function, so that after receiving the Error Indication message, the PGW-C obtains a bearer identifier in the Error Indication message, and searches whether a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier exists, if so, sets the bearer as a reserved bearer, and triggers a PDTN procedure to recover a service of the bearer, where the PDTN procedure may include, but is not limited to, steps S206 to S209.

S206, the PGW-C selects a new SGW-C to send a PGW downlink trigger notification message (e.g., a PDTN message), where the PGW downlink trigger notification message includes a bearer identifier, where the new SGW-C may be the same as or different from the SGW-C corresponding to the SGW-U in steps S201 to S205, and the embodiment of the present invention is not limited.

S207, the new SGW-C sends a PGW downlink trigger notification message to the MME, where the PGW downlink trigger notification message includes a bearer identifier, where after receiving the PGW downlink trigger notification message, the MME reselects an SGW-C for the bearer identifier, and the SGW-C further reselects an SGW-U, where the reselected SGW-C may be the same as or different from the SGW-C associated with the SGW-U in steps S201 to S205, and the reselected SGW-U may be the same as or different from the SGW-U in steps S201 to S205, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

S208, the MME sends a PGW downlink trigger response message to the new SGW-C.

S209, the new SGW-C sends a PGW downlink trigger response message to the PGW-C.

And further recovering the service on the bearer corresponding to the bearer identification on the reselected SGW-C and/or SGW-U.

By implementing the embodiment of the application, the PGW-C can be triggered by the error indication information replied by the SGW-U to start the reserved PDTN flow, and when the PGW-U/SGW-C does not detect the SGW-U restart, the quick recovery of the downlink data trigger service is realized.

Referring to fig. 4, in an SGW-C failure scenario, the failure recovery method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s301, SGW-C fails.

S302, if the SGW-U detects the SGW-C failure, deleting the context information of the load bearing related to the SGW-C;

and the PGW-U receives the downlink data, and because the PGW-U does not detect the SGW-U fault or restart, the PGW-U forwards the downlink data to the SGW-U.

S303, the SGW-U receives the downlink data sent by the PGW-U, and the matching PDR fails because the carried context information is deleted, and the SGW-U has no corresponding carrier.

S304, the SGW-U sends an Error Indication information Error Indication message to the PGW-U.

S305, the PGW-U receives the Error Indication message replied by the SGW-U and reports the Error Indication message to the PGW-C.

S306, the PGW-C sets the bearer as a reserved bearer, and triggers a PDTN procedure to recover the service of the bearer, wherein the PDTN procedure may include, but is not limited to, steps S307-S310.

And S307, the PGW-C selects a new SGW-C to send a PGW downlink trigger notification message.

S308, the new SGW-C sends a PGW downlink trigger notification message to the MME.

S309, the MME sends a PGW downlink trigger response message to the new SGW-C.

And S310, the new SGW-C sends a PGW downlink trigger response message to the PGW-C.

Please refer to steps S203 to S209 of the embodiment of fig. 3 for steps S304 to S310, which are not described herein again.

Referring to fig. 5, a flowchart of a method for recovering from a failure of a gateway according to an embodiment of the present application is shown, where the method for recovering from a failure of a gateway according to an embodiment of the present application includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s401, the PGW-U receives downlink data, and the downlink data corresponds to the bearer identification.

In an embodiment, after receiving the downlink data, the PGW-U may obtain a bearer identifier corresponding to the downlink data from a header corresponding to the downlink data.

S402, when the PGW-U determines that the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer, the PGW-U sends a first message to a PGW-C, where the first message includes the bearer identifier, and the first message is used to request the PGW-C to start a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier;

in one embodiment, the PGW-U is configured to turn on a reserved bearer PDTN function. After the PGW-U obtains the bearer identification corresponding to the downlink data through analysis, the PGW-U searches for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identification. And if the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer in the PGW-U, the PGW-U sends a first message to the PGW-C, where the first message includes the bearer identifier. Optionally, the first message may be a reserved bearer PDTN message. The first message is used to request the PGW-C to start a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, so as to recover the service of the bearer.

The reason why the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as the reserved bearer in the PGW-U includes, but is not limited to: SGW-U failures, and/or SGW-C failures, as described separately below.

