CN111757343B

CN111757343B - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN111757343B
Application number: CN201910248056.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李秉肇; 邝奕如
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-29
Filing date: 2019-03-29
Publication date: 2022-04-22
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-29
Also published as: WO2020199761A1; CN111757343A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and a communication device, which relate to the field of communication, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the first network equipment sends at least one of processing capacity indication information and capacity filtering parameters to the second network equipment; and the second network equipment determines the size and the range of the terminal equipment capacity according to at least one of the processing capacity indication information and the capacity filtering parameter, and sends the size and the range to the first network equipment. Wherein the processing capability indication information is used for indicating the processing capability of the first network device, and comprises at least one of a capability processing level of the first network device and a capability processing threshold of the first network device, and the capability filtering parameter is used for indicating a range of capability information. By the method, the problem that the network side cannot acquire all capabilities or specific capabilities of the terminal equipment can be solved, and the capability report of the terminal equipment is optimized.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus.

Background

Currently, due to different hardware or software versions, different User Equipments (UEs) can support different Radio Access Technology (RAT) capabilities. To better serve the UEs, the network equipment needs to know the capabilities of each UE in order to configure the UE with the appropriate operating mode. The network may request the UE to report capabilities for different RAT types. Such as requesting the UE to report related capabilities supporting Long Term Evolution (LTE), related capabilities supporting New Radio (NR), or related capabilities supporting multi-RAT dual connectivity (MR-DC).

After the RRC connection is established between the UE and the access network, Information Elements (IEs) carrying the UE capability may be brought to the access network, and the access network sends the UE capability to the core network. In protocol design, to reduce air interface signaling overhead, the core network may store the UE capabilities and transfer the UE capabilities to the access network in an initial context setup message. If the UE does not have the reporting capability and the core network does not store the capability of the UE, the access network initiates a capability query request to the UE and transmits the capability of the UE to the core network after the UE reports the capability.

As the frequency bands supported by the UE increase, the size of the capability information of the UE also gradually increases, and currently, the size of the capability information of some UEs reaches 100M. Because the capability information of the UE is too large, the storage and transmission consumption of the capability is relatively large, and the base station and the core network are increasingly unable to accurately control the transmission of the capability. The acquisition and delivery of UE capabilities becomes a technical key point that needs to be optimized urgently.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and device, which can optimize the acquisition and transmission of UE (user equipment) capability.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, where the method is applied to a communication device or a chip of the communication device, and the method includes: the first network equipment sends at least one of processing capacity indication information and capacity filtering parameters to the second network equipment; the first network equipment receives the capability information of the terminal equipment from the second network equipment; wherein the processing capability indication information is used for indicating the processing capability of the first network device, and the capability filtering parameter is used for indicating the range of capability information.

Based on the method provided by the embodiment of the application, when the first network device needs to acquire the capability of the terminal device from the second network device, the reporting capability of the second network device can be more accurately indicated by sending at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter, and further, the second network device determines the range and the size of capability reporting according to at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter, and sends the capability information to the first network device. Therefore, the method provided by the embodiment of the application can optimize the acquisition and the transfer of the UE capability.

In one possible implementation, the processing capability indication information includes at least one of a capability processing level of the first network device and a capability processing threshold of the first network device. The capability processing level and the capability processing threshold can be used for indicating the capability size of the processing supported by the first network device, and the second network device can determine the size of the sent capability through the processing capability indication information, so that the capability does not exceed the capability range of the processing supported by the first network device, and the problem that the first network device cannot correctly or comprehensively acquire the capability of the UE due to the overlarge capability is avoided.

In one possible implementation, the capability filtering parameter includes at least one of bandwidth information, frequency band information, or Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) information. In one aspect, the bandwidth information, the frequency band information, or the PLMN information may be an indication information or an identifier, respectively. The bandwidth information is used for indicating the terminal device to report all bandwidth information supported by the terminal device, the frequency band information is used for indicating the terminal device to report frequency band information on each bandwidth supported by the terminal device, and the PLMN information is used for indicating the terminal device to report the capability related to the frequency band used by the PLMN supported by the terminal device. On the other hand, the filtering parameter may carry specific bandwidth information, frequency band information, or PLMN information, which is not completely determined according to the capability of the base station, and the terminal device determines the range of the reporting capability set according to the bandwidth information, frequency band information, or PLMN information. Therefore, the first network equipment can more accurately indicate the capability reporting range of the second network equipment through the filtering parameters, and the problem that the base station cannot correctly or comprehensively acquire all the capabilities of the UE or the specific capability of the UE due to the fact that the base station sets the improper filtering parameters is avoided.

In one possible design, at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter is carried in an NG interface setup message, an initial context setup message, an Xn interface setup message, or a capability request message.

In one possible implementation, the first network device is an access network device; the second network device is a core network device or an access network device. On one hand, the second network device may be a core network device, and when the core network device stores the capability of the terminal device, the capability information is pushed to the access network device, and at this time, the access network device may more accurately indicate the range of the capability information supported and processed by the access network device through at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter, thereby avoiding that the access network device cannot know the required capability due to the fact that the core network sends the excessive capability information. On the other hand, the second network device may be an access network device, and when the terminal device is switched between different access network devices, the second access network device may send the terminal capability information to the first access network device, and at this time, the interaction of the terminal capability between the two access network devices may be implemented by sending at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter, so as to avoid that the transmitted capability is too large and exceeds the processing range supported by the target access network device.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a capability reporting method, where the method is applied to a communication device or a chip of the communication device, and the method includes: the second network device receiving at least one of processing capability indication information and capability filtering parameters from the first network device; and the second network equipment sends the capability information of the terminal equipment to the first network equipment according to at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter. Wherein the processing capability indication information is used for indicating the processing capability of the first network device, and the capability filtering parameter is used for indicating the range of capability information.

In one possible implementation, the processing capability indication information includes at least one of a capability processing level of the first network device and a capability processing threshold of the first network device.

In one possible design, the capability information of the terminal device is carried in a context setup response message, a handover message, or a capability request response message.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network device sends at least one of the processing capability indication information, the capability filtering parameter, or an integrity indicator to the first network device, where the integrity indicator is used to indicate whether the capability information of the terminal device is complete. On one hand, when the second network device receives the processing capability indication information and/or the capability filtering parameter from the first network device, the second network device determines the capability size and/or the range of the terminal device according to the processing capability indication information and/or the capability filtering parameter, and further, when the second network device sends the capability information, the second network device may carry the corresponding processing capability indication information and/or the capability filtering parameter to indicate the range corresponding to the capability information. Wherein the processing capability indication information and/or capability filtering parameter may be sent together with the capability information, for example: the capability information carries the processing capability indication information and/or the capability filtering parameter, or the capability information and the processing capability indication information and/or the capability filtering parameter are in the same message or information, and may also be sent independently of the capability information, which is not specifically limited in this application. On the other hand, when the second network device sends the capability to the first network device, the integrity identifier may be carried to indicate whether the capability information is complete, and the first network device confirms the integrity of the received capability information according to the integrity identifier. The integrity flag may be sent together with the capability information or independently from the capability information, and the application is not particularly limited. The design can avoid the problem that the first network equipment cannot acquire the integrity of the received capability information when the capability sent by the second network equipment exceeds the processing range of the first network equipment, and can optimize the capability acquisition of the first network equipment.

In one possible implementation, the first network device is an access network device; the second network device is a core network device or another access network device.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, where the method is applied to an access network device or a chip of the access network device, and the method includes: the access network equipment sends capacity reporting indication information to the terminal equipment, wherein the capacity reporting indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to report the capacity information; and the access network equipment receives the capability information from the terminal equipment.

In a possible implementation manner, the capability reporting indication information includes a capability filtering parameter and first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to apply the capability filtering parameter when a first condition is met, the capability filtering parameter is used to indicate a range of capabilities that a terminal device needs to report, and the first condition is that a first capability set can be reported, and the first capability set corresponds to the capability set of the terminal device. When the network needs to acquire the specific capability of the UE, the access network equipment sends the filtering parameter to the terminal equipment according to the capability of the access network equipment, and at the moment, the terminal equipment determines the capability information according to the filtering parameter and sends the capability information to the access network equipment without sending complete capability information. Taking the base station as an example, because the capabilities of different base stations are different, the UE capabilities reported according to the filtering parameters cannot be commonly used among different base stations, which may cause a new base station to request the capabilities again after the UE is switched among the base stations. Based on the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the access network device may instruct the terminal device to send the complete UE capability to the access network device without applying the filtering parameter when the capability information can be completely reported by sending the first instruction information. Furthermore, the method provided by the embodiment of the application can solve the problem that the base station cannot acquire all the capabilities of the UE due to the fact that the base station sets the filtering parameters.

