CN112449311B

CN112449311B - Communication method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN112449311B
Application number: CN201910819962.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李濛; 应江威; 杨艳梅
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-31
Filing date: 2019-08-31
Publication date: 2022-02-11
Anticipated expiration: 2039-08-31
Also published as: WO2021037271A1; CN112449311A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, equipment and a system, which can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different data of services. The method comprises the following steps: the session management network element determines a first access network type of the first service and sends the first access network type. The method comprises the steps that access network equipment receives an access network type and first information of a first service, wherein the first information comprises a first downlink address of the first service or a first identification parameter of the first service, and under the condition that the type of the access network equipment is the same as the type of the first access network, if the first information is the first downlink address, the access network equipment sends a first message which carries the first downlink address and is used for establishing a transmission path of first data of the first service between the first user plane network element and the access network equipment to the first user plane network element; and if the first information is the first identification parameter, the access network equipment identifies that the downlink data is the first data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, and then sends the downlink data.

Description

Communication method, device and system

Technical Field

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

Background

H.264/h.265 supports video streaming layered transmission of Scalable Video Coding (SVC)/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), where the base layer data is the content of the video that needs to be reliably received and the enhancement layer data can further refine the content of the base layer data (e.g., higher resolution). In short, the base layer data pertains to "carbon delivery in snow" and the enhancement layer data pertains to "make something better and better.

In the prior art, a base station of the same type is usually adopted to transmit base layer data and enhancement layer data in a video stream, on one hand, because a base station needs to bear more services, the load of the base station is too large, a required transmission resource cannot be provided for each service, and further the transmission quality of service data is poor, thereby reducing user experience; on the other hand, resources provided by the base station need to simultaneously satisfy transmission resources required by different types of data of the same service, so that the base station allocates more transmission resources for each service, however, the base station may not need to use all resources allocated to the service when transmitting a certain type of data of the service at a certain time, thereby causing resource waste; on the other hand, different types of data of the service are transmitted by adopting a fixed transmission mode, so that the flexibility is lower.

Therefore, how to reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services is a problem to be solved urgently at present.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, device, and system, which can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of a service.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the embodiment of the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

in a first aspect, a communication method and a corresponding communication device are provided. In the scheme, a session management network element determines a first access network type and sends the first access network type to a mobility management network element, wherein the first access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting first type data of a first service. Based on the scheme, the session management network element can determine the type of the access network transmitting the first type of data, and further determine the access network equipment transmitting the first type of data according to the type of the access network, so that the first type of data can be transmitted to the access network equipment corresponding to the first type of data, and finally the access network equipment transmits the first type of data, that is, the different types of data of the first service are transmitted by the access network equipment corresponding to the data type, so that on one hand, the transmission resources required by the access network equipment are reduced, and further the transmission resources required by the data of the type corresponding to the access network equipment can be ensured, so that the transmission quality of the type of data is improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of one type of data of the service, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; on the other hand, the session management network element may flexibly configure the access network device for transmitting different types of data of the service according to the type of the service data. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

In one possible design, the first access network type includes terrestrial broadcast, or mixed mode multicast or broadcast. Based on the scheme, the access network equipment adopting terrestrial broadcasting or the access network equipment adopting mixed mode multicast or broadcast can only transmit the data of the specific type of the service.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: the session management network element sends first information to the mobility management network element, where the first information includes a first downlink address or a first identification parameter, where the first downlink address is a downlink address of first type data of a first service, and the first identification parameter is used to identify the first type data of the first service. Based on the scheme, on one hand, when the first information includes the first downlink address, the access network device determined according to the first access network type may establish a transmission path for transmitting the first type data of the first service between the access network device and the user plane network element according to the first downlink address, so that the first type data may be transmitted to the access network device of the specific type corresponding to the first type data through the transmission path, and finally the access network device transmits the first type data. On the other hand, when the first information includes the first identification parameter, the access network device determined according to the first access network type may identify the downlink data according to the first identification parameter, and when the access network device identifies that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service, the downlink data is sent, so that the access network device may perform type matching and downlink data identification, and in a case that the type of the access network device matches the first access network type corresponding to the first type data, the access network device may transmit the first type data, where matching may be understood as the same.

In a possible design, when the first information includes a first downlink address, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: the session management network element sends the identifier of the first user plane network element and indication information to the application function network element, wherein the indication information is the type identifier of the first type of data of the first service, or the indication information is a QoS parameter of the first type of data. Based on the scheme, when the application function network element subsequently sends the downlink data, the first type data of the first service is determined to be sent to the first user plane network element according to the identification and the indication information of the first user plane network element.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: and the session management network element determines a second access network type and sends the second access network type to the mobility management network element, wherein the second access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting second type data of the first service. Based on the scheme, the session management network element can determine the type of the access network for transmitting the second type data, and further can determine the access network equipment for transmitting the second type data according to the type of the access network, so that the second type data can be transmitted to the access network equipment of a specific type corresponding to the second type data, and finally the access network equipment transmits the second type data, therefore, on one hand, the access network equipment for transmitting the first type data can ensure the transmission quality of the first type data, and the access network equipment for transmitting the second type data can ensure the transmission number quality of the second type data, thereby further improving the user experience; on the other hand, the access network equipment can be reasonably and flexibly selected according to the transmission requirements of the first type data and the second type data.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: and the session management network element sends second information to the mobility management network element, wherein the second information comprises a second downlink address or a second identification parameter, the second downlink address is a downlink address of second type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used for identifying the second type data of the first service. Based on the scheme, on one hand, when the second information includes the second downlink address, the access network device determined according to the second access network type may establish a transmission path for transmitting the second type data of the first service between the access network device and the user plane network element according to the second downlink address, and therefore, the second type data may be transmitted to the access network device of the specific type corresponding to the second type data, and finally, the access network device transmits the second type data. On the other hand, when the first information includes the second identification parameter, the access network device determined according to the second access network type may identify the downlink data according to the second identification parameter, and send the downlink data when the access network device identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service, so that type matching and downlink data identification may be performed at the access network device, so that the access network device of a specific type corresponding to the second type data may transmit the first type data.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: the session management network element sends a first downlink address, the first identification parameter, the second downlink address and the second identification parameter to a user plane network element, wherein the first identification parameter is used for identifying first type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used for identifying second type data of the first service. Based on the scheme, the user plane network element can identify the downlink data according to the identification parameter of the service, and when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, the downlink data is sent according to the first downlink address, so that the first access network equipment determined according to the first access network type can receive the downlink data, so as to transmit the first type data to the first access network equipment corresponding to the first type data, and finally the first access network equipment transmits the first type data; and when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, the downlink data is sent according to the second downlink address so as to transmit the second type data to second access network equipment corresponding to the second type data, and finally the second access network equipment transmits the second type data.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: and the session management network element sends the first downlink address and the first identification parameter to a user plane network element, wherein the first identification parameter is used for identifying the first type data of the first service. Based on the scheme, the user plane network element can identify the downlink data according to the identification parameter of the service, and when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, the downlink data is sent according to the first downlink address, so that the first access network equipment determined according to the first access network type can receive the downlink data, so as to transmit the first type data to the first access network equipment corresponding to the first type data, and finally the first access network equipment transmits the first type data.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: and the session management network element sends the second downlink address and the second identification parameter to a user plane network element, wherein the second identification parameter is used for identifying second type data of the first service. Based on the scheme, the user plane network element can identify the downlink data according to the identification parameter of the service, and when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, the downlink data is sent according to the second downlink address so as to transmit the second type data to the second access network equipment corresponding to the second type data, and finally the second access network equipment transmits the second type data.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: the session management network element receives the first identification parameter and the second identification parameter from the application function network element.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: the session management network element receives the type identification of the second type data from the application function network element; the session management network element determining a second access network type, comprising: and the session management network element determines the second access network type according to the type identifier of the second type data and the corresponding relationship between the type identifier and the access network type.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: the session management network element receives the QoS parameter of the second type data; the session management network element determining a second access network type, comprising: and the session management network element determines the type of the second access network according to the QoS parameter of the second type data.

In one possible design, the QoS parameter of the second type of data includes a PER parameter of a packet error rate of the second type of data, and a value of the PER parameter is a first value; the determining, by the session management network element, the second access network type according to the QoS parameter of the second type data includes: when the first value is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold value, the session management network element determines that the second access network type is a terrestrial broadcast; or, when the first value is smaller than the first preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the second access network type is mixed mode multicast or broadcast.

In one possible design, the QoS parameter of the second type of data includes a packet delay budget PDB parameter of the second type of data, and a value of the PDB parameter is a second value; the determining, by the session management network element, the second access network type according to the QoS parameter of the second type data includes: when the second value is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the second access network type is a terrestrial broadcast; or, when the second value is smaller than the second preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the second access network type is mixed mode multicast or broadcast.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: the session management network element receives the type identification of the first type data from the application function network element; the session management network element determining a first access network type, comprising: and the session management network element determines the first access network type according to the type identifier of the first type data and the corresponding relationship between the type identifier and the access network type.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: the session management network element receives the QoS parameter of the first type data; the session management network element determining a first access network type, comprising: and the session management network element determines the first access network type according to the QoS parameter of the first type data.

In one possible design, the QoS parameter of the first type of data includes a PER parameter of the first type of data, and a value of the PER parameter of the first type of data is a third value; the determining, by the session management network element, the first access network type according to the QoS parameter of the first type of data includes: when the third value is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold value, the session management network element determines that the first access network type is a terrestrial broadcast; or, when the third value is smaller than the first preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast or broadcast.

In one possible design, the QoS parameter of the first type of data includes a PDB parameter of the first type of data, and the PDB parameter of the first type of data is a fourth value; the determining, by the session management network element, the first access network type according to the QoS parameter of the first type of data includes: when the fourth value is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the first access network type is a terrestrial broadcast; or, when the fourth value is smaller than the second preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast or broadcast.

In one possible design, the first access network type may be understood as a type of broadcast technology, in which case the first access network type may include terrestrial broadcast, or mixed mode multicast or broadcast; alternatively, the first access network type may be understood as a type of radio access technology, which may include NR technology, LTE technology, and any other type of radio access technology; alternatively, the first access network type may also be understood as a type of broadcast technology and an interface type; alternatively, the first access network type may also be understood as a type of radio access technology and an interface type.

In one possible design, the second access network type may be understood as a type of broadcast technology, in which case the second access network type may include terrestrial broadcast, or mixed mode multicast or broadcast; alternatively, the second access network type may be understood as a type of radio access technology, which may include NR technology, LTE technology, and any other type of radio access technology; alternatively, the second access network type may also be understood as a type of broadcast technology and an interface type; alternatively, the second access network type may also be understood as a type of radio access technology and an interface type, the second access network type being different from the first access network type.

In a second aspect, a communication method and a corresponding communication device are provided. In the scheme, an access network device receives a first access network type and a first downlink address from a mobility management network element, wherein the first access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting first type data of a first service, and the first downlink address is the downlink address of the first type data; the access network device sends a first message to a first user plane network element according to the first access network type, the first message carries the first downlink address, and the first message is used for establishing a transmission path for transmitting the first type data of the first service between the access network device and the first user plane network element. Based on the scheme, on one hand, the access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the first type of data, so that the transmission quality of the first type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the first type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; in another aspect, the access network device may establish a transmission path for transmitting the first type of data of the first service between the access network device and the user plane network element according to the first downlink address, so that the first type of data may be transmitted to a specific type of access network device corresponding to the first type of data, and finally the access network device transmits the first type of data. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

In one possible design, the sending, by the access network device, the first message to the first user plane network element according to the first access network type includes: and when the type of the access network equipment is the same as the first access network type, the access network equipment sends a first message to the first user plane network element.

In one possible design, the access network device may support multiple access network types at different times, that is, an air interface of the same access network device may use multiple broadcast technologies or radio access technologies at different times, or an air interface of the same access network device may use multiple broadcast technologies or radio access technologies at different times, and the access network device may use multiple interfaces and a mobility management element to perform communication at different times. In this case, the type of the access network device is the same as the first access network type, which means that the access network device currently uses the same type as the first access network type.

In a possible design, the access network device may support multiple access network types at the same time, that is, the air interface of the same access network device may use multiple broadcast technologies or radio access technologies at the same time, or the air interface of the same access network device may use multiple broadcast technologies or radio access technologies at the same time, and the access network device may use multiple interfaces and a mobility management network element to communicate at the same time. In this case, the access network device may transmit data by using different access network types for different sub-areas of its coverage area, and at this time, the fact that the type of the access network device is the same as the first access network type may be understood as that the access network type used by the sub-area whose coverage area is the same as or similar to the coverage area of the first type of data is the same as the first access network type.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: the access network equipment receives a second downlink address and a second access network type from the mobile management network element, wherein the second access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting second type data of the first service, and the second downlink address is the downlink address of the second type data; and the access network equipment sends a second message to a second user plane network element according to the second access network type, wherein the second message carries the second downlink address, and the second message is used for establishing a transmission path of the second type data of the first service between the access network equipment and the second user plane network element. Based on the scheme, on one hand, the access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the second type of data, so that the transmission quality of the second type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the second type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; on the other hand, the access network device may establish a transmission path for the second type of data of the first service between the access network device and the user plane network element according to the second downlink address, and therefore, the second type of data may be transmitted to the access network device of a specific type corresponding to the second type of data, and finally the access network device transmits the second type of data.

In a third aspect, a communication method and a corresponding communication device are provided. In the scheme, the coordination function network element receives a first downlink address and a first access network type from the mobility management network element, and sends the first downlink address to the first access network device according to the first access network type. The first access network type is equipment of an access network for transmitting first type data of a first service, and the first downlink address is a downlink address of the first type data. Based on the scheme, the coordination function network element can select the corresponding first access network equipment to send the first downlink address according to the type of the first access network, so that on one hand, the first access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the first type of data, and further, the transmission quality of the first type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the first access network device only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the first type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; in another aspect, the first access network device may establish a transmission path for transmitting the first type of data of the first service between the first access network device and the first user plane network element according to the first downlink address, so that the first type of data may be transmitted to a specific type of access network device corresponding to the first type of data, and finally the access network device transmits the first type of data. In summary, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: and the coordination function network element receives the second downlink address and the second access network type from the mobility management network element, and sends the second downlink address to the second access network equipment according to the second access network type. And the second access network type is the type of the access network used for transmitting the second type data of the first service. Based on the scheme, the coordination function network element can select corresponding second access network equipment to send the second downlink address according to the type of the second access network, so that on one hand, the second access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the second type of data, and further the transmission quality of the second type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the second access network device only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the second type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; in another aspect, the second access network device may establish a transmission path for transmitting the second type of data of the first service between the second access network device and the second user plane network element according to the second downlink address, so that the second type of data may be transmitted to the access network device of the specific type corresponding to the second type of data, and finally the access network device transmits the second type of data.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method and a corresponding communication device are provided. In the scheme, an access network device receives a first access network type and a first identification parameter from a session management network element, wherein the first access network type is a type of an access network used for transmitting first type data of a first service, and the first identification parameter is used for identifying the first type data of the first service; and the access network equipment receives downlink data of the first service, and when the type of the access network equipment is the same as that of the first access network and the access network equipment identifies that the downlink data is the first type of data according to the first identification parameter, the access network equipment sends the downlink data. Based on the scheme, on one hand, the access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the first type of data, so that the transmission quality of the first type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the first type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; in another aspect, type matching and downlink data identification may be performed at the access network device, so that the access network device transmits the first type data corresponding thereto. In summary, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: the access network equipment receives a second access network type and a second identification parameter from the session management network element, wherein the second access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting second type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used for identifying the second type data; and when the type of the access network equipment is the same as that of the second access network and the access network equipment identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, the access network equipment sends the downlink data. Based on the scheme, on one hand, the access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the second type of data, so that the transmission quality of the second type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the second type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; in another aspect, the type matching and the downlink data identification may be performed at the access network device, so that the access network device transmits the second type data corresponding to the access network device.

