Association redirection method and device

Abstract

Provided is a stream control transmission protocol (SCTP) association redirection method and apparatus, a non-transitory storage medium, and a processor. The method includes following: A first network element determines whether an initial trigger message of a UE traffic flow transmitted by a second network element is received, where the initial trigger message of the UE traffic flow is transmitted through an SCTP association on which the UE currently sticks or through a new SCTP association after the second network element redirects the UE to the new SCTP association; and the first network element performs an SCTP association redirection on the UE in response to a determination result.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A stream control transmission protocol (SCTP) association redirection method, comprising:
 determining, by a first network element, whether an initial trigger message of a user equipment (UE) traffic flow transmitted by a second network element is received, wherein the initial trigger message of the UE traffic flow is transmitted through an SCTP association on which a UE currently sticks or through a new SCTP association after the second network element redirects the UE to the new SCTP association;   in response to a determination result, performing, by the first network element, an SCTP association redirection on the UE.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein in response to the determination result, performing, by the first network element, the SCTP association redirection on the UE comprises:
 in response to determining that the initial trigger message of the UE traffic flow transmitted by the second network element is received and the initial trigger message of the UE traffic flow is transmitted through the SCTP association on which the UE currently sticks, processing, by the first network element, the initial trigger message of the UE traffic flow, and replying, by the first network element, a response message to the second network element through a new SCTP association to redirect the UE to the new SCTP association;   in response to determining that the initial trigger message of the UE traffic flow transmitted by the second network element is received and the initial trigger message of the UE traffic flow is transmitted through the new SCTP association after the second network element redirects the UE to the new SCTP association, updating, by the first network element, SCTP association information of the UE to the SCTP association; and   in response to determining that the initial trigger message of the UE traffic flow transmitted by the second network element is not received and the UE is in a flow steady state, performing, by the first network element, the SCTP association redirection on the UE according to a factor related to the first network element, wherein the flow steady state means that the UE has established contexts in the first network element and the second network element and has no traffic flow to process.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein after updating, by the first network element, the SCTP association information of the UE to the new SCTP association, the method further comprises:
 replying, by the first network element, a redirection acknowledgement to the second network element, wherein the redirection acknowledgement is used for indicating that the SCTP association information of the UE has been updated.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein in response to determining that the initial trigger message of the UE traffic flow transmitted by the second network element is not received and the UE is in the flow steady state, performing, by the first network element, the SCTP association redirection on the UE according to the factor related to the first network element comprises:
 determining, by the first network element, a redirection type for redirecting the UE to a new SCTP association according to the factor related to the first network element; and   performing, by the first network element, the SCTP association redirection on the UE according to the redirection type.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the redirection type comprises:
 redirecting the UE on an SCTP association of the first network element to a new SCTP association of the first network element; and   redirecting the UE on an SCTP association of the first network element to an SCTP association of a network element of a same type as the first network element.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the first network element determines the redirection type for redirecting the UE to the new SCTP association according to the factor related to the first network element in at least one of following manners:
 determining, by the first network element, the redirection type is to redirect a part of UEs on a high-load SCTP association of the first network element to a new low-load SCTP association of the first network element according to a load of the SCTP association of the first network element; or   determining, by the first network element, an SCTP association to be shut down of the first network element on a basis of maintenance or traffic requirements, and determining, by the first network element, the redirection type is to redirect all UEs on the SCTP association to be shut down to a new SCTP association of the first network element.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the first network element determines the redirection type for redirecting the UE to the new SCTP association according to the factor related to the first network element in at least one of following manners:
 detecting, by the first network element, that a load of the first network element is greater than a preset value, and determining, by the first network element, the redirection type is to redirect the UE of the first network element to an SCTP association of the network element of the same type as the first network element; or   determining, by the first network element on a basis of maintenance or traffic requirements, to shut down or stop the first network element, and determining, by the first network element, the redirection type is to redirect the UE of the first network element to an SCTP association of the network element of the same type as the first network element.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein performing, by the first network element, the SCTP association redirection on the UE according to the redirection type comprises:
