WO2024198757A1 - Service provision method, apparatus, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a service provision method, an apparatus, and a storage medium. The service provision method comprises: determining a plurality of services according to a plurality of service assurance capabilities of a communication network, wherein each service corresponds to one service assurance capability; allocating a corresponding identifier to each service in the plurality of services; and sending an identifier of a target service to a consumer of the target service in the plurality of services, so that the consumer obtains the target service according to the identifier of the target service.

Description

Service providing method, device, and storage medium

This disclosure claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202310358141.X filed on March 27, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a service providing method, device and storage medium.

Background Art

With the development of communication technology, especially with the rise of vertical industries, the amount of traffic entering or between clouds is increasing, and users' requirements for network quality are becoming higher and higher, and are gradually showing a diversified trend.

Summary of the invention

On the one hand, a service providing method is provided. The service providing method comprises:

Determine multiple services based on multiple service assurance capabilities of the communication network, each service corresponding to a service assurance capability;

Assigning a corresponding identifier to each of the multiple services;

An identifier of a target service among multiple services is sent to a consumer of the target service, so that the consumer acquires the target service according to the identifier of the target service.

In another aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device comprises:

A processing module, configured to determine a plurality of services according to a plurality of service guarantee capabilities of a communication network, each service corresponding to a service guarantee capability; and assign a corresponding identifier to each of the plurality of services;

The communication module is used to send the identifier of the target service to the consumer of the target service among the multiple services, so that the consumer can obtain the target service according to the identifier of the target service.

In another aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes: a memory and a processor; the memory and the processor are coupled; the memory is used to store instructions executable by the processor; when the processor executes the instructions, the communication device implements the method described in the above aspect.

In another aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein computer program instructions are stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program instructions are executed by a computer, the method described in the above aspect is implemented.

In yet another aspect, a computer program product is provided, wherein the computer program product comprises computer program instructions, and when the computer program instructions are executed by a computer, the computer implements the method described in the above aspect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in this application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in some embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the drawings described below are only drawings of some embodiments of the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings based on these drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system according to some embodiments.

FIG2 is a flow chart of a service providing method according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a grading situation of a service quality indicator according to some embodiments.

FIG4 is a flowchart of another service providing method according to some embodiments.

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a service providing method according to some embodiments.

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a scenario of another service providing method according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of yet another service providing method according to some embodiments.

FIG8 is a scenario diagram of yet another service providing method according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to some embodiments.

FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the technical solutions in the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that, in the present disclosure, words such as "exemplarily" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplarily" or "for example" in the present disclosure should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplarily" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific way.

In the following, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first", "second", etc. may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features.

In the description of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, "/" means "or", for example, A/B can mean A or B. "And/or" in this article is only a way to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, A and/or B can mean: only A, only B, and A and B. In addition, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more.

With the development of communication technology, especially with the rise of vertical industries, the traffic into or between clouds is increasing, and users' requirements for network quality are getting higher and higher, and gradually showing a diversified trend. In related technologies, in order to meet the new business needs constantly raised by users, business customization is usually based on network slicing or dedicated lines.

However, when customizing services based on network slices or dedicated lines, it is necessary to identify service traffic through the quintuple and implement service customization requirements through physical resource blocks (PRBs) to fixed slices or dedicated lines.

On the one hand, when customizing services based on network slicing, the granularity of network slicing is relatively coarse. Taking the data center interconnect (DCI) backbone network as an example, the network slices corresponding to the DCI backbone network only include three types: high bandwidth, low latency, and ordinary Internet. Therefore, the business needs that can be met are limited.

On the other hand, when customizing services based on dedicated lines, it is usually necessary to add a dedicated line that meets the new service requirements and transmit service messages based on the dedicated line. First, this method is costly and has poor reusability, and the opening and operation and maintenance cycle is long. When new services need to be added, the existing network and services need to be replanned. Secondly, since the underlying network can only identify services through fields such as differentiated services code point (DSCP), the DSCP field in the message may not be sufficient to meet the increasing number of business needs. Thirdly, this method will force the network to expand, unable to fully utilize the capabilities of the existing network, and reduce network resource utilization. For example, the current resource utilization of the entire operator network is around 30% to 50%. Finally, since the dedicated line is relatively fixed, this method cannot flexibly arrange and customize the capabilities of the underlying network.

In this regard, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a service providing method, which includes: determining multiple services based on multiple service guarantee capabilities of a communication network, each service corresponding to a service guarantee capability; assigning a corresponding identifier to each of the multiple services; and sending the identifier of the target service to consumers of the target service among the multiple services, so that the consumer obtains the target service based on the identifier of the target service.

It should be noted that the service provision method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied to systems of various communication formats. For example, the system to which the method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied includes but is not limited to the long term evolution (LTE) system, various versions based on LTE evolution, 5G system, and new radio (NR) and other next generation communication systems. In addition, it can also be applied to future-oriented communication technologies, etc.