In a first optional embodiment, if the SGW-U fails, the PGW-U may detect that the SGW-U fails through the Echo, and the PGW-U sets a bearer associated with the SGW-U as a reserved bearer, where the bearer associated with the SGW-U may be understood as a bearer whose tunnel resource information includes an identifier of the SGW-U, and the tunnel resource information refers to a bearer resource between the PGW-U and the SGW-U, or may also be understood as a bearer whose context information includes the identifier of the SGW-U. Therefore, when the PGW-U receives the downlink data corresponding to the bearer identifier, the bearer matched to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer. Optionally, the PGW-U may also set, as a reserved bearer, a bearer associated with the SGW-U and located before a certain timestamp, from among the bearers in an active state on the PGW-U. The certain timestamp may be a timestamp of the SGW-U failure, or may also be a timestamp of the PGW-U detecting the SGW-U failure, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In a second optional embodiment, if the SGW-C fails, the PGW-C may detect the SGW-C failure through the Echo, and the PGW-C sets the bearer associated with the SGW-C as a reserved bearer. The bearer associated with the SGW-C may be understood as a bearer whose context information includes an identification of the SGW-C. And the bearer associated with the SGW-C comprises a bearer corresponding to the bearer identification.

Further, the PGW-C sends a second message to the PGW-U, where the second message includes an identifier of the SGW-C, and the second message is used to indicate that the PGW-U sets a bearer associated with the SGW-C as a reserved bearer. Optionally, the second message may be a Packet Forwarding Control Protocol (PFCP) network element (Node) level message, such as an Update (Update) message (Sx Association Update) message, where the message may include an Identifier of the SGW-C, and the Identifier of the SGW-C may include, but is not limited to, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the SGW-C, or a full qualified PDN Connection Set Identifier (FQ-CSID), or other information capable of identifying the SGW-C. The PGW-U is instructed by the PFCP network element level message to set the bearer associated with the SGW-C as the reserved bearer, which can reduce signaling overhead compared to a manner in which a certain bearer is instructed by the user level message to be the reserved bearer, because the bearers associated with the SGW-C are thousands of times, if the bearers are instructed by the user level message, thousands of times of signaling is required, which is large signaling overhead, and all bearers associated with the SGW-C can be instructed at once by the network element level message to be the reserved bearers.

Correspondingly, after receiving the second message, the PGW-U acquires the identifier of the SGW-C from the second message, and sets the bearer associated with the SGW-C as a reserved bearer, that is, sets the bearer including the identifier of the SGW-C in the context information as a reserved bearer. And the bearer associated with the SGW-C comprises a bearer corresponding to the bearer identification. Therefore, when the PGW-U receives the downlink data corresponding to the bearer identifier, it is determined that the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as the reserved bearer.

Optionally, the second message may further include timestamp information, where a timestamp indicated by the timestamp information may be a timestamp of the SGW-C failure, or may also be a timestamp of the PGW-C detecting the SGW-C failure, which is not limited in this embodiment. The PGW-U may set, in the bearer associated with the SGW-C and before the timestamp indicated by the timestamp information, to be a reserved bearer, where the bearer before the timestamp indicated by the timestamp information and the bearer associated with the SGW-C include a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

It is to be appreciated that, in the second alternative embodiment, in order to facilitate the PGW-U to determine the bearer associated with the SGW-C, the PGW-C may indicate the bearer associated with the SGW-C to the PGW-U in advance. For example, the PGW-C may indicate the identity of the SGW-C to the PGW-U through a user-level message, which may be a Session Establishment or Modification message (e.g., Session Establishment/Modification), in the user activation or Modification procedure. The PGW-U may determine, through the user-level message, a bearer corresponding to the user-level message, so that the PGW-U may establish a correspondence between the identifier of the SGW-C and the bearer, for example, the context information of the bearer in the PGW-U may include the identifier of the SGW-C. When the SGW-C fails, the PGW-U may traverse each bearer whose context information includes the identifier of the failed SGW-C, thereby determining the bearer associated with the failed SGW-C.

And S403, the PGW-C starts a PDTN flow aiming at the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier.

