Patent Description:
An EPS (Evolved Packet System, evolved packet system) is a concept introduced by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3rd Generation Partnership Project) standard into the 4th generation mobile communication, and includes user equipment (User Equipment, UE), a radio access network, and an evolved packet core (Evolved Packet Core, EPC). The EPC includes components such as an MME (Mobility Management Entity, mobility management entity), an S-GW (Serving Gateway, serving gateway), a P-GW (Packet Data Network Gateway, packet data network gateway), and a PCRF (Policy and Charging Rules Function, policy and charging rules function). In the EPS, operations such as dedicated bearer activation and bearer QoS (Quality of Service, quality of service) modification may be implemented by using the UE, a base station, the MME, the S-GW, the P-GW, and the PCRF.

Currently, with rapid development of the Internet and advancement of a broadband access technology of UE such as a mobile phone and a notebook computer, one user equipment has a plurality of network interfaces, for example, a Wi-Fi (Wireless-Fidelity, Wireless Fidelity) interface, a <NUM> (The 2nd Generation Mobile Communication Technology, 2nd generation mobile telecommunications technology) interface, and a <NUM> (The 3rd Generation Mobile Communication Technology, 3rd generation mobile telecommunications technology) interface, so that a plurality of links to a target node can be implemented. The conventional Transmission Control Protocol (Transfer Control Protocol, TCP) is a one-to-one transmission protocol, and cannot fully take advantage of a plurality of addresses and a plurality of network interfaces of the user equipment. Consequently, resource waste is caused. On a basis of this, the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force, Internet Engineering Task Force) proposes the MPTCP (MultiPath TCP, Multipath Transmission Control Protocol). The MPTCP is an improvement protocol of the TCP, and allows two communication parties to perform data transmission by using a plurality of connections. In mobile communication, when UE and a server that support an MPTCP technology communicate with each other by using a plurality of connections (for example, connections established separately by using a macro base station and a home eNodeB) of a 3GPP access technology, the UE determines that bearer QoS needs to be modified based on a service requirement (for example, a service requires higher bandwidth). A current solution is modifying bearer QoS on each connection based on the service requirement. However, modifying the bearer QoS on each connection may cause an increase in a signaling processing quantity of the UE and the server, and consume additional resources. Therefore, how to reduce the signaling processing quantity when bearer QoS modification is performed in multipath transmission is an urgent problem that needs to be resolved currently.

<CIT> describes messages exchanged during an MPTCP session, and that upon detecting the first sub-flow, DPI <NUM> informs PC <NUM>, and upon detecting the second sub-flow, DPI <NUM> informs PC <NUM>.

<CIT> discloses a control method for MPTCP-based load transmission, in step S12: the proxy server reports a trigger event including the first transmission delay and the second transmission delay to the PCC entity, and in step S14: the PCC entity controls, according to the first transmission delay, the second transmission delay, and the network information, the proxy server to perform corresponding load distribution.

Embodiments of the present invention disclose a policy control method for multipath transmission, and a policy decision network element to reduce a signaling processing quantity when resource modification is performed in multipath transmission.

In the embodiments of the present invention, when the user equipment UE supporting multipath transmission performs service packet transmission by using the at least two transmission subflows, the policy decision network element receives the association information of the at least two transmission subflows from the communication peer; may determine the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information; and sends the resource modification policy to the forwarding plane network element corresponding to the at least one transmission subflow, so that the forwarding plane network element corresponding to the at least one transmission subflow performs resource modification according to the resource modification policy. It can be learned that, after the embodiments of the present invention are implemented, the policy decision network element may determine, based on the association information of the at least two transmission subflows on which the same service packet is transmitted, one or more transmission subflows on which resource modification needs to be performed, so that resource modification is performed on the one or more transmission subflows, instead of performing resource modification on each transmission subflow. Therefore, a signaling processing quantity can be reduced when resource modification is performed in multipath transmission, and resource consumption is reduced.

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description show merely some embodiments of the present invention, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

The following clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. All embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention, wherein the protection scope is defined solely by the appeneded set of claims.

The embodiments of the present invention disclose a policy control method for multipath transmission, and a policy decision network element to reduce a signaling processing quantity when resource modification is performed in multipath transmission, and further optimize a procedure. The following provides detailed descriptions separately.

For better understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, a system architecture to which the embodiments of the present invention are applicable is first described below. The embodiments of the present invention may be applied to an EPS system, another evolved system of the system, or the like. An EPS system architecture disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention is described below. <FIG> is a schematic diagram of an EPS system architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention. The EPS system architecture shown in <FIG> may include user equipment UE, an E-UTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network, evolved universal terrestrial radio access network), and an evolved packet core EPC. The user equipment UE may include but is not limited to a handheld device (such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or a personal digital assistant) with a wireless communication function, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device (such as a smartwatch or a smart band), a computing device or another processing device connected to a wireless modem, or UE in various forms, including a mobile station (Mobile Station, MS for short), a terminal (Terminal), terminal equipment (Terminal Equipment), and the like. For ease of description, in this application, these devices are referred to as user equipment or UE. The E-UTRAN may include an eNodeB, the E-UTRAN and the UE are interconnected by using an LTE-Uu interface, and the E-UTRAN and the EPC are interconnected by using an S1 interface, to implement a function related to wireless access. The EPC may include components such as a mobility management entity MME, a serving gateway S-GW, a packet data network gateway P-GW, a policy and charging rules function PCRF, an SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node, serving GPRS support node), and an HSS (Home Subscriber Server, home subscriber server).