The network architecture of the communication network in the embodiments of the present disclosure may include an underlying network, a service provision platform, and a terminal. In some embodiments, the service provision platform includes: a network operation platform and/or a network orchestrator. The communication system is a new type of network architecture for network service, which is used to meet the differentiated needs of the growing applications for the network and realize the deep integration of the terminal and the communication network.

Exemplarily, the following is an example in which a service provision platform includes a network operation platform and a network orchestrator. FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system. Referring to FIG1 , a communication system 100 may include, but is not limited to: an underlying network 101, a service provision platform 102, and a terminal 103. The service provision platform 102 includes a network operation platform 1021 and a network orchestrator 1022.

The underlay network 101, also known as the communication network, is the physical infrastructure on which the overlay network is built. The underlay network 101 is the underlying network responsible for delivering data packets across the network. In a data center environment, the role of the physical underlay network is to provide IP connectivity from any physical device (server, storage device, router or switch) to any other physical device.

In some embodiments, the underlying network can be abstracted into multiple services, each service corresponding to a service guarantee capability. Furthermore, each service corresponds to an identifier of a service. Exemplarily, the underlying network can be abstracted into a first service, a second service, ..., and an Nth service, where N is a positive integer. The first service can provide: a bandwidth of 10-100 megabits (M), a latency of 5-10ms, a jitter value within ±1ms, and a packet loss rate within 0.01%. The second service can provide: a bandwidth of more than 1 gigabit (G), a latency of 1-2ms, a jitter value within ±100us, and a packet loss rate within 0.001%.

In some embodiments, the underlying network 101 can achieve the promised service guarantee capability. In some embodiments, when the underlying network 101 is of different network types, it has different network capabilities and can achieve different service guarantee capabilities. As an example, in a segment routing (SRv6) network based on Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), the promised network quality of the deterministic network can be used to achieve service guarantee. For example, the identifier of the service can be mapped to a service carrier, and the service message can be transmitted through the service carrier. The service carrier in the underlying network includes at least one of the following: a tunnel, a network slice, and a path.

The network operation platform 1021 is used to provide services that meet business needs for the terminal. It should be understood that the network operation platform can also be called an operator platform, or a computing network dispatching center, etc., and this disclosure does not limit this. There is a communication connection between the network operation platform 1021 and the network orchestrator 1022.

In some embodiments, the network operation platform 1021 can manage the service types.

In some embodiments, the network operation platform 1021 may publish an identifier of a service to the terminal. For example, the network operation platform 1021 may publish an identifier of a target service subscribed by the terminal to the terminal.

The network orchestrator 1022 is used to sense the underlying network 101. It should be understood that the network orchestrator may also be referred to as a network controller, etc., and the present disclosure does not limit this. In some embodiments, there is a communication connection between the network orchestrator 1022 and the underlying network 101 and the network operation platform 1021.

In some embodiments, the network orchestrator 1022 can sense the underlying network 101 , for example, can monitor the service assurance capability of the underlying network, and obtain the sensed result. Furthermore, the network orchestrator 1022 can send the sensed result to the network operation platform 1021 .

It should be understood that the network operation platform 1021 and the network orchestrator 1022 may be deployed independently or integratedly.

Terminal 103 is also called User Equipment (UE). Terminal 103 can be a handheld device, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a computer, a smart home device or a smart office device with various communication functions, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the handheld device can be a smart phone. The vehicle-mounted device can be a vehicle-mounted navigation system. The wearable device can be a smart bracelet, a phone watch, etc. The computer can be a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer and a laptop computer. Smart home devices can be smart curtains and smart water meters. Smart office equipment can be a smart printer. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the form of the terminal.

In some embodiments, after receiving the service identifier, the terminal 103 binds the service message to the service according to the service requirements. For example, the service identifier is carried in the message header of the service service message. It should be noted that, although only a single terminal is shown in FIG1 , more terminals may exist in practice. The present disclosure does not limit this.

It should be understood that the above-mentioned communication system may also have other names (for example, it may also be called communication network, network system, network architecture or communication architecture, etc.), and the above-mentioned communication system may also include other network structures (such as core network elements, etc.), and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this.

In addition, the above communication system is only for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the present disclosure and does not constitute a limitation of the present disclosure. A person skilled in the art will know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution provided by the present disclosure is also applicable to similar technical problems.

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the service providing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is described below.

Fig. 2 shows a service providing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, which can be implemented by any software or hardware with processing functions, for example, by the above service providing platform. Referring to Fig. 2, the method includes the following steps S101 to S103.

S101. Determine multiple services according to multiple service guarantee capabilities of a communication network, where each service corresponds to a service guarantee capability.

In some embodiments, the service assurance capability may also have other names, for example, it may also be called: network capability, business assurance capability, network deterministic capability, service quality requirement, network service capability or business capability, etc., and the present disclosure does not limit this.

In some embodiments, the service assurance capability includes constraints on service quality indicators. In some examples, the service quality indicators include one or more indicators required in a service level agreement (SLA).