In a possible implementation manner, the capability reporting indication information includes a threshold of the number of segments, where the threshold of the number of segments is a maximum number of segments for capability information transmission. And the access network equipment receives N segments from the terminal equipment, wherein the N segments bear the capability information of the terminal equipment, and the N is less than or equal to the segment number threshold. When the segment quantity threshold is used for indicating the terminal equipment to report the capacity to the access network equipment, the maximum segment quantity supported by the access network equipment is determined according to the segment quantity threshold in the capacity report indication information, so that the condition that the segment quantity of the sending capacity of the terminal equipment exceeds the capacity range supported and processed by the access network equipment is avoided.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network device receives an integrity identifier from the terminal device, where the integrity identifier is used to indicate whether the capability information of the terminal device is complete. The access network equipment can confirm the integrity of the received capability according to the integrity identification so as to more accurately know the capability of the UE.

Further optionally, the access network device sends an integrity identifier to the core network device, where the integrity identifier is used to indicate whether the capability information of the terminal device is complete. The access network device can send the integrity identifier from the terminal device to the core network device, and the design can enable the network side to acquire the integrity of the terminal device capability.

In one possible implementation, the access network device may send a capability filtering parameter to the core network device, where the capability filtering parameter includes at least one of bandwidth information, frequency band information, or public land mobile network PLMN information. The capability filtering parameter may be pre-configured or from the access network device. In this scenario, the access network device may report the capability to the core network and simultaneously carry the corresponding capability filtering parameter for indicating the range corresponding to the capability information.

In a possible design, before the access network device sends the capability request to the terminal device, the access network device receives a capability query message sent by the core network device, or the access network device receives an initial context setup message sent by the core network device, where the initial context setup message does not carry the capability information of the terminal device. After the access network equipment confirms the capability information of the terminal equipment to be inquired, the access network equipment sends a capability reporting indication message to the terminal equipment.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a capability reporting method, where the method is applied to a terminal device or a chip of the terminal device, and the method includes: the terminal equipment receives the capability reporting indication information from the access network equipment; and the terminal equipment sends the capability information to the access network equipment according to the capability reporting indication information. And the capability reporting indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to report the capability information.

In a possible implementation manner, the capability reporting indication information includes first indication information; and the terminal equipment sends the capability information to the access network equipment according to the capability reporting indication information. Specifically, the terminal device sends the capability information to the access network device according to the first indication information; the first indication information is used for indicating whether a capability filtering parameter is applied or not when a first condition is met, the capability filtering parameter is used for indicating a capability range, the first condition is that a first capability set can be reported, and the first capability set corresponds to a capability set of the terminal equipment. Based on the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the access network equipment can indicate that the terminal equipment can send the complete UE capability information to the access network equipment without applying the capability filtering parameter when the terminal equipment can report all the capability information by sending the first indication information. Furthermore, the method provided by the embodiment of the application enables the terminal device to still report the complete capability to the network device when receiving the filtering parameter.

In a possible implementation manner, the capability reporting indication information includes a threshold of the number of segments, where the threshold of the number of segments is a maximum number of segments for capability information transmission. And the terminal equipment sends the capability information to the access network equipment according to the capability reporting indication information. Specifically, the terminal device sends N segments to the access network device, where N is less than or equal to the threshold of the number of segments, and is used to carry capability information of the terminal device. The method provided by the implementation mode ensures that the number of the segments of the capability information sent by the terminal equipment is within the range of the processing supported by the access network equipment, and avoids the failure of the access network equipment to process the capability information due to the excessive number of the segments.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminal device carries an integrity flag when sending the capability information, where the integrity flag is used to indicate whether the capability information of the terminal device is complete. The terminal device may indicate the integrity of the access network device capability information by sending an integrity indicator to optimize the transmission of the UE capability.

In a possible implementation manner, the capability reporting indication information includes a capability filtering parameter, and when the terminal device confirms the capability information according to the capability filtering parameter, if the terminal device knows an identifier of the UE capability corresponding to the capability filtering parameter, the terminal device may send the identifier to the access network device without sending corresponding capability information. The UE capability corresponding to the capability filtering parameter refers to the UE capability determined by the terminal device according to the range indicated by the capability filtering parameter. It should be noted that, before this, the network device queries the capability information of the terminal device according to the same capability filtering parameter and assigns an identifier, and the terminal device receives the identifier from the network device and records the corresponding relationship between the identifier and the capability filtering parameter. By the implementation mode, the capacity transmission can be optimized, and the signaling loss in the capacity reporting process is reduced.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, where the method is applied to a core network device or a chip of the core network device, and the method includes: the core network equipment receives the capability information of the terminal equipment from the access network equipment, wherein the capability information comprises third indication information; the third indication information comprises at least one of a capability filtering parameter and an integrity identifier, wherein the capability filtering parameter is used for indicating the range of the capability expected to be received, and the integrity identifier is used for indicating whether the capability information of the terminal equipment is complete; and the core network equipment determines whether all the required terminal capabilities are received according to the third indication information. Based on the method provided by the embodiment of the application, when the core network device acquires the whole capability of the UE or part of the capability of the UE, the range corresponding to the capability information can be determined through the received capability information and the capability filtering parameter, and the integrity of the received capability can be determined through the integrity identifier, so that the core network device can more accurately know the capability of the UE, and the core network device can determine whether to inquire the capability of the UE from other base stations according to the integrity.

In a possible implementation, after querying the capability information of the terminal device according to the capability filtering parameter, the core network device may allocate an identifier to the capability information, and send the identifier to the terminal device through the access network device, where the identifier corresponds to the capability filtering parameter. Further, when the capability needs to be queried according to the same capability filtering parameter subsequently, the transmission capability information can be replaced by the transmission identifier, so as to reduce the signaling consumption in the capability information transmission process.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a memory and at least one processor, where the memory is used to store instructions or programs, and the processor, when executing the instructions or programs, implements the method described in the first aspect to the fifth aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: a sending unit, configured to send, to a network device, at least one of processing capability indication information and a capability filtering parameter, where the processing capability indication information is used to indicate processing capability of the first network device, and the capability filtering parameter is used to indicate a range of capability information; a receiving unit, configured to receive capability information of a terminal device from the network device.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive at least one of processing capability indication information and a capability filtering parameter from a network device, where the processing capability indication information is used to indicate processing capability of the network device, and the capability filtering parameter is used to indicate a range of capability information; and the sending unit is used for sending the capability information of the terminal equipment to the network equipment according to at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: a sending unit, configured to send capability reporting indication information to a terminal device, where the capability reporting indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device reports capability information; a receiving unit, configured to receive capability information from the terminal device.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive capability reporting indication information from an access network device; and the sending unit is used for sending the capability information to the access network equipment according to the capability reporting indication information.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive capability information of a terminal device from an access network device, where the capability information includes third indication information; the third indication information comprises at least one of a capability filtering parameter and an integrity identifier, wherein the capability filtering parameter is used for indicating the range of capability information, and the integrity identifier is used for indicating whether the capability information of the terminal equipment is complete; the receiving unit is further configured to determine whether the capability information is completely received according to the third indication information.

In a twelfth aspect, a chip is provided, the chip comprising a processor for enabling a communication device to implement the functions recited in any of the implementations of the above aspects. In one possible design, the chip further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the communication device.

In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer storage medium storing a computer program, where the computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the method described in the first to fifth aspects and any possible implementation manner is implemented.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a system architecture diagram of a communication method in the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a signal interaction of a method for obtaining capability information according to a capability identifier;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic signal interaction diagram suitable for a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic signal interaction diagram applicable to a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a core network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another access network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

Detailed Description

The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and do not form a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and as a person of ordinary skill in the art knows that along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

In the description of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more than two, unless otherwise specified. In addition, in order to facilitate clear description of technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items having substantially the same functions and actions. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terms "first," "second," etc. do not denote any order or quantity, nor do the terms "first," "second," etc. denote any order or importance. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

For clarity and conciseness of the following description of the various embodiments, a brief introduction to related concepts or technologies is first presented:

UE capability structure in New Radio (NR) of fifth generation (5th generation, 5G): the UE capability structure of the 5G NR may include bandwidth information and feature set combination (feature set combination) information that the UE supports in the NR. The UE capability structure of the 5G NR may also include other radio frequency capabilities, physical capabilities, measurement capabilities, etc.

