Fault processing method, control plane network element, steering decision-making network element, and related device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12501289-B2
Application number	US-202318344014-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2023
Priority date	Dec 30, 2020
Publication date	Dec 16, 2025
Grant date	Dec 16, 2025

Abstract

In a process in which a terminal device accesses a network, if a control plane network element determines that a fault occurs on a steering decision-making network element, to ensure that the terminal device can continue to access the network, the control plane network element may directly control, without decision of the steering decision-making unit, the terminal device to send a data packet through a first user plane network element for a dial-up request.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A network device, comprising:
one or more memories configured to store instructions; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, wherein:
the network device is applied to a control plane network element of a broadband network gateway (BNG) in a network,
the BNG further comprises a plurality of user plane network elements,
the network further comprises a steering decision-making network element and a terminal device,
the steering decision-making network element is configured to steer traffic of the terminal device to the plurality of user plane network elements, and
the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions to cause the network device to:
receive a dial-up request from the terminal device, wherein the terminal device sends the dial-up request to the control plane network element through a first user plane network element, and the first user plane network element is comprised in one of the plurality of user plane network elements; and
when determining that a fault occurs on the steering decision-making network element, control the terminal device to send a data packet through the first user plane network element.

2 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the network device to:
send a user entry to the first user plane network element, wherein the user entry comprises user information of the terminal device, and the first user plane network element forwards the data packet from the terminal device based on the user entry.

3 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the steering decision-making network element comprises any one or more of a steering function (SF) network element, a user steering function (USF) network element, or a software-defined networking (SDN) control network element, and determining that the fault occurs on the steering decision-making network element comprises at least one of the following: after sending a fault detection request to the USF network element, failing to receive, by the control plane network element, within first reference duration, a detection result message returned by the USF network element, or after sending a fault detection request to the USF network element, receiving, by the control plane network element, a detection result message returned by the USF network element, wherein the detection result message indicates that the fault occurs on the USF network element, the SF network element, or the SDN control network element.

4 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the steering decision-making network element comprises any one or more of a steering function (SF) network element, a user steering function (USF) network element, or a software-defined networking (SDN) control network element, and determining that the fault occurs on the steering decision-making network element comprises at least one of the following: after sending a fault detection request to the SDN control network element, failing to receive, by the control plane network element, within second reference duration, a detection result message returned by the SDN control network element, or after sending a fault detection request to the SDN control network element, receiving, by the control plane network element, a detection result message returned by the SDN control network element, wherein the detection result message indicates that the fault occurs on the SF network element or the SDN control network element.

5 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the steering decision-making network element comprises any one or more of a steering function (SF) network element, a user steering function (USF) network element, or a software-defined networking (SDN) control network element, and determining that the fault occurs on the steering decision-making network element comprises at least one of the following: after sending a user migration policy request to the USF network element based on the dial-up request, failing to receive, by the control plane network element, within third reference duration, a user migration result returned by the USF network element, or after sending a user migration policy request to the USF network element based on the dial-up request, receiving, by the control plane network element, a detection result message returned by the USF network element, wherein the detection result message indicates that the fault occurs on the USF network element, the SF network element, or the SDN control network element.

6 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the network device to:
receive a user migration result sent by the steering decision-making network element after the fault is eliminated, wherein the user migration result comprises an identifier of a second user plane network element of the plurality of user plane network elements; send a user entry to the second user plane network element, wherein the user entry comprises user information of the terminal device, and the second user plane network element forwards the data packet from the terminal device based on the user entry; and after receiving an entry configuration success message returned by the second user plane network element, send the entry configuration success message to the steering decision-making network element, wherein, in response to receiving the entry configuration success message: the steering decision-making network element establishes a mapping relationship between the terminal device and the second user plane network element, and forwards the data packet of the terminal device to the second user plane network element based on the mapping relationship between the terminal device and the second user plane network element.

7 . The network device according to claim 1 , wherein:
when the terminal device sends the dial-up request for the first time, the first user plane network element is a preconfigured user plane network element; or when the terminal device sends the dial-up request not for the first time, the first user plane network element is a previously used user plane network element used by the terminal device for sending data packets before going offline.

8 . A network device, comprising:
one or more memories configured to store instructions; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, wherein:
the network device is applied to a control plane network element in a broadband network gateway (BNG) in a network,
the BNG further comprises a plurality of user plane network elements,
the network further comprises a steering decision-making network element and a terminal device,
the steering decision-making network element is configured to steer traffic of the terminal device to one of the plurality of user plane network elements, and
the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions to cause the network device to:
receive a first migration configuration instruction sent by the steering decision-making network element, wherein the first migration configuration instruction comprises an identifier of a first user plane network element and an identifier of the terminal device, and an instruction to forward a data packet of the terminal device through the first user plane network element; and
after the control plane network element successfully sends a user entry to the first user plane network element based on the identifier of the first user plane network element, when the control plane network element determines that a fault occurs on the steering decision-making network element, s

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Peng Tao
• Yu Zhouyi
• Hua Rongrong
• Wang Xiaokai

Classifications

• H04L41/40 Primary

  using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities · CPC title

• H04W28/084

  among network function virtualisation [NFV] entities; among edge computing entities, e.g. multi-access edge computing · CPC title

• H04W28/0247

  based on conditions of the access network or the infrastructure network (central resource management H04W28/16) · CPC title

• H04L47/2425

  for supporting services specification, e.g. SLA · CPC title

• H04W28/088

  among core entities · CPC title