In some embodiments, the service quality indicator includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: transmission bandwidth, delay, jitter value, packet loss rate, and time-frequency synchronization indicator. It should be understood that with the development of communication technology and changes in business needs, there may be other service quality indicators, and the present disclosure does not limit the content of the service quality indicator.

In some embodiments, the above-mentioned multiple service guarantee capabilities are service guarantee capabilities supported by the communication network. Based on this, the multiple services abstracted or determined can be services that can be supported by the communication network.

In some embodiments, the service assurance capability supported by the communication network can be determined by: detecting the service quality indicators of each service carrier in the communication network; determining the service assurance capability that the communication network can support based on the constraint requirements satisfied by the service quality indicators of each service carrier in the communication network.

In some embodiments, the classification of service quality indicators can refer to the "Deterministic Bearer Network Service Indicators and Evaluation Methods" of the China Communications Standards Association (CCSA).

For example, a schematic diagram of the grading of a service quality indicator is shown in Fig. 3. Referring to Fig. 3, the service quality indicators include: transmission bandwidth, delay, jitter value, packet loss rate and time-frequency synchronization indicator.

It can be seen that the transmission bandwidth supports five levels: first bandwidth level, second bandwidth level, third bandwidth level, fourth bandwidth level and fifth bandwidth level. The bandwidth range of 2M and below belongs to the first bandwidth level; the bandwidth range of 10M to 100M belongs to the second bandwidth level; the bandwidth range of 100M to 200M belongs to the third bandwidth level; the bandwidth range of 200M to 500M belongs to the fourth bandwidth level; the bandwidth range of 1G and above belongs to the fifth bandwidth level.

The latency supports five levels: latency level 1, latency level 2, latency level 3, latency level 4, and latency level 5. The latency range of 30 milliseconds (ms) to 50ms belongs to the latency level 1; the latency range of 10ms to 30ms belongs to the latency level 2; the latency range of 5ms to 10ms belongs to the latency level 3; the latency range of 2ms to 50ms belongs to the latency level 4; and the latency range of 1ms to 2ms belongs to the latency level 5.

The jitter value supports five levels: the first jitter value level, the second jitter value level, the third jitter value level, the fourth jitter value level and the fifth jitter value level. The jitter value within ±10ms belongs to the first jitter value level; the jitter value within ±5ms belongs to the second jitter value level; the jitter value within ±1ms belongs to the third jitter value level; the jitter value within ±500 microseconds (us) belongs to the fourth jitter value level; the jitter value within ±1ms belongs to the fourth jitter value level. Within ±100us, it belongs to the fifth jitter value level.

The packet loss rate supports three levels: the first packet loss rate level, the second packet loss rate level, and the third packet loss rate level. A packet loss rate below 0.1% belongs to the first packet loss rate level; a packet loss rate below 0.01% belongs to the second packet loss rate level; and a packet loss rate below 0.001% belongs to the third packet loss rate level.

The time-frequency synchronization index supports three levels: normal precision level, high precision level, and ultra-high precision level. ms-level synchronization belongs to the normal precision level, us-level synchronization belongs to the high precision level, and hundred nanosecond-level synchronization belongs to the ultra-high precision level.

Furthermore, the service guarantee capability can be determined based on the constraint requirements for the grading of each service quality indicator. For example, satisfying the first bandwidth level, the first delay level, the first jitter value level, the first packet loss rate level, and the general accuracy level is used as a service guarantee capability. For another example, satisfying the second bandwidth level, the first delay level, the first jitter value level, the second packet loss rate, and the general accuracy level is used as another service guarantee capability. By analogy, 5*5*5*3*3=1125 different service guarantee capabilities can be determined. Thus, 1125 services can be abstracted, and each service corresponds to a service guarantee capability.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned method of grading service quality indicators is only an example and should not be understood as a limitation on the grading of service quality indicators. In actual application, service quality indicators can also be graded with reference to other standards, or graded based on user needs. This disclosure does not limit this.

Based on this, a variety of services can be abstracted and provided, and the number of services abstracted in this way is controllable and can meet a variety of different needs.

S102: assign a corresponding identifier to each of the multiple services.

In some embodiments, each of the multiple services corresponds to an identifier of a service. In some examples, the identifier of the service corresponding to each service is unique.

Based on this, network common services (e.g., common service assurance capabilities) can be represented by service identifiers, so that diversified services based on identifiers can be provided. Furthermore, in the case of monitoring or sensing the communication network, monitoring can be performed based on service granularity, thereby improving the overall network resource utilization.

In some embodiments, the identification of the service includes a service awareness network identification (SAN-ID).

In some embodiments, the service identifier may further include the length of the service-aware network identifier. As an example, the length of the service-aware network identifier may be any one of the following: 16 bits, 32 bits, 64 bits, or 128 bits.

In some embodiments, the identification of the service may also include an identification of the service type.

In some embodiments, the service types include: computing network services and/or network services. Correspondingly, various services among the multiple services can be computing network level type services or pure network level guaranteed services.