UE capability structure in Long Term Evolution (LTE): the UE capability structure of LTE may include Band Combination (BC) and feature set information supported by the UE in LTE. The UE capability structure of LTE may also include other radio frequency capabilities, physical capabilities, measurement capabilities, and the like.

UE capability structure in evolved universal terrestrial radio access and new air interface Dual Connectivity mode (E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity, EN-DC): the UE capability structure of the EN-DC comprises three capabilities of LTE, Multi-RAT Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) and NR. The network needs to acquire the BC in MR-DC capability, the characteristic set information in LTE capability, and the characteristic set information in NR capability to fully acquire the EN-DC capability. Currently, when a base station requests UE for feature set information in LTE capability, NR and LTE bands need to be carried in filtering parameters.

The communication method and the capability reporting method provided by the embodiment of the application are applied to the capability reporting scene in communication systems such as NR, LTE or MR-DC. The MR-DC may include a new air interface and evolved universal mobile telecommunications system dual connection (NR-universal connection, NE-DC), an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system and new air interface dual connection (EN-DC), a Next Generation evolved universal mobile telecommunications system and new air interface dual connection (nen-DC), and so on. Wherein, DC represents dual connectivity, E represents evolved-UMTS terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA), i.e. a fourth generation (4th generation, 4G) radio access network, i.e. a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network; n represents NR, i.e. 5G NR; NG stands for next generation core (next generation core), i.e. 5G core. EN-DC refers to dual connectivity of a 4G radio access network with a 5G NR. That is, in an EN-DC scenario, a UE connects to an LTE base station (e.g., eNB) and an NR base station (e.g., gNB) at the same time, while being served by both base stations, where the LTE base station is a Master Node (MN). NE-DC refers to double connection of 5G NR and 4G radio access network, and NR base station is the main node. NGEN-DC refers to dual connectivity of a 4G radio access network with a 5G NR under a 5G core network, with a 4G base station (LTE base station, e.g., eNB) being the master node.

As shown in fig. 1, a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture is shown, which includes an access network device, a core network device, and a terminal device. After the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device is established, the access network device sends a context establishment message to the core network device. If the core network device already stores the capability of the terminal device, the core network device will send the capability to the access network device in the context establishing process, and the access network device can use the capability to communicate with the terminal device. If the capability of the terminal equipment is unknown, the access network equipment needs to request the capability report from the terminal equipment, and after the terminal equipment reports the capability to the access network equipment, the access network equipment communicates with the terminal equipment according to the capability and sends the capability to the core network equipment.

However, as the UE capability is continuously increased, the network side cannot control the reporting of the UE capability, so that the network side cannot comprehensively know the whole capability of the UE or the specific capability of the UE.

The segmentation transmission mechanism in the current wireless communication system can split the oversized message into a plurality of small messages for transmission. For example, Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages can transmit a maximum of 9 Kilobytes (KB), and for messages that are too large, a fragmentation mechanism may be introduced to transmit, such as dividing a 20KB message into two 9KB messages and one 2KB message. However, if the base station does not support the segmentation mechanism or does not support handling of too much segmentation information, the information received by the base station is incomplete and the base station cannot know the integrity of the received information.

Fig. 2 shows a capability reporting method based on capability identification (capability ID). A capability identification may be used to identify a specific set of capabilities. For example, a capability identity may relate to the capabilities of a class of UEs. Therefore, the same type of UE can report the capability information only once, and each UE in the same type of UE does not need to report the capability information once independently. For example, the UE may report the capability identifier of the UE to the core network, and if the core network has stored the capability corresponding to the capability identifier, the core network may send the capability to the base station, and no longer requires the UE to report the capability. If the core network does not store the capability corresponding to the capability identifier, the core network needs to request the capability from the UE and record the capability and the capability identifier.

Currently, capability IDs are divided into two categories, the first being an Identifier (ID) assigned by the manufacturer; the other is an ID distributed by an operator after the UE accesses an access network, in the scene, the UE reports the capability information once, and after the operator saves the capability and distributes the ID, the UE only needs to report the corresponding ID and does not need to report the capability any more. However, the capability ID usually corresponds to a full capability set of the UE, or corresponds to the UE capability filtered based on a set of filtering parameters common to Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs), and if the UE capability information is large, if the processing capability of the base station is limited, the received UE capability cannot be processed. For example, the core network finds the corresponding UE capability stored therein according to the capability ID, the size of the UE capability information is 100 Megabytes (MB), the core network sends the UE capability information to the base station, but the base station can only analyze and process RRC messages with a size not exceeding 10MB, so that the base station cannot know the required UE capability.

Therefore, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and a capability reporting method, which optimize capability reporting of a terminal device by sending processing capability indication information and/or capability filtering parameters, and enable a base station and a core network to acquire all capabilities or specific capabilities of a UE by means of capability reporting indication information and the like.

The terminal device may also be referred to as a terminal (terminal), a UE, a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), or the like. The terminal device may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned driving, a wireless terminal in remote surgery (remote medical supply), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in home (smart home), and so on. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the terminal device.

The access network equipment corresponds to different equipment in different systems. For example, in a 2th generation (2G) communication system, RAN devices may correspond to base stations and base station controllers; RAN equipment may correspond to a base station and a Radio Network Controller (RNC) in a third generation (3G) communication system; in 4G the RAN device may correspond to an eNB; in 5G, the RAN device may correspond to a gNB, a Central Unit (CU), a Distributed Unit (DU), or the like. And the method can correspond to new network side equipment in future evolution or emerging systems.

The CN equipment corresponds to different equipment in different systems. For example, in 3G, the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and/or the Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) may correspond to a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS); the 4G may correspond to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and/or a serving gateway (S-GW); the 5G may correspond to Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF) or User Plane Function (UPF).

Optionally, the functions implemented by the first network device, the second network device, the terminal device, the core network device, or the access network device in this embodiment of the present application may be implemented by one network element, may also be implemented by multiple network elements together, and may also be implemented by one or more functional modules of one network element, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. It is understood that the above functions may be either network elements in a hardware device, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

For example, the apparatus 300 in fig. 3 may be used to implement the functions of the terminal device provided in the embodiments of the present application. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware structure of an apparatus 300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 300 includes at least one processor 301, configured to implement the functions of the terminal device provided in the embodiments of the present application. Also included in the apparatus 300 is a bus 302 and at least one communication interface 304. The apparatus 300 may also include a memory 303.

In the embodiment of the present application, the processor may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a general purpose processor, a Network Processor (NP), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or any combination thereof. The processor may also be any other means having a processing function such as a circuit, device or software module.

Bus 302 may be used to transfer information between the above components.

A communication interface 304 for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, Radio Access Network (RAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), etc. The communication interface 304 may be an interface, a circuit, a transceiver, or other device capable of implementing communication, and is not limited in this application. The communication interface 304 may be coupled to the processor 301. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or a communication connection between devices, units or modules, and may be an electrical, mechanical or other form for information interaction between the devices, units or modules. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, when the terminal device serves as a receiving-end device, the transceiver may be replaced by a receiver, and when the terminal device serves as a sending-end device, the transceiver may be replaced by a transmitter. Of course, it is not excluded that the terminal device has both a transmitting function and a receiving function, i.e. includes the above-mentioned transceiver, regardless of whether the terminal device is used as a receiving end device or as a transmitting end device.

In the embodiments of the present application, the memory may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to such. The memory may be stand alone or may be coupled to the processor, such as by bus 302. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 303 is used for storing program instructions, and can be controlled by the processor 301 to execute, so as to implement the communication method provided by the following embodiments of the present application. The processor 301 is configured to call and execute instructions stored in the memory 303, so as to implement the communication method provided by the following embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application program codes, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the memory 303 may be included in the processor 301.

In particular implementations, processor 301 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 3, for example, as an example.

In particular implementations, apparatus 300 may include multiple processors, such as processor 301 and processor 307 in FIG. 3, for example, as an example. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

In one implementation, the apparatus 300 may further include an output device 305 and an input device 306, as an example. An output device 305 is coupled to the processor 301 and may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 305 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a projector (projector), or the like. The input device 306 is coupled to the processor 301 and may receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 306 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, among others.