In one embodiment, a PGW-C receives a first message sent by a PGW-U, where the first message includes a bearer identity. The first message is used for requesting the PGW-C to start a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. Optionally, if the PGW-C does not set the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as the reserved bearer, the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as the reserved bearer, and a PDTN procedure is started for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. For example, in the first optional implementation manner in step S402, after receiving the first message, the PGW-C sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier included in the first message as a reserved bearer, and starts a PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. If the PGW-C has set the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as the reserved bearer, the PGW-C may not be set again. For example, in the second optional implementation manner in step S402, before receiving the first message, the PGW-C sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as the reserved bearer, and then the bearer may not be set again.

Further optionally, to avoid failure of the PDTN procedure due to factors such as flow control, the PGW-C may notify the PGW-U of a reset state, where the reset state is to send a first message to the PGW-C again, where the first message is used to instruct the PGW-C to start the PDTN procedure for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, when the PGW-U is instructed to receive the downlink data corresponding to the bearer identifier again.

The method shown in fig. 5 is described in more detail below in conjunction with fig. 6 and 7. Fig. 6 is an exemplary flowchart of recovering a service of a bearer corresponding to a bearer identifier in a scenario where a PGW-U detects an SGW-U failure and sets a bearer associated with the SGW-U as a reserved bearer, that is, in a first optional implementation manner corresponding to step S402 in fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an exemplary flowchart of recovering the service of the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier in a scenario where the PGW-C detects an SGW-C failure and sets the bearer associated with the SGW-C as a reserved bearer, that is, a second alternative implementation corresponding to step S402 in fig. 5, and fig. 6 and fig. 7 are respectively described below.

Referring to fig. 6, in an SGW-U fault scenario, the steps of the fault recovery method include, but are not limited to, the following steps:

s501, SGW-U fails.

S502, the PGW-U detects the SGW-U fault through Echo.

And S503, the PGW-U is configured to start a reserved bearer PDTN function, and the PGW-U traverses and searches for the bearer associated with the failed SGW-U, and sets the bearer associated with the failed SGW-U as the reserved bearer.

S504, the PGW-U receives the downlink data and obtains a bearer identifier corresponding to the downlink data, and the PGW-U matches whether there is a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, and if the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer in step S503, the reserved bearer will be matched.

And S505, the PGW-U sends a reserved bearer PDTN message to the PGW-C, wherein the reserved bearer PDTN message comprises a bearer identifier.

S506, the PGW-C is configured to open a reserved bearer PDTN function, and when the PGW-C receives a reserved bearer PDTN message sent by the PGW-U, the PGW-C sets a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer and triggers a PDTN procedure, where the PDTN procedure may include, but is not limited to, steps S507-S510.

S507, the PGW-C selects a new SGW-C to send a PGW downlink trigger notification message (e.g., a PDTN message), where the PGW downlink trigger notification message includes a bearer identifier, and the new SGW-C may be the same as or different from the SGW-C corresponding to the SGW-U in steps S501 to S506, which is not limited in this embodiment.

S508, the new SGW-C sends a PGW downlink trigger notification message to the MME, where the PGW downlink trigger notification message includes a bearer identifier, where after receiving the PGW downlink trigger notification message, the MME reselects an SGW-C and/or an SGW-U for the bearer identifier, where the reselected SGW-C may be the same as or different from the SGW-C corresponding to the SGW-U in steps S501 to S506, and the reselected SGW-U may be the same as or different from the SGW-U in steps S501 to S506, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

S509, the MME sends a PGW downlink trigger response message to the new SGW-C.

S510, the new SGW-C sends a PGW downlink trigger response message to the PGW-C.

And further recovering the service on the bearer corresponding to the bearer identification on the reselected SGW-C and/or SGW-U.

By implementing the embodiment of the application, when the SGW-U fails, the SGW-U failure can be detected through the PGW-U, the bearer associated with the SGW-U is set as the reserved bearer on the PGW-U, and when downlink data corresponding to the reserved bearer is received, the PGW-C can be timely notified to send and start a PDTN (packet data transport network) process so as to trigger rapid service recovery.