In some embodiments, the service identifier may further include: a reserved field. Further, the service identifier may further include: indication information for indicating whether the reserved field exists.

In some embodiments, the identification of the service may further include: a flag indication field. In some examples, the length of the flag indication field may be a preset length. For example, the length of the flag indication field may be 8 bits.

As an example, the identifier of the service type may be located in the flag indication field. Exemplarily, 1 bit may be taken out from the flag indication field as the identifier of the service type.

In an example, when the data or the corresponding bit of the service type identifier is 1, it means that the service type is a computing network service; when the data or the corresponding bit of the service type identifier is 0, it means that the service type is a network service.

It should be noted that the identification of the above service type in the above flag indication field is only an example, and the identification of the service type can also be independent of The above flags indicate the fields.

As an example, the indication information for indicating whether the reserved field exists is located in the flag indication field. Exemplarily, 1 bit is taken from the flag indication field as the indication information for indicating whether the reserved field exists.

In one example, when the data or the corresponding bit corresponding to the indication information for indicating whether a reserved field exists is 1, it means that a reserved field exists; when the data or the corresponding bit corresponding to the indication information for indicating whether a reserved field exists is 0, it means that a reserved field does not exist.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned indication information for indicating whether the reserved field exists is located in the above-mentioned flag indication field is only an example, and the identification of the service type may also be independent of the above-mentioned flag indication field. In addition, the indication information for indicating whether the reserved field exists is not a mandatory content in the identification of the service. In some examples, the identification of the service may also not include the indication information for indicating whether the reserved field exists.

In some embodiments, the identification of the service may further include a reserved flag field. The reserved flag field includes at least one bit that is not used in the flag indication field.

In some embodiments, the service identifier may also include an instantiation identifier, which is used to distinguish multiple consumers who subscribe to, purchase, or consume the same target service.

Exemplarily, the structure of a service identifier is shown in Table 1. Referring to Table 1, the service identifier includes: an identifier of a service-aware network, an identifier of a service type, a length of the service-aware network identifier, a reserved flag field, a reserved field, and indication information for indicating whether a reserved field exists.

Table 1

The identifier of the service-aware network is represented by SAN-ID in Table 1, the identifier of the service type is represented by T in Table 1, the length of the identifier of the service-aware network is represented by SAN-ID Indicator in Table 1, the reserved flag field is represented by Flags in Table 1, the reserved field is represented by Reserved in Table 1, and the indication information used to indicate whether the reserved field exists is represented by R in Table 1.

It can be seen that compared with the traditional identification, the identification of the service provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure is simpler, and the identification of the service itself may not carry specific information about the service guarantee capability. Therefore, the identification of the service occupies less resources in the business message carrying it, and the bandwidth utilization rate is higher. In addition, the identification of the service corresponding to each service is only related to the service guarantee capability. The identification of the service will not change after it is assigned or released, and it is relatively stable. Secondly, the number of service identifications provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure is controllable, and it can be controlled not based on flow particles, so that multiple flows can be aggregated according to the identification of the service to achieve service-level traffic management and monitoring. In addition, the identification of the service provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure is significantly different from the traditional identification, and there is no functional intersection, so it can be used as an aggregation of multiple flow identifications to achieve a common service quality assurance for multiple flows, for example, the service message can be transmitted through the service carrier corresponding to the service identification.

S103: Sending an identifier of the target service to a consumer of the target service among the multiple services, so that the consumer obtains the target service according to the identifier of the target service.

The target service is used to provide the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service for the transmission of the consumer's business messages in the communication network.

In some embodiments, the target service is a service that a consumer subscribes to, purchases, consumes or signs from a variety of services. The consumer may be one or more terminals or one or more applications, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, S103 can be implemented as follows: obtaining the business needs of the consumer, determining the target service that matches the business needs from multiple services; and sending the identifier of the target service to the consumer. Based on this, the service providing platform can provide the target service without the consumer having to decide on the target service. In some cases, according to some business needs, the target service is flexibly matched and the target service identifier is published.

In some embodiments, S103 may be implemented as: in response to the consumer's subscription operation to the target service, sending the target service identifier to the consumer. Based on this, the target service that the consumer expects to use can be directly known, and the service providing platform does not need to go through other calculation processes to match or determine the target service, but directly publishes the target service identifier, thereby improving communication efficiency.

Correspondingly, after receiving the identifier of the target service, the consumer can bind the identifier of the target service to the business message of the target service. It should be understood that binding the identifier of the target service to the business message of the target service can also be interpreted or described as: encapsulating the identifier of the target service in the business message of the target service, or adding the identifier of the target service to the business message of the target service, or making the business message of the target service carry the identifier of the target service, or programming the identifier of the target service into the program related to the target service, and the present disclosure does not limit this.