The apparatus 300 may be a general-purpose device or a special-purpose device. In a specific implementation, the terminal device 300 may be a desktop, a laptop, a web server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet, a wireless terminal device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure as in fig. 3. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the apparatus 300.

For example, the apparatus for implementing the functions of the access network device or the core network device provided in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by the apparatus 400 in fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a schematic hardware structure diagram of an apparatus 400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 400 includes at least one processor 401 for implementing the functions of the terminal device provided in the embodiments of the present application. Also included in the apparatus 400 is a bus 402 and at least one communication interface 404. The apparatus 400 may also include a memory 403.

Bus 402 may be used to transfer information between the above components.

A communication interface 404 for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, RAN, WLAN, etc. The communication interface 404 may be an interface, a circuit, a transceiver, or other device capable of implementing communication, and is not limited in this application. The communication interface 404 may be coupled to the processor 401. It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the application, when the access network device or the core network device serves as a receiving end device, the transceiver may be replaced by a receiver, and when the access network device or the core network device serves as a sending end device, the transceiver may be replaced by a transmitter. Of course, it is not excluded that the access network device or the core network device has both the transmitting function and the receiving function, that is, the transceiver is included, no matter the access network device or the core network device is used as the receiving end device or the transmitting end device.

The memory 403 is used for storing program instructions and can be controlled by the processor 401 to execute, so as to implement the communication method provided by the following embodiments of the present application. For example, the processor 401 is configured to call and execute instructions stored in the memory 403, so as to implement the communication method provided by the following embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the memory 403 may be included in the processor 401.

In particular implementations, processor 401 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 4 as an example.

In particular implementations, apparatus 400 may include multiple processors, such as processor 401 and processor 405 in fig. 4, for example, as an example. Each of these processors may be a single core processor or a multi-core processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

It should be noted that, in the following embodiments of the present application, names of messages between devices or names of parameters in messages are only an example, and other names may also be used in a specific implementation, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that, in the following embodiments of the present application, each device may store the UE capability, or may learn or determine the UE capability in some way. When the product is implemented, the device itself may or may not store the corresponding information, but obtain or determine the corresponding information. In order to briefly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the embodiments of the present application are described by using exemplary descriptions when referring to related expressions, and those skilled in the art may understand that the term "store" does not limit the existence form of the UE capability in each device.

For the sake of understanding, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Example 1

As shown in fig. 5, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, including steps 501 and 504. The communication method comprises a capability reporting method.

501. The first network device transmits at least one of processing capability indication information and capability filtering parameters to the second network device. Wherein the processing capability indication information is used for indicating the processing capability of the first network device, and the capability filtering parameter is used for indicating the range of capability information.

Specifically, the processing capability indication information is used to indicate the processing capability of the first network device for the RRC message, such as the processing capability of the UE capability information.

502. The second network device receives at least one of processing capability indication information and capability filtering parameters from the first network device. Further, the second network device determines capability information of the terminal device according to at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter. It should be noted that the "capability information of the terminal device" determined here is the capability information that needs to be reported or is to be reported.

503. And the second network equipment sends the capability information of the terminal equipment to the first network equipment.

504. The first network device receives the capability information of the terminal device from the second network device.

By the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the first network device can instruct the second network device to send the capability information of the terminal device by sending at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter, so that the second network device can reasonably transmit the capability information.

For step 501:

in a first implementation, a first network device sends processing capability indication information to a second network device. The processing capability indication information is used for indicating the processing capability of the first network equipment.

Specifically, the processing capability indication information may include a capability processing level of the first network device and a capability processing threshold of the first network device. Wherein the capability processing reflects the size of capability information that can be processed by the first network device. Specifically, the capability processing level of the first network device includes a level of a size of the capability information that can be processed by the first network device, and the level may include a level, a maximum level, or a full level of the size of the capability information that can be processed by the first network device. The capability processing threshold of the first network device includes a threshold of a size of capability information that can be processed by the first network device, and the capability information size threshold may be a maximum of the size of capability information that can be processed by the first network device. For example, it is assumed that the capability information size level can be divided into a level a, a level B, and a level C from high to low. The level a represents that the capability information containing an unlimited number of frequency band combinations can be processed, the level B represents that the capability information containing no more than 1000 frequency band combinations can be processed, the level C represents that the capability information containing no more than 300 frequency band combinations can be processed, the level of the capability level that the first network device can process is level B, further, the second network device receives the capability indication information, determines that the level of the capability information of the first network device is level B, and then the second network device sends the capability information not more than level B to the first network device. For another example, assuming that the threshold value of the size of the capability information that can be processed by the first network device is 2KB, and further, the second network device receives the capability information, and determines that the maximum value of the capability of the first network device for supporting the processing is 2KB, the second network device transmits the capability information with the size not exceeding 2KB to the first network device. It should be noted that ABC is only an example, and any other expression capable of identifying multiple levels can be used for indicating the levels, and the description of the present application is not limited in particular.

In a second implementation, the first network device sends the capability filtering parameter to the second network device. The capability filtering parameter is used to indicate a range of capability information.

Specifically, the capability filtering parameter includes at least one of bandwidth information, frequency band information, or PLMN information. Wherein at least one of the bandwidth information, the frequency band information, or the PLMN information may be indicated by one or more indication information, or may be carried in one or more messages. And after receiving the capability filtering parameter, the second network equipment determines the range of the reporting capability set according to at least one of the bandwidth information, the frequency band information or the PLMN information. The bandwidth information is used to indicate the second network device to report the bandwidth information supported by the terminal device, where the bandwidth information may indicate that the second network device reports all the bandwidth information supported by the terminal device, and may also indicate that the second network device reports bandwidth information in a certain range. The frequency band information is used to indicate the second network device to report the frequency band information supported by the terminal device, which is stored in the second network device, and may indicate the frequency band information of the whole or specified range to be reported. For example, assuming that the band information carried in the capability filtering parameters includes BC1, BC2 and BC3, the second network device may select all capability information related to BC1, BC2 and BC3 from among the capabilities supported by the terminal device stored by the second network device to send to the first network device. The PLMN information is used to indicate the second network device to report the frequency band related information used by the PLMN supported by the terminal device, and may indicate to report all or a specified range of PLMN frequency band information. For example, assuming that the capability filtering parameter includes PLMN information, the second network device determines all frequency bands included in the PLMN according to the PLMN information, and determines the capability information to be reported based on the frequency bands. It is understood that the second network device may determine all frequency bands included in the PLMN information according to a correspondence between a PLMN and a frequency band, which is pre-configured or obtained from the network side.

In a third implementation manner, the first network device sends the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter to the second network device. For an explanation of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter, see the above description.

Specifically, after receiving the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter, the second network device may determine the capability information of the terminal device that needs to be reported according to the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter.

For example, the second network device performs filtering according to the capability filtering parameter, and then transmits the filtering according to the processing capability indication information.

In this embodiment, the first network device is an access network device, and the second network device may be a core network device or another access network device.

In a scenario where the second network device is a core network device, after the terminal device accesses the access network device, and when the core network device has stored the capability of the terminal device, the core network device may send the capability information of the terminal device to the access network device in a context establishing process, and the access network device may communicate with the terminal device using the received capability information. Before that, the access network device sends at least one of processing capability indication information and capability filtering parameters to the core network device, so as to indicate capability information that the access network device can process, and avoid that the core network device sends the capability information that the access network device cannot process.

In a scenario where the second network device is another access network device, for example, when the access network device is a base station, after the terminal device is handed over from the second base station to the first base station, the first base station sends the capability information of the terminal device to the second base station, and the first base station may communicate with the terminal device based on the received capability information. Before that, the first base station may indicate the capability information of the processing supported by the first base station to the second base station by sending at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter, so as to avoid that the second base station sends too large capability information, thereby causing the first base station to be unable to obtain the effective capability of the terminal device.

For this step 501, in one possible design, the first network device may send at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter to the second network device through an NG interface setup message, or through an initial UE message, or through an Xn interface setup message, or through a base station handover message, or through a capability request message.

Optionally, at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter may be filled in a reserved bit in the capability request, or may be filled in a newly added bit, which is not limited in this application.