Referring to fig. 7, in an SGW-C failure scenario, the steps of the failure recovery method include, but are not limited to, the following steps:

s601, PGW-C sends user level message (for example: Sx Session Establishment/Modification) to PGW-U, the message includes IP address/FQ-CSID of SGW-C/or other information capable of identifying SGW-C. The corresponding bearer can be determined through the user-level message, so that the PGW-U can establish a correspondence between the SGW-C identifier and each bearer.

And S602, SGW-C fails.

S603, the PGW-C detects the SGW-C fault through Echo.

The PGW-C is configured to turn on a reserved bearer PDTN function, and the PGW-C sets the bearer associated with the failed SGW-C as the reserved bearer.

S604, the PGW-C indicates the identification and the timestamp information of the fault SGW-C to the PGW-U through the PFCP Node level updating message.

S605, the PGW-C receives the PFCP Node level update message, traverses and searches the load associated with the SGW-C, and sets the load before the timestamp indicated by the timestamp information as a reserved load.

S606, the PGW-U receives the downlink data and obtains a bearer identifier corresponding to the downlink data, and the PGW-U matches whether there is a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, and if the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer in step S605, the reserved bearer will be matched.

And S607, the PGW-U sends a reserved bearer PDTN message to the PGW-C, wherein the reserved bearer PDTN message comprises a bearer identifier.

S608, the PGW-C is configured to open a reserved bearer PDTN function, and when the PGW-C receives a reserved bearer PDTN message sent by the PGW-U, the PGW-C sets a bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer and triggers a PDTN procedure, where the PDTN procedure may include, but is not limited to, steps S609 to S612.

And S609, the PGW-C selects a new SGW-C to send a PGW downlink trigger notification message (for example, a PDTN message), and the PGW downlink trigger notification message includes a bearer identifier.

S610, the new SGW-C sends a PGW downlink trigger notification message to the MME, where the PGW downlink trigger notification message includes a bearer identifier.

S611, the MME sends a PGW downlink trigger response message to the new SGW-C.

And S612, the new SGW-C sends a PGW downlink trigger response message to the PGW-C.

Please refer to steps S505 to S510 in fig. 6 for steps S607 to S612, which are not described herein again.

By implementing the embodiment of the application, when the SGW-C fails, the SGW-C failure can be detected through the PGW-C, the PGW-C issues a notification to the PGW-U to set the bearer associated with the failed SGW-C as the reserved bearer, and when downlink data corresponding to the reserved bearer is received, the PGW-C can be timely notified to start a PDTN flow so as to trigger rapid service recovery.

It will be appreciated that in order to implement the functionality of the above embodiments, the SGW-U, PGW-U and PGW-C include corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules that perform the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and method steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends on the particular application scenario and design constraints imposed on the solution.

Fig. 8 and 9 are schematic structural diagrams of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. These communication devices may be used to implement the functionality of the SGW-U, PGW-U and PGW-C in the above-described method embodiments, and thus also achieve the benefits of the above-described method embodiments. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device may be the SGW-U, PGW-U or the PGW-C shown in fig. 1, or may be a module (e.g., a chip) applied to the SGW-U, PGW-U or the PGW-C.

As shown in fig. 8, the communication device 1100 includes a processing unit 1110 and a transceiving unit 1120. The communications device 1100 is used to implement the functionality of the SGW-U, PGW-U or PGW-C in the method embodiment described above and illustrated in any of fig. 2-7.

When the communication device 1100 is used to implement the functionality of the SGW-U in the method embodiment shown in fig. 2: the transceiver 1120 is configured to perform the transceiving operations in S101 and S102; the processing unit 1110 is configured to perform the determination action in S102.

When the communications apparatus 1100 is used to implement the functionality of PGW-C in the method embodiment shown in fig. 2: the transceiver 1120 is configured to perform S103; the processing unit 1110 is configured to perform the determination action in S104.

When the communication device 1100 is used to implement the functionality of the SGW-U in the method embodiment shown in fig. 3: the transceiving unit 1120 is configured to perform S203; the processing unit 1110 is configured to execute S202.

When communications apparatus 1100 is used to implement the functionality of PGW-C in the method embodiment shown in fig. 3: the transceiver 1120 is configured to perform S204; the processing unit 1110 is configured to execute S205.