In some embodiments, when the same consumer subscribes to multiple target services, the service providing platform may send the identifiers of the multiple target services to the consumer. Exemplarily, when the consumer subscribes to the identifier of the first target service for the first business and the identifier of the second target service for the second business, the service providing platform sends the identifier of the first target service and the identifier of the second target service to the consumer. Correspondingly, the consumer binds the identifier of the first target service to the service message of the first business, and binds the identifier of the second target service to the service message of the second business.

It can be seen that the service provision method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can, on the one hand, indicate various business services (e.g., target services) through identifiers, and use the identifiers to implement the service guarantee capabilities corresponding to the target services, thereby achieving a more granular business division and providing diversified business services. On the other hand, there is no need to add a new dedicated line for business transmission, which improves the utilization rate of network resources.

In order to more clearly illustrate the implementation of the service assurance capability, the following is an exemplary description taking the transmission scenario of a service message as an example. As shown in FIG4 , in some embodiments, the service provision method further includes the following steps S201 to S203:

S201. Obtain a service message, where the service message includes an identifier of a target service.

In some embodiments, the service message also includes the identification of the consumer. For example, the service message may include the identification of the terminal or the identification of the application.

In some embodiments, the service message is a message related to the consumer. For example, it can be a service message sent by the consumer himself, or it can be a service message sent to the consumer. The present disclosure does not limit this.

In some embodiments, the service message includes a target service identification (service identification, service ID) which can also be interpreted as: the service message carries the target service identification; or, the target service identification is encapsulated in the service message; or, the target service identification is added to the service message. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this.

In some embodiments, the header of the service message includes the identifier of the target service. It should be understood that the identifier of the target service is convenient for identifying the service message when it is located in the message header, but the identifier of the target service can also be located in other positions in the service message, and the present disclosure does not limit this.

In some embodiments, the content or structure of the identifier of the target service can refer to the description of the "identifier of the service" in step S102, which will not be repeated here.

In some embodiments, after the business message is acquired, the business message may be identified to obtain an identifier of a target service; and based on the identifier of the target service, the service corresponding to the business message is determined to be the target service.

S202: Determine a first service carrier having a service guarantee capability corresponding to a target service from a communication network.

In some embodiments, the first service carrier includes at least one of a network slice, a tunnel, and a path. That is, the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service can be carried by at least one of a network slice, a tunnel, and a path.

Exemplarily, taking the first service carrier as a tunnel, or the service assurance capability corresponding to the target service being carried in a tunnel as an example, the first service carrier may include different types of Traffic Engineering (TE) tunnels, such as an SRv6 tunnel or an SR-TE tunnel.

It should be understood that the first service carrier may also be a carrier in other forms, and the form of the first service carrier may be determined according to the networking form, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, the communication network includes different types of networks. Further, when the communication network is of different network types, the first service bearer may be determined in different ways, and the determination way of the first service bearer may be related to the network type of the communication network.

As an example, in an SRv6 network, the first service carrier may be a service carrier determined according to the SRv6-POLICY. When determining the first service carrier, the capabilities of some network slices or deterministic capabilities may be superimposed on the POLICY.

As another example, in an SRv6 network, the service bearer may also be a service bearer determined based on SRv6-BE. For example, the first service bearer may be SRv6-BE with flexago algorithm superimposed.

As another example, the first service bearer may also be a service bearer determined based on a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network.

In some embodiments, the determined first service carrier with the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service is unique. Based on this, for consumers, when using the target service, consumers can obtain a deterministic service path, that is, the unique first service carrier, so that the service guarantee capability of the target service can be realized.

In some embodiments, there is a first correspondence between the identifier of the target service and the service guarantee capability, and there is a second correspondence between the service guarantee capability and the first service carrier having the service guarantee capability. Further, step S202 can be implemented as follows: based on the identifier of the target service and the first correspondence, determining the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service; based on the service guarantee capability and the second correspondence, determining the first service carrier having the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service from the communication network.

In some embodiments, there is a mapping relationship between the identifier of the target service and the first service carrier. Further, step S202 may be implemented as: determining the first service carrier of the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service according to the identifier of the target service and the mapping relationship.

In some embodiments, in an SRv6 network, there is a mapping relationship between the identifier of the target service and the deterministic queue, and the deterministic queue includes at least one first service carrier. Further, the identifier of the target service can be mapped to the deterministic queue to determine the first service carrier with the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service.

Based on this, when the service message passes through the underlying network inlet gateway, the identifier of the target service can be mapped to the first service carrier with the service guarantee capability of the target service, thereby realizing the guarantee of the network service capability. In the scheme of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the construction of deterministic capabilities is aggregated based on service classes, thereby avoiding resource allocation and scheduling based on each flow, reducing the maintenance of the flow state by the node, and providing an important technical means for the realization of large-scale deterministic networks.

For ease of understanding, the following takes the case where the service assurance capability corresponding to the target service is carried on the SRv6 tunnel as an example to exemplarily illustrate the method for determining the first service bearer.