 selecting, by the first network element, a UE on the SCTP association of the first network element and to be redirected to a new SCTP association of the first network element; and   transmitting, by the first network element, a redirection command to the second network element through the SCTP association of the first network element to enable the second network element to redirect the UE to the new SCTP association of the first network element, wherein the redirection command comprises an information list of the UE to be redirected to the new SCTP association and indicates a redirection between SCTP associations of the first network element.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein performing, by the first network element, the SCTP association redirection on the UE according to the redirection type comprises:
 selecting, by the first network element, a UE on the SCTP association of the first network element and to be redirected to a new SCTP association of the first network element and the new SCTP association of the first network element, transmitting, by the first network element, the redirection command to the second network element to enable the second network element to redirect the UE to the new SCTP association of the first network element, and updating, by the first network element, the SCTP association information of the UE.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein performing, by the first network element, the SCTP association redirection on the UE according to the redirection type comprises:
 selecting, by the first network element, an information list of the UE on the SCTP association of the first network element and to be redirected to a new SCTP association of the first network element, and selecting the new SCTP association of the first network element to which the UE is redirected; and   allocating, by the first network element, the UE to the new SCTP association, and transmitting, by the first network element, a redirection indication to the second network element through the new SCTP association, wherein the redirection indication carries the information list of the UE on which the SCTP association redirection is completed.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein performing, by the first network element, the SCTP association redirection on the UE according to the redirection type comprises:
 transmitting, by the first network element, a redirection command to the second network element to enable the second network element to redirect the UE to an SCTP association of the network element of the same type as the first network element, wherein the redirection command carries an information list of the UE to be redirected to the SCTP association of the network element of the same type as the first network element, and the redirection command is used for indicating the UE to be performed an SCTP association redirection between network elements.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the redirection command comprises at least one of redirection interface information or redirection association information. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the redirection command comprises at least one of redirection interface information or redirection association information. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the redirection command comprises at least one of redirection interface information or redirection association information. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the redirection interface information comprises one of:
 a redirection interface all-user information element, wherein in a case where the redirection interface all-user information element is valid, all UEs in the first network element are redirected;   a redirection interface part-user information element, wherein in a case where the redirection interface part-user information element is valid, a part of UEs in the first network element is redirected;   a user application identifier list information element, which is configured to carry identifier information of a UE to be redirected and comprises at least one piece of UE identifier information; or   a target network element identifier list information element, which specifies a candidate target network element for redirecting, wherein in a case where the target network element identifier list is not specified, the second network element selects, according to a load, the network element of the same type as the first network element to serve as the candidate target network element.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the redirection association information comprises:
 a redirection association all-user information element, wherein in a case where the redirection association all-user information element is valid, all UEs on the SCTP association of the first network element are redirected;   a redirection association part-user information element, wherein in a case where the redirection association part-user information element is valid, a part of UEs on the SCTP association of the first network element is redirected;   a user application identifier list information element, which is configured to carry identifier information of a UE to be redirected on the SCTP association of the first network element and comprises at least one piece of UE identifier information;   a target SCTP association list information element, wherein the target SCTP association list information element is valid in a case where an SCTP association redirection within the first network element is performed, and a target SCTP association list carries information of a candidate target SCTP association; or   a target network element identifier, wherein in a case where the target network element identifier is configured to be valid, an SCTP association redirection between network elements is performed and a network element specified by a target network element identifier list in the target SCTP association list is used as a candidate network element.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the redirection indication comprises at least one of:
 a redirected-user list information element, which carries an information list of a user redirected to an association, and comprises at least one piece of user identifier information; or   an old-network-element application-identifier information element, which is configured to request UE context information from an old network element by a new network element in a scenario where a user is performed a cross-network element redirection.   
     
     
         18 . A stream control transmission protocol (SCTP) association redirection apparatus, which is applied to a first network element and comprises: a processor, and a memory, wherein the memory stores processor-executable programs, and the processor executes the programs to perform the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory storage medium, which comprises stored programs, wherein the programs, when executed, perform the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         20 . A processor, which is configured to execute programs, wherein the programs, when executed, perform the method of  claim 1 .