In a fifth aspect, a communication method and a corresponding communication device are provided. In the scheme, a user plane network element receives a first downlink address, a first identification parameter, a second downlink address and a second identification parameter from a session management network element, wherein the first downlink address is a downlink address of first type data of a first service, the second downlink address is a downlink address of second type data of the first service, the first identification parameter is used for identifying the first type data, and the second identification parameter is used for identifying the second type data; the user plane network element receives downlink data of a first service from an application function network element, and when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, the user plane network element sends the downlink data according to the first downlink address; or, when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, the user plane network element sends the downlink data according to the second downlink address. Based on the scheme, the user plane network element can identify the downlink data of the first service according to the identification parameters of the service, when the downlink data is the first type data, the first access network equipment determined according to the first access network type can receive the first type data, and finally the first access network equipment transmits the first type data, on one hand, the first access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the first type data, so that the transmission quality of the first type data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the first access network device only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the first type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; when the downlink data is the second type data, the second access network equipment determined according to the type of the second access network can receive the second type data, and finally the second type data is transmitted by the second access network equipment, so that on one hand, the second access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the second type data, and further, the transmission quality of the second type data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the second access network device only needs to guarantee the transmission requirement of the second type of data, so that the waste of the transmission resource caused by meeting the transmission requirement of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

In one possible embodiment, the first identification parameter is a first value and the second identification parameter is a second value; the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application further comprises the following steps: when the value of the first field of the first protocol frame bearing the downlink data is the first numerical value, the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service; or, when the value of the first field of the first protocol frame carrying the downlink data is the second value, the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service.

In a sixth aspect, a communication method and a corresponding communication device are provided. In the scheme, an application function network element receives an identifier and indication information of a first user plane network element from a session management network element, wherein the indication information is a type identifier of first type data of a first service or a QoS parameter of the first type data; and the application function network element sends the first type data of the first service to the first user plane network element according to the identification and the indication information of the first user plane network element. Based on the scheme, when the application function network element subsequently sends the downlink data, it is determined that the first type data of the first service needs to be sent to the first user plane network element according to the identifier and the indication information of the first user plane network element, and then the first type data is sent to the access network equipment determined according to the first access network type by the first user plane network element, and finally the first type data is transmitted by the access network equipment. On one hand, the access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the first type of data, so that the transmission quality of the first type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network device only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the first type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the various methods described above. The communication device may be a session management network element in the first aspect, or a device including the session management; alternatively, the communication device may be the access network equipment in the second aspect or the fourth aspect, or a device including the access network equipment; alternatively, the communication device may be the coordination function network element in the third aspect, or a device including the coordination function network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the user plane network element in the fifth aspect, or a device including the user plane network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the application function network element in the sixth aspect, or a device including the application function network element. The communication device includes corresponding modules, units, or means (means) for implementing the above method, and the modules, units, or means may be implemented by hardware, software, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising: a processor, which may also include a memory; the memory is configured to store computer instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the method of any of the above aspects. The communication device may be a session management network element in the first aspect, or a device including the session management; alternatively, the communication device may be the access network equipment in the second aspect, or a device including the access network equipment; alternatively, the communication device may be the coordination function network element in the third aspect, or a device including the coordination function network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the user plane network element in the fifth aspect, or a device including the user plane network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the application function network element in the sixth aspect, or a device including the application function network element.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising: a processor; the processor is configured to be coupled to the memory, and after reading the instructions in the memory, perform the method according to any one of the above aspects. The communication device may be a session management network element in the first aspect, or a device including the session management; alternatively, the communication device may be the access network equipment in the second aspect or the fourth aspect, or a device including the access network equipment; alternatively, the communication device may be the coordination function network element in the third aspect, or a device including the coordination function network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the user plane network element in the fifth aspect, or a device including the user plane network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the application function network element in the sixth aspect, or a device including the application function network element.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions, which when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of the above aspects.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of the above aspects.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a communication device (which may be a chip or a system of chips, for example) comprising a processor for implementing the functionality referred to in any of the above aspects. In one possible design, the communication device further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data. When the communication device is a chip system, the communication device may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

In a thirteenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including: a processor and an interface circuit, which may be a code/data read/write interface circuit, for receiving and transmitting computer-executable instructions (stored in, possibly read directly from, or possibly via other devices) to the processor; the processor is used for executing the computer-executable instructions to execute the method of any one of the above aspects.

For technical effects brought by any one of the design manners of the seventh aspect to the thirteenth aspect, reference may be made to the technical effects brought by different design manners of the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect, or the sixth aspect, and no further description is provided herein.

In a fourteenth aspect, a communication method is provided, which includes: the session management network element determines a first access network type and sends the first access network type to the mobility management network element, wherein the first access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting first type data of the first service; the mobile management network element receives a first access network type and first information from the session management network element and sends the first access network type and the first information to the access network equipment; the method comprises the steps that an access network device receives a first access network type and first information from a mobile management network element, when the first information comprises a first downlink address, the access network device sends a first message to a first user plane network element according to the first access network type, the first message carries the first downlink address, the first message is used for establishing a first type data transmission path of a first service between the access network device and the first user plane network element, and the first downlink address is the downlink address of first type data; and when the type of the access network equipment is the same as the type of the first access network and the downlink data is identified to be the first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, the first type data of the first service is sent.

In one possible design, the first access network type includes terrestrial broadcast, or mixed mode multicast or broadcast.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: the session management network element sends first information to the mobility management network element, where the first information includes a first downlink address or a first identification parameter, where the first downlink address is a downlink address of first type data of a first service, and the first identification parameter is used to identify the first type data of the first service.

In one possible design, when the first information includes a first downlink address, the communication method further includes: and the session management network element sends the identifier and the indication information of the first user plane network element to the application function network element, wherein the indication information is the type identifier of the first type of data or the QoS parameter of the first type of data.

In one possible design, the communication method further includes: and the session management network element determines a second access network type and sends the second access network type to the mobility management network element, wherein the second access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting second type data of the first service.

In one possible design, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application further includes: and the session management network element sends second information to the mobility management network element, wherein the second information comprises a second downlink address or a second identification parameter, the second downlink address is a downlink address of second type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used for identifying the second type data of the first service.

In one possible design, the communication method further includes: the session management network element sends the first downlink address, the first identification parameter, the second downlink address and the second identification parameter to a user plane network element, wherein the first downlink address is a downlink address of first type data of a first service, the second downlink address is a downlink address of second type data of the first service, the first identification parameter is used for identifying the first type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used for identifying the second type data of the first service.

For technical effects brought by any design manner in the fourteenth aspect, reference may be made to technical effects brought by different design manners in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect, or the sixth aspect, and no further description is provided herein.

In a fifteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising: a session management network element, a mobility management network element, and an access network device; the session management network element is used for determining a first access network type and sending the first access network type to the mobility management network element, wherein the first access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting first type data of the first service; the mobile management network element is used for receiving the first access network type and the first information from the session management network element and sending the first access network type and the first information to the access network equipment; the access network equipment is used for receiving a first access network type and first information from the mobile management network element, and when the first information comprises a first downlink address, the access network equipment is also used for sending a first message to a first user plane network element according to the first access network type, wherein the first message carries the first downlink address, and the first message is used for establishing a first type data transmission path of a first service between the access network equipment and the first user plane network element; when the first information includes the first identification parameter, the access network device is further configured to receive downlink data, and when the type of the access network device is the same as the type of the first access network and the downlink data is identified as first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, the access network device is further configured to send the first type data of the first service.

In a possible design, the session management network element is further configured to send, to the application function network element, a first identifier of the first user plane network element and indication information, where the indication information is a type identifier of the first type of data or a QoS parameter of the first type of data.

In one possible design, the session management element is further configured to determine a second access network type and send the second access network type to the mobility management element.

In a possible design, the session management network element is further configured to send second information to the mobility management network element, where the second information includes a second downlink address or a second identification parameter, where the first downlink address is a downlink address of the first type of data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used to identify the second type of data of the first service.

In a possible design, the session management network element is further configured to send the first downlink address, the first identification parameter, the second downlink address, and the second identification parameter to a user plane network element, where the first downlink address is a downlink address of first type data of a first service, the second downlink address is a downlink address of second type data of the first service, the first identification parameter is used to identify the first type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used to identify the second type data of the first service.

In one possible design, the communication system further includes: and a coordination function network element, configured to receive the first downlink address and the first access network type from the mobility management network element, and send the first downlink address to the first access network device according to the first access network type, where in one possible design, the type of the first access network device is the same as the first access network type.

In one possible design, the communication system further includes: a user plane network element, configured to receive the first downlink address, the first identification parameter, the second downlink address, and the second identification parameter from the session management network element; the user plane network element is also used for receiving downlink data from the application function network element; when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, the user plane network element is further configured to send the downlink data according to the first downlink address; or, when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, the user plane network element is further configured to send the downlink data according to the second downlink address.

In one possible design, the communication system further includes: and the application function network element is used for receiving the identifier and the indication information of the first user plane network element from the session management network element, wherein the indication information is the type identifier of the first type of data or the QoS parameter of the first type of data, and the application function network element is also used for sending the first type of data of the first service to the first user plane network element according to the identifier of the first user plane network element and the indication information.

For technical effects brought by any design manner in the fifteenth aspect, reference may be made to technical effects brought by different design manners in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect, or the sixth aspect, and no further description is provided herein.

These and other aspects of the present application will be more readily apparent from the following description of the embodiments.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional broadcast/multicast transmission;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of another prior art broadcast/multicast transmission;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a conventional mbms architecture;

fig. 4a is a first schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4b is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4c is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4d is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a possible 5G network architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application;

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

fig. 6b is a first flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6c is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6d is a third schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6e is a fourth schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6f is a fifth flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a first interaction flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process of establishing a data transmission link according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic interaction flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a third schematic interaction flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a fourth interaction flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, a brief description of the related art of the present application is first given as follows.

Broadcast/multicast:

in networks proposed by the third generation partnership project (3 GPP), broadcast/multicast may refer to a transmission direction that transmits the same data to multiple receivers, i.e. broadcast/multicast may be understood as point-to-multipoint data transmission.

For broadcast/multicast, there are two implementations: one implementation scheme is that as shown in fig. 1, multiple point-to-point transmission links are established on the network side, and a sender sends multiple copies of data when sending data. Another implementation scheme is that as shown in fig. 2, a broadcast/multicast transmission link is established on the network side, the broadcast/multicast transmission link can be shared by multiple receivers, a sender only sends one copy of data when sending data, and the network side copies and transmits the copy of data to multiple receivers.

Compared with the scheme shown in fig. 1, the scheme shown in fig. 2 can save more transmission resources, and is an efficient solution when the network supports the broadcast/multicast mechanism. But a multiple point-to-point scheme as shown in fig. 1 may also be used when the network is not provided with network elements supporting broadcast/multicast.

Multimedia broadcast multicast service architecture:

as shown in fig. 3, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) architecture provided in the 3GPP standard realizes point-to-multipoint transmission by establishing a multicast/broadcast transmission link. The network element is mainly used for receiving a control message of a core network, adding a multicast group and distributing related identification information, receiving MBMS data of the core network and broadcasting the MBMS data through an air interface; a multimedia broadcast multicast service gateway (MBMS GW) is mainly used to allocate an Internet Protocol (IP) multicast address and send MBMS data to an E-UTRAN or UTRAN in an IP multicast manner; a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) is mainly used to encrypt and transmit MBMS data from a content provider network element to an MBMS GW, and to manage multicast members, and may also be used for session management, group management, security management, and the like; the content provider network element may be an originator of the MBMS.

Wherein, the SGmb interface in fig. 3 is a reference point between the BM-SC and the MBMSGW, and is mainly used for exchanging control plane information, for example, in the processes of session establishment/modification and the like, the BM-SC indicates information such as a range in which the MBMS GW needs to establish a session, transmission start time and the like, and the MBMS GW responds to the indication information of the BM-SC and the like; the SGi-mb interface is a reference point between the BM-SC and the MBMS GW and is mainly used for transmitting MBMS data; the xMB interface is an interface for providing service-related functions to the outside by the BM-SC, and is mainly used for establishing/updating services, establishing/updating sessions, and the like.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Where in the description of the present application, "/" indicates a relationship where the objects associated before and after are an "or", unless otherwise stated, for example, a/B may indicate a or B; in the present application, "and/or" is only an association relationship describing an associated object, and means that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. Also, in the description of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more than two unless otherwise specified. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or multiple. 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.

In addition, 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 constitute a limitation to the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and it can be known by a person skilled in the art that the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario.

As shown in fig. 4a, for a communication system 10 provided in the embodiment of the present application, the communication system 10 includes a session management network element 101, a mobility management network element 102, and an access network device 103. The session management network element 101 and the mobility management network element 102 may communicate directly or may communicate through forwarding of other devices; the mobility management element 102 and the access network device 103 may communicate directly or may communicate through forwarding of other devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The session management network element 101 is configured to determine a first access network type, and send the first access network type to the mobility management network element 102, where the first access network type is a type of an access network used for transmitting first type data of the first service; the mobility management network element 102 is configured to receive the first access network type and the first information from the session management network element 101, and send the first access network type and the first information to the access network device 103; the access network device 103 is configured to receive a first access network type and first information from the mobility management network element, and when the first information includes a first downlink address, the access network device 103 is further configured to send a first message to the first user plane network element according to the first access network type, where the first downlink address is a downlink address of the first type of data, the first message carries the first downlink address, and the first message is used to establish a first type data transmission path for transmitting a first service between the access network device 103 and the first user plane network element; when the first information includes the first identification parameter, the access network device 103 is further configured to receive downlink data, and when the type of the access network device 103 is the same as the first access network type and the downlink data is identified as first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, the access network device 103 is further configured to send the first type data of the first service. The specific implementation of the above scheme will be described in detail in the following method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

Based on the communication system, when the first information includes the first downlink address, the access network device determined according to the first access network type may establish a transmission path for the first type data of the first service between the access network device and the user plane network element according to the first downlink address, so that the first type data may be transmitted to the access network device of the specific type corresponding to the first type data through the transmission path, and finally the access network device transmits the first type data. Or, when the first information includes the first identification parameter, the access network device determined according to the first access network type may identify the downlink data according to the first identification parameter, and when the access network device identifies that the downlink data is the first type of data of the first service, the downlink data is sent, so that the access network device may perform type matching and downlink data identification, and the access network device may transmit the first type of data under the condition that the type of the access network device matches the first access network type corresponding to the first type of data.

In summary, on one hand, the transmission resources required to be provided by the access network device are reduced, and then the transmission resources required by the data of the type corresponding to the access network device can be ensured, so that the transmission quality of the data of the type is improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of one type of data of the service, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; on the other hand, the session management network element may flexibly configure the access network device for transmitting different types of data of the service according to the type of the service data. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can reasonably and flexibly transmit different data of services.

In a possible implementation manner, as shown in fig. 4b, the communication system 10 provided in this embodiment of the present application may further include a coordination function network element 104, where the function of the coordination function network element 104 will be described in a subsequent method embodiment and is not described herein again. In the actual implementation, the coordination function network element may be an independent network element or may be a part of the functions of the mobility management network element. When the coordination function network element is a part of the mobility management network element, the interaction between the mobility management network element and the coordination function network element is an internal implementation of the mobility management network element, and the interaction between the coordination function network element and the access network device can be considered as the interaction between the mobility management network element and the access network device.

In another possible implementation manner, based on the communication system 10 shown in fig. 4a or fig. 4b, as shown in fig. 4c, the communication system 10 provided in this embodiment of the present application may further include an Application Function (AF) network element 105 and a first user plane network element 106, where functions of the application function network element 105 and the first user plane network element 106 will be described in detail in the subsequent method embodiment, and are not described herein again.

In yet another possible implementation manner, based on the communication system 10 shown in fig. 4a or fig. 4b, as shown in fig. 4d, the communication system 10 provided in this embodiment may further include an application function network element 105 and a user plane network element 107, where functions of the application function network element 105 and the user plane network element 107 will be described in detail in the subsequent method embodiment and are not described herein again.

Alternatively, the communication system 10 shown in fig. 4a or fig. 4b or fig. 4c or fig. 4d may be applied to the present fifth generation (5G) network, or other networks in the future, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited in this respect.

As an example, assuming that the communication system 10 shown in fig. 4a or 4b or 4c or 4d is applied to the current 5G network, as shown in fig. 5, the network element or entity corresponding to the session management network element may be a Session Management Function (SMF) network element in the 5G network, the network element or the entity corresponding to the mobility management network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element in a 5G network, the network element or entity corresponding to the user plane network element may be a User Plane Function (UPF) network element in a 5G network, the network element or the entity corresponding to the coordination function network element may be a multi-cell/Multicast Coordination Entity (MCE) in a 5G network, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

Illustratively, the above-mentioned Radio Access Network (RAN) devices include, but are not limited to: next generation base stations (gndebs, gnbs), evolved Node bs (enbs), Radio Network Controllers (RNCs), Node Bs (NBs), Base Station Controllers (BSCs), Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), home base stations (e.g., home nodebs or home nodebs), Base Band Units (BBUs), transmission points (TRPs), Transmission Points (TPs), mobile switching centers (TPs), and the like in a 5G network.