In this embodiment of the present invention, the MME is configured to complete processing of signaling plane functions, such as user authentication, handover, roaming control, mobility management of a terminal in an idle state, and management of a user context and a bearer. The S-GW is a user plane function entity, implements routing and forwarding of packet data, is used as a data anchor in a 3GPP system, terminates an interface towards the E-UTRAN, and is also a local mobility management anchor in an inter-E-UTRAN handover scenario in a specific geographical area. The P-GW is a gateway connected to an external data network, and is a user plane anchor between a 3GPP access network and a non-3GPP access network. The user equipment may be connected to the P-GW to create a PDN (Packet Data Network, packet data network) connection, to access an external packet data network. The PDN may be the Internet, a virtual private network (Virtual Private Network, VPN), an IP multimedia service (IP Multi-media Service, IMS) network, a Wireless Application Protocol (Wireless Application Protocol, WAP) network provided by an operator, or the like. The PCRF is a policy decision point for policy and charging control of a service data flow and an IP bearer resource, and maintains an association between a gateway control session and an IP-CAN (IP-Connectivity Access Network, IP-connectivity access network) session. The SGSN is used to implement functions such as routing and forwarding of a packet, mobility management, session management, logical link management, authentication and encryption, and bill generation and output. The HSS is a database used to store user subscription information, and a home network may include one or more HSSs. The HSS is responsible for storing user-related information, such as a user identifier, a number, routing information, security information, location information, and profile information. In actual network deployment, the S-GW and the P-GW may be separated or integrated. For example, in a non-roaming scenario, the S-GW and the P-GW are deployed through integration. In a roaming scenario, the S-GW and the P-GW are separately deployed, and are connected by using an S5 interface.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of multipath transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network architecture shown in <FIG> may include UE, at least two base stations, a control plane network element, at least two forwarding plane network elements, a policy decision network element, and a server. The UE is user equipment that can support multipath transmission, for example, user equipment supporting an MPTCP transmission protocol, or user equipment supporting a QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connection, quick UDP internet connection) transmission protocol. The control plane network element may be a control plane function network element responsible for user context and session management, for example, an MME or a mobile network controller. The forwarding plane network element may be a forwarding plane function network element that implements processing functions such as forwarding and statistics collection of a user packet, for example, a P-GW, an S-GW, a GW forwarding plane, or an SDN (Software Defined Network, software-defined networking) switch. The policy decision network element may be a function network element responsible for performing policy control and/or charging control on a mobile network, for example, a PCRF in an EPC network. The server is a server that can support multipath transmission, and is a network element that can provide a service for a user, for example, an application server supporting the MPTCP transmission protocol. In the network architecture shown in <FIG>, one user equipment UE has a plurality of network interfaces, so that a plurality of links to a target node can be implemented. Specifically, the UE establishes a corresponding PDU (Packet Data Unit, packet data unit) connection by using a base station and a corresponding forwarding plane network element, for example, a PDN connection, and may establish one or more transmission subflows on each PDN connection. Multipath transmission may be implemented by using the MPTCP protocol, or may be implemented by using the QUIC protocol. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

In the network architecture shown in <FIG>, the UE separately establishes corresponding PDU connections (namely, a PDU connection <NUM> and a PDU connection <NUM>) by using a base station <NUM> and a base station <NUM>, and establishes corresponding transmission subflows, so that the UE can perform service packet transmission on the two transmission subflows. For example, the UE transmits service packets of a same application on the two transmission subflows. The base station <NUM> and the base station <NUM> are two different base stations. The base station <NUM> may be a macro base station, and the base station <NUM> may be a micro base station, such as a home NodeB. When the UE performs service packet transmission on the two transmission subflows, the policy decision network element may receive association information of the two transmission subflows from the UE or the server, so that the policy decision network element learns that a same service is transmitted on the two transmission subflows. The policy decision network element may determine, based on at least one type of information of load statuses, air interface types, and base station types of the two transmission subflows, one or two transmission subflows that are of the two transmission subflows and on which resource modification needs to be performed. Therefore, a signaling processing quantity can be reduced when resource modification is performed in multipath transmission, a procedure is further optimized, and system resource consumption is reduced. Although <FIG> shows only a case in which the UE establishes two PDU connections by using two base stations (the base station <NUM> and the base station <NUM>), this imposes no limitation on this embodiment of the present invention. The UE may establish at least two PDU connections to a plurality of base stations, that is, the UE may perform service packet transmission by using at least two transmission subflows.

Based on the network architecture of multipath transmission shown in <FIG>, an embodiment of the present invention discloses a policy control method for multipath transmission. <FIG> is a schematic flowchart of a policy control method for multipath transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in <FIG>, the policy control method for multipath transmission may include the following steps.

A policy decision network element receives association information of at least two transmission subflows from a communication peer.

In this embodiment of the present invention, user equipment UE may perform service packet transmission by using the at least two transmission subflows. The UE is user equipment supporting multipath transmission, that is, the UE may transmit a same service packet on the at least two transmission subflows. Before performing service packet transmission, the UE may first establish a plurality of PDU connections, for example, PDN connections, and may establish one or more corresponding transmission subflows on each PDU connection. The at least two transmission subflows used for service packet transmission are transmission subflows corresponding to different PDU connections. The UE establishes different PDU connections to different base stations and forwarding plane network elements. For example, the UE establishes a PDU connection <NUM> to a base station <NUM> and a forwarding plane network element <NUM>, and the UE establishes a PDU connection <NUM> to a base station <NUM> and a forwarding plane network element <NUM>.

In this embodiment of the present invention, when the UE transmits the same service packet on the at least two transmission subflows, the policy decision network element may receive the association information of the at least two transmission subflows from the communication peer. The association information is used to indicate that the same service packet is transmitted on the at least two transmission subflows. The association information may include flow identifiers of the at least two transmission subflows. Different transmission subflows have different flow identifiers. The flow identifiers may be used to distinguish between the different transmission subflows. Specifically, when the association information includes more than one flow identifiers, it may indicate that a same service packet is transmitted on transmission subflows corresponding to these flow identifiers.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the communication peer may be the UE, or may be a server supporting multipath transmission, for example, an application server.

In this embodiment of the present invention, after the at least two transmission subflows are established, the communication peer may initiate a resource establishment request, to request to establish or activate one or some resources corresponding to each transmission subflow. For example, the UE may initiate a dedicated bearer activation request (namely, the resource establishment request) by using each transmission subflow, to activate a dedicated bearer corresponding to each transmission subflow. In addition, when detecting that resource modification needs to be performed on a transmission subflow, the communication peer may initiate a resource modification request on the transmission subflow. The communication peer may detect, in real time, a service packet transmission status (for example, a quantity of packet losses or packet loss frequency) on each transmission subflow, to determine whether resource modification needs to be performed on a transmission subflow. For example, when a quantity of packet losses on a transmission subflow is greater than a preset value, the communication peer may consider that the transmission subflow requires higher bandwidth, and therefore may determine that resource modification needs to be performed on the transmission subflow. Therefore, the communication peer may initiate a resource modification request on the transmission subflow.