It should be understood that in an SRv6 tunnel, if three-layer determinism needs to be achieved, the constraints of service quality indicators (for example, latency and jitter values, etc.) can be orchestrated and guaranteed through the node internal queue mechanism, and, based on the original tunnel, the target service identifier is used to indicate which forwarding queue the service message enters at the bottom layer.

Exemplarily, FIG5 shows a schematic diagram of a service provision scenario. The service provision platform needs to provide consumers with the service guarantee capability corresponding to the promised target service. Referring to FIG5, the first service carrier with the service guarantee capability (as shown by the dotted line in the figure) includes at least network element 1, network element 2 and network element n in sequence, that is, the service message can be transmitted or forwarded through network element 1, network element 2 and network element n in sequence. The network elements passed by the first service carrier can be represented as follows:

NE 1-->NE 2--->NE n

When the system identification code (SID) of network element 1 is SIID1, the system identification code of network element 2 is SID2, and the system identification code of network element n is SIDn, if SRv6POLICY is used for arrangement, the segment list (segmentList) is:

SID1-->SID2--->SIDn

Furthermore, since there are multiple forwarding queues in each network element, in order to ensure that the first service carrier has the service guarantee capability of the target service is unique, and the queue number of the forwarding queue in each network element can also be determined. For example, referring to FIG5, the first service carrier at least passes through queue 1 in network element 1, queue 2 in network element 2, and queue N in network element n in sequence, so the queue list (queueList) between network element 1, network element 2, and network element n can be recorded as follows:

Queue 1-->Queue 2--->Queue N

In some embodiments, taking the first service bearer as a TE tunnel as an example, the model of the first service bearer may be as shown in Table 2, and the model may also be referred to as a deterministic path model.

Table 2

Referring to Table 2, the column where "TE type" is located in Table 2 is used to indicate the tunnel type of the first service bearer. For example, when the first service bearer is an SRv6TE tunnel, the TE type is recorded as "SRv6"; for another example, when the first service bearer is an SR-TE tunnel, the TE type is recorded as "SR-TE".

The column where "outInt" is located in Table 2 is used to indicate the outbound interface of the tunnel. For example, policy1 in Table 2 is used to indicate the outbound interface of the SRv6TE tunnel, and sr-policy1 in Table 2 is used to indicate the outbound interface of the SR-TE tunnel.

The column where "nextHop" is located in Table 2 is used to indicate the node of the next hop. For example, SID1 in Table 2 is used to indicate the system identification code of the network element of the next hop of the SRv6TE tunnel, and sr-label in Table 2 is used to indicate the identifier of the node of the next hop of the SR-TE tunnel.

The column where "queueList" in Table 2 is located is used to indicate the queue number of the tunnel. For example, queueTemplate Num1 and queueTemplate Num2 in Table 2 can respectively indicate the queue numbers in different TE tunnels.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned model of the first service carrier is only an example. For example, the model of the first service carrier may also include a destination address, etc., and the present disclosure does not limit this.

S203: Transmit the service message through the first service bearer.

It can be seen that the identifier of the target service can direct the service traffic corresponding to the service message to the first service carrier (for example, the first service carrier is determined by a mapping relationship), and the first service carrier has the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service. Based on this, the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service can be realized with the help of the identifier, thereby realizing a more granular business division and providing diversified business services. In addition, there is no need to add a new dedicated line for business transmission, which improves the utilization rate of network resources.

For ease of understanding, the relationship between the service message, the identifier of the target service and the first service bearer is explained below with an example. Referring to Fig. 6, Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a service provision scenario.

It can be seen that the business message includes: the source address SIP of the business message, the destination address DIP of the business message, the destination option header (Destination Option Header, DOH)/hop-by-hop option header (Hop By Hop Header, HBH) of the business message, and the user data payload of the business message.

The DOH/HBH includes the identity of the target service.

The identifier of the target service includes: the identifier of the service-aware network SAN-ID, the identifier of the service type T, the length of the service-aware network identifier SAN-ID Indicator, the reserved flag field Flags, the reserved field Reserved, and the indication information R used to indicate whether the reserved field exists.

There is a mapping relationship between the identifier of the target service and the first service carrier having the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service.

The first service carrier includes: a destination address DA of the first service carrier, an outbound interface of the first service carrier (for example, an outbound interface shown in FIG. interface SRv6policy), the egress gateway outer GW of the first service carrier, and the queue list queueList of the first service carrier.

Based on this, the service traffic corresponding to the service message can be directed to the first service carrier through the identifier of the target service in the service message, so as to realize the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service.

Considering that the service guarantee capability supported in the communication network may change over time, therefore, as shown in FIG. 7 , in some embodiments, the service providing method further includes the following steps S301 to S303:

S301. During transmission of a service message through a first service bearer, monitor a service quality indicator of the first service bearer.

In some embodiments, monitoring the service quality indicator of the first service bearer is implemented by: acquiring the service quality indicator of the first service bearer in real time.

In some other embodiments, monitoring the service quality indicator of the first service carrier is implemented by: obtaining the service quality indicator of the first service carrier when a preset condition is met. The preset condition includes the following conditions 1 to 3:

Condition 1: Reach the preset time period starting point.