In addition, as shown in fig. 5, the 5G network may further include a network open function (NEF) network element, and the like, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

As shown in fig. 5, the terminal device communicates with the AMF network element through a next generation network (N) 1 interface (abbreviated as N1), the access network device communicates with the AMF network element through an N2 interface (abbreviated as N2), the access network device communicates with the UPF network element through an N3 interface (abbreviated as N3), the AMF network element communicates with the SMF network element through an N11 interface (abbreviated as N11), and the SMF network element communicates with the NEF network element through an N29 interface (abbreviated as N29).

Optionally, the related functions of the session management network element, the mobility management network element, the access network device, the user plane network element, the coordination function network element, or the application function network element in the embodiment of the present application may be implemented by one device, or implemented by multiple devices together, or implemented by one or more functional modules in one device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. It is understood that the above functions may be network elements in a hardware device, or software functions running on dedicated hardware, or a combination of hardware and software, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

For example, the functions related to the session management network element, the mobility management network element, the access network device, the user plane network element, the coordination function network element, or the application function network element in the embodiment of the method of the present application may be implemented by the communication device (also referred to as a communication apparatus) in fig. 6 a. Fig. 6a is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 600 comprises a processor 601, a communication line 602, a memory 603 and at least one communication interface (which is only exemplary in fig. 6a and illustrated as comprising a communication interface 604).

The processor 601 may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the present invention.

The communication link 602 may include a path for transmitting information between the aforementioned components.

The communication interface 604 may be any device, such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as an ethernet, a Radio Access Network (RAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), etc.

The memory 603 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device 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 disk storage, optical disk 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. The memory may be separate and coupled to the processor via a communication link 602. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 603 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for executing the present application, and is controlled by the processor 601 to execute the instructions. The processor 601 is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 603, 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.

In particular implementations, processor 601 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 6a for one embodiment.

In particular implementations, communication device 600 may include multiple processors, such as processor 601 and processor 608 of fig. 6a, 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 particular implementations, communication device 600 may also include an output device 605 and an input device 606, as one embodiment. Output device 605 is in communication with processor 601 and may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 605 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 606 is in communication with the processor 601 and may receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 606 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, among others.

The communication device 600 described above may be a general purpose device or a special purpose device. In a specific implementation, the communication device 600 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. 6 a. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the communication apparatus 600.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be specifically described below with reference to fig. 1 to 6 a.

It should be noted that, in the following embodiments of the present application, names of messages between network elements 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.

In a possible implementation manner, as shown in fig. 6b, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

s601a, the session management network element determines the first access network type.

The first access network type is the type of the access network used for transmitting the first type data of the first service.

In a possible implementation, the first access network type may be understood as a type of broadcast technology (broadcast technology), in which case the first access network type may include terrestrial broadcast (terrestrial broadcast) or mixed mode multicast or broadcast (mixed mode multicast/broadcast). When the air interface uses the terrestrial broadcasting technology, the air interface only supports downlink broadcast transmission, has a wider transmission coverage range, and uses fixed (namely broadcast-dedicated) resources for transmission; when the air interface uses a mixed-mode multicast or broadcast technology, the downlink broadcast data is transmitted, meanwhile, the uplink unicast data can be transmitted, the transmission coverage range is small, and the transmission is performed by using broadcast and unicast semi-dynamic shared (or completely dynamic shared) resources.

The access network device using terrestrial broadcasting technology over the air interface may also be referred to as a wide area base station (wide area base station) or a macro base station (macro base station) or a macro station; the access network device using the mixed mode multicast or broadcast technology at the air interface may also be referred to as a medium range base station (medium range base station) or a small base station (micro base station) or a small station.

In another possible implementation manner, the first access network type may be understood as a type of radio access technology, and the radio access technology may include a New Radio (NR) technology, or a Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, and any other type of radio access technology, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The access network device with the air interface using the NR technology may operate in a high-frequency zone, and the coverage area of the access network device with the air interface using the LTE technology is narrow, and the access network device with the air interface using the NR technology may operate in a low-frequency zone, and the coverage area of the access network device is wide.

In yet another possible implementation, the first access network type may include a type of broadcast technology and an interface type, and the type of broadcast technology may be as described in the foregoing description. The interface may be an interface between an access network and a core network, and the type of the interface may be an N2 interface or an S1 interface, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In yet another possible implementation, the first access network type may include a type of radio access technology and an interface type, which may be referred to in the foregoing description.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the present application, the first access network type may also be understood as a type of an access network device used for transmitting the first type data of the first service, and the first access network type and the access network device may be replaced with each other, which is described in a unified manner herein, and the following embodiments are not described again.

The first service may be an MBMS, such as a live video service, or the first service may also be a vehicle to electronic (V2X) data transmission service, which is not limited.

The data of the first service may be distinguished according to one or more of a transmission reliability requirement, a transmission delay requirement, a transmission bandwidth requirement, or a coverage range, and may be specifically divided into a first type of data, a second type of data, or a third type of data, and the like, without limitation. For example, the first type of data of the first service may include data of the first service that requires high transmission reliability, or data that requires wide coverage, or data that requires high transmission delay, or data that requires low transmission bandwidth. Optionally, data with a higher requirement on transmission reliability, or a wider requirement on a coverage, or data with a lower requirement on a transmission bandwidth may also be referred to as base layer data (or may have other names); data with a higher requirement on transmission delay or a special requirement on a coverage (e.g., a certain small-range region) may also be referred to as enhancement layer data (or may also have other names), that is, the first type of data of the first service may include base layer data or enhancement layer data, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that the base layer data in the embodiment of the present application may also be understood as a base frame, and the enhancement layer data may also be understood as an enhancement frame, which are described in a unified manner herein, and the following embodiments are not described again.

S602a, the session management network element sends the first access network type to the mobility management network element.

Based on the scheme, the session management network element can determine the type of the access network transmitting the first type of data, and further determine the access network equipment transmitting the first type of data according to the type of the access network, so that the first type of data can be transmitted to the access network equipment corresponding to the first type of data, and finally the access network equipment transmits the first type of data, that is, the different types of data of the first service are transmitted by the access network equipment corresponding to the data type, so that on one hand, the transmission resources required by the access network equipment are reduced, and further the transmission resources required by the data of the type corresponding to the access network equipment can be ensured, so that the transmission quality of the type of data is improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of one type of data of the service, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; on the other hand, the session management network element may flexibly configure the access network device for transmitting different types of data of the service according to the type of the service data. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

Optionally, in an implementation scenario of the foregoing embodiment, the session management network element may receive, from the application function network element, a type identifier of first type data of the first service, where the type identifier is used to indicate a type of the data of the first service, and the type identifiers of different types of data of the first service are different. In this scenario, in step S601, the determining, by the session management network element, the first access network type may include: and the session management network element determines the first access network type according to the type identifier of the first type data and the corresponding relation between the type identifier and the access network type.

Optionally, in another implementation scenario of the foregoing embodiment, the session management network element may also receive a quality of service (QoS) parameter of the first type of data of the first service. In this scenario, in step S601, the determining, by the session management network element, the first access network type may include: and the session management network element determines the type of the first access network according to the QoS parameter of the first type data.

In a possible implementation manner, when the QoS parameter of the first type of data includes a Packet Error Rate (PER) parameter of the first type of data, and a value of the PER parameter of the first type of data is a value 1, the determining, by the session management network element, the first access network type according to the QoS parameter of the first type of data may include:

when the value 1 is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold value, the session management network element determines that the type of the first access network is terrestrial broadcast; or, when the value 1 is smaller than the first preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

In another possible implementation manner, when the QoS parameter of the first type of data includes a Packet Delay Budget (PDB) parameter of the first type of data, and a value of the PDB parameter of the first type of data is a value 2, the determining, by the session management network element, the first access network type according to the QoS parameter of the first type of data may include:

when the value 2 is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold value, the session management network element determines that the type of the first access network is terrestrial broadcast; or, when the value 2 is smaller than the second preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

In the embodiment of the present application, the value 1 may also be referred to as a third value, and the value 2 may also be referred to as a fourth value, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in another implementation scenario of the foregoing embodiment, the communication method shown in fig. 6b further includes: the session management network element sends first information to the mobility management network element, wherein the first information comprises a first downlink address or a first identification parameter.

The first downlink address may be a downlink address of the first type of data of the first service. The first downlink address may be an IP multicast address, and when the first type data of the first service is subsequently transmitted in a multicast mode, the first downlink address may be used as a multicast address.

The first identification parameter may be used to identify first type data of the first service, and may include one or more of the following items: a first IP address, a combination of the first IP address and a first port number, or a first numerical value. The first IP address may be a value of a source IP address field in a first protocol frame carrying first type data of the first service, the first port number may be a value of a source port number field and/or a destination port number field in the first protocol frame, and the first value may be a value of a first field in the first protocol frame.

Optionally, the first protocol frame may be a real-time transport protocol (RTP) frame, and in this case, the first field may be an extension field of an Additional Header (Additional Header) of the RTP protocol frame.

Based on the scheme, on one hand, when the first information includes the first downlink address, the access network device determined according to the first access network type may establish a transmission path for transmitting the first type data of the first service between the access network device and the user plane network element according to the first downlink address, and therefore, the first type data may be transmitted to the access network device of the specific type corresponding to the first type data, and finally, the access network device transmits the first type data. On the other hand, when the first information includes the first identification parameter, the access network device determined according to the first access network type may identify the downlink data according to the first identification parameter, and when the access network device identifies that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service, the downlink data is sent, so that type matching and downlink data identification may be performed at the access network device, so that the access network device of a specific type corresponding to the first type data may transmit the first type data.

Optionally, when the first information includes the first downlink address, the communication method shown in fig. 6b further includes: and the session management network element sends the identifier and the indication information of the first user plane network element to the application function network element, wherein the indication information is the type identifier of the first type of data or the QoS parameter of the first type of data.

The identifier of the first user plane network element is used to identify the first user plane network element, and may include an IP address of the first user plane network element.

Based on the scheme, when the application function network element subsequently sends the downlink data, the first type data of the first service is determined to be sent to the first user plane network element according to the identification and the indication information of the first user plane network element.

Optionally, in another implementation scenario of the foregoing embodiment, the communication method shown in fig. 6b further includes: and the session management network element determines the second access network type and sends the second access network type to the mobile management network element.

And the second access network type is the type of the access network used for transmitting the second type data of the first service.

The second access network type may be understood as a type of broadcast technology, and in this case, the second access network type may include terrestrial broadcast, or mixed mode multicast or broadcast; alternatively, the second access network type may be understood as a type of radio access technology, which may include NR technology, LTE technology, and any other type of radio access technology; alternatively, the second access network type may also be understood as a type of broadcast technology and an interface type; alternatively, the second access network type may also be understood as a type of a radio access technology and an interface type, where the second access network type is different from the first access network type, and for related descriptions, reference may be made to the foregoing description, which is not described herein again.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the present application, the second access network type may be understood as a type of an access network device used for transmitting the second type data of the first service, and the two types of access network devices may be replaced with each other, which is described in a unified manner herein, and the following embodiments are not described again.

The first type data and the second type data are different types of data of a first service, for example, when the first type data of the first service is base layer data in a video live broadcast service, the second type data of the first service is enhancement layer data in the same video live broadcast service; or, when the first type data of the first service is enhancement layer data in a live video service, the second type data of the first service is base layer data in the same live video service.

Optionally, the first type of data and the second type of data may be different service data from the same data source (e.g., a video server). At this time, the first service may represent a more extensive concept of a "multicast/broadcast service", for example, the same video server may provide both a video relay service and a video live broadcast service, and both the video relay service and the video live broadcast service of the video server may be referred to as the first service, in this case, when the first type of data is high-definition sports relay data of the video relay service, the second type of data is news live broadcast data of the video live broadcast service; or when the first type data is news live broadcast data of the video live broadcast service, the second type data is high-definition sports broadcast data of the video broadcast service.

Based on the scheme, the session management network element can determine the type of the access network for transmitting the second type data, and further can determine the access network equipment for transmitting the second type data according to the type of the access network, so that the second type data can be transmitted to the access network equipment of a specific type corresponding to the second type data, and finally the access network equipment transmits the second type data, therefore, on one hand, the access network equipment for transmitting the first type data can ensure the transmission quality of the first type data, and the access network equipment for transmitting the second type data can ensure the transmission number quality of the second type data, thereby further improving the user experience; on the other hand, the access network equipment can be reasonably and flexibly selected according to the transmission requirements of the first type data and the second type data.

Optionally, in another implementation scenario of the foregoing embodiment, the method shown in fig. 6b may further include: and the session management network element sends second information to the mobility management network element, wherein the second information comprises a second downlink address or a second identification parameter.

The second downlink address may be a downlink address of the second type data of the first service. The second downlink address may be an IP multicast address, and when the second type data of the first service is subsequently transmitted in a multicast mode, the second downlink address may be used as a multicast address. The second downlink address and the first downlink address are different downlink addresses.

Wherein the second identification parameter is used for identifying the second type of data, and may include one or more of the following items: a second IP address, a combination of the second IP address and the second port number, or a second numerical value. The second IP address may be a value of a source IP address field in a first protocol frame carrying second type data of the first service, the second port number may be a value of a source port number field and/or a destination port number field in the first protocol frame, and the second value may be a value of a first field in the first protocol frame.

Based on the scheme, on one hand, when the second information includes the second downlink address, the access network device determined according to the second access network type may establish a transmission path of the second type data of the first service between the access network device and the user plane network element according to the second downlink address, and therefore, the second type data may be transmitted to the access network device of the specific type corresponding to the second type data, and finally, the access network device transmits the second type data. On the other hand, when the first information includes the second identification parameter, the access network device determined according to the second access network type may identify the downlink data according to the second identification parameter, and send the downlink data when the access network device identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service, so that type matching and downlink data identification may be performed at the access network device, so that the access network device of a specific type corresponding to the second type data may transmit the first type data.

Optionally, in another implementation scenario of the foregoing embodiment, the session management network element may receive a type identifier of the second type of data from the application function network element, and in this scenario, the determining, by the session management network element, the type of the second access network may include: and the session management network element determines the type of the second access network according to the type identifier of the second type data and the corresponding relationship between the type identifier and the type of the access network.

Optionally, in another implementation scenario of the foregoing embodiment, the session management network element may also receive the QoS parameter of the second type of data. In this scenario, the determining, by the session management network element, the second access network type may include: and the session management network element determines the type of the second access network according to the QoS parameter of the second type data.

In a possible implementation manner, when the QoS parameter of the second type of data includes a PER parameter of the second type of data, and a value of the PER parameter of the second type of data is 3, the determining, by the session management network element, the second access network type according to the QoS parameter of the second type of data may include:

when the value 3 is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold value, the session management network element determines that the type of the second access network is terrestrial broadcast; or when the value 3 is smaller than the first preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the second access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

In another possible implementation manner, when the QoS parameter of the second type of data includes a PDB parameter of the second type of data, and a value of the PDB parameter of the second type of data is a value 4, the determining, by the session management network element, the second access network type according to the QoS parameter of the second type of data may include:

when the value 4 is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold value, the session management network element determines that the type of the second access network is terrestrial broadcast; or when the value 4 is smaller than a second preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the second access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

In the embodiment of the present application, the value 3 may also be referred to as a first value, and the value 4 may also be referred to as a second value, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the communication method shown in fig. 6b may further include: and the session management network element sends the first downlink address, the first identification parameter, the second downlink address and the second identification parameter to the user plane network element. The first downlink address is a downlink address of first type data of the first service, the second downlink address is a downlink address of second type data of the first service, the first identification parameter is used to identify the first type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used to identify the second type data of the first service, and the related description may refer to the foregoing description.

Optionally, the session management network element may send the first downlink address, the first identification parameter, the second downlink address, and the second identification parameter to the user plane network element in a same message; alternatively, the first downlink address and the first identification parameter may be included in one message and sent to the user plane network element, and the second downlink address and the second identification parameter may be included in another message and sent to the user plane network element.