Specifically, a specific implementation of step <NUM> that a policy decision network element receives association information of at least two transmission subflows from a communication peer may include the following step:.

The resource establishment process and the resource modification process are two different processes described above. When the association information is received in the resource establishment process, the communication peer may add the association information of the at least two transmission subflows to a resource establishment request initiated on one of the transmission subflows. When the association information is received in the resource modification process, the communication peer may add the association information of the at least two transmission subflows to an initiated resource modification request.

The policy decision network element determines a resource modification policy of at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the policy decision network element may determine the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the received association information. Specifically, the policy decision network element first determines the at least one transmission subflow, and then further determines the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow. The at least one transmission subflow may be any one or more of the at least two transmission subflows, or may be a transmission subflow on which resource modification needs to be performed and that is determined with reference to information such as a load status, an air interface type, and a base station type of each transmission subflow.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the resource modification policy may include but is not limited to information such as a flow identifier of each transmission subflow in the at least one transmission subflow, and a type of a resource that needs to be modified and a modification amount on each transmission subflow. The type of the resource that needs to be modified means which type of resource is to be modified, and may be a quality of service QoS parameter. Further, the QoS parameter may include a QCI (QoS Class Identifier, QoS class identifier), used to measure resource information such as a packet loss rate, a delay, bandwidth, and a priority during service transmission, to modify these resources. The modification amount means an amount by which a resource is modified. For example, if bandwidth on a transmission subflow is to be increased by <NUM>, the type of the resource that needs to be modified is the bandwidth, and the modification amount is <NUM>.

Optionally, a specific implementation of step <NUM> that the policy decision network element determines a resource modification policy of at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information may include the following steps:.

The information such as the load statuses, the air interface types, and the base station types of the at least two transmission subflows may be reported by a network management system or a radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN) to the policy decision network element in real time or at a specific interval, or may be proactively obtained by the policy decision network element from a network management system or a RAN side. For example, the UE transmits a same service packet by using two transmission subflows (for example, a transmission subflow <NUM> and a transmission subflow <NUM>). It is assumed that maximum bandwidth on each of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM> is <NUM>, <NUM> bandwidth has been occupied on the transmission subflow <NUM>, and <NUM> bandwidth has been occupied on the transmission subflow <NUM>. If resource modification needs to be performed when resource usage exceeds <NUM>%, it may be determined that resource modification needs to be performed on the transmission subflow <NUM>.

In an optional implementation, before step <NUM> is performed, the method described in <FIG> may further include the following step:
(<NUM>) The policy decision network element receives, in the resource modification process, a policy control modification request from a forwarding plane network element, where the forwarding plane network element is a forwarding plane network element corresponding to one of the at least two transmission subflows.

A specific implementation of step <NUM> that the policy decision network element determines a resource modification policy of at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information may include the following step:
(<NUM>) The policy decision network element responds to the policy control modification request, and determines the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information.

In this implementation, the policy decision network element may receive, in the resource modification process, the policy control modification request from the forwarding plane network element. The policy control modification request may be used to instruct the policy decision network element to determine the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information. The forwarding plane network element is the forwarding plane network element corresponding to one of the at least two transmission subflows. Specifically, the forwarding plane network element may be a forwarding plane network element corresponding to a transmission subflow on which a resource modification request is initiated.

Optionally, a specific implementation of step (<NUM>) that the policy decision network element determines the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information may be as follows: The policy decision network element obtains at least one type of information of load statuses, air interface types, and base station types of the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information; and determines the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the at least one type of information of the load statuses, the air interface types, and the base station types of the at least two transmission subflows.

In an optional implementation, before step <NUM> is performed, the method described in <FIG> may further include the following step:
(<NUM>) The policy decision network element receives, in the resource modification process, a resource modification request from the communication peer.

A specific implementation of step <NUM> that the policy decision network element determines a resource modification policy of at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information may include the following step:
(<NUM>) The policy decision network element responds to the resource modification request, and determines the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information.

In this implementation, the policy decision network element may receive, in the resource modification process, the resource modification request from the communication peer. The resource modification request may be used to instruct the policy decision network element to determine the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information.

The policy decision network element sends the resource modification policy to a forwarding plane network element corresponding to the at least one transmission subflow.

In this embodiment of the present invention, after determining the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow, the policy decision network element may send the resource modification policy to the forwarding plane network element corresponding to the at least one transmission subflow, so that the forwarding plane network element corresponding to the at least one transmission subflow performs resource modification according to the resource modification policy. One transmission subflow is corresponding to one forwarding plane network element, and forwarding plane network elements corresponding to different transmission subflows may be different. After receiving a resource modification policy, a forwarding plane network element may parse the resource modification policy to obtain a modification policy of a transmission subflow corresponding to the forwarding plane network element, and perform resource modification according to the modification policy. For example, the forwarding plane network element <NUM> receives a resource modification policy; parses the resource modification policy to obtain a modification policy of the transmission subflow <NUM> corresponding to the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, for example, a type of a resource that needs to be modified and a modification amount; and performs corresponding resource modification on the transmission subflow <NUM> based on the type of the resource and the modification amount.

In the method described in <FIG>, when the UE supporting multipath transmission performs service packet transmission by using the at least two transmission subflows, the policy decision network element receives the association information of the at least two transmission subflows from the communication peer; may determine the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information; and sends the resource modification policy to the forwarding plane network element corresponding to the at least one transmission subflow, so that the forwarding plane network element corresponding to the at least one transmission subflow performs resource modification according to the resource modification policy. After the method described in <FIG> is implemented, the policy decision network element may determine, based on the association information of the at least two transmission subflows on which the same service packet is transmitted, one or more transmission subflows on which resource modification needs to be performed, so that resource modification is performed on the one or more transmission subflows, instead of performing resource modification on each transmission subflow. Therefore, a signaling processing quantity can be reduced when resource modification is performed in multipath transmission, a processing procedure is further optimized, and system resource consumption is reduced.