Condition 2: Receive the business message of the target service.

Condition 3: receiving first information, where the first information is used to indicate that a service quality indicator of the first service bearer has changed.

In some further embodiments, the first service carrier periodically sends its own service quality indicator to the service providing platform, and the above-mentioned monitoring of the service quality indicator of the first service carrier is implemented by: acquiring the service quality indicator of the first service carrier sent by the first service carrier.

In some other embodiments, monitoring the service quality indicator of the first service carrier is implemented as follows: the service providing platform sends a first detection request to the first service carrier; in response to the first detection request, the first service carrier sends its own service quality indicator to the service providing platform; and receiving the service quality indicator sent by the first service carrier.

S302: When the service quality indicator of the first service carrier does not meet the constraint requirement of the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service, determine a second service carrier having the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service from the communication network.

S303: Transmit the service message using the second service bearer.

Based on this, even if the network conditions in the communication network change, consumers can still be provided with service guarantee capabilities that meet the target service requirements.

For ease of understanding, the service providing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is described below with an example.

A schematic diagram of a service provision scenario is shown in Figure 8. In this scenario, enterprise A needs to customize a first service from the service provision platform, and enterprise B needs to customize a second service from the service provision platform, and the first service is different from the second service. The service provision platform includes a computing network dispatching center and a network controller. The computing network dispatching center can also be called a network operation platform, and the network controller can also be called a network orchestrator. Please refer to the description of Figure 2 above, which will not be repeated here.

Based on the scenario shown in FIG8 , the service provision of enterprise A and enterprise B can be achieved by following steps 1 to 5:

Step 1: The service provision platform (eg, a network controller within the service provision platform) abstracts multiple service assurance capabilities of the underlying network (also referred to as a communication network) into multiple services.

Step 2: The service providing platform selects a plurality of services that can be supported by the underlying network from among a plurality of services by sensing the actual situation of the underlying network; wherein the plurality of services that can be supported by the underlying network include a first service and a second service.

In some embodiments, the service providing platform (e.g., a computing network dispatching center within the service providing platform) may also generate identifiers of various services among the multiple services, or assign service identifiers to various services among the multiple services. The service types of the above-mentioned multiple services include computing network level services, and/or pure network level guaranteed services; in some examples, the service identifier contains a service type identifier to indicate the service type corresponding to the service.

Step 3: In response to the different demands of Enterprise A and Enterprise B, the service provider platform sends the identifier of the first service to Enterprise A and sends the identifier of the second service to Enterprise B.

For example, in response to enterprise A's demand for the first service and enterprise B's demand for the second service, the service provider platform signs a service contract with enterprise A (i.e., receives enterprise A's subscription to the first service) and signs a service contract with enterprise B (i.e., receives enterprise B's subscription to the second service). After the contract is signed, the identifier of the first service is sent to enterprise A, and the identifier of the second service is sent to enterprise B.

Step 4: Enterprise A binds or encapsulates the identifier of the first service into the first business message of enterprise A, and enterprise B binds or encapsulates the identifier of the second service into the second business message of enterprise B.

Step 5. After receiving the first business message sent by enterprise A, the service provision platform transmits the first business message in the first service carrier having the service guarantee capability corresponding to the first service; and, after receiving the second business message sent by enterprise B, the service provision platform transmits the second business message in the first service carrier having the service guarantee capability corresponding to the second service.

Based on this, service provision to Enterprise A and Enterprise B can be realized, and an end-to-end closed loop of network service-oriented business processes can be achieved.

It can be seen that the above is introduced by taking enterprise A and enterprise B using different services as an example. If enterprise A and enterprise B both use the same third service, different instances (eg, service carriers) in the third service can be allocated to enterprise A and enterprise B respectively.

For example, if there are multiple service carriers with service guarantee capabilities corresponding to the third service in the underlying network, service carrier 1 is determined from the multiple service carriers as the service carrier used by enterprise A, and service carrier 2 is determined from the multiple service carriers as the service carrier used by enterprise B.

The above mainly introduces the scheme of the embodiment of the present disclosure from the perspective of the method. A communication device is also shown below for executing the service provision method in any of the above embodiments and possible implementations thereof. It can be understood that in order to implement the above functions, the communication device includes a hardware structure and/or software module corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the present disclosure can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of the present disclosure.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above method embodiments. For example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one functional module. The above integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present disclosure is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. It should be understood that the above modules may also be referred to as units. The following is an example of dividing each functional unit corresponding to each function.

Figure 9 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device can be in any implementation form such as software or hardware. For example, it can be a server, a service provision platform, or other software or hardware with processing functions. The present disclosure does not limit this.

9 , the communication device 200 includes: a communication module 201 and a processing module 202 .

The processing module 202 is used to determine multiple services according to multiple service guarantee capabilities of the communication network, each service corresponding to a service guarantee capability; and assign a corresponding identifier to each of the multiple services;

The communication module 201 is used to send the identifier of the target service to the consumer of the target service among the multiple services, so that the consumer can obtain the target service according to the identifier of the target service.