Optionally, the capability indication information and/or the capability filtering parameter may be used in combination with the RAT type to indicate the capability of the terminal device to report one or more RATs, that is, the capability indication information is only valid for the requested RAT.

For step 502, the second network device receives the processing capability indication information and/or the capability filtering parameter, and determines the terminal device capability information to be reported:

in a first implementation, a second network device receives processing capability indication information from a first network device. The indication information of the processing capability includes a level of a capability information size that can be processed by the first network device or an upper limit value of the capability information size that can be processed by the first network device. The second network device determines the capability information which is stored by the second network device and supports processing, if the size of the capability information is smaller than or equal to the size of the capability information indicated by the capability indication information, the second network device can send complete capability information to the first network device, otherwise, the second network device determines that a part of the capability information of the terminal device is sent to the first network device. Optionally, the second network device may obtain, in the capability information of the terminal device stored in the second network device, partial capability information according to the upper limit value of the capability information. For example, assuming that the terminal device supports 100 Band Combination (BC), where the sum of the sizes of the first 32 BC reaches the upper limit value of the capability information indicated by the first network device, the second network device obtains the capability information of the first 32 or the last 32 BC and sends the capability information to the first network device, where the front-back order may represent an order stored by the first network device or represent an order read by the second network device. If there are pre-configured filtering parameters, such as the second network device pre-configuring specific frequency band and/or bandwidth information, the second network device selects a specific portion to send to the base station according to it. For example, BC1 and BC2 are preconfigured, the second network device selects capability information corresponding to BC1 and BC2 to send to the first network device.

In a second implementation, the second network device receives a capability filtering parameter from the first network device indicating a range of capability information. The specific method can refer to the related description of step 501.

In a third implementation, the second network device receives the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter from the first network device. For the definition of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter, see the above description. At this time, the second network device selects a part of combinations in the capability information which is stored in the second network device and supported by the terminal device according to the capability filtering parameters, if the size of the information of the selected part is smaller than or equal to the size indicated by the indication information, the selected part of information is directly sent to the first network device, otherwise, the second network device acquires part of frequency band combinations in the selected combinations according to the capability size limitation, and sends the part of frequency band combinations. For example, assuming that the terminal device supports 100 BC, and the bandwidth information carried in the capability filtering parameter includes BC1, BC2, and BC3, the second network device first selects all capability information related to BC1, BC2, or BC3 from the terminal device capabilities stored in the second network device, and if the sum of the selected information is less than or equal to the capability size indicated by the indication information, may directly send the selected part of capability information to the first network device, otherwise, it is necessary to obtain a front part capability or a rear part capability from the selected information, the size of the obtained part capability information does not exceed the capability information upper limit, and send the obtained part of capability information to the first network device, it should be noted that the front-back order here may represent the order stored by the first network device or the order read by the second network device.

For step 503, the second network device sends the capability information of the terminal device determined in step 502 to the first network device according to the processing capability indication information and/or the capability filtering parameter.

Optionally, the method further includes step 5031, the second network device may send at least one of the processing capability indication information, the capability filtering parameter and the integrity indicator to the first network device. Specifically, at least one of the processing capability indication information, the capability filtering parameter, and the integrity identifier may be carried in a capability reporting RRC message, or may be carried in a capability information cell in another RRC message, which is not limited herein.

In a first possible implementation, if the second network device determines part of the capability information according to the processing capability indication information of the first network device for the terminal device capability information stored therein, when the second network device sends the capability information to the first network device, the processing capability indication information of the first network device may be sent to the first network device, so as to indicate a range corresponding to the sent capability information. It should be noted that, when the second network device sends the processing capability indication information to the first network device, the processing capability indication information may be sent together with the capability information, for example: the capability information carries the processing capability indication information or the capability information and the processing capability indication information are in the same message or information, or can be sent independently of the capability information.

In a second possible implementation, if the second network device determines part of the information according to the capability filtering parameter for the terminal device capability information stored therein, when the second network device sends the capability information to the first network device, the capability filtering parameter may be sent to the first network device, and is used to indicate a range corresponding to the sent capability information. Wherein the capability filtering parameter may be sent together with the capability information, for example: the capability information carries the capability filtering parameter or the capability information and the capability filtering parameter are in the same message or information, or can be sent independently of the capability information.

In a third possible implementation, when the second network device sends the capability information to the first network device, the integrity identifier of the capability information is sent to indicate whether the capability information of the terminal device that needs to be sent is completely sent. The first network device determines whether the received capability information is complete based on the integrity indication. Specifically, the second network device determines whether the capabilities to be queried or requested are all contained in the reported capability information, and if both capabilities are contained, the capability information is considered to be complete, otherwise, the capability information is considered to be incomplete. For example, the first network device sends the capability filtering parameter, and the second network device determines that the capabilities corresponding to the capability filtering parameter are all contained in the sent capability information, and then considers that the capability information is complete. For another example, the first network device requests the second network device to report all UE capabilities stored therein, and if the reported capability information includes all UE capabilities, the report is considered complete. Wherein the integrity indication may be sent together with the capability information, for example: the capability information carries the integrity identifier or the capability information and the integrity identifier are in the same message or information, or can be sent independently of the capability information.

In other possible implementations, based on the descriptions of the above three possible implementations, in a possible scenario, the second network device may send at least two or all of the processing capability indication information, the capability filtering parameter, and the integrity flag to the first network device.

In one possible design, the second network device may send the capability information to the first network device via an initial context setup message, or via a base station switch message, or via a capability request response message.

For step 504, the first network device receives capability information from the second network device.

The first network device receives at least one of the capability filtering parameter and the integrity flag from the second network device, and the first network device may determine whether the capability information sent by the second network device is complete according to the capability filtering parameter and the integrity flag. The specific method can refer to the related description of step 503.

Based on the method provided by the embodiment of the application, when the first network device needs to acquire the capability of the terminal device from the second network device, the processing capability indication information and/or the capability filtering parameter can be sent to the second network device. And after receiving the information, the second network equipment determines the size of the capacity information according to the processing capacity indication information and/or filters the capacity information according to the capacity filtering parameters, and sends the determined capacity information to the first network equipment. Compared with the prior art, when the second network device sends the capability information of the terminal device to the first network device, if the sent capability information is too large, the capability information may exceed the range of the first network device for supporting the processing, or the second network device sends the capability information in segments, and the first network device may not support the processing in segments. This may result in the first network device failing to receive capabilities from the second network device or the receiving capability information being incomplete. The method provided by the embodiment of the application enables the first network device to indicate the range of the capability information which the first network device supports processing, and then the second network device sends the information according to the indicated capability range, so that the situation that the capability information received by the first network device is incomplete or cannot be processed is avoided.

When the first network device is an access network device and the second network device is another access network device, the method provided by the embodiment of the application can avoid the problem that the target base station cannot correctly or comprehensively acquire all capabilities of the UE or specific capabilities of the UE due to overlarge capability information when the UE is switched between the base stations.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of the first network device, the second network device, and mutual interaction between the first network device and the second network device. In order to implement the functions in the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the first network device and the second network device may include a hardware structure and/or a software module, and the functions are implemented in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure and a software module. Whether any of the above-described functions is implemented as a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the technical solution.

In the case of dividing the functional modules according to the respective functions, fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of the apparatus 6 according to the foregoing embodiment, where the apparatus may be an access network device, and the access network device includes: a transmitting unit 601 and a receiving unit 602. In this embodiment, the sending unit 601 is configured to send, to a network device, at least one of processing capability indication information and a capability filtering parameter, where the processing capability indication information is used to indicate processing capability of the first network device, and the capability filtering parameter is used to indicate a range of capability information; a receiving unit 602, configured to receive capability information of a terminal device from the network device, where the capability information corresponds to processing capability indication information and/or capability filtering parameters. In the method embodiment shown in fig. 6, the sending unit 601 may be configured to support the access network device to perform the process 501 in fig. 5. The receiving unit 602 may be configured to support the access network device to perform the process 504 in fig. 5.

In the case of dividing each functional module by corresponding functions, fig. 7 shows a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus 7 involved in the foregoing embodiment, where the apparatus may be an access network device or a core network device, and the network device includes: a receiving unit 701 and a transmitting unit 702. A receiving unit 701, configured to receive at least one of processing capability indication information and a capability filtering parameter from an access network device, where the processing capability indication information is used to indicate processing capability of the network device, and the capability filtering parameter is used to indicate a range of capability information; a sending unit 702, configured to send capability information of the terminal device to the access network device according to at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter. In the method embodiment shown in fig. 7, the receiving unit 701 may be used to support an access network device or a core network device to execute the process 502 in fig. 5. The sending unit 702 may be configured to support the access network device or the core network device to perform the process 503 in fig. 5.