Based on the network architecture of multipath transmission shown in <FIG>, an embodiment of the present invention discloses another policy control method for multipath transmission. <FIG> are a schematic flowchart of another policy control method for multipath transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the policy control method for multipath transmission, association information is transmitted in a resource establishment process, and a communication peer is user equipment UE. The UE may perform service packet transmission by using at least two transmission subflows, and an example in which the UE performs service packet transmission by using two transmission subflows is used herein for detailed description. As shown in <FIG>, the policy control method for multipath transmission may include the following steps.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the UE supporting multipath transmission may establish a plurality of PDU connections, and may establish one or more corresponding transmission subflows on each PDU connection. Herein, an example in which one transmission subflow is established on one PDU connection is used for description. The UE may transmit a same service packet by using the transmission subflow <NUM> corresponding to the PDU connection <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM> corresponding to the PDU connection <NUM>.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the base station <NUM> and the base station <NUM> are two different base stations. For example, the base station <NUM> is a macro base station, and the base station <NUM> is a micro base station.

The UE sends a first resource request to a control plane network element by using the PDU connection <NUM>, where the first resource request carries a flow identifier of the transmission subflow <NUM>.

The control plane network element sends, to the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, the first resource request transmitted by the UE by using the PDU connection <NUM>.

The forwarding plane network element <NUM> interacts with a policy decision network element.

The forwarding plane network element <NUM> performs corresponding resource modification on the transmission subflow <NUM> by using the control plane network element, the base station <NUM>, and the UE.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first resource request transmitted on the PDU connection <NUM> may be a resource establishment request, namely, a request to establish one or some resources on the connection. The request may include the flow identifier of the transmission subflow <NUM> and information about a resource that the UE requests to establish. The forwarding plane network element <NUM> may establish an IP-CAN session based on the first resource request, to implement interaction with the policy decision network element. Specifically, the forwarding plane network element <NUM> sends a session request to the policy decision network element. The session request may carry the flow identifier of the transmission subflow <NUM>. The policy decision network element responds to the session request, and may initiate policy modification by using a policy enforcement network element. The policy decision network element delivers a modification policy to the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, so that the forwarding plane network element <NUM> initiates corresponding resource modification according to the modification policy. In this case, the resource modification is to establish or activate a requested resource.

After completing the resource modification, the forwarding plane network element <NUM> returns confirmation information to the policy decision network element, to indicate that the requested resource modification has been performed.

In this embodiment of the present invention, after completing resource establishment, the forwarding plane network element <NUM> may return the confirmation information to the policy decision network element, to notify the policy decision network element that the requested resource has been successfully established.

The UE sends a first resource request to the control plane network element by using the PDU connection <NUM>, where the first resource request carries a flow identifier of the transmission subflow <NUM> and association information of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM>.

The forwarding plane network element <NUM> interacts with the policy decision network element.

Similarly, the first resource request transmitted on the PDU connection <NUM> may be a resource establishment request, namely, a request to establish one or some resources on the connection. The request may include the flow identifier of the transmission subflow <NUM>, the association information of the two transmission subflows, and information about a resource that the UE requests to establish. The forwarding plane network element <NUM> may establish an IP-CAN session based on the first resource request, to implement interaction with the policy decision network element. Specifically, the forwarding plane network element <NUM> sends a session request to the policy decision network element. The session request may carry the flow identifier of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the association information of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM>. The policy decision network element responds to the session request, and may initiate policy modification by using the policy enforcement network element. The policy decision network element delivers a modification policy to the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, so that the forwarding plane network element <NUM> initiates corresponding resource modification according to the modification policy. In this case, the resource modification is to establish or activate a requested resource.

It may be understood that step <NUM> to step <NUM> and step <NUM> to step <NUM> may be performed sequentially, synchronously, or alternately. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention. The association information of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM> may be transmitted on one of the transmission subflows. Step <NUM> to step <NUM> may be considered as a resource establishment process, and the association information is transmitted in the resource establishment process.

The UE detects that resource modification needs to be performed on a transmission subflow.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the UE may detect, in real time or at a specific interval, whether resource modification needs to be performed on the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM>. Specifically, the UE may determine, based on data transmission statuses of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM>, whether resource modification needs to be performed. For example, when a quantity of packet losses of data transmitted on the transmission subflow <NUM> is greater than a preset value, the UE may consider that the transmission subflow <NUM> requires higher bandwidth, that is, detect that resource modification needs to be performed on the transmission subflow <NUM>.

The UE sends a second resource request to the control plane network element on the transmission subflow.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the second resource request may be a resource modification request. When detecting that resource modification needs to be performed on the transmission subflow <NUM>, the UE may send the second resource request on the transmission subflow <NUM>. When detecting that resource modification needs to be performed on the transmission subflow <NUM>, the UE may send the second resource request on the transmission subflow <NUM>. Herein, an example in which resource modification needs to be performed on the transmission subflow <NUM> is used for description.

The control plane network element forwards the second resource request to the forwarding plane network element <NUM>.

The forwarding plane network element <NUM> sends a policy control modification request to the policy decision network element.

The policy decision network element responds to the policy control modification request, and determines a resource modification policy of at least one transmission subflow in the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM> based on the association information.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the policy decision network element responds to the policy control modification request from the forwarding plane network element, and determines the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow based on the received association information of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM>. The at least one transmission subflow may be any one or two of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM>, or may be one or two transmission subflows that are of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM> and on which resource modification needs to be performed. The policy control modification request is also transmitted when the forwarding plane network element establishes the IP-CAN session with the policy decision network element.

Optionally, a specific implementation of step <NUM> that the policy decision network element determines a resource modification policy of at least one transmission subflow in the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM> based on the association information may be as follows:
The policy decision network element obtains at least one type of information of load statuses, air interface types, and base station types of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM> based on the association information; and determines the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM> based on the at least one type of information of the load statuses, the air interface types, and the base station types of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM>.