Based on the scheme, the user plane network element can identify the downlink data according to the identification parameters of the service, when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, transmitting the downlink data according to the first downlink address so that the first access network device determined according to the first access network type can receive the downlink data, to transmit the first type of data to a first access network device corresponding to the first type of data, and finally to transmit the first type of data by the first access network device, when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, and sending the downlink data according to the second downlink address so as to transmit the second type data to second access network equipment corresponding to the second type data, and finally transmitting the second type data by the second access network equipment.

The specific implementation of the above scheme will be described in detail through the interaction flow between the network elements shown in fig. 7 or fig. 9 or fig. 10 or fig. 11, and related steps and terms and the like may be referred to each other, and are not described herein again.

As shown in fig. 6c, another communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

s601b, the access network device receives the first access network type and the first downlink address from the mobility management element.

The first access network type and the first downlink address may refer to the foregoing description, and are not described herein again.

And S602, performing type matching on the access network equipment 602 b.

Wherein, when the type of the access network device matches the first access network type, the following step S603b is executed.

The matching between the type of the access network device and the type of the first access network may also be understood as that the type of the access network device is the same as the type of the first access network, which is described in a unified manner herein, and the following embodiments are not described again.

It should be noted that, when the first access network type and the second access network type are understood as types of broadcast technologies, the type of the access network device is understood as a type of broadcast technology used by an air interface of the access network device; when the first access network equipment and the second access network equipment are understood as the type of the wireless access technology, the type of the access network equipment is understood as the type of the wireless access technology used by the air interface of the access network equipment; when the first access network type and the second access network type are understood as the type of the broadcasting technology and the type of the interface, the type of the access network equipment is understood as the type of the broadcasting technology used by the air interface of the access network equipment and the type of the interface between the access network equipment and the mobile management network element; when the first access network type and the second access network type are understood as a type of a radio access technology and an interface type, the type of the access network device is understood as a type of a radio access technology used by an air interface of the access network device and an interface type between the access network device and a mobile management network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network device in this embodiment of the present application may support multiple access network types at different times, that is, an air interface of the same access network device may use multiple broadcast technologies or radio access technologies at different times, or an air interface of the same access network device may use multiple broadcast technologies or radio access technologies at different times, and the access network device may use multiple interfaces and a mobile management network element to perform communication at different times. In this case, the type of the access network device is the same as the type of the first access network, which may be understood as that the type of the access network device currently using the access network device is the same as the type of the first access network, and similarly, the type of the access network device is the same as the type of the second access network, which may also be understood as that the type of the access network device currently using the access network device is the same as the type of the second access network.

In another possible implementation manner, the access network device in this embodiment may support multiple access network types at the same time, that is, the air interface of the same access network device may use multiple broadcast technologies or radio access technologies at the same time, or the air interface of the same access network device may use multiple broadcast technologies or radio access technologies at the same time, and the access network device may use multiple interfaces and a mobile management network element to communicate at the same time. In this case, the access network device may transmit data by using different access network types for different sub-areas of its coverage area, and at this time, the type of the access network device is the same as the first access network type, which may be understood as that the access network type used by the sub-area whose coverage area is the same as or similar to the coverage area of the first type of data is the same as the first access network type, and similarly, the type of the access network device is the same as the second access network type, which may be understood as that the access network type used by the sub-area whose coverage area is the same as or similar to the coverage area of the second type of data is the same as the second access network type.

S603b, the access network device sends a first message to the first user plane network element.

The first message carries a first downlink address, and the first message is used for establishing a transmission path for transmitting the first type of data of the first service between the access network device and the first user plane network element.

Wherein, the steps S602b and S603b may also be understood as that the sending, by the access network device, the first message to the first user plane network element according to the first access network type, that is, the sending, by the access network device, the first message to the first user plane network element according to the first access network type includes: and when the type of the access network equipment is the same as the first access network type, the access network equipment sends a first message to the first user plane network element.

Based on the scheme, on one hand, the access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the first type of data, so that the transmission quality of the first type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the first type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; in another aspect, the access network device may establish a transmission path for transmitting the first type of data of the first service between the access network device and the user plane network element according to the first downlink address, so that the first type of data may be transmitted to a specific type of access network device corresponding to the first type of data, and finally the access network device transmits the first type of data. In summary, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

Optionally, in an implementation scenario of the foregoing embodiment, the communication method shown in fig. 6c may further include: the access network device receives the second access network type and the second downlink address from the mobility management network element. The access network device sends a second message to the second user plane network element according to the second access network type, where the second message carries a second downlink address, and the second message is used to establish a transmission path for transmitting the second type of data of the first service between the access network device and the second user plane network element, where the second access network type and the second downlink address may refer to the foregoing description, and are not described here again.

Based on the scheme, on one hand, the access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the second type of data, so that the transmission quality of the second type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the second type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; on the other hand, the access network device may establish a transmission path of the second type of data of the first service between the access network device and the user plane network element according to the second downlink address, and therefore, the second type of data may be transmitted to the access network device corresponding to the second type of data, and finally, the access network device transmits the second type of data.

As shown in fig. 6d, a further communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

s601c, the access network device receives the first access network type and the first identification parameter from the session management network element.

The first access network type and the first identification parameter may refer to the foregoing description, and are not described herein again.

S602c, the access network device receives the downlink data of the first service.

S603c, the access network device performs type matching and the downlink data identification.

When the type of the access network device matches the first access network type and the access network device identifies that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, the following step S604c is executed.

S604c, the access network device sends the downlink data.

Based on the scheme, on one hand, the access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the first type of data, so that the transmission quality of the first type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the first type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; in another aspect, type matching and downlink data identification may be performed at the access network device, so that the access network device transmits the first type data corresponding thereto. In summary, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

Optionally, in an implementation scenario of the foregoing embodiment, the communication method shown in fig. 6d may further include: the access network device receives the second access network type and the second identification parameter from the session management network element. When the type of the access network device matches the second access network type and the access network device identifies that the downlink data in step S602c is the second type of data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, the access network device sends the downlink data, where the second access network type and the second identification parameter may refer to the foregoing description, and are not described herein again.

Based on the scheme, on one hand, the access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the second type of data, so that the transmission quality of the second type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the second type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; on the other hand, the access network device may perform type matching and downlink data identification, so that the access network device transmits the second type data corresponding thereto.

As shown in fig. 6e, a further communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

s601d, the user plane network element receives the first downlink address, the first identification parameter, the second downlink address, and the second identification parameter from the session management network element.

The first downlink address, the first identification parameter, the second downlink address, and the second identification parameter may refer to the foregoing description, and are not repeated herein.

S602d, the user plane network element receives the downlink data of the first service from the application function network element.

S603d, the user plane network element identifies the downlink data of the first service.

Optionally, when the first identification parameter is a first numerical value and the second identification parameter is a second numerical value, identifying, by the user plane network element, the downlink data may include: when the value of a first field of a first protocol frame bearing the downlink data is a first numerical value, the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is first type data of a first service; or, when the value of the first field of the first protocol frame carrying the downlink data is the second value, the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service.

When the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, the following step S604d is executed; alternatively, when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, the following step S605d is executed.

S604d, the user plane network element sends the downlink data according to the first downlink address.

S605d, the user plane network element sends the downlink data according to the second downlink address.

Based on the scheme, the user plane network element can identify the downlink data of the first service according to the identification parameters of the service, when the downlink data is the first type data, the first access network equipment determined according to the first access network type can receive the first type data, and finally the first access network equipment transmits the first type data, on one hand, the first access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the first type data, so that the transmission quality of the first type data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the first access network device only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the first type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; when the downlink data is the second type data, the second access network equipment determined according to the type of the second access network can receive the second type data, and finally the second type data is transmitted by the second access network equipment, so that on one hand, the second access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the second type data, and further, the transmission quality of the second type data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the second access network device only needs to guarantee the transmission requirement of the second type of data, so that the waste of the transmission resource caused by meeting the transmission requirement of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

As shown in fig. 6f, a further communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

s601e, the application function network element receives the identification and indication information of the first user plane network element from the session management network element.

The indication information is a type identifier of the first type data of the first service or a QoS parameter of the first type data of the first service.

S602e, the application function network element sends the first type data of the first service to the first user plane network element according to the identifier and the indication information of the first user plane network element.

Based on the scheme, when the application function network element subsequently sends the downlink data, it is determined that the first type data of the first service needs to be sent to the first user plane network element according to the identifier and the indication information of the first user plane network element, and then the first type data is sent to the access network equipment determined according to the first access network type by the first user plane network element, and finally the first type data is transmitted by the access network equipment. On one hand, the access network equipment only needs to provide transmission resources required by the first type of data, so that the transmission quality of the first type of data can be improved, and the user experience is improved; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network device only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of the first type of data, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

The above method embodiments introduce the communication method provided by the present application from each network element side, and the communication method provided by the present application is explained in detail in a manner of interaction between network elements.

Taking the communication system shown in fig. 4a, 4b, 4c, or 4d as an example when applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 5, the session management network element is an SMF network element, the mobility management network element is an AMF network element, the coordination function network element is an MCE, and the user plane network element is an UPF network element, as shown in fig. 7, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

s701, the AF network element sends a multicast session establishment request message 1 to the SMF network element.

Correspondingly, the SMF network element receives the multicast session establishment request message 1 sent by the AF network element.

Optionally, the AF network element may directly send the multicast session establishment request message 1 to the SMF network element, or send the multicast session establishment request message 1 to the NEF network element first, and the NEF network element authenticates the multicast session establishment request message 1, and then sends the multicast session establishment request message 1 to the SMF network element after the authentication is successful.

The multicast session establishment request message 1 may be used to request establishment of a multicast session for transmitting first type data of a first service, and the first service and the first type data may refer to the foregoing description, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may carry a type identifier of the first type data of the first service, or may also carry a transmission reliability requirement and/or a transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service, where the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data of the first service indicates a maximum failure rate allowed when the first type data of the first service is transmitted, and the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service indicates a maximum delay allowed when the first type data of the first service is transmitted.

Optionally, the transmission reliability requirement of the first type of data of the first service may be indicated by a QoS parameter, for example, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may carry a PER parameter to indicate the transmission reliability requirement of the first type of data of the first service, or the multicast session establishment request message 1 may carry an index (e.g., a 5G quality of service Identifier (5G QoS Identifier, 5QI)) corresponding to the PER parameter, and after receiving the index corresponding to the PER parameter of the first type of data of the first service, the SMF network element may determine the corresponding PER parameter according to the index.

Or, optionally, the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data of the first service may also be indicated by the indication information, for example, in the multicast session establishment request message 1, different values of 1 bit may be used to indicate the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data, for example, when the value of 1 bit is 1, it indicates that the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data of the first service is higher, the first type data of the first service needs to be reliably transmitted, and when the value of 1 bit is 0, it indicates that the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data of the first service is lower, and the first type data of the first service does not need to be reliably transmitted.

Optionally, when the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data of the first service is indicated by the indication information, the SMF network element may pre-store a first maximum failure rate and a second maximum failure rate, when the indication information indicates that the first type data of the first service needs to be reliably transmitted, the SMF network element determines the first maximum failure rate as a maximum failure rate allowed when the first type data of the first service is reliably transmitted, and when the indication information indicates that the first type data of the first service does not need to be reliably transmitted, the SMF network element determines the second maximum failure rate as a maximum failure rate allowed when the first type data of the first service is transmitted.

Optionally, the transmission delay requirement of the first type of data of the first service may also be indicated by a QoS parameter, for example, the PDB parameter may be carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1 to indicate the transmission delay requirement of the first type of data of the first service, or an index (e.g., 5QI) corresponding to the PDB parameter is carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1, and after receiving the index corresponding to the PDB parameter of the first type of data of the first service, the SMF network element may determine the corresponding PDB parameter according to the index.

Or, optionally, the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service may also be indicated by the indication information, for example, in the multicast session establishment request message 1, different values of 1 bit may be used to indicate the delay transmission requirement of the first type data of the first service, for example, when the value of 1 bit is 1, the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service is high, the first type data of the first service needs low-delay transmission, and when the value of 1 bit is 0, the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service is low, and the first type data of the first service does not need low-delay transmission.

Optionally, when the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service is indicated by the indication information, the SMF network element may pre-store the first transmission delay and the second transmission delay, when the indication information indicates that the first type data of the first service requires low-delay transmission, the SMF network element determines the first transmission delay as the maximum delay allowed for the low-delay transmission of the first type data of the first service, and when the indication information indicates that the first type data of the first service does not require low-delay transmission, the SMF network element determines the second transmission delay as the maximum delay allowed for the transmission of the first type data of the first service.

Optionally, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may further carry geographic area information of the multicast session requested to be established by the multicast session establishment request message 1, that is, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may be understood as carrying first geographic area information of the first service, where the first geographic area information is used to indicate a coverage area of the first type of data of the first service.

S702, the SMF network element determines the type of the first access network.

Optionally, according to a difference in content carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1, a manner of determining the type of the first access network by the SMF network element is also different, and as an example, the following two cases may exist:

the first condition is as follows: the multicast session establishment request message 1 carries a type identifier of the first type data of the first service.

Optionally, in this case, the determining, by the SMF network element, the first access network type includes: and the SMF network element determines the type of the first access network according to the type identifier of the first type data of the first service and the corresponding relation between the type identifier and the type of the access network.

Optionally, in this case one, the SMF network element may pre-store a corresponding relationship between the type identifier and the access network type, and when the type identifier of the first type data of the first service is received, the SMF network element may search, according to the type identifier of the first type data of the first service, for the access network type corresponding to the type identifier of the first type data of the first service in the corresponding relationship. For example, the corresponding relationship between the type identifier stored by the SMF network element and the access network type may be as shown in table 1 below, where when the type identifier of the first type data of the first service carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1 is identifier 1, the SMF network element determines that the first access network type is a terrestrial broadcast; or, when the type identifier of the first type data of the first service carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1 is identifier 2, the SMF network element determines that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

TABLE 1

Type identification	Access network type
		Identification
1	Terrestrial broadcast
		Identification
2	Mixed mode multicast/broadcast

And in case two, the multicast session establishment request message 1 carries the transmission reliability requirement and/or the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service.

Optionally, in this case, the determining, by the SMF network element, the first access network type includes: and the SMF network element determines the type of the first access network according to the transmission reliability requirement and/or the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service.

It should be noted that, in this case two, the SMF network element may determine the first access network type only according to the transmission reliability requirement of the first type of data or the transmission delay requirement of the first type of data, or may determine the first access network type by combining the transmission reliability requirement of the first type of data and the transmission delay requirement of the first type of data.

Optionally, when the SMF network element determines the type of the first access network only according to the transmission reliability requirement of the first type of data or the transmission delay requirement of the first type of data, the following four scenarios may exist:

firstly, an SMF network element determines a first access network type according to a transmission reliability requirement of first type data of a first service, wherein the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data is indicated by a PER parameter, and the value of the PER parameter is 1; or, the transmission reliability requirement of the first type of data is indicated by an index corresponding to the PER parameter, and the SMF network element may determine, according to the index, that the value of the PER parameter of the first type of data is 1.

In this scenario, the determining, by the SMF network element, the first access network type according to the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data of the first service may include: when the value 1 is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold value, the SMF network element determines that the first access network type is terrestrial broadcast; or, when the value 1 is smaller than a first preset threshold, the SMF network element determines that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

Optionally, when the value 1 is equal to the first preset threshold, the SMF network element may further determine the first access network type according to the loads of the wide area base station and the medium range base station, for example, when the load of the wide area base station is small, the first access network type is determined to be a terrestrial broadcast; or, the SMF network element may determine the first access network type according to the number of the base layer data session establishment requests and the number of the enhancement layer data session establishment requests received by the SMF network element within a period of time before the current time, for example, when the number of the session establishment requests of the base layer service data received by the SMF network element is small, the first access network type is determined to be a terrestrial broadcast; or, the SMF network element may determine the first access network type according to the first geographical area information carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1; or, when the SMF network element determines that the value 1 is equal to the first preset threshold according to the network configuration, the first access network type is the same as the access network type when the value 1 is greater than the first preset threshold.

In the embodiment of the present application, the value 1 may also be referred to as a third value, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Secondly, the SMF network element determines the type of the first access network according to the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data of the first service, and the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data is indicated by bit 1 in the multicast session establishment request message 1.