The division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic, and only one logical function division is provided, and in actual implementation, there may be another division manner, and in addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processor, or may exist alone physically, or two or more modules are integrated in one module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. For example, in the embodiment of the present application, the receiving unit and the transmitting unit may be integrated into the transceiving unit.

Example 2

As shown in fig. 8, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which includes steps 801 and 806. The communication method comprises a terminal equipment capacity reporting method. It should be noted that some terms appearing in this embodiment 2 have the same meanings as those of the same terms in embodiment 1, and specific explanations can be found in the explanation of embodiment 1.

801. The access network equipment sends capacity reporting indication information to the terminal equipment, wherein the capacity reporting indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to report the capacity information.

802. And the terminal equipment receives the capability reporting indication information sent by the access network equipment. Further, the terminal equipment determines the capability information according to the capability reporting indication information.

803. And the terminal equipment sends the capability information to the access network equipment according to the capability reporting indication information.

804. The access network device receives capability information from the terminal device.

Optionally, the method further includes step 805, the access network device sends the capability information to the core network device.

Optionally, the method further includes step 806, the core network device receives capability information from the access network device, where the capability information includes the third indication information.

In step 801, the access network device sends capability reporting indication information to the terminal device, where the capability reporting indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device reports the capability information.

When the access network device cannot acquire the capability information of the terminal device, the access network device may send capability reporting indication information to the terminal device, where the capability reporting indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to report the capability information supported by the terminal device. For example, when the access network device is a base station, the base station may send a capability request and capability reporting indication information to the UE when receiving an initial context setup message of the UE and the initial context setup message does not include capability information of the UE. For another example, when the base station receives a handover message sent by another base station, it is determined that the handover message does not include capability information of the UE, or the UE capability carried in the handover message is not needed by the base station itself, in this case, capability reporting indication information may be sent to the UE to indicate the UE to report the capability information. Or the base station may send the capability reporting indication information to the UE when it is determined that the capability information needs to be queried for the UE after receiving the capability query request information sent by the core network device.

In this embodiment of the present application, the capability reporting indication information includes at least one of a capability filtering parameter, first indication information, and a segment number threshold.

In a first possible implementation, the capability reporting indication information includes a capability filtering parameter and first indication information. The capability filtering parameter is used for indicating the range of the capability information of the terminal equipment; the first indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal equipment needs to apply the capability filtering parameter when the first condition is met. The capability filtering parameter may refer to the relevant description in step 501, and is used to indicate a range of capabilities that the terminal device needs to report. The first condition is that a first capability set can be reported, where the first capability set is a capability set of the terminal device, or a set of all capabilities supported by the terminal device. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that "full capability" herein is not all possible "capabilities," but rather refers to capabilities associated with requests by access network equipment in a corresponding scenario, depending on the particular application scenario. In the prior art, when the access network device requests the capability information of the terminal device, a capability filtering parameter may be set, and the terminal device selects a part of the capability information according to the capability filtering parameter and reports the selected part of the capability information to the access network device. In this application, if all information of the terminal device can be completely reported, the terminal device may determine whether to not apply the capability filtering parameter according to the first indication information. Specifically, assuming that the network configures the capability filtering parameter, and meanwhile, the terminal device determines that all the capability information supported by the terminal device can be completely reported at this time, if the first indication information is that the capability filtering parameter can not be used when the first condition is met, the terminal device can report all the supported capability information and does not apply the capability filtering parameter for filtering any more.

In a second possible implementation, the capability reporting indication information includes a segment number threshold. The threshold value of the number of segments indicates the maximum number of segments which the access network device supports, and for the terminal device, in order to ensure that the access network device receives normally, the number of segments does not exceed the threshold value when the capability information is sent.

In a third possible implementation, the capability reporting indication information includes a capability filtering parameter. The capability filtering parameter is used to indicate the range of the terminal device capability information, and the specific meaning can refer to the relevant description in step 501.

In a fourth possible implementation, the capability reporting indication information includes a capability filtering parameter, first indication information, and a segment number threshold. For the definition of the first indication information and the threshold for the number of segments, see the above description. At this time, the capability filtering parameter, the first indication information and the segment number threshold respectively indicate the terminal equipment to report the capability information.

In a possible design, step 8011 is further included before step 801, and the access network device indicates to the core network device whether it supports capability ID query and/or supports capability handling of segmented transmission. If the access network device does not support the capability transmission mode of the capability ID, the core network device may not carry the capability ID when subsequently sending the capability to the access network device. If the access network equipment does not support the reporting capability in a segmented transmission mode, the core network equipment determines that the access network equipment does not support the query of the overlarge terminal capability, and can select other access network equipment to query when the query of the larger terminal capability is needed.

In a possible design, step 8012 is further included before step 801, where the access network device receives a capability query message sent by the core network device, or the access network device receives an initial context setup message sent by the core network device, where the capability information of the terminal device is not carried. At this time, the access network device executes step 801, and sends capability reporting indication information to the terminal device to indicate the capability supported by the reporting.

For step 802, the terminal device receives the capability reporting indication information from the access network device, and indicates the terminal device to report the capability information supported by the terminal device.

In one possible implementation, the capability reporting indication information includes a capability filtering parameter and first indication information. As shown in step 801, the first indication information is used to indicate whether the capability filtering parameter needs to be applied when the first condition is satisfied. For example, the network side configures capability filtering parameters, and at the same time, the threshold of the allowed segments for the transmission of the capability information is 5, each segment carries 9KB information at most, and the terminal device determines that the size of all the capability information supported by the terminal device is 40KB and is less than 5 × 9, and then considers that the capability can be completely reported, and when the first condition is met, the terminal device may not apply the capability filtering parameters, and then may report all the supported capability information, and no longer apply the capability filtering parameters for filtering.

And step 803, the terminal equipment sends the capability information to the access network equipment according to the capability reporting indication information.

Optionally, the capability information may be carried in the capability reporting RRC message, or may be carried in a capability Information Element (IE) in another RRC message, which is not limited herein.

In this embodiment of the present application, the capability reporting indication information includes at least one of a threshold of a number of segments, a capability filtering parameter, and an integrity flag.

In a first possible implementation, if the size of the capability information to be reported exceeds a certain threshold, the terminal device may apply a segmentation mechanism to split the capability information to be reported into a plurality of capability reporting message segments and send the capability information to the access network device. If the capability reporting indication information includes a threshold of the number of segments, the number of segments is required to be less than or equal to the threshold of the number of segments when the terminal device reports the capability information in segments, and if the threshold of the number of segments is reached, the capability which needs to be transmitted cannot be completely reported, and the remaining capability information is not reported.

In a second possible implementation, if the terminal device filters the capability information according to the capability filtering parameter, when the terminal device sends the capability information to the access network device, the capability filtering parameter may be sent to the access network device, and is used to indicate a range corresponding to the sent capability information.

In a third possible implementation, when the terminal device sends the capability information to the access network device, the integrity identifier of the capability information is sent to indicate whether the capability information is completely sent. The definition of the integrity indicator may refer to the related description of step 503. Optionally, if the terminal performs fragmentation when performing capability fragmentation reporting, and the sum of all the fragments still does not report all the capabilities included in the UE query range, the report is considered to be incomplete.

In a fourth possible implementation, the capability reporting indication information includes a capability filtering parameter. If the terminal device knows the Identifier (ID) of the UE capability corresponding to the capability filtering parameter, the terminal device may send the ID of the UE capability to the access network device without carrying corresponding capability information. The UE capability corresponding to the capability filtering parameter refers to the UE capability determined according to the range indicated by the capability filtering parameter, and may specifically refer to the relevant description of the capability filtering parameter in step 501. Compared with the prior art, when the network equipment carries the capability filtering parameter in the capability request, the terminal equipment determines the capability information according to the capability filtering parameter and reports the capability information; according to the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the terminal equipment can send the ID of the UE capability to the access network equipment instead of sending the specific capability information when the ID of the UE capability corresponding to the capability filtering parameter is known, so that the signaling loss in the reporting process of the UE capability information is saved. It should be noted that the ID of the UE capability corresponding to the capability filtering parameter is configured by the network device. Specifically, the access network device sends a capability request to the terminal device, wherein the capability request carries a first capability filtering parameter; after receiving the information, the terminal equipment confirms and reports the capability information according to the first capability filtering parameter; the access network equipment receives the capability information and transmits the capability information to the core network equipment, the core network equipment distributes an ID to the capability information and sends the ID to the terminal equipment through the access network equipment, and then the terminal equipment records that the ID corresponds to the first capability filtering parameter.