The policy decision network element delivers the resource modification policy for resource modification.

Specifically, a specific implementation of step <NUM> that the policy decision network element delivers the resource modification policy for resource modification may include the following steps:.

When the at least one transmission subflow is the transmission subflow <NUM>, the policy decision network element sends the resource modification policy to the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, so that the forwarding plane network element <NUM> performs corresponding resource modification according to the resource modification policy. When the at least one transmission subflow is the transmission subflow <NUM>, the policy decision network element sends the resource modification policy to the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, so that the forwarding plane network element <NUM> performs corresponding resource modification according to the resource modification policy. When the at least one transmission subflow is the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM>, the policy decision network element separately sends the resource modification policy to the forwarding plane network element <NUM> and the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, so that the forwarding plane network element <NUM> and the forwarding plane network element <NUM> separately perform corresponding resource modification according to the resource modification policy.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the method described in <FIG> may further include the following step:
(<NUM>) After completing the resource modification, the forwarding plane network element corresponding to the at least one transmission subflow returns confirmation information to the policy decision network element, to indicate that the requested resource modification has been performed.

When the at least one transmission subflow is the transmission subflow <NUM>, after completing the resource modification, the forwarding plane network element <NUM> may return the confirmation information to the policy decision network element, to notify the policy decision network element that the requested resource modification has been performed. When the at least one transmission subflow is the transmission subflow <NUM>, after completing the resource modification, the forwarding plane network element <NUM> may return the confirmation information to the policy decision network element, to notify the policy decision network element that the requested resource modification has been performed. When the at least one transmission subflow is the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM>, after completing the resource modification, the forwarding plane network element <NUM> and the forwarding plane network element <NUM> may separately return the confirmation information to the policy decision network element, to separately indicate that the requested resource modification has been performed.

It may be understood that, when detecting that resource modification needs to be performed on the transmission subflow <NUM> in step <NUM>, the UE may send the second resource request on the transmission subflow <NUM>. For a specific implementation process, refer to step <NUM> to step <NUM>. Step <NUM> to step <NUM> may be considered as a resource modification process.

In an optional implementation, when the UE can establish a bearer, the first resource request transmitted by the UE by using each of the PDU connection <NUM> and the PDU connection <NUM> may be a dedicated bearer activation request, and the resource modification may be dedicated bearer activation. In this case, step <NUM> to step <NUM> are an activation process of a dedicated bearer on the transmission subflow <NUM>, and step <NUM> to step <NUM> are an activation process of a dedicated bearer on the transmission subflow <NUM>. When the UE detects that resource modification needs to be performed on a transmission subflow in step <NUM>, the second resource request transmitted on the transmission subflow may be a dedicated bearer modification request. Correspondingly, the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow and that is determined by the policy decision network element based on the association information of the two transmission subflows may be a bearer QoS modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow. The bearer QoS modification policy is delivered to a corresponding forwarding plane network element, so that the corresponding forwarding plane network element initiates bearer QoS modification, and returns confirmation information to the policy decision network element, to indicate that the requested bearer QoS modification has been performed.

In this embodiment of the present invention, after the method described in <FIG> is implemented, the UE separately establishes PDU connections by using a plurality of different base stations, and establishes corresponding transmission subflows. The UE may notify the policy decision network element of flow identifiers of the transmission subflows and association information of the plurality of transmission subflows in a resource establishment process. When the UE detects that resource modification needs to be performed on one of the transmission subflows, in a resource modification process, the policy decision network element determines, based on the association information, one or more transmission subflows for resource modification. Therefore, a signaling processing quantity can be reduced when resource modification is performed in multipath transmission, a processing procedure is further optimized, and system resource consumption is reduced.

Based on the network architecture of multipath transmission shown in <FIG>, an embodiment of the present invention discloses another policy control method for multipath transmission. <FIG> are a schematic flowchart of another policy control method for multipath transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the policy control method for multipath transmission, association information is transmitted in a resource modification process, and a communication peer is user equipment UE. The UE may perform service packet transmission by using at least two transmission subflows, and an example in which the UE performs service packet transmission by using two transmission subflows is used herein for detailed description. As shown in <FIG>, the policy control method for multipath transmission may include the following steps.

The UE establishes a PDU connection <NUM> by using a base station <NUM> and a forwarding plane network element <NUM>.

The UE establishes, for the PDU connection <NUM> by using the base station <NUM> and the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, a transmission subflow <NUM> on which the UE communicates with a server.

The UE establishes, for the PDU connection <NUM> by using the base station <NUM> and the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, a transmission subflow <NUM> on which the UE communicates with the server.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first resource request transmitted on the PDU connection <NUM> may be a resource establishment request, namely, a request to establish or activate one or some resources on the connection. The request may include the flow identifier of the transmission subflow <NUM> and information about a resource that the UE requests to establish. The forwarding plane network element <NUM> may establish an IP-CAN session based on the first resource request, to implement interaction with the policy decision network element. Specifically, the forwarding plane network element <NUM> sends a session request to the policy decision network element. The session request may carry the flow identifier of the transmission subflow <NUM>. The policy decision network element responds to the session request, and may initiate policy modification by using a policy enforcement network element. The policy decision network element delivers a modification policy to the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, so that the forwarding plane network element <NUM> initiates corresponding resource modification according to the modification policy. In this case, the resource modification is to establish or activate a requested resource.

The UE sends a first resource request to the control plane network element by using the PDU connection <NUM>, where the first resource request carries a flow identifier of the transmission subflow <NUM>.

Similarly, the first resource request transmitted on the PDU connection <NUM> may be a resource establishment request, namely, a request to establish one or some resources on the connection. The request may include the flow identifier of the transmission subflow <NUM> and information about a resource that the UE requests to establish. The forwarding plane network element <NUM> may establish an IP-CAN session based on the first resource request, to implement interaction with the policy decision network element. Specifically, the forwarding plane network element <NUM> sends a session request to the policy decision network element. The session request may carry the flow identifier of the transmission subflow <NUM>. The policy decision network element responds to the session request, and may initiate policy modification by using the policy enforcement network element. The policy decision network element delivers a modification policy to the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, so that the forwarding plane network element <NUM> performs corresponding resource modification according to the modification policy. In this case, the resource modification is to establish or activate a requested resource.