In this scenario, if the value of the bit 1 is 1, indicating that the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data of the first service is high, and the value of the bit 1 is 0, indicating that the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data of the first service is low, the SMF network element determines the first access network type according to the transmission reliability requirement of the first type data of the first service, including: the SMF network element determines the first access network type according to the corresponding relationship as shown in table 2 below, that is, when the value of the bit 1 is 1, the SMF network element determines that the first access network type is a terrestrial broadcast; or, when the value of the bit 1 is 0, the SMF network element determines that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

TABLE 2

Bit 1 value	Access network type
		1	Terrestrial broadcast
0	Mixed mode multicast/broadcast

The SMF network element determines a first access network type according to the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service, the transmission delay requirement of the first type data is indicated by a PDB parameter, and the value of the PDB parameter is a value 2; or, the transmission delay requirement of the first type data is indicated by an index corresponding to the PDB parameter, and the SMF network element may determine, according to the index, that the value of the PDB parameter of the first type data is 2.

In this scenario, the determining, by the SMF network element, the first access network type according to the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service may include: when the value 2 is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold value, the SMF network element determines that the type of the first access network is terrestrial broadcast; or, when the value 2 is smaller than a second preset threshold, the SMF network element determines that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

Optionally, when the value 2 is equal to the second preset threshold, the SMF network element may further determine that the first access network type is terrestrial broadcast or mixed-mode multicast/broadcast according to loads of the wide area base station and the medium range base station, the number of base layer service data session establishment requests and the number of enhancement layer service data session establishment requests received by the SMF network element within a period of time before the current time, and first geographic area information carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1, or network configuration, and the related description may refer to the above scenario (i), which is not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the present application, the value 2 may also be referred to as a fourth value, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

And fourthly, the SMF network element determines the type of the first access network according to the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service, and the transmission delay requirement of the first type data is indicated by a bit 2 in the multicast session establishment request message 1.

In this scenario, if the value of the bit 2 is 1, indicating that the transmission delay requirement of the first type of data is high, and the value of the bit 2 is 0, indicating that the transmission delay requirement of the first type of data is low, the SMF network element determines the first access network type according to the transmission delay requirement of the first type of data, including: the SMF network element determines the first access network type according to the corresponding relationship shown in table 3 below, that is, when the value of the bit 2 is 1, the SMF network element determines that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast; or, when the value of the bit 2 is 0, the SMF network element determines that the first access network type is terrestrial broadcast.

TABLE 3

Bit 2 value	Access network type
		1	Mixed mode multicast/broadcast
0	Terrestrial broadcast

Optionally, in step S702, the SMF network element may further allocate a first downlink address to the first service, and the description of the first downlink address may refer to the foregoing description, which is not described herein again.

S703, the SMF network element sends a multicast session establishment request message 2 to the AMF network element.

Accordingly, the AMF network element receives the multicast session setup request message 2 from the SMF network element.

Optionally, the SMF network element may send the multicast session establishment request message 2 to the AMF network element serving the first geographic area according to the first geographic area information carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1.

The multicast session establishment request message 2 carries the first access network type, the first downlink address, and the first geographical area information, where the first geographical area information may be used for selecting RAN equipment by an AMF network element or an MCE in subsequent steps.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2, the AMF network element may perform the following step S704a, or may perform the following step S704 b.

S704a, the AMF network element sends the multicast session establishment request message 2 to the RAN device. Accordingly, the RAN equipment receives the multicast session setup request message 2 from the AMF network element.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the SMF network element, the AMF network element may forward the multicast session establishment request message 2 to all RAN devices connected thereto; or, the AMF network element forwards the multicast session establishment request message 2 to all RAN devices that may cover the first geographical area according to the first geographical area information.

S704b, the AMF network element sends the multicast session establishment request message 2 to the MCE. Accordingly, the MCE receives the multicast session establishment request message 2 sent from the AMF network element.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the SMF network element, the AMF network element may forward the multicast session establishment request message 2 to the MCE that may serve the first geographic area (or a part of the area included in the first geographic area) according to the service range of the MCE and the first geographic area information.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2, the MCE performs the following step S704 c.

S704c, the MCE sends a multicast session establishment request message 3 to the RAN device according to the first access network type. Accordingly, the RAN device receives the multicast session setup request message 3 from the MCE.

Wherein the multicast session establishment request message 3 carries the first downlink address.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the AMF network element, the MCE may select all RAN devices that may cover the first geographic area according to the first geographic area information, then select a RAN device of the same type as the first access network type from all RAN devices that may cover the first geographic area, and send the multicast session establishment request message 3 to the RAN device.

Optionally, if the RAN device receives the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the AMF network element, the RAN device performs the following steps S705 a-S706; alternatively, if the RAN device receives the multicast session establishment request message 3 from the MCE, the RAN device performs the following steps S705 b-S706.

S705a, the RAN device determines that the type of the RAN device is the same as the first access network type.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the AMF network element, the RAN device may first determine whether the first geographic area information carried in the multicast session establishment request message 2 is the same as the location information of the RAN device, and when the first geographic area information is the same as the location information of the RAN device, further determine whether the type of the RAN device is the same as the type of the first access network.

Optionally, when the type of the RAN device is the same as the first access network type, step S705b is executed, and when the type of the RAN device is different from the first access network type, the RAN device does not initiate the data transmission path establishment procedure.

S705b, the RAN device initiates a transmission path establishment procedure of the first type data of the first service.

Optionally, the RAN device may send a message a to the UPF network element 1 for transmitting the first type of data of the first service, where a destination address of the message a is an IP address of the UPF network element 1, the message a carries a first downlink address, and the message a is used to establish a transmission path for transmitting the first type of data of the first service between the RAN device and the UPF network element 1. Optionally, the IP address of the UPF network element 1 may be sent by the SMF network element to the RAN device through the AMF network element or through the AMF network element and the MCE.

Illustratively, taking version 3(version 3, v3) of Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) as an example, where it is assumed that the first downlink address is an IP multicast address 232.2.2.2, the multicast source is an IP address 10.1.1.1 of the UPF network element 1, and the transmission path establishment process of the first type of data may be as shown in fig. 8: the RAN device sends a message a (indicated by a dotted line in fig. 8) to the next-hop routing device E, so that the routing device E forwards the message a to the UPF network element 1, where the destination address of the message a is the multicast source 10.1.1.1, and the message a carries the first downlink address 232.2.2.2. After receiving the message a from the RAN device from the E2 interface, the routing device E stores a mapping relationship between the port receiving the message a and the first downlink address carried in the message a, and for example, the corresponding relationship stored by the routing device E may be as shown in table 4. In addition, the routing device E forwards the message a according to the destination address of the message a and a locally stored routing table.

For example, assuming that the contents of a part of the routing table stored by the routing device E are as shown in table 5 below, after receiving the message a with the destination address of 10.1.1.1, the routing device E performs routing matching on the destination address and each entry in table 5 according to the "longest matching rule". Since 10.1.1.1 belongs to 10.1.0.0/16 segment and 10.1.1.0/24 segment, as can be seen from table 5, the message a can be forwarded by an E0 interface or an E1 interface, but since the matching bit number of the 10.1.1.0/24 segment from left to right to the destination address 10.1.1.1 is longest, the routing device E finally selects an E0 interface corresponding to 10.1.1.0/24 segment, and forwards the message a to the routing device B according to the next hop address corresponding to the E0 interface.

Optionally, after receiving the message a, the routing device B continues to store the mapping relationship between the port receiving the message a and the first downlink address carried by the message a according to the above method, and forwards the message a until the message a reaches the UPF network element 1, so that each routing device on the forwarding path of the message a stores the mapping relationship similar to table 4, the establishment of the transmission path of the first type data of the first service between the RAN device and the UPF network element 1 is completed, and subsequently when the UPF network element 1 needs to send the first type data of the first service to the RAN device, each routing device on the path may forward the first type data of the first service to the RAN device by the UPF network element 1 according to the stored mapping relationship similar to table 4.

TABLE 4

Multicast address	Next hop address	Interface
			232.2.2.2	Network segment of RAN equipment	E2

TABLE 5

Destination address	Subnet mask	Next hop address	Interface
				10.1.1.0	24	Network segment of routing device B	E0
10.1.0.0	16	Network segment of routing device D	E1

In this embodiment, the message a may also be referred to as a first message; the UPF network element 1 may also be referred to as a first UPF network element, and the UPF network element 1 does not limit the number of the UPF network elements, that is, the UPF network element 1 may be one or more UPF network elements, which is described in a unified manner herein, and the following embodiments are not described again.

S706, the RAN device sends a multicast session establishment response message 1 to the SMF network element through the AMF network element.

Accordingly, the SMF network element receives the multicast session establishment response message 1 sent by the RAN device through the AMF network element.

And S707, the SMF network element sends a session establishment request message of N4 to the UPF network element 1. Accordingly, the UPF network element 1 receives the N4 session establishment request message from the SMF network element.

Wherein the N4 session setup request message carries the first downlink address.

Optionally, the SMF network element may send a request message to a network function repository function (NRF) network element, where the request message carries first geographical area information in the multicast session establishment request message 1, the NRF network element returns information of a UPF network element serving the first geographical area after receiving the request message, and the SMF network element determines, after receiving the information of the UPF network element returned by the NRF network element, the UPF network element as the UPF network element 1 and sends the N4 session establishment request message to the UPF network element 1; or, the SMF network element may select, according to a mapping relationship between a pre-configured UPF network element and a service area, a UPF network element whose service area is a first geographic area in the multicast session establishment request message 1 as the UPF network element 1, and send the N4 session establishment request message to the UPF network element 1.

Optionally, after receiving the N4 session establishment request message, the UPF network element 1 stores the first downlink address, and subsequently, when receiving the first type data of the first service from the AF network element, sends the first type data of the first service in a multicast mode by using the first downlink address as a multicast address.

And S708, the SMF network element sends a multicast session establishment response message 2 to the AF network element.

Accordingly, the AF network element receives the multicast session setup response message 2 from the SMF network element.

Wherein, the multicast session establishment response message 2 carries the identifier and the indication information of the UPF network element 1.

Optionally, the identifier of the UPF network element 1 may be an IP address of the UPF network element 1, or an identifier and a port number of the UPF network element 1, and the indication information is a type identifier of the first type data of the first service or a QoS parameter of the first type data of the first service.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment response message 2, the AF network element may store the correspondence between the identifier of the UPF network element 1 and the indication information, and subsequently, when sending the downlink data, may determine that the first type data of the first service needs to be sent to the UPF network element 1 according to the correspondence.

In this embodiment of the present application, an SMF network element may determine a first access network type, so that a RAN device of the same type as the first access network type may establish a transmission path of first type data of a first service between the RAN device and an UPF network element 1 according to a first downlink address; in addition, the AF network element may determine that the first type data of the first service needs to be sent to the UPF network element 1 according to the identifier and the indication information of the UPF network element 1 sent by the SMF network element. That is, the first type data of the first service may be sent to the UPF network element 1 by the AF network element, and then transmitted to the RAN device having the same type as the first access network type through the first type data transmission path of the first service between the UPF network element 1 and the RAN device, and finally transmitted to the terminal by the RAN device.

Based on the scheme, the session management network element can determine the type of an access network for transmitting the first type data of the first service, and further can determine access network equipment for transmitting the first type data according to the type of the access network, so that the first type data can be transmitted to the access network equipment corresponding to the first type data, and finally the access network equipment transmits the first type data, that is, the different types of data of the first service are transmitted by the access network equipment corresponding to the data type, so that on one hand, the transmission resources required by the access network equipment are reduced, and further the transmission resources required by the data of the type corresponding to the access network equipment can be ensured, thereby improving the transmission quality of the type data and improving the user experience; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of one type of data of the service, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; on the other hand, the session management network element may flexibly configure the access network device for transmitting different types of data of the service according to the type of the service data. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

The actions of the AF network element, NEF network element, UPF network element 1, SMF network element, AMF network element, MCE or RAN device in steps S701 to S708 may be executed by the processor 601 in the communication device 600 shown in fig. 6a calling the application program code stored in the memory 603, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Taking the communication system shown in fig. 4a, 4b, 4c, or 4d as an example when applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 5, the session management network element is an SMF network element, the mobility management network element is an AMF network element, the coordination function network element is an MCE, and the user plane network element is an UPF network element, as shown in fig. 9, another communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is provided, where the communication method includes the following steps:

s901, the AF network element sends a multicast session establishment request message 1 to the SMF network element.

Optionally, the AF network element directly sends the multicast session establishment request message 1 to the SMF network element, or sends the multicast session establishment request message 1 to the NEF network element first, and the NEF network element authenticates the multicast session establishment request message 1, and then sends the multicast session establishment request message 1 to the SMF network element after the authentication is successful.

The multicast session establishment request message 1 may be used to request establishment of a multicast session for transmitting first type data of a first service and transmitting second type data of the first service, where the first service, the first type data, and the second type data may refer to the foregoing description, and are not described herein again.

Optionally, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may carry a type identifier of first type data of the first service and a type identifier of second type data of the first service, or may also carry a transmission reliability requirement and/or a transmission delay requirement of the first type data and a transmission reliability requirement and/or a transmission delay requirement of the second type data.

For the type identifier of the first type data of the first service, the transmission reliability requirement and/or the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service, and the description of how the multicast session establishment request message 1 carries the transmission reliability requirement and/or the transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service, reference may be made to step S701 above, which is not described herein again.

The transmission reliability requirement of the second type of data of the first service indicates a maximum failure rate allowed when the second type of data of the first service is transmitted, the transmission delay requirement of the second type of data of the first service indicates a maximum delay allowed when the second type of data of the first service is transmitted, a manner in which the multicast session establishment request message 1 carries the transmission reliability requirement and/or the transmission delay requirement of the second type of data of the first service is similar to a manner in which the multicast session establishment request message 1 carries the transmission reliability requirement and/or the transmission delay requirement of the second type of data of the first service in step S701, and related descriptions may refer to step S701 above, which is not repeated herein.

Optionally, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may further carry geographic area information of the multicast session requested to be established by the multicast session establishment request message 1, that is, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may be understood as carrying first geographic area information of the first service and second geographic area information of the first service, where the first geographic area information is used to indicate a coverage area of the first type of data, and the second geographic area information is used to indicate a coverage area of the second type of data. The first geographical area information of the first service and the second geographical area information of the first service may be the same or different, and if the first geographical area information of the first service and the second geographical area information of the first service are the same, the first geographical area information of the first service and the second geographical area information of the first service may be identified by the same cell. In the embodiments of the present application, the first geographical area information and the second geographical area information are the same as an example, and the first geographical area information and the second geographical area information are collectively referred to as geographical area information in the following embodiments.

S902, the SMF network element determines a first access network type, and the SMF network element determines a second access network type.

The foregoing description may be referred to for the description of the access network type, and the method for determining the first access network type by the SMF network element may refer to the method for determining the first access network type by the SMF network element in step S702, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, according to a difference in content carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1, a manner of determining, by the SMF network element, the type of the second access network is also different, and as an example, the following two cases may exist:

the first condition is as follows: the multicast session establishment request message 1 carries the type identifier of the second type data of the first service.

Optionally, in this case, the determining, by the SMF network element, the second access network type includes: and the SMF network element determines the type of the second access network according to the type identifier of the second type data of the first service and the corresponding relation between the type identifier and the type of the access network. For a related example, reference may be made to the related description in the first case of step S702, and details are not repeated here.

It can be understood that, since the first type data and the second type data are different types of data, the type identifier of the first type data is different from the type identifier of the second type data, and therefore, the first access network type and the second access network type determined by the SMF network element according to the correspondence between the type identifiers and the access network types are different.

And in case two, the multicast session establishment request message 1 carries the transmission reliability requirement and/or the transmission delay requirement of the second type data of the first service.

Optionally, in this case, the determining, by the SMF network element, the second access network type includes: and the SMF network element determines the type of the second access network according to the transmission reliability requirement and/or the transmission delay requirement of the second type data of the first service.

It should be noted that, in the second case, the SMF network element may determine the second access network type only according to the transmission reliability requirement or the transmission delay requirement, or may determine the second access network type according to the transmission reliability requirement and the transmission delay requirement.

Optionally, when the SMF network element determines the type of the second access network only according to the transmission reliability requirement or the transmission delay requirement, the following four scenarios may exist:

firstly, an SMF network element determines a second access network type according to the transmission reliability requirement of second type data of a first service, the transmission reliability requirement of the second type data is indicated by a PER parameter, and the value of the PER parameter is 3; or, the transmission reliability requirement of the second type of data is indicated by an index corresponding to the PER parameter, and the SMF network element may determine, according to the index, that the value of the PER parameter of the second type of data is 3.