In other possible implementations, based on the descriptions of the second and third possible implementations, in a possible scenario, the terminal device may send the capability filtering parameter and the integrity flag to the access network device. The terminal equipment respectively determines the capability information aiming at the message content according to the method.

Optionally, at least one of the processing segment number threshold, the capability filtering parameter, and the integrity identifier may be carried in a capability reporting RRC message, or may be carried in a capability information cell in another RRC message, which is not limited herein.

For step 804, the access network device receives capability information from the terminal device. Wherein, the capability information includes at least one of a capability filtering parameter and an integrity identifier. Specifically, when the access network device receives the capability information from the terminal device and includes the integrity identifier, the access network device may determine whether the capability information of the terminal device is complete according to at least one of the capability filtering parameter and the integrity identifier. When the access network device sends the capability information to other network devices, the other network devices may determine the integrity of the capability information according to at least one of the capability filtering parameter and the integrity flag.

For this step 804, in one possible design, the access network device receives the UE capability ID from the terminal device instead of the specific capability information. Wherein the UE capability ID is used to indicate corresponding capability information.

For step 805, the access network device sends the capability information to the core network device.

After receiving the capability information from the terminal equipment, the access network equipment sends the capability information to the core network equipment.

Further, the access network device sends a capability filtering parameter and/or an integrity flag to the core network device, where the capability filtering parameter is used to indicate a range corresponding to the capability information, and the integrity flag is used to indicate whether the capability information from the terminal device is complete. Specifically, if the access network device receives the capability filtering parameter and/or the integrity identifier sent by the terminal device, the access network device may send the capability filtering parameter and/or the integrity identifier to the core network device when sending the capability information.

It should be noted that the capability information may already include a capability filtering parameter and/or an integrity identifier, but in the prior art, the capability information is encoded based on a communication protocol between the terminal device and the access network device, and the core network device directly stores the capability information after receiving the capability information, and does not decode the capability information. In this embodiment of the present application, after confirming the capability filtering parameter and/or the integrity identifier, the access network device may send the capability filtering parameter and/or the integrity identifier to the core network device, so as to instruct the core network device to determine the integrity of the capability information.

In a possible design, at least one of the capability information, the capability filtering parameter, and the integrity indicator may be carried in a capability indication message, or in an initial context response message, or in a capability query request response message, and sent to the core network device.

For this step 805, in one possible design, the access network device sends the UE capability ID to the core network device without sending specific capability information. At this time, the access network device sends the UE capability ID to the core network device, and requests the core network device for capability information corresponding to the UE capability ID.

For step 806, the core network device receives capability information from the access network device, where the capability information includes third indication information.

The third indication information includes at least one of a capability filtering parameter and an integrity flag, the capability filtering parameter is used for indicating a range of capability corresponding to the capability information, and the integrity flag is used for indicating whether the capability information of the terminal device is complete. And the core network equipment determines whether the capability information is completely received according to the third indication information.

When the core network device receives the capability filtering parameter and/or the integrity identifier from the access network device, the core network device may determine whether the capability information of the terminal device is complete according to the capability filtering parameter and/or the integrity identifier. Specifically, if the capabilities required by the core network device are all included in the range specified in the capability filtering parameter, and the range specified in the capability filtering parameter all has corresponding information in the received capability information, the core network device may determine that the received capability information is complete, otherwise, may determine that the received capability information is incomplete; the core network device may confirm that the received capability information is complete according to the indication of the integrity indicator. Further, the core network device may determine whether the capability information of the terminal device needs to be queried by other access network devices according to the integrity of the received capability information.

For this step 806, in one possible design, the core network device receives the UE capability ID from the access network device instead of the specific capability information. At this time, the core network device finds the UE capability corresponding to the UE capability ID according to the UE capability ID, and sends the UE capability to the access network device.

In the prior art, because the capability information of the UE may be too large, the base station may set a capability filtering parameter when requesting the capability of the UE, and the UE may select a part of the capability information according to the capability filtering parameter and send the selected part of the capability information to the base station, so that the base station may not know the entire capability of the UE. Based on the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the base station can indicate that the capability filtering parameters are not applied but all the capability information of the UE can be directly sent when all the information of the UE can be completely transmitted by sending the first indication information. Therefore, the problem that the base station cannot comprehensively acquire all the capabilities of the UE due to the fact that the filtering parameters are set is solved.

Because the capability of the UE may be too large, the UE may apply a segmentation mechanism when sending the capability information, and split the capability information into multiple segments (e.g., messages) to send to the base station, and the threshold of the number of segments supported and processed by the base station may be smaller than the number of segments sent by the UE, so that the base station cannot process all the capability information. Based on the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the base station can indicate that the number of the capability information segments sent by the UE does not exceed the threshold of the number of the segments supporting the processing by sending the first indication information, thereby avoiding the problem of processing failure caused by excessive number of the segments.

Further, the base station may more accurately indicate the UE to report the capability information by sending the capability reporting indication information. Furthermore, the base station can make the core network know the integrity reported by the capability of the terminal equipment by sending the integrity identifier to the core network. And then the core network equipment can judge whether the terminal capability information needs to be acquired again through other base stations, so that the communication efficiency is improved, and the reliability of subsequent communication messages is improved.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is introduced from the perspective of access network devices, terminal devices, and core network devices, and their interaction with each other. In order to implement the functions in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the access network device, the terminal device, and the core network device may include a hardware structure and/or a software module, and implement the functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether any of the above-described functions is implemented as a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the technical solution.

In the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, fig. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of the apparatus 9 according to the foregoing embodiment, where the apparatus may be a core network device, and the core network device includes: a receiving unit 902. A receiving unit 902, configured to receive capability information of a terminal device from an access network device, where the capability information includes third indication information; the third indication information comprises at least one of a capability filtering parameter and an integrity identifier, wherein the capability filtering parameter is used for indicating the range of capability information, and the integrity identifier is used for indicating whether the capability information of the terminal equipment is complete; the receiving unit is further configured to determine whether the capability information is completely received according to the third indication information. Optionally, the core network device may further include a sending unit 901, configured to send a capability query message to the access network device. In the method embodiment shown in fig. 8, the receiving unit 902 may be configured to support the core network device to perform the process 806 in fig. 8.

In the case of dividing each functional module by corresponding functions, fig. 10 shows a schematic structural diagram of a possible apparatus 10 according to the foregoing embodiment, where the apparatus may be an access network device, and the access network device includes: a transmitting unit 1001 and a receiving unit 1002. In this embodiment, the sending unit 1001 sends capability reporting indication information to a terminal device, where the capability reporting indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to report capability information; a receiving unit 1002, configured to receive capability information from the terminal device; the sending unit 1001 is further configured to send capability information to the core network device. In the method embodiment shown in fig. 8, the sending unit 1001 may be configured to support the access network device to perform processes 801 and 805 in fig. 8. The receiving unit 1002 may be configured to support the access network device to perform the process 804 in fig. 8.

In the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, fig. 11 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of the apparatus 11 according to the foregoing embodiment, where the apparatus may be a terminal device, and the terminal device includes: a receiving unit 1101 and a transmitting unit 1102. A receiving unit 1101, configured to receive capability reporting indication information from an access network device; a sending unit 1102, configured to send capability information to the access network device according to the capability reporting indication information. In the method embodiment shown in fig. 8, the receiving unit 1101 may be configured to support the terminal device to execute the process 802 in fig. 8. The sending unit 1102 may be configured to support the terminal device to perform the process 803 in fig. 8.

The division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic, and is only a logic function division, and in an actual implementation process, there may be another division manner, and in addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processor, may also exist alone physically, or may also be integrated in one module by two or more modules. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. For example, in the embodiment of the present application, the receiving unit and the transmitting unit may be integrated into the transceiving unit.

In the methods provided in the above two application embodiments, all or part of the methods can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network appliance, a user device, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Drive (SSD)), among others.