It may be understood that step <NUM> to step <NUM> and step <NUM> to step <NUM> may be performed sequentially, synchronously, or alternately. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention. Step <NUM> to step <NUM> may be considered as a resource establishment process.

The UE sends a second resource request to the control plane network element on the transmission subflow, where the second resource request carries association information of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM>.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the control plane network element may send the second resource request and the association information of the two transmission subflows together to the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, or may send the second resource request to the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, and directly send the association information of the two transmission subflows to the policy decision network element. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment of the present invention, when the control plane network element directly sends the association information of the two transmission subflows to the policy decision network element, the policy control modification request may not carry the association information. When the control plane network element sends the second resource request and the association information together, the policy control modification request may carry the association information of the two transmission subflows.

It may be understood that, when detecting that resource modification needs to be performed on the transmission subflow <NUM> in step <NUM>, the UE may send the second resource request on the transmission subflow <NUM>, and transmit the association information of the two transmission subflows. For a specific implementation process, refer to step <NUM> to step <NUM>. Step <NUM> to step <NUM> may be considered as a resource modification process, and the association information is transmitted in the resource modification process.

In an optional implementation, when the UE can establish a bearer, the first resource request transmitted by the UE by using each of the PDU connection <NUM> and the PDU connection <NUM> may be a dedicated bearer activation request, and the resource modification may be dedicated bearer activation. In this case, step <NUM> to step <NUM> are an activation process of a dedicated bearer on the transmission subflow <NUM>, and step <NUM> to step <NUM> are an activation process of a dedicated bearer on the transmission subflow <NUM>. When the UE detects that resource modification needs to be performed on a transmission subflow in step <NUM>, the second resource request transmitted on the transmission subflow may be a dedicated bearer modification request, and carries the association information of the two transmission subflows. Correspondingly, the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow and that is determined by the policy decision network element based on the association information of the two transmission subflows may be a bearer QoS modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow. The bearer QoS modification policy is delivered to a corresponding forwarding plane network element, so that the corresponding forwarding plane network element initiates bearer QoS modification, and returns confirmation information to the policy decision network element, to indicate that the requested bearer QoS modification has been performed.

In this embodiment of the present invention, after the method described in <FIG> is implemented, the UE separately establishes PDU connections by using a plurality of different base stations, and establishes corresponding transmission subflows. The UE may notify the policy decision network element of flow identifiers of the transmission subflows in a resource establishment process. When the UE detects that resource modification needs to be performed on one of the transmission subflows, the UE notifies the policy decision network element of association information of the transmission subflows in a resource modification process, so that the policy decision network element determines, based on the association information, one or more transmission subflows for resource modification. Therefore, a signaling processing quantity can be reduced when resource modification is performed in multipath transmission, a processing procedure is further optimized, and system resource consumption is reduced.

Based on the network architecture of multipath transmission shown in <FIG>, an embodiment of the present invention discloses still another policy control method for multipath transmission. <FIG> are a schematic flowchart of still another policy control method for multipath transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the policy control method for multipath transmission, association information is transmitted in a resource modification process, and a communication peer is a server supporting multipath transmission. User equipment UE may perform service packet transmission by using at least two transmission subflows, and an example in which the UE performs service packet transmission by using two transmission subflows is used herein for detailed description. As shown in <FIG>, the policy control method for multipath transmission may include the following steps.

The server detects that resource modification needs to be performed on a transmission subflow.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the server may determine, based on a service requirement, a transmission subflow on which resource modification needs to be performed, for example, determine which transmission subflow requires higher bandwidth.

The server sends a second resource request to the policy decision network element on the transmission subflow, where the second resource request carries association information of the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM>.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the second resource request may be the foregoing resource modification request. The resource modification request carries the association information of the two transmission subflows. When detecting that resource modification needs to be performed on the transmission subflow <NUM>, the server may send, on the transmission subflow <NUM>, the second resource request carrying the association information. When detecting that resource modification needs to be performed on the transmission subflow <NUM>, the server may send, on the transmission subflow <NUM>, the second resource request carrying the association information.

The policy decision network element responds to the second resource request, and determines a resource modification policy of at least one transmission subflow in the transmission subflow <NUM> and the transmission subflow <NUM> based on the association information.

Step <NUM> to step <NUM> may be considered as a resource modification process, and the association information is transmitted in the resource modification process.

In an optional implementation, when the UE can establish a bearer, the first resource request transmitted by the UE by using each of the PDU connection <NUM> and the PDU connection <NUM> may be a dedicated bearer activation request, and the resource modification may be dedicated bearer activation. In this case, step <NUM> to step <NUM> are an activation process of a dedicated bearer on the transmission subflow <NUM>, and step <NUM> to step <NUM> are an activation process of a dedicated bearer on the transmission subflow <NUM>. When the server detects that resource modification needs to be performed on a transmission subflow in step <NUM>, the second resource request transmitted on the transmission subflow may be a dedicated bearer modification request, and carries the association information of the two transmission subflows. Correspondingly, the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow and that is determined by the policy decision network element based on the association information of the two transmission subflows may be a bearer QoS modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow. The bearer QoS modification policy is delivered to a corresponding forwarding plane network element, so that the corresponding forwarding plane network element initiates bearer QoS modification, and returns confirmation information to the policy decision network element, to indicate that the requested bearer QoS modification has been performed.

In this embodiment of the present invention, after the method described in <FIG> is implemented, the UE separately establishes PDU connections by using a plurality of different base stations, and establishes corresponding transmission subflows. The UE may notify the policy decision network element of flow identifiers of the transmission subflows in a resource establishment process. When the server detects that resource modification needs to be performed on one of the transmission subflows, the server notifies the policy decision network element of association information of the two transmission subflows in a resource modification process, so that the policy decision network element determines, based on the association information, one or more transmission subflows for resource modification. Therefore, a signaling processing quantity can be reduced when resource modification is performed in multipath transmission, a processing procedure is further optimized, and system resource consumption is reduced.