In this scenario, the determining, by the SMF network element, the second access network type according to the transmission reliability requirement of the second type data of the first service may include: when the value 3 is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold value, the SMF network element determines that the type of the second access network is terrestrial broadcast; or when the value 3 is smaller than the first preset threshold, the SMF network element determines that the second access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

Optionally, when the value 3 is equal to the first preset threshold, the SMF network element may further determine, according to the loads of the wide area base station and the intermediate range base station, the number of the base layer data session establishment requests and the enhancement layer data session establishment requests received by the SMF network element within a period of time before the current time, geographic area information carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1, or network configuration, that the second access network type is a terrestrial broadcast, or a mixed-mode multicast/broadcast, and the related description may refer to the scenario (i) in the step S702, which is not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the present application, the above-mentioned value 3 may also be referred to as a first value, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Secondly, the SMF network element determines the type of a second access network according to the transmission reliability requirement of the second type data of the first service, and the transmission reliability requirement of the second type data is indicated by bit 3 in the multicast session establishment request message 1.

In this scenario, if the value of the bit 3 is 1, indicating that the transmission reliability requirement of the second type of data is high, and the value of the bit 3 is 0, indicating that the transmission reliability requirement of the second type of data is low, the SMF network element determines the type of the second access network according to the transmission reliability requirement of the second type of data, which may include: the SMF network element determines the second access network type according to the corresponding relationship as shown in table 6 below, that is, when the value of the bit 3 is 1, the SMF network element determines that the second access network type is terrestrial broadcast; or, when the value of the bit 3 is 0, the SMF network element determines that the second access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

TABLE 6

Bit 3 value	Access network type
		1	Terrestrial broadcast
0	Mixed mode multicast/broadcast

The SMF network element determines a second access network type according to the transmission delay requirement of second type data of the first service, the transmission delay requirement of the second type data is indicated by a PDB parameter, and the value of the PDB parameter is 4; or the transmission delay requirement of the second type of data is indicated by an index corresponding to the PDB parameter, and the SMF network element may determine, according to the index, that the value of the PDB parameter of the second type of data is 4.

In this scenario, the determining, by the SMF network element, the second access network type according to the transmission delay requirement of the second type data of the first service may include: when the value 4 is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold value, the SMF network element determines that the type of the second access network is terrestrial broadcast; or when the value 4 is smaller than a second preset threshold, the SMF network element determines that the second access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

Optionally, when the value 4 is equal to the second preset threshold, the SMF network element may further determine, according to the loads of the wide area base station and the intermediate range base station, the number of the base layer data session establishment requests and the enhancement layer data session establishment requests received by the SMF network element within a period of time before the current time, geographic area information carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1, or network configuration, that the second access network type is a terrestrial broadcast, or a mixed-mode multicast/broadcast, and the related description may refer to the scenario (i) in the step S702, which is not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the present application, the value 4 may also be referred to as a second value, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

And fourthly, the SMF network element determines the type of the second access network according to the transmission delay requirement of the second type data of the first service, and the transmission delay requirement of the second type data of the first service is indicated by a bit 4 in the multicast session establishment request message 1.

In this scenario, if the value of the bit 4 is 1, indicating that the transmission delay requirement of the second type of data is high, and if the value of the bit 4 is 0, indicating that the transmission delay requirement of the second type of data is low, the SMF network element determines the type of the second access network according to the transmission delay requirement of the second type of data, which may include: the SMF network element determines the type of the second access network according to the corresponding relationship shown in table 7 below, that is, when the value of the bit 4 is 1, the SMF network element determines that the type of the second access network is mixed mode multicast/broadcast; or, when the value of the bit 4 is 0, the SMF network element determines that the second access network type is terrestrial broadcast.

TABLE 7

Bit 4 value	Access network type
		1	Mixed mode multicast/broadcast
0	Terrestrial broadcast

It can be understood that, because the first type of data and the second type of data are different types of data, for example, when the first type of data of the first service is base layer data and the second type of data of the first service is enhancement layer data, the first type of data of the first service requires reliable transmission and the second type of data of the first service requires lower transmission reliability, when the SMF network element determines the type of the access network according to the same type of requirement information of the data, the determined access network types of the different data are different.

Optionally, in step S902, the SMF network element may further allocate a first downlink address and a second downlink address, where the first downlink address and the second downlink address may refer to the foregoing description, and are not described herein again.

S903, the SMF network element sends a multicast session establishment request message 2 to the AMF network element.

Optionally, the SMF network element may send the multicast session establishment request message 2 to the AMF network element in the geographic area according to the geographic area information carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1.

The multicast session establishment request message 2 carries the first access network type, the first downlink address, the second access network type, the second downlink address, and the geographical area information, where the geographical area information may be used for selecting RAN equipment by an AMF network element or an MCE in subsequent steps. Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2, the AMF network element may perform the following steps S904a-S904b, or may perform the following step S904 c.

S904a, the AMF network element sends the multicast session establishment request message 2 to the first RAN device.

Accordingly, the first RAN equipment receives the multicast session setup request message 2 from the AMF network element.

S904b, the AMF network element sends the multicast session establishment request message 2 to the second RAN device.

Accordingly, the second RAN equipment receives the multicast session setup request message 2 from the AMF network element.

Optionally, in steps S904a-S904b, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the SMF network element, the AMF network element may forward the multicast session establishment request message 2 to all RAN devices connected thereto, where the all RAN devices include the first RAN device and the second RAN device; or, the AMF network element forwards the multicast session establishment request message 2 to all RAN devices that may cover the geographical area according to the geographical area information, where the RAN devices include the first RAN device and the second RAN device. In this embodiment, the second RAN device and the first RAN device are different RAN devices, which is described herein in a unified manner, and the following embodiments are not described again.

S904c, the AMF network element sends the multicast session setup request message 2 to the MCE. Accordingly, the MCE receives the multicast session setup request message 2 from the AMF network element.

For the related description, reference may be made to the step S704b, which is not repeated herein.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2, the MCE performs the following steps S904d-S904 e.

S904d, the MCE sends a multicast session setup request message 3 to the first RAN device according to the first access network type.

Accordingly, the first RAN device receives the multicast session setup request message 3 from the MCE.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the AMF network element, the MCE may select all RAN devices that may cover the geographic area according to the geographic area information carried in the multicast session establishment request message 2, then select, from all RAN devices that may cover the geographic area, a first RAN device of the same type as the first access network type, and send a multicast session establishment request message 3 to the first RAN device, where the multicast session establishment request message 3 carries a downlink address of the first service.

S904e, the MCE sends a multicast session setup request message 4 to the second RAN device according to the second access network type.

Accordingly, the second RAN device receives the multicast session setup request message 4 from the MCE.

Wherein the multicast session establishment request message 4 carries the second downlink address.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the AMF network element, the MCE may select all RAN devices that may cover the geographic area according to the geographic area information carried in the multicast session establishment request message 2, then select a second RAN device of the same type as the second access network type from all RAN devices that may cover the geographic area, and send the multicast session establishment request message 4 to the second RAN device.

Optionally, if the first RAN device receives the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the AMF network element, the first RAN device performs the following steps S905 a-S906; if the first RAN device receives the multicast session setup request message 3 from the MCE, the first RAN device performs the following steps S905 b-S906.

S905a, the first RAN device determines that the type of the first RAN device is the same as the type of the first access network.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the AMF network element, the first RAN device may first determine whether the geographic area information carried in the multicast session establishment request message 2 is the same as the location information of the RAN device, and when the geographic area information is the same as the location information of the RAN device, further determine whether the type of the first RAN device is the same as the type of the first access network or the type of the second access network, and if the type of the first RAN device is the same as the type of the first access network, the first RAN device initiates a first type data transmission path establishment procedure of the first service; or, if the type of the first RAN device is the same as the type of the second access network, the first RAN device initiates a second type data transmission path establishment procedure of the first service.

Optionally, when the type of the first RAN device is different from both the first access network type and the second access network type, the first RAN device does not initiate a data transmission path establishment procedure.

For example, in this embodiment, the type of the first RAN device is the same as the type of the first access network, and at this time, the first RAN device continues to perform the following step S905 b.

S905b, the first RAN device initiates a first type data transmission path establishment procedure of the first service.

Optionally, the first RAN device may send a message a to the UPF network element 1 for transmitting the first type of data of the first service, where a destination address of the message a is an IP address of the UPF network element 1, the message a carries a first downlink address, and the message a is used to establish a transmission path for transmitting the first type of data of the first service between the RAN device and the UPF network element 1. For the related description, reference may be made to the step S705b, which is not described herein again.

S906, the first RAN device sends a multicast session establishment response message 1 to the SMF network element through the AMF network element.

Accordingly, the SMF network element receives the multicast session establishment response message 1 sent by the first RAN device through the AMF network element.

Optionally, if the second RAN device receives the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the AMF network element, the second RAN device performs the following steps S907 a-S908; if the second RAN device receives the multicast session setup request message 4 from the MCE, the second RAN device performs the following steps S907 b-S908.

S907a, the second RAN device determines that the type of the second RAN device is the same as the type of the second access network.

In this step, the actions of the second RAN device are the same as the actions of the first RAN device in step S905a, and the related description may refer to step S905a, which is not repeated herein.

Optionally, the type of the second RAN device may be the same as the type of the first access network, or may be the same as the type of the second access network, for example, in this embodiment, the type of the second RAN device is the same as the type of the second access network, and at this time, the second RAN device continues to perform the following step S907 b.

S907b, the second RAN device initiates a second type data transmission path establishment procedure of the first service.

Optionally, the second RAN device may send a message b to the UPF network element 2 for transmitting the second type of data of the first service, where a destination address of the message b is an IP address of the UPF network element 2, the message b carries a second downlink address, and the message b is used to establish a transmission path for transmitting the second type of data of the first service between the second RAN device and the UPF network element 2. The process of establishing the transmission path of the second type data of the first service is similar to the process of establishing the transmission path of the first type data of the first service, and the related description may refer to the step S705b, which is not repeated herein.

In this embodiment, the message b may also be referred to as a second message; the UPF network element 2 may also be referred to as a second UPF network element, and the UPF network element 2 does not limit the number of the UPF network elements, that is, the UPF network element 2 may be one or more UPF network elements, and the UPF network element 2 and the UPF network element 1 are different UPF network elements, which is described in a unified manner herein and will not be described again in the following embodiments.

S908, the second RAN device sends a multicast session establishment response message 2 to the SMF network element through the AMF network element.

Correspondingly, the SMF network element receives the multicast session establishment response message 2 sent by the second RAN device through the AMF network element.

S909, the SMF network element sends N4 session establishment request message 1 to the UPF network element 1.

Accordingly, the UPF network element 1 receives the N4 session establishment request message 1 from the SMF network element.

Wherein the N4 session establishment request message 1 carries the first downlink address.

Optionally, after receiving the N4 session establishment request message 1, the UPF network element 1 stores the first downlink address, and subsequently, when receiving the first type data of the first service from the AF network element, sends the first type data of the first service in a multicast mode by using the first downlink address as a multicast address.

S910, the SMF network element sends a N4 session establishment request message 2 to the UPF network element 2.

Accordingly, the UPF network element 2 receives the N4 session establishment request message 2 from the SMF network element.

Wherein the N4 session establishment request message 2 carries the second downlink address.

Optionally, after receiving the N4 session establishment request message 2, the UPF network element 2 stores the second downlink address, and subsequently, when receiving the second type of data of the first service from the AF network element, sends the second type of data of the first service in a multicast mode by using the second downlink address as a multicast address.

Optionally, in steps S909 to S910, the process of selecting the UPF network element 1 and the UPF network element 2 by the SMF network element may refer to the related description in step S707, and is not described herein again.

Optionally, because the first geographical area information of the first service is the same as the second geographical area information of the first service, when the UPF network element 1 and the UPF network element 2 are selected according to the method in step S707, the SMF network element may determine a part of network elements, out of the plurality of UPF network elements serving the NRF network element back to the geographical area, as the UPF network element 1, and determine other network elements except the part of network elements as the UPF network elements 2.

S911, the SMF network element sends a multicast session establishment response message 3 to the AF network element.

Accordingly, the AF network element receives the multicast session setup response message 3 from the SMF network element.

The multicast session establishment response message 3 carries the identifier of the UPF network element 1, the first indication information, the identifier of the UPF network element 2, and the second indication information.

Optionally, the identifier of the UPF network element 1 may be an IP address of the UPF network element 1, or an IP address and a port number of the UPF network element 1, and the first indication information may be a type identifier of the first type data of the first service, or may also be a QoS parameter of the first type data of the first service; the identifier of the UPF network element 2 may be an IP address of the UPF network element 2, or an IP address and a port number of the UPF network element 2, and the second indication information may be a type identifier of the second type of data of the first service, or may also be a QoS parameter of the second type of data of the first service.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment response message 3, the AF network element may store a corresponding relationship between the identifier of the UPF network element 1 and the first indication information and a corresponding relationship between the identifier of the UPF network element 2 and the second indication information, and subsequently, when sending downlink data, may determine that the first type data of the first service needs to be sent to the UPF network element 1 and the second type data of the first service needs to be sent to the UPF network element 2 according to the two corresponding relationships.

In this embodiment of the present application, an SMF network element may determine a first access network type and a second access network type, respectively, so that a first RAN device of the same type as the first access network may establish a transmission path for transmitting first type data of a first service between the first RAN device and the UPF network element 1 according to a first downlink address, and at the same time, a second RAN device of the same type as the second access network may establish a transmission path for transmitting second type data of the first service between the second RAN device and the UPF network element 2 according to a second downlink address; in addition, the AF network element may determine, according to the identifier of the UPF network element 1 and the first indication information, that the first type data of the first service needs to be sent to the UPF network element 1, and, simultaneously, the AF network element may determine, according to the identifier of the UPF network element 2 and the second indication information, that the second type data of the first service needs to be sent to the UPF network element 2. That is, the first type data of the first service may be sent to the UPF network element 1 by the AF network element, then transmitted to the first RAN device through a data transmission path between the UPF network element 1 and the first RAN device, and finally transmitted to the terminal by the first RAN device, and the second type data of the first service may be sent to the UPF network element 2 by the AF network element, then transmitted to the second RAN device through a data transmission path between the UPF network element 2 and the second RAN device, and finally transmitted to the terminal by the second RAN device.

Based on the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the access network equipment for transmitting the data can be determined according to the type of the access network of the data, the data can be transmitted to the access network equipment corresponding to the data, and finally the access network equipment transmits the data; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of one type of data of the service, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service can be reduced, and meanwhile, the access network equipment capable of meeting the transmission requirement can be reasonably and flexibly selected according to the transmission requirement of the data; on the other hand, the session management network element may flexibly configure the access network device for transmitting different types of data of the service according to the type of the service data. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

The actions of the AF network element, the NEF network element, the UPF network element 1, the UPF network element 2, the SMF network element, the AMF network element, the MCE, the first RAN device, and the second RAN device in steps S901 to S911 described above may be executed by the processor 601 in the communication device 600 shown in fig. 6a calling the application program code stored in the memory 603, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Taking the communication system shown in fig. 4a, 4b, 4c, or 4d as an example when applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 5, the session management network element is an SMF network element, the mobility management network element is an AMF network element, the coordination function network element is an MCE, and the user plane network element is an UPF network element, as shown in fig. 10, a further communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is provided, where the communication method includes the following steps:

s1001, the AF network element sends a multicast session establishment request message 1 to the SMF network element.

Wherein, the multicast session establishment request message 1 can be used for requesting to establish a multicast session for transmitting the first type data of the first service and the second type data of the first service. The first service, the first type of data, and the second type of data may refer to the foregoing description, and are not described herein again.

Optionally, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may carry a type identifier of the first type data of the first service and a type identifier of the second type data of the first service, or may also carry a transmission reliability requirement and/or a transmission delay requirement of the first type data of the first service and a transmission reliability requirement and/or a transmission delay requirement of the second type data of the first service, and the related description may refer to the step S901, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may further carry a first identification parameter and a second identification parameter, where the first identification parameter is used to identify first type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used to identify second type data of the first service, and the related description may refer to the foregoing description, and is not repeated here.