The above-mentioned embodiments, objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application are further described in detail, it should be understood that the above-mentioned embodiments are only examples of the present application, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements and the like made on the basis of the technical solutions of the present application should be included in the scope of the present application.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a first network device sends processing capacity indicating information and a capacity filtering parameter to a second network device, wherein the processing capacity indicating information is used for indicating the capacity information size of a terminal device which can be processed by the first network device, and the capacity filtering parameter is used for indicating the range of the capacity information;

the first network device receives second capability information of the terminal device from the second network device, wherein the second capability information is obtained according to the first capability information and the processing capability indication information under the condition that the size of the first capability information is larger than that of the terminal device which can be processed by the first network device; the first capability information is obtained according to the capability filtering parameter;

the second capability information is front part capability information or rear part capability information of the first capability information in a first sequence, and the first sequence is a sequence in which the first network device stores the capability information of the terminal device, or a sequence in which the second network device reads the capability information of the terminal device.

2. The communication method according to claim 1,

the processing capability indication information includes at least one of a capability processing level of the first network device and a capability processing threshold of the first network device.

3. The communication method according to claim 1,

at least one of the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter is carried in a next generation NG interface establishment message, an initial User Equipment (UE) message, an Xn interface establishment message or a capability request message.

4. The communication method according to claim 1,

the first network device is an access network device; and

the second network device is a core network device or an access network device.

5. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the receiving, by the first network device, the second capability information of the terminal device from the second network device includes:

the first network device receives a context setup message, a handover message or a capability request response message from the second network device, where the context setup message, the handover message or the capability request response message includes the second capability information.

6. A method of capability transfer, comprising:

the second network equipment receives processing capacity indication information and a capacity filtering parameter from the first network equipment, wherein the processing capacity indication information is used for indicating the capacity information size of the terminal equipment which can be processed by the first network equipment, and the capacity filtering parameter is used for indicating the range of the capacity information;

the second network equipment obtains first capability information of the terminal equipment according to the capability filtering parameter;

if the second network equipment determines that the size of the first capability information is larger than the size of the capability information of the terminal equipment which can be processed by the first network equipment, obtaining second capability information according to the first capability information and the processing capability indication information, and sending the second capability information to the first network equipment;

7. The capability transfer method of claim 6,

8. The capability transfer method of claim 6,

the second capability information is carried in a context setup response message, a handover message or a capability request response message.

9. The capability transfer method of claim 6, wherein after the second network device receives the processing capability indication information and the capability filtering parameter from the first network device, the method further comprises:

and the second network device sends at least one of the processing capability indication information, the capability filtering parameter or an integrity identifier to the first network device, wherein the integrity identifier is used for indicating whether the capability information of the terminal device is complete.

10. The capability transfer method of any of claims 6-9,

the first network device is an access network device; and

the second network device is a core network device or an access network device.

11. A method of communication, comprising:

the access network equipment sends capacity reporting indication information to the terminal equipment, wherein the capacity reporting indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to report the capacity information; the capability reporting indication information includes a capability filtering parameter and first indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating that the capability filtering parameter is applied when a first condition is met, the capability filtering parameter is used for indicating a range of capability information, the first condition is that a first capability set can be reported, and the first capability set is a capability set of the terminal device;

and the access network equipment receives the capability information and the integrity identification from the terminal equipment, wherein the integrity identification is used for indicating whether the capability information from the terminal equipment is complete or not.

12. The communication method according to claim 11, wherein the capability reporting indication information includes a threshold of number of segments, and the threshold of number of segments is a maximum number of segments for capability information transmission.

13. The communication method according to claim 12, wherein:

and carrying the capability information of the terminal equipment in N sections from the terminal equipment, wherein N is less than or equal to the section number threshold.

14. The communication method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

and the access network equipment sends an integrity identifier to the core network equipment, wherein the integrity identifier is used for indicating whether the capability information from the terminal equipment is complete or not.

15. The communication method according to any of claims 11-14, wherein the method further comprises:

the access network equipment sends a capability filtering parameter to the core network equipment, wherein the capability filtering parameter comprises at least one of bandwidth information, frequency band information or Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) information.

16. The communication method according to claim 11, wherein before the access network device sends the capability reporting indication information to the terminal device, the method further comprises:

the access network equipment receives the capability inquiry message sent by the core network equipment, or

The access network equipment receives an initial context establishment message sent by the core network equipment, wherein the initial context establishment message does not carry the capability information of the terminal equipment.

17. A capability reporting method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment receives capability reporting indication information from access network equipment, wherein the capability reporting indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to report capability information, and the capability reporting indication information comprises capability filtering parameters and first indication information; the first indication information is used for indicating whether a capability filtering parameter is applied or not when a first condition is met, the capability filtering parameter is used for indicating the range of capability information, the first condition is that a first capability set can be reported, and the first capability set is the capability set of the terminal equipment;

and the terminal equipment sends capacity information and an integrity identifier to the access network equipment according to the capacity filtering parameter and the first indication information, wherein the integrity identifier is used for indicating whether the capacity information from the terminal equipment is complete or not.

18. The capability reporting method of claim 17, wherein the reporting module is further configured to,

the capability reporting indication information comprises a segment quantity threshold value, wherein the segment quantity threshold value is the maximum segment quantity of capability information transmission;

the terminal equipment sends the capability information to the access network equipment according to the capability reporting indication information, and the method comprises the following steps:

the terminal device sends N pieces of segment information to the access network device, the N pieces of segment information bear the capability information of the terminal device, and the N is smaller than or equal to the segment number threshold.

19. A communication apparatus comprising a memory and at least one processor, the memory for storing instructions or programs, characterized in that:

when executed by the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform a communication method as claimed in any one of claims 1-5, or to cause the apparatus to perform a communication method as claimed in any one of claims 6-10, or to cause the apparatus to perform a communication method as claimed in any one of claims 11-16, or to cause the apparatus to perform a communication method as claimed in any one of claims 17-18.

20. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send processing capability indication information and a capability filtering parameter to a second network device, where the processing capability indication information is used to indicate a capability information size of a terminal device that can be processed by a first network device, and the capability filtering parameter is used to indicate a range of the capability information;

a receiving unit, configured to receive second capability information of the terminal device from the second network device, where the second capability information is obtained according to the first capability information and the processing capability indication information when a size of the first capability information is larger than a size of capability information of the terminal device that can be processed by the first network device; the first capability information is obtained according to the capability filtering parameter;

21. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive processing capability indication information and a capability filtering parameter from a first network device, where the processing capability indication information is used to indicate a capability information size of a terminal device that can be processed by the first network device, and the capability filtering parameter is used to indicate a range of capability information;

a processing unit, configured to obtain first capability information of the terminal device according to the capability filtering parameter, and if it is determined that the size of the first capability information is larger than the size of the capability information of the terminal device that can be processed by the first network device, obtain second capability information according to the first capability information and the processing capability indication information;

a sending unit, configured to send the second capability information to the first network device;

the second capability information is front part capability information or rear part capability information of the first capability information in a first sequence, and the first sequence is a sequence in which the first network device stores the capability information of the terminal device, or a sequence in which the communication apparatus reads the capability information of the terminal device.

22. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send capability reporting indication information to a terminal device, where the capability reporting indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device reports capability information;

a receiving unit, configured to receive capability information and an integrity indicator from the terminal device, where the integrity indicator is used to indicate whether the capability information from the terminal device is complete;

the capability reporting indication information includes a capability filtering parameter and first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to apply the capability filtering parameter when a first condition is met, the capability filtering parameter is used to indicate a range of capability information, the first condition is that a first capability set can be reported, and the first capability set is a capability set of the terminal device.

23. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive capability reporting indication information from an access network device, where the capability reporting indication information includes a capability filtering parameter and first indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate whether to apply the capability filtering parameter when a first condition is met, the capability filtering parameter is used to indicate a range of capability information, the first condition is that a first capability set can be reported, and the first capability set is a capability set of a terminal device;

a sending unit, configured to send capability information and an integrity identifier to the access network device according to the capability reporting indication information, where the integrity identifier is used to indicate whether the capability information from the terminal device is complete.

24. A readable storage medium, characterized by comprising a program or instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or implement the capability transfer method according to any one of claims 6 to 10, or implement the communication method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, or implement the capability reporting method according to any one of claims 17 to 18.