When the communication device 1100 is used to implement the functionality of the SGW-U in the method embodiment shown in fig. 4: the transceiver 1120 is configured to perform S304; the processing unit 1110 is configured to execute S302 and S303.

When communications apparatus 1100 is used to implement the functionality of PGW-C in the method embodiment shown in fig. 4: the transceiver 1120 is configured to perform S305; the processing unit 1110 is configured to execute S306.

When communications apparatus 1100 is used to implement the functionality of the PGW-U in the method embodiment shown in fig. 5: the transceiving unit 1120 is configured to perform the transmitting actions in S401 and S402; the processing unit 1110 is configured to perform the determination action in S402.

When communications apparatus 1100 is used to implement the functionality of PGW-C in the method embodiment shown in fig. 5: the transceiving unit 1120 is configured to perform S402; the processing unit 1110 is configured to execute S403.

When the communications apparatus 1100 is used to implement the functionality of the PGW-U in the method embodiment shown in fig. 6: the transceiver 1120 is configured to perform S505; the processing unit 1110 is configured to execute S502, S503, S504.

When communications apparatus 1100 is used to implement the functionality of PGW-C in the method embodiment shown in fig. 6: the transceiver 1120 is configured to perform S505; the processing unit 1110 is configured to execute S506.

When communications apparatus 1100 is used to implement the functionality of the PGW-U in the method embodiment shown in fig. 7: the transceiver 1120 is configured to perform S601, S604, and S607; the processing unit 1110 is configured to execute S605 and S606.

When communications apparatus 1100 is used to implement the functionality of PGW-C in the method embodiment shown in fig. 7: the transceiver 1120 is configured to perform S601, S604, and S609; the processing unit 1110 is configured to execute S603 and S608.

The more detailed description of the processing unit 1110 and the transceiver 1120 can be directly obtained by referring to the related description in the method embodiments shown in fig. 2 to fig. 7, which is not repeated herein.

As shown in fig. 9, the communication device 1200 includes a processor 1210 and an interface circuit 1220. The processor 1210 and the interface circuit 1220 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1220 may be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 1200 may further include a memory 1230 for storing instructions to be executed by the processor 1210 or for storing input data required by the processor 1210 to execute the instructions or for storing data generated by the processor 1210 after executing the instructions.

When the communication device 1200 is used to implement the methods shown in fig. 2 to 7, the processor 1210 is configured to perform the functions of the processing unit 1110, and the interface circuit 1220 is configured to perform the functions of the transceiver 1120.

The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device, which comprises a processor and an interface; the processor is configured to perform the method of any of the method embodiments described above with reference to fig. 2-7.

It should be understood that the processing means may be a chip. For example, the processing device may be a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, a system on chip (SoC), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DSP), a microcontroller (micro controller unit, MCU), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD) or other integrated chip. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

It will be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by software instructions executed by a processor. The software instructions may be comprised of corresponding software modules that may be stored in Random Access Memory (RAM), flash Memory, Read-Only Memory (ROM), Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may reside in a network device or a terminal device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a network device or a terminal device.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network appliance, a user device, or other programmable apparatus. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer program or instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire or wirelessly. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; or optical media such as Digital Video Disks (DVDs); it may also be a semiconductor medium, such as a Solid State Drive (SSD).

In the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or conflicting with respect to logic, the terms and/or descriptions in different embodiments have consistency and may be mutually cited, and technical features in different embodiments may be combined to form a new embodiment according to their inherent logic relationship.

In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. In the description of the text of the present application, the character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of the present application, the character "/" indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in a relationship of "division".