Based on the network architecture of multipath transmission shown in <FIG>, an embodiment of the present invention discloses a policy decision network element. <FIG> is a schematic structural diagram of a policy decision network element according to an embodiment of the present invention. The policy decision network element may be configured to execute the policy control method for multipath transmission disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention. As shown in <FIG>, the policy decision network element may include a receiving unit <NUM>, a determining unit <NUM>, and a sending unit <NUM>.

The receiving unit <NUM> is configured to receive association information of at least two transmission subflows from a communication peer.

In this embodiment of the present invention, user equipment UE supporting multipath transmission may perform service packet transmission by using the at least two transmission subflows, that is, the UE may transmit a same service packet on the at least two transmission subflows. When the UE transmits the same service packet on the at least two transmission subflows, the receiving unit <NUM> may receive the association information of the at least two transmission subflows from the communication peer. The association information is used to indicate that the same service packet is transmitted on the at least two transmission subflows. The association information may include flow identifiers of the at least two transmission subflows. Different transmission subflows have different flow identifiers. The flow identifiers may be used to distinguish between the different transmission subflows.

In an optional implementation, a specific implementation in which the receiving unit <NUM> receives the association information of the at least two transmission subflows from the communication peer may be as follows:
The receiving unit <NUM> receives, in a resource establishment process, the association information of the at least two transmission subflows from the communication peer; or
the receiving unit <NUM> receives, in a resource modification process, the association information of the at least two transmission subflows from the communication peer.

In this implementation, after the at least two transmission subflows are established, the communication peer may initiate a resource establishment request, to request to establish or activate one or some resources corresponding to each transmission subflow. In addition, when detecting that resource modification needs to be performed on a transmission subflow, the communication peer may initiate a resource modification request on the transmission subflow.

In this implementation, when the association information is received in the resource establishment process, the communication peer may add the association information of the at least two transmission subflows to a resource establishment request initiated on one of the transmission subflows. When the association information is received in the resource modification process, the communication peer may add the association information of the at least two transmission subflows to an initiated resource modification request.

The determining unit <NUM> is configured to determine a resource modification policy of at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the determining unit <NUM> may determine the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information received by the receiving unit <NUM>. The at least one transmission subflow may be any one or more of the at least two transmission subflows, or may be a transmission subflow on which resource modification needs to be performed and that is determined with reference to information such as a load status, an air interface type, and a base station type of each transmission subflow.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the resource modification policy may include but is not limited to information such as a flow identifier of each transmission subflow in the at least one transmission subflow, and a type of a resource that needs to be modified and a modification amount on each transmission subflow. The type of the resource that needs to be modified means which type of resource is to be modified, and may be a quality of service QoS parameter. Further, the QoS parameter may include a QCI, used to measure information such as a packet loss rate, a delay, bandwidth, and a priority during service transmission. The modification amount means an amount by which a resource is modified.

The sending unit <NUM> is configured to send the resource modification policy to a forwarding plane network element corresponding to the at least one transmission subflow.

In this embodiment of the present invention, after the determining unit <NUM> determines the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow, the sending unit <NUM> may send the resource modification policy to the forwarding plane network element corresponding to the at least one transmission subflow. One transmission subflow is corresponding to one forwarding plane network element, and forwarding plane network elements corresponding to different transmission subflows may be different. After receiving a resource modification policy, a forwarding plane network element may parse the resource modification policy to obtain a modification policy of a transmission subflow corresponding to the forwarding plane network element, and perform resource modification according to the modification policy.

In an optional implementation, the receiving unit <NUM> may be further configured to receive, in the resource modification process, a policy control modification request from a forwarding plane network element, where the forwarding plane network element is a forwarding plane network element corresponding to one of the at least two transmission subflows.

Correspondingly, the determining unit <NUM> may be specifically configured to: respond to the policy control modification request, and determine the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information.

The receiving unit <NUM> may receive, in the resource modification process, the policy control modification request from the forwarding plane network element. The policy control modification request may be used to instruct the determining unit <NUM> to determine the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows. The forwarding plane network element is the forwarding plane network element corresponding to one of the at least two transmission subflows. Specifically, the forwarding plane network element may be a forwarding plane network element corresponding to a transmission subflow on which a resource modification request is initiated.

In an optional implementation, the receiving unit <NUM> may be further configured to receive, in the resource modification process, a resource modification request from the communication peer.

Correspondingly, the determining unit <NUM> may be specifically configured to: respond to the resource modification request, and determine the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information.

The receiving unit <NUM> may receive, in the resource modification process, the resource modification request from the communication peer. The resource modification request may be used to instruct the determining unit <NUM> to determine the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows.

<FIG> is a schematic structural diagram of another policy decision network element according to an embodiment of the present invention. The policy decision network element may be configured to execute the policy control method for multipath transmission disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention. The policy decision network element shown in <FIG> is obtained by further optimizing the policy decision network element shown in <FIG>. Compared with that in the policy decision network element shown in <FIG>, the determining unit <NUM> in the policy decision network element shown in <FIG> may include:.

The information such as the load statuses, the air interface types, and the base station types of the at least two transmission subflows may be reported by a network management system or a radio access network to the policy decision network element in real time or at a specific interval, or may be proactively obtained by the policy decision network element from a network management system or a RAN side.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the policy decision network element shown in <FIG> may determine, based on the association information of the at least two transmission subflows on which the same service packet is transmitted, one or more transmission subflows on which resource modification needs to be performed, so that resource modification is performed on the one or more transmission subflows, instead of performing resource modification on each transmission subflow. Therefore, a signaling processing quantity can be reduced when resource modification is performed in multipath transmission, a processing procedure is further optimized, and system resource consumption is reduced.