Optionally, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may also carry geographic area information of the multicast session requested to be established by the multicast session establishment request message 1, that is, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may be understood as carrying first geographic area information of the first service and second geographic area information of the first service. In the embodiment of the present application, the first geographic area information of the first service and the second geographic area information of the first service are the same as an example, and the first geographic area information of the first service and the second geographic area information of the first service are collectively referred to as geographic area information in the following embodiments.

S1002, the SMF network element determines a first access network type, and the SMF network element determines a second access network type.

The step S902 may be referred to in an implementation manner of determining, by the SMF network element, the first access network type and the second access network type, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, in step S1002, the SMF network element may further allocate a first downlink address and a second downlink address, where the first downlink address and the second downlink address may refer to the foregoing description, and are not described herein again.

S1003, the SMF network element sends a multicast session establishment request message 2 to the AMF network element.

The multicast session establishment request message 2 carries the first access network type, the first downlink address, the second access network type, the second downlink address, and the geographical area information, and the related description may refer to step S903, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2, the AMF network element may perform the following steps S1004a-S1004b, or may perform the following step S1004 c.

S1004a, the AMF network element sends the multicast session establishment request message 2 to the first RAN device.

S1004b, the AMF network element sends the multicast session establishment request message 2 to the second RAN device.

The above steps S904a-S904b can be referred to for related description, and are not repeated herein.

S1004c, the AMF network element sends the multicast session establishment request message 2 to the MCE.

Accordingly, the MCE receives the multicast session setup request message 2 from the AMF network element.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2, the MCE performs the following steps S1004d-S1004 e.

S1004d, the MCE sends a multicast session setup request message 3 to the first RAN device according to the first access network type.

The multicast session establishment request message 3 carries the first downlink address, and the related description may refer to the step S904d, which is not described herein again.

S1004e, the MCE sends a multicast session setup request message 4 to the second RAN device according to the second access network type.

The multicast session establishment request message 4 carries the second downlink address, and the related description may refer to the step S904e, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, if the first RAN device receives the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the AMF network element, the first RAN device performs the following steps S1005 a-S1006; if the first RAN device receives the multicast session setup request message 3 from the MCE, the first RAN device performs the following steps S1005 b-S1006.

S1005a, the first RAN device determines that the type of the first RAN device is the same as the first access network type.

For the related description, reference may be made to the step S905a, which is not repeated herein.

Optionally, the type of the first RAN device may be the same as the type of the first access network, or may be the same as the type of the second access network, for example, in this embodiment, the type of the first RAN device is the same as the type of the first access network, and at this time, the first RAN device continues to perform the following step S1005 b.

S1005b, the first RAN device initiates a transmission path establishment procedure of the first type data of the first service.

Optionally, the first RAN device may send a message a to the UPF network element, where a destination address of the message a is an IP address of the UPF network element, the message a carries a first downlink address, and the message a is used to establish a transmission path of the first type data of the first service between the RAN device and the UPF network element, where the UPF network element is used to transmit both the first type data of the first service and the second type data of the first service, and a relevant description of a data transmission path establishment procedure may refer to step S705b, which is not described herein again.

S1006, the first RAN device sends a multicast session establishment response message 1 to the SMF network element through the AMF network element.

Optionally, if the second RAN device receives the multicast session establishment request message 2 from the AMF network element, the second RAN device performs the following steps S1007 a-S1008; if the second RAN device receives the multicast session establishment request message 4 from the MCE, the second RAN device performs the following steps S1007 b-S1008.

S1007a, the second RAN device determines that the type of the second RAN device is the same as the type of the second access network.

Optionally, the type of the second RAN device may be the same as the type of the first access network, or may also be the same as the type of the second access network, for example, in this embodiment, the type of the second RAN device is the same as the type of the second access network, and at this time, the second RAN device continues to perform the following step S1007 b.

S1007b, the second RAN device initiates a data transmission path establishment procedure of the second service.

Optionally, the second RAN device may send a message b to the UPF network element, where a destination address of the message b is an IP address of the UPF network element, the message b carries a second downlink address, and the message b is used to establish a transmission path of the second type data of the first service between the second RAN device and the UPF network element, and the step S705b may be referred to for a related description of a data transmission path establishment procedure, which is not described herein again.

S1008, the second RAN device sends a multicast session establishment response message 2 to the SMF network element through the AMF network element.

S1009, the SMF network element sends a N4 session establishment request message to the UPF network element.

Accordingly, the UPF network element receives the N4 session establishment request message from the SMF network element.

The N4 session establishment request message carries a first downlink address, a first identification parameter, a second downlink address, and a second identification parameter, where the first identification parameter is used to identify first type data of a first service, and the second identification parameter is used to identify second type data of the first service.

Optionally, the first identification parameter and the second identification parameter may be carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1 in step S1001, that is, the SMF network element may receive the first identification parameter and the second identification parameter from the AF network element and send them to the UPF network element.

Optionally, the process of selecting the UPF network element by the SMF network element may refer to the related description in step S707, and is not described herein again.

Optionally, after receiving the N4 session establishment request message, the UPF network element stores a corresponding relationship between the first downlink address and the first identification parameter, and a corresponding relationship between the second downlink address and the second identification parameter, so as to identify and forward downlink data of the first service from the AF network element when the downlink data is subsequently received.

S1010, the SMF network element sends a multicast session establishment response message 3 to the AF network element.

Wherein, the multicast session establishment response message 3 carries the identifier of the UPF network element. The identifier of the UPF network element may be an IP address of the UPF network element, or an IP address and a port number of the UPF network element.

And S1011, the AF network element sends the downlink data of the first service to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the downlink data of the first service from the AF network element.

And S1012, the UPF network element identifies the downlink data of the first service according to the identification parameter.

Optionally, when the first identification parameter is a first numerical value and the second identification parameter is a second numerical value, identifying, by the UPF network element, the downlink data of the first service according to the identification parameter may be: when the value of a first field of a first protocol frame bearing the downlink data is a first numerical value, the UPF network element identifies that the downlink data is first type data of a first service; or, when the value of the first field carrying the downlink data is the second value, the UPF network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service.

It should be noted that, when the first value includes a plurality of values, taking the value of the first field as the first value includes: the value of the first field is any one of the plurality of numerical values; when the second value includes a plurality of values, the taking of the first field as the second value includes: the value of the first field is any one of the plurality of values.

Optionally, when the first identification parameter is a first IP address and the second identification parameter is a second IP address, identifying, by the UPF network element, the downlink data of the first service according to the identification parameter may be: when the value of the source IP address field of the first protocol frame bearing the downlink data is a first IP address, the UPF network element identifies that the downlink data is first type data of a first service; or, when the value of the source IP field of the first protocol frame carrying the downlink data is the second IP address, the UPF network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service.

Optionally, when the first identification parameter is a first IP address and a first port number, and the second identification parameter is a second IP address and a second port number, the identifying, by the UPF network element, the downlink data of the first service according to the identification parameter may be: when the value of a source IP address field of a first protocol frame bearing the downlink data is a first IP address, and the value of a source port number field and/or a destination port number field is a first port number, the UPF network element identifies the downlink data as first type data of a first service; or, when the value of the source IP field of the first protocol frame carrying the downlink data is the second IP address and the values of the source port number field and/or the destination port number field are port number 2, the UPF network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service.

Optionally, when the UPF network element identifies that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, the following step S1013a is executed; or, when the UPF network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, the following step S1013b is executed.

S1013a, the UPF network element sends the downlink data according to the first downlink address.

The first RAN device establishes a data transmission path between the first RAN device and the UPF network element according to the first downlink address, and the second RAN device establishes a data transmission path between the second RAN device and the UPF network element according to the second downlink address, so that after the UPF network element sends downlink data according to the first downlink address, the first RAN device can receive the downlink data, and the second RAN device does not receive the downlink data.

Optionally, the sending, by the UPF network element, the downlink data according to the first downlink address may be: and the UPF network element sends the downlink data in a multicast/multicast mode by taking the first downlink address as a multicast/multicast address.

S1013b, the UPF network element sends the downlink data according to the second downlink address.

The first RAN device establishes a data transmission path between the first RAN device and the UPF network element according to the first downlink address, and the second RAN device establishes a data transmission path between the second RAN device and the UPF network element according to the second downlink address, so that after the UPF network element sends downlink data according to the second downlink address, the second RAN device can receive the downlink data, and the first RAN device does not receive the downlink data.

Optionally, the sending, by the UPF network element, the downlink data according to the second downlink address may be: and the UPF network element sends the downlink data in a multicast/multicast mode by taking the second downlink address as a multicast/multicast address.

In this embodiment of the present application, an SMF network element may determine a first access network type and a second access network type, respectively, so that a first RAN device of the same type as the first access network may establish a transmission path of first type data of a first service between the first RAN device and an UPF network element according to a first downlink address, and at the same time, a second RAN device of the same type as the second access network may establish a transmission path of second type data of the first service between the second RAN device and the UPF network element according to a second downlink address; in addition, the UPF network element may identify downlink data of the first service according to the identification parameter sent by the SMF network element, and when the downlink data is identified as the first type of data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, the downlink data is sent according to the first downlink address, so that the first RAN device can receive the downlink data and finally transmit the downlink data to the terminal by the first RAN device, and when the downlink data is identified as the second type of data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, the downlink data is sent according to the second downlink address, so that the second RAN device can receive the downlink data and finally transmit the downlink data to the terminal by the second RAN device.

Based on the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the access network equipment for transmitting the data can be determined according to the access network type of the data, the data can be transmitted to the access network equipment of a specific type corresponding to the data, and finally the access network equipment transmits the data; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of one type of data of the service, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; on the other hand, the session management network element may flexibly configure the access network device for transmitting different types of data of the service according to the type of the service data. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

The actions of the AF network element, the NEF network element, the UPF network element, the SMF network element, the AMF network element, the MCE, the first RAN device, and the second RAN device in steps S1001 to S1013a or steps S1001 to S1013b may be executed by the processor 601 in the communication device 600 shown in fig. 6a calling the application program code stored in the memory 603, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Taking the communication system shown in fig. 4a, 4b, 4c, or 4d as an example when applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 5, the session management network element is an SMF network element, the mobility management network element is an AMF network element, the coordination function network element is an MCE, and the user plane network element is an UPF network element, as shown in fig. 11, a further communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is provided, where the communication method includes the following steps:

s1101, the AF network element sends a multicast session establishment request message 1 to the SMF network element.

The multicast session establishment request message 1 may be used to request establishment of a multicast session of a first service, where the session is used to carry first type data of the first service and second type data of the first service, and the first service, the first type data, and the second type data may refer to the foregoing description, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, the multicast session establishment request message 1 may further carry a first identification parameter and a second identification parameter, where the first identification parameter is used to identify first type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used to identify second type data of the first service.

S1102, the SMF network element determines a first access network type, and the SMF network element determines a second access network type.

S1103, the SMF network element sends a multicast session establishment request message 2 to the AMF network element.

The multicast session establishment request message 2 carries the first access network type, the first identification parameter, the second access network type, the second identification parameter, the downlink address, and the geographical area information, where the downlink address is used to establish a data transmission path of a service between the RAN device and the UPF network element, and other relevant descriptions may refer to step S903, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, the first identification parameter and the second identification parameter may be carried in the multicast session establishment request message 1 in step S1101, that is, the SMF network element may receive the first identification parameter and the second identification parameter from the AF network element and send them to the AMF network element.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2, the AMF network element may perform the following step S1104a, or may perform the following step S1104 b.

S1104a, the AMF network element sends a multicast session establishment request message 3 to the RAN device.

Accordingly, the RAN equipment receives the multicast session setup request message 3 from the AMF network element.

The multicast session establishment request message 3 carries a first access network type, a first identification parameter, a second access network type, a second identification parameter, and a downlink address.

For a description about selecting the RAN device by the AMF network element, reference may be made to step S704a, which is not described herein again.

S1104b, the AMF network element sends the multicast session establishment request message 2 to the MCE.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2, the MCE performs the following step S1104 c.

S1104c, the MCE sends a multicast session setup request message 3 to the RAN device.

Accordingly, the RAN device receives the multicast session setup request message 3 from the MCE.

Optionally, after receiving the multicast session establishment request message 2, the MCE may select all RAN devices located in the geographic area according to the geographic area information carried in the multicast session establishment request message 2, and then send the multicast session establishment request message 3 to all RAN devices.

S1105, the RAN device initiates a data transmission path establishment procedure of the first service.

Optionally, the RAN device may send a message a to the UPF network element, where a destination address of the message a is an IP address of the UPF network element, the message a carries a downlink address carried in the multicast session establishment request message 3, and the message a is used to establish a transmission path of data of the first service between the RAN device and the UPF network element, where the UPF network element is used to transmit both the first type data of the first service and the second type data of the first service, and the relevant description of the data transmission path establishment procedure may refer to step S705b, which is not described herein again.

S1106, the RAN device sends a multicast session establishment response message 1 to the SMF network element through the AMF network element.

S1107, the SMF network element sends a session establishment request message N4 to the UPF network element.

Wherein, the N4 session establishment request message carries the downlink address.

S1108, the SMF network element sends a multicast session establishment response message 2 to the AF network element.

Wherein, the multicast session establishment response message 2 carries the identifier of the UPF network element. The identifier of the UPF network element may be an IP address and a port number of the UPF network element.

And S1109, the AF network element sends the downlink data of the first service to the RAN equipment through the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the RAN device receives the downlink data of the first service sent by the AF network element through the UPF network element.

S1110, the RAN device identifies downlink data of the first service.

The RAN device may identify that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service or the second type data of the first service according to the identification parameter, and the specific description refers to the description related to the step S1012 in which the UPF network element identifies the downlink data of the first service according to the identification parameter, which is not described herein again. The RAN device may also determine that the type of the RAN device is the same as the first access network type or the same as the second access network type.

When the type of the RAN equipment is the same as that of the first access network and the RAN equipment identifies that the downlink data is first type data of a first service according to the first identification parameter, the RAN equipment sends the downlink data; or, when the type of the RAN device is the same as the type of the second access network and the RAN device identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, the RAN device sends the downlink data.

Optionally, when the type of the RAN device is the same as the type of the first access network and the RAN device identifies that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service, or the type of the RAN device is the same as the type of the first access network and the RAN device identifies that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service, the RAN device discards the downlink data.

In this embodiment, the RAN device sends the downlink data only when the RAN device is the same as the first access network type and the downlink data is identified as the first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, or sends the downlink data only when the RAN device is the same as the second access network device of the first service and the downlink data is identified as the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, according to the access network type of the service and the identification parameter of the service.

Based on the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the access network equipment for transmitting the data can be determined according to the type of the access network of the data, and finally the access network equipment transmits the data, so that on one hand, the transmission resources required by the access network equipment are reduced, and the transmission resources required by the corresponding data of the access network equipment can be further ensured, thereby improving the transmission quality of the corresponding data of the access network equipment and improving the user experience; on the other hand, the transmission resource provided by the access network equipment only needs to ensure the transmission requirement of one type of data of the service, so that the transmission resource waste caused by meeting the transmission requirements of other types of data of the service at the same time can be reduced; on the other hand, the session management network element may flexibly configure the access network device for transmitting different types of data of the service according to the type of the service data. Therefore, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can more reasonably and flexibly transmit different types of data of services.

The actions of the AF network element, NEF network element, UPF network element, SMF network element, AMF network element, MCE, and RAN device in steps S1101 to S1110 may be executed by the processor 601 in the communication device 600 shown in fig. 6a calling the application code stored in the memory 603, which is not limited in this embodiment.

It is to be understood that, in the above embodiments, the methods and/or steps implemented by the session management network element, the access network device, the coordination function network element, the user plane network element, and the application function network element may also be implemented by components (e.g., chips or circuits) that can be used for the session management network element, the access network device, the coordination function network element, the user plane network element, and the application function network element, respectively.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced mainly from the perspective of interaction between network elements. Correspondingly, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, where the communication device may be a session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, or a device including the session management network element, or a component (e.g., a chip or a system on a chip) that can be used for the session management network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the access network device in the above method embodiment, or a device including the above access network device, or a component (e.g., a chip or a system on a chip) that can be used for the access network device; alternatively, the communication device may be a coordination function network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the coordination function network element, or a component (e.g., a chip or a system on a chip) that can be used for the coordination function network element; alternatively, the communication device may be a user plane network element in the foregoing method embodiment, or a device including the foregoing user plane network element, or a component (e.g., a chip or a system on a chip) that can be used for the user plane network element; alternatively, the communication device may be an application function network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the above application function network element, or a component (e.g., a chip or a system on a chip) that can be used for the application function network element. It is to be understood that the communication device comprises corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions in order to realize the above-mentioned functions. Those of skill in the art would readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

For example, fig. 12 shows a schematic structure of a communication device 120. The communication device 120 includes a transceiver module 1201 and a processing module 1202. The transceiver module 1201, which may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, may be a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, or a communication interface, for example.