In some embodiments, the service guarantee capability includes constraints on service quality indicators, and the service quality indicators include at least one of the following: transmission bandwidth, delay, jitter value, packet loss rate, and time-frequency synchronization indicators.

In some embodiments, the communication module 201 is used to send an identifier of the target service to the consumer in response to the consumer's subscription operation to the target service.

In some embodiments, the communication module 201 is used to obtain the business needs of consumers and determine the services that match the business needs from multiple services. Target service; sends the identifier of the target service to the consumer.

In some embodiments, the target service is used to provide a service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service for the transmission of the consumer's business messages in the communication network.

In some embodiments, the communication module 201 is also used to obtain a business message, which includes an identifier of a target service; the processing module 202 is also used to determine a first service carrier having a service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service from the communication network; the communication module 201 is also used to transmit the business message through the first service carrier.

In some embodiments, the first service carrier includes at least one of a network slice, a tunnel, and a path.

In some embodiments, the processing module 202 is also used to monitor the service guarantee capability of the first service carrier during the process of transmitting business messages through the first service carrier; when the service guarantee capability of the first service carrier does not reach the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service, determine a second service carrier with the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service from the communication network; and transmit the business message using the second service carrier.

In some embodiments, the identification of the service includes an identification of the service-aware network and an identification of the service type.

In the case of implementing the functions of the above-mentioned integrated modules in the form of hardware, the embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a structure of a communication device, which is used to execute the service providing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 10, the communication device 300 includes: a memory 301, a processor 302, a communication interface 303, and a bus 304.

The memory 301 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a disk storage medium or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto.

The processor 302 may be a processor that implements or executes various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor 302 may be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It may implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor 302 may also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, and the like.

The communication interface 303 is used to connect with other devices through a communication network. The communication network can be Ethernet, wireless access network, wireless local area network (WLAN), etc.

In some embodiments, the memory 301 may also be integrated with the processor 302 .

In some embodiments, the memory 301 may exist independently of the processor 302, and the memory 301 may be connected to the processor 302 via a bus 304, and is used to store instructions or program codes executable by the processor 302, such as computer program instructions, etc. When the processor 302 calls and executes the instructions or program codes stored in the memory 301, the service providing method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented.

The bus 304 may be an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus 304 may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, FIG10 only uses one thick solid line, but does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium), in which computer program instructions are stored. When the computer program instructions are executed on a computer (e.g., the above-mentioned communication device, base station, terminal and its processor, etc.), the computer executes the service providing method described in any of the above-mentioned embodiments. It should be understood that the present disclosure does not limit the specific form of the computer.

In some examples, the computer-readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to: a magnetic storage device (eg, a hard disk, a floppy disk, or a magnetic tape). The various computer-readable storage media described in the present disclosure may represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readable storage media for storing information. The term "machine-readable storage medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing and/or carrying instructions and/or data.

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer program product including instructions. When the computer program product is executed on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the service providing method described in any one of the above embodiments.

The above is only a specific implementation of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present disclosure should be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (10)

A service providing method, comprising: Determine multiple services based on multiple service assurance capabilities of the communication network, each service corresponding to a service assurance capability; Assigning a corresponding identifier to each of the multiple services; An identifier of a target service among the multiple services is sent to a consumer of the target service, so that the consumer acquires the target service according to the identifier of the target service. According to the method of claim 1, the service guarantee capability includes constraints on service quality indicators, and the service quality indicators include at least one of the following: transmission bandwidth, delay, jitter value, packet loss rate and time-frequency synchronization indicator. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sending the identifier of the target service to the consumer of the target service among the multiple services comprises: In response to a subscription operation of the consumer to the target service, an identifier of the target service is sent to the consumer. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sending the identifier of the target service to the consumer of the target service among the multiple services comprises: Acquire the business needs of the consumer, and determine a target service matching the business needs from the multiple services; The identifier of the target service is sent to the consumer. The method according to claim 1, wherein the target service is used to provide a service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service for transmission of the consumer's service message in the communication network, and the method further comprises: Acquire the service message, wherein the service message includes an identifier of the target service; Determine, from the communication network, a first service carrier having a service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service; The service message is transmitted through the first service bearer. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first service carrier includes at least one of a network slice, a tunnel, and a path. The method according to claim 5, wherein the method further comprises: During the transmission of the service message through the first service bearer, monitoring the service quality indicator of the first service bearer; When the service quality indicator of the first service carrier does not meet the constraint requirement of the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service, determine a second service carrier having the service guarantee capability corresponding to the target service from the communication network; The service message is transmitted using the second service bearer. The method according to claim 1, wherein the identification of the service includes an identification of the service-aware network and an identification of the service type. A communication device, comprising: a processor and a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor; Wherein, when the processor is configured to execute the instructions, the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein computer program instructions are stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.