Based on the network architecture of multipath transmission shown in <FIG>, an embodiment of the present invention discloses still another policy decision network element. <FIG> is a schematic structural diagram of still another policy decision network element according to an embodiment of the present invention. The policy decision network element may be configured to execute the policy control method for multipath transmission disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention. As shown in <FIG>, the policy decision network element <NUM> may include components such as at least one processor <NUM>, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit, central processing unit), at least one communications interface <NUM>, and a memory <NUM>. These components may perform communication and connection by using one or more communications buses <NUM>. A person skilled in the art may understand that a structure of the policy decision network element <NUM> shown in <FIG> imposes no limitation on this embodiment of the present invention. The structure may be a bus structure, or may be a star structure, and may alternatively include components more or fewer than those shown in the figure, or combine some components, or have components disposed differently.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the communications interface <NUM> may include a wired interface, a wireless interface, and the like, and may be configured to communicate with a communication peer.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the memory <NUM> may be a high-speed RAM or a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as at least one magnetic disk storage. Optionally, the memory <NUM> may be at least one storage apparatus that is far away from the processor <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the memory <NUM> may include an application program, a communications interface module, data, and the like. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

In the policy decision network element <NUM> shown in <FIG>, the processor <NUM> may be configured to invoke the application program stored in the memory <NUM>, to perform the following operations:.

In an optional implementation, the communication peer may include the UE or a server supporting multipath transmission.

In an optional implementation, a specific implementation in which the processor <NUM> triggers the communications interface <NUM> to receive the association information of the at least two transmission subflows from the communication peer may be:.

In an optional implementation, the processor <NUM> may be further configured to invoke the application program stored in the memory <NUM>, to perform the following operation:
triggering the communications interface <NUM> to receive, in the resource modification process, a policy control modification request from a forwarding plane network element, where the forwarding plane network element is a forwarding plane network element corresponding to one of the at least two transmission subflows.

A specific implementation in which the processor <NUM> determines the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information may be:
responding to the policy control modification request, and determining the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information.

In an optional implementation, the processor <NUM> may be further configured to invoke the application program stored in the memory <NUM>, to perform the following operation:
triggering the communications interface <NUM> to receive, in the resource modification process, a resource modification request from the communication peer.

A specific implementation in which the processor <NUM> determines the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information may be:
responding to the resource modification request, and determining the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information.

In an optional implementation, the specific implementation in which the processor <NUM> determines the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information may be:.

Specifically, the policy decision network element described in this embodiment of the present invention may implement some or all procedures in the embodiments of the policy control method for multipath transmission described with reference to <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, or <FIG> in the present invention.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the policy decision network element shown in <FIG> may determine, based on the association information of the at least two transmission subflows on which a same service packet is transmitted, one or more transmission subflows on which resource modification needs to be performed, so that resource modification is performed on the one or more transmission subflows, instead of performing resource modification on each transmission subflow. Therefore, a signaling processing quantity can be reduced when resource modification is performed in multipath transmission, a processing procedure is further optimized, and system resource consumption is reduced.

<FIG> is a policy control system for multipath transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in <FIG>, the policy control system for multipath transmission may include user equipment UE <NUM>, at least two base stations <NUM> (such as a base station <NUM>, a base station <NUM>,. , and a base station n, where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to <NUM>), a control plane network element <NUM>, at least two forwarding plane network elements <NUM> (such as a forwarding plane network element <NUM>, a forwarding plane network element <NUM>,. , and a forwarding plane network element n), a policy decision network element <NUM>, and a server <NUM>. For specific functions of the UE <NUM>, the base station <NUM>, the control plane network element <NUM>, the forwarding plane network element <NUM>, the policy decision network element <NUM>, and the server <NUM>, refer to the content described in the foregoing embodiments. The policy control system for multipath transmission shown in <FIG> may be configured to execute the policy control method for multipath transmission described in any one of <FIG>.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the policy control system for multipath transmission shown in <FIG> may determine, based on association information of at least two transmission subflows on which a same service packet is transmitted, one or more transmission subflows on which resource modification needs to be performed, so that resource modification is performed on the one or more transmission subflows, instead of performing resource modification on each transmission subflow. Therefore, a signaling processing quantity can be reduced when resource modification is performed in multipath transmission, a processing procedure is further optimized, and system resource consumption is reduced.

It should be noted that, for brief description, the foregoing method embodiments are represented as a series of actions. However, a person skilled in the art should appreciate that the present invention is not limited to the described sequence of the actions, because according to the present invention, some steps may be performed in other sequences or simultaneously. In addition, a person skilled in the art should also know that all the embodiments described in this specification are preferred embodiments, and the related actions and modules are not necessarily mandatory to the present invention.

A sequence of the steps of the method in the embodiments of the present invention may be adjusted, and steps may be combined or removed depending on an actual requirement.

The units or subunits in the policy decision network element in the embodiments of the present invention may be combined, divided, and removed depending on an actual requirement.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that, all or some of the steps in each method of the foregoing embodiments may be implemented by a program instructing related hardware. The program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The storage medium includes a read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), a random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a programmable read-only memory (Programmable Read-only Memory, PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory, EPROM), a one-time programmable read-only memory (One-time Programmable Read-Only Memory, OTPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory, EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory, CD-ROM) or another optical disc memory, a magnetic disk memory, a magnetic tape memory, or any other computer readable medium that can be used to carry or store data.

Claim 1:
A policy control method for multipath transmission, wherein a user equipment, UE, supporting multipath transmission performs service packet transmission by using at least two transmission subflows, and the method comprises:
receiving (<NUM>), by a policy decision network element, association information of the at least two transmission subflows in a resource establishment request on one of the at least two transmission subflows from a communication peer, wherein the association information comprises flow identifiers of the at least two transmission subflows, wherein the communication peer comprises the UE, and the UE is an initiator of the resource establishment request;
determining (<NUM>), by the policy decision network element, a resource modification policy of at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information; and
sending (<NUM>), by the policy decision network element, the resource modification policy to a forwarding plane network element corresponding to the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows,
the method being characterised in that the determining, by the policy decision network element, the resource modification policy of at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information comprises:
obtaining, by the policy decision network element, at least one type of information of load statuses, air interface types, and base station types of the at least two transmission subflows based on the association information; and
determining, by the policy decision network element, the resource modification policy of the at least one transmission subflow in the at least two transmission subflows based on the at least one type of information of the load statuses, the air interface types, and the base station types of the at least two transmission subflows.