It is to be understood that the various numerical references referred to in the embodiments of the present application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

Claims (14)

1. a kind of fault recovery method of gateway, is characterized in that, comprises: The user plane serving gateway SGW-U receives downlink data from the user plane packet data gateway PGW-U, where the downlink data corresponds to the bearer identifier; In the case that the SGW-U determines that there is no bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, the SGW-U sends error indication information to the PGW-U, where the error indication information includes the bearer identifier, the The error indication information is used to instruct the control plane packet gateway PGW-C to start the downlink trigger notification PDTN process for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; Wherein, the PGW-C is used to manage the session of the PGW-U. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein before the SGW-U receives the downlink data from the PGW-U, the method further comprises: The SGW-U restarts, wherein before the restart, the context information of the bearer associated with the SGW-U is lost, and the bearer associated with the SGW-U includes the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein before the SGW-U receives the downlink data from the PGW-U, the method further comprises: In the case that the SGW-U detects the failure of the control plane serving gateway SGW-C, the SGW-U deletes the context information of the bearer associated with the SGW-C, the bearer associated with the SGW-C Including the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; Wherein, the SGW-C is used to manage the session of the SGW-U. 4. A fault recovery method for a gateway device, comprising: The PGW-C receives error indication information from the PGW-U, where the error indication information includes a bearer identifier, and the error indication information is used to instruct the PGW-C to start a PDTN process for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; The PGW-C sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer, and starts a PDTN process for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; Wherein, the PGW-C is used to manage the session of the PGW-U. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the starting a PDTN process for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier comprises: The PGW-C sends a downlink trigger notification PDTN message, the PDTN message includes the bearer identifier, and the PDTN message is used to instruct the access and mobility management network element MME to select a serving gateway SGW for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. 6. A fault recovery method for a gateway device, comprising: The PGW-U receives downlink data, where the downlink data corresponds to the bearer identifier; When the PGW-U determines that the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer, the PGW-U sends a first message to the PGW-C, where the first message includes the bearer identifier, the The first message is used to request the PGW-C to start a PDTN process for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; Wherein, the PGW-C is used to manage the session of the PGW-U. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein before the PGW-U receives the downlink data, the method further comprises: In the case that the PGW-U detects the failure of the SGW-U, the PGW-U sets the bearer associated with the SGW-U as a reserved bearer, and the bearer associated with the SGW-U includes the The bearer identifies the corresponding bearer. 8. The method of claim 6, wherein before the PGW-U receives the downlink data, the method further comprises: The PGW-U receives a second message from the PGW-C, the second message includes the identification of the SGW-C, and the second message is used to indicate that the PGW-U will associate with the identification of the SGW-C. The bearer is set to reserved bearer; The PGW-U sets the bearer associated with the identifier of the SGW-C as a reserved bearer, and the bearer associated with the identifier of the SGW-C includes the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier. 9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the second message further comprises time stamp information, and the time stamp information is used to indicate that the PGW-U will use the time stamp indicated by the time stamp information. 10 . Previously, the bearer associated with the identifier of the SGW-C is set as a reserved bearer. 10. A fault recovery method for a gateway device, comprising: The PGW-C receives the first message from the PGW-U, where the first message includes a bearer identifier, wherein the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier is set as a reserved bearer in the PGW-U, and the first message uses in requesting the PGW-C to start a PDTN process for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; The PGW-C starts a PDTN process for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; Wherein, the PGW-C is used to manage the session of the PGW-U. 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein before the PGW-C starts a PDTN process for the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier, the method further comprises: The PGW-C sets the bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier as a reserved bearer. 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein before the PGW-C receives the first message from the PGW-U, the method further comprises: In the case that the PGW-C detects the failure of the SGW-C, the PGW-C sets the bearer associated with the SGW-C as a reserved bearer, and the bearer associated with the SGW-C includes the The bearer corresponding to the bearer identifier; The PGW-C sends a second message to the PGW-U, the second message includes the identifier of the SGW-C, and the second message is used to indicate that the PGW-U will communicate with the SGW-C The bearer that identifies the associated bearer is set as a reserved bearer. 13. A communication device, comprising: at least one processor, a memory, a bus and an interface circuit, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, so that when the computer program is executed by the at least one processor Implement a method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, or implement a method as claimed in claim 4 or 5, or implement a method as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 9, or implement a method as claimed in claim The method of any one of 10 to 12. 14. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising: computer software instructions; When the computer software instructions run in the communication device or a chip built in the communication device, the communication device device causes the communication device to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, or to perform the method as claimed in claim 4 or 5 Said method, or execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 9, or execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 12.

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