In a possible implementation manner, taking the communication device 120 as a session management network element as an example, the processing module 1202 is configured to determine a first access network type; a transceiver module 1201, configured to send the first access network type to a mobility management network element, where the first access network type is a type of an access network used for transmitting first type data of the first service.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send first information to the mobility management network element, where the first information includes the first downlink address or a first identification parameter, where the first downlink address is a downlink address of first type data of a first service, and the first identification parameter is used to identify the first type data of the first service.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send an identifier of the first user plane network element and indication information to the application function network element, where the indication information may be a type identifier of the first type data of the first service, and may also be a QoS parameter of the first type data of the first service.

Optionally, the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine a second access network type; the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send the second access network type to a mobility management network element, where the second access network type is a type of an access network used for transmitting the second type data of the first service.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send second information to the mobility management network element, where the second information includes the second downlink address or the second identification parameter, where the second downlink address is a downlink address of second type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used to identify the second type data of the first service.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send the first downlink address, the first identification parameter, the second downlink address, and the second identification parameter to a user plane network element; the first identification parameter is used for identifying first type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used for identifying second type data of the first service.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to receive the first identification parameter and the second identification parameter from the application function network element.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to receive a type identifier of the second type data of the first service from the application function network element; the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine a second access network type, including: the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine the second access network type according to the type identifier of the second type data and a corresponding relationship between the type identifier and the access network type.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to receive a QoS parameter of the second type of data; the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine a second access network type, including: the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine the second access network type according to the QoS parameter of the second type data.

Optionally, when the QoS parameter of the second type of data of the first service includes a PER parameter of the second type of data, and a value of the PER parameter is a first value, the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine the second access network type according to the QoS parameter of the second type of data, including: when the first value is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold, the processing module 1202 is configured to determine that the second access network type is terrestrial broadcast; alternatively, when the first value is smaller than the first preset threshold, the processing module 1202 is configured to determine that the second access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

Optionally, when the QoS parameter of the second type data of the first service includes a PDB parameter of the second type data of the first service, and a value of the PDB parameter is a second numerical value, the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine the second access network type according to the QoS parameter of the second type data of the first service, and the determining includes: when the second value is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold, the processing module 1202 is configured to determine that the second access network type is terrestrial broadcast; alternatively, when the second value is smaller than the second preset threshold, the processing module 1202 is configured to determine that the second access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to receive a type identifier of first type data of a first service from the application function network element; the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine a first access network type, including: the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine the first access network type according to the type identifier of the first type data of the first service and a corresponding relationship between the type identifier and the access network type.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to receive a QoS parameter of the first type data of the first service; the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine a first access network type, including: the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine the first access network type according to the QoS parameter of the first type data of the first service.

Optionally, when the QoS parameter of the first type data of the first service includes a PER parameter of the first type data of the first service, and a value of the PER parameter is a third value, the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine the type of the first access network according to the QoS parameter of the first type data of the first service, and the determining includes: when the third value is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold, the processing module 1202 is configured to determine that the first access network type is terrestrial broadcast; alternatively, when the third value is smaller than the first preset threshold, the processing module 1202 is configured to determine that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

Optionally, when the QoS parameter of the first type data of the first service includes a PDB parameter of the first type data of the first service, and a value of the PDB parameter is a fourth value, the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine the type of the first access network according to the QoS parameter of the first type data of the first service, and the determining includes: when the fourth value is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold, the processing module 1202 is configured to determine that the first access network type is terrestrial broadcast; alternatively, when the fourth value is smaller than the second preset threshold, the processing module 1202 is configured to determine that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast/broadcast.

In another possible implementation manner, taking the communication device 120 as an access network device as an example, the transceiver module 1201 is configured to receive a first access network type and the first downlink address from a mobility management network element; a processing module 1202, configured to determine that the type of the access network device is the same as the first access network type; the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send a first message to a first user plane network element according to a first access network type, where the first message carries the first downlink address, and the first message is used to establish a transmission path for transmitting the first type of data of the first service between the access network device and the first user plane network element.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to receive a second access network type and the second downlink address from the mobility management network element; a processing module 1202, further configured to determine that the type of the access network device is the same as the second access network type; the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send a second message to a second user plane network element according to a second access network type, where the second message carries the second downlink address, and the second message is used to establish a transmission path for transmitting second type data of the first service between the access network device and the second user plane network element.

In another possible implementation manner, taking the communication device 120 as a coordination function network element as an example, the transceiver module 1201 is configured to receive a first downlink address and the first access network type from a mobility management network element; a processing module 1202, configured to determine a first access network device according to the first access network type; the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send the first downlink address to the first access network device according to the first access network type.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to receive a second downlink address and the second access network type from the mobility management network element; a processing module 1202, further configured to determine a second access network device according to the second access network type; the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send the second downlink address to the second access network device according to the second access network type.

In another possible implementation manner, taking the communication device 120 as an access network device as an example, the transceiver module 1201 is configured to receive a first access network type and the first identification parameter from a session management network element, where the first identification parameter is used to identify first type data of the first service; a processing module 1202, configured to determine that the type of the access network device is the same as the first access network type; the processing module 1202 is further configured to identify, according to the first identification parameter, that the downlink data is first type data of the first service; the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to transmit the first type data of the first service.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to receive a second access network type and the second identification parameter from the session management network element, where the second identification parameter is used to identify second type data of the first service; a processing module 1202, further configured to determine that the type of the access network device is the same as the second access network type; the processing module 1202 is further configured to identify, according to the second identification parameter, that the downlink data is second type data of the first service; the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to transmit second type data of the first service.

In another possible implementation manner, taking the communication device 120 as a user plane network element as an example, the transceiver module 1201 is configured to receive a first downlink address, the first identification parameter, a second downlink address, and the second identification parameter from a session management network element; the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to receive downlink data of the first service from the application function network element; a processing module 1202, configured to identify, according to the first identification parameter, that the downlink data is first type data of the first service; the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send the downlink data according to the first downlink address; or, the processing module 1202 is configured to identify that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter, and the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send the downlink data according to the second downlink address.

Optionally, when the first identification parameter is a first numerical value and the second identification parameter is a second numerical value, the processing module 1202 is configured to identify that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service according to the first identification parameter, and includes: when the value of the first field of the first protocol frame carrying the downlink data is the first numerical value, the processing module 1202 is configured to identify that the downlink data is the first type data of the first service according to the identification parameter of the first service; the processing module 1202 is configured to identify, according to the second identification parameter, that the downlink data is second type data of the first service, and includes: when the value of the first field of the first protocol frame carrying the downlink data is the second value, the processing module 1202 is configured to identify that the downlink data is the second type data of the first service according to the second identification parameter.

In another possible implementation manner, taking the communication device 120 as an application function network element as an example, the transceiver module 1201 is configured to receive an identifier and indication information of a first user plane network element from a session management network element, where the indication information is a type identifier of first type data of a first service or a QoS parameter of the first type data of the first service; a processing module 1202, configured to determine, according to the identifier of the first user plane network element and the indication information, that first type data of the first service needs to be sent to the first user plane network element; the transceiver module 1201 is further configured to send the first type data of the first service to the first user plane network element.

All relevant contents of each step related to the above method embodiment may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and are not described herein again.

In the present embodiment, the communication device 120 is presented in a form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. A "module" herein may refer to a particular ASIC, a circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other device that provides the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, the communication means 120 may take the form of the communication device 600 shown in fig. 6a, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

For example, the processor 601 in the communication device 600 shown in fig. 6a may cause the communication device 600 to execute the communication method in the above-described method embodiment by calling a computer stored in the memory 603 to execute the instructions.

In particular, the functions/implementation procedures of the transceiver module 1201 and the processing module 1202 in fig. 12 may be implemented by the processor 601 in the communication device 600 shown in fig. 6a calling a computer executing instructions stored in the memory 603. Alternatively, the function/implementation procedure of the processing module 1202 in fig. 12 may be implemented by the processor 601 in the communication device 600 shown in fig. 6a calling a computer executing instruction stored in the memory 603, and the function/implementation procedure of the transceiver module 1201 in fig. 12 may be implemented by the communication interface 604 in the communication device 600 shown in fig. 6 a.

Since the communication apparatus 120 provided in this embodiment can perform the above-mentioned communication method, the technical effects obtained by the communication apparatus can refer to the above-mentioned method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

It should be noted that one or more of the above modules or units may be implemented in software, hardware or a combination of both. When any of the above modules or units are implemented in software, which is present as computer program instructions and stored in a memory, a processor may be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flows. The processor may be built in a SoC (system on chip) or ASIC, or may be a separate semiconductor chip. The processor may further include a necessary hardware accelerator such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a PLD (programmable logic device), or a logic circuit for implementing a dedicated logic operation, in addition to a core for executing software instructions to perform an operation or a process.

When the above modules or units are implemented in hardware, the hardware may be any one or any combination of a CPU, a microprocessor, a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip, a Micro Controller Unit (MCU), an artificial intelligence processor, an ASIC, an SoC, an FPGA, a PLD, a dedicated digital circuit, a hardware accelerator, or a non-integrated discrete device, which may run necessary software or is independent of software to perform the above method flow.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device (for example, the communication device may be a chip or a system-on-chip), where the communication device includes a processor, and is configured to implement the method in any of the above method embodiments. In one possible design, the communication device further includes a memory. The memory for storing the necessary program instructions and data, the processor may call the program code stored in the memory to instruct the communication device to perform the method of any of the above-described method embodiments. Of course, the memory may not be in the communication device. In another possible design, the communication device further includes an interface circuit that is a code/data read/write interface circuit for receiving computer-executable instructions (which are stored in the memory, may be read directly from the memory, or may pass through other devices) and transmitting to the processor. When the communication device is a chip system, the communication device may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, 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. The procedures or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are all or partially generated upon loading and execution of computer program instructions on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. 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 can comprise one or more data storage devices, such as a server, a data center, etc., that can be integrated with the medium. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

While the present application has been described in connection with various embodiments, other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed application, from a review of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the word "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Although the present application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, the specification and figures are merely exemplary of the present application as defined in the appended claims and are intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present application. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A method of communication, the method comprising:

a session management network element determines a first access network type, wherein the first access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting first type data of a first service;

the session management network element sends the first access network type and first information to a mobility management network element, where the first information includes a first downlink address or a first identification parameter, where the first downlink address is an internet protocol IP multicast or broadcast address of the first type of data, and the first identification parameter is used to identify the first type of data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first access network type comprises terrestrial broadcast, or mixed mode multicast or broadcast.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the session management network element determines a second access network type, where the second access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting the second type data of the first service;

and the session management network element sends the second access network type to the mobility management network element.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

and the session management network element sends second information to the mobility management network element, where the second information includes a second downlink address or a second identification parameter, where the second downlink address is an IP multicast or broadcast address of the second type of data, and the second identification parameter is used to identify the second type of data.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

and the session management network element sends the first downlink address, the first identification parameter, the second downlink address and the second identification parameter to a user plane network element.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the method further comprises:

and the session management network element receives the first identification parameter and the second identification parameter from an application function network element.

7. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the session management network element receives the type identification of the second type data from an application function network element;

the determining, by the session management network element, the second access network type includes:

and the session management network element determines the type of the second access network according to the type identifier of the second type data and the corresponding relationship between the type identifier and the type of the access network.

8. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the session management network element receives the QoS parameters of the second type data;

and the session management network element determines the type of the second access network according to the QoS parameter of the second type data.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the QoS parameter of the second type of data comprises a PER parameter of Packet Error Rate (PER) of the second type of data, and wherein the PER parameter takes on a first value;

the determining, by the session management network element, the second access network type according to the QoS parameter of the second type data includes:

when the first numerical value is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold value, the session management network element determines that the type of the second access network is terrestrial broadcast; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the first value is smaller than the first preset threshold value, the session management network element determines that the type of the second access network is mixed mode multicast or broadcast.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the QoS parameter of the second type of data comprises a packet delay budget PDB parameter of the second type of data, and wherein the PDB parameter takes a second value;

when the second value is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold value, the session management network element determines that the second access network type is a terrestrial broadcast; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the second value is smaller than the second preset threshold value, the session management network element determines that the second access network type is mixed mode multicast or broadcast.

11. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the session management network element receives the type identification of the first type data from an application function network element;

the session management network element determining a first access network type, comprising:

and the session management network element determines the first access network type according to the type identifier of the first type data and the corresponding relationship between the type identifier and the access network type.

12. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the session management network element receives the QoS parameters of the first type of data;

and the session management network element determines the type of the first access network according to the QoS parameter of the first type data.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the QoS parameter of the first type of data comprises a PER parameter of the first type of data, and wherein the PER parameter of the first type of data takes a third value;

the determining, by the session management network element, the first access network type according to the QoS parameter of the first type data includes:

when the third value is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the first access network type is a terrestrial broadcast; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the third value is smaller than the first preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast or broadcast.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the QoS parameter of the first type of data comprises a PDB parameter of the first type of data, wherein the PDB parameter of the first type of data is a fourth value;

when the fourth value is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the first access network type is a terrestrial broadcast; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the fourth value is smaller than the second preset threshold, the session management network element determines that the first access network type is mixed mode multicast or broadcast.

15. A method of communication, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that access network equipment receives a first access network type and a first downlink address from a mobile management network element, wherein the first access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting first type data of a first service, and the first downlink address is an Internet Protocol (IP) multicast or broadcast address of the first type data;

and the access network equipment sends a first message to a first user plane network element according to the first access network type, wherein the first message carries the first downlink address, and the first message is used for establishing a transmission path for transmitting the first type of data between the access network equipment and the first user plane network element.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

the access network equipment receives a second downlink address and a second access network type from the mobility management network element, wherein the second access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting second type data of the first service, and the second downlink address is an IP multicast or broadcast address of the second type data;

and the access network equipment sends a second message to a second user plane network element according to the second access network type, wherein the second message carries the second downlink address, and the second message is used for establishing a transmission path for transmitting the second type data between the access network equipment and the second user plane network element.

17. A method of communication, the method comprising:

a coordination function network element receives a first downlink address and a first access network type from a mobile management network element, wherein the first access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting first type data of a first service, and the first downlink address is an Internet Protocol (IP) multicast or broadcast address of the first type data;

and the network element with the coordination function sends the first downlink address to first access network equipment according to the first access network type.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

the coordination function network element receives a second downlink address and a second access network type from the mobility management network element, where the second access network type is a type of an access network used for transmitting second type data of the first service, and the second downlink address is an IP multicast or broadcast address of the second type data;

and the network element with the coordination function sends the second downlink address to second access network equipment according to the second access network type.

19. A method of communication, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that access network equipment receives a first access network type and a first identification parameter from a session management network element, wherein the first access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting first type data of a first service, and the first identification parameter is used for identifying the first type data;

the access network equipment receives downlink data of the first service;

and when the type of the access network equipment is the same as that of the first access network and the access network equipment identifies that the downlink data is the first type data according to the first identification parameter, the access network equipment sends the downlink data.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

the access network equipment receives a second access network type and a second identification parameter from the session management network element, wherein the second access network type is the type of an access network used for transmitting second type data of the first service, and the second identification parameter is used for identifying the second type data;

and when the type of the access network equipment is the same as that of the second access network and the access network equipment identifies that the downlink data is the second type data according to the second identification parameter, the access network equipment sends the downlink data.

21. A method of communication, the method comprising:

a user plane network element receives a first downlink address, a first identification parameter, a second downlink address and a second identification parameter from a session management network element, wherein the first identification parameter is used for identifying first type data of a first service, the second identification parameter is used for identifying second type data of the first service, the first downlink address is an Internet Protocol (IP) multicast or broadcast address of the first type data, and the second downlink address is an IP multicast or broadcast address of the second type data;

the user plane network element receives downlink data of the first service from an application function network element;

when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the first type data according to the first identification parameter, the user plane network element sends the downlink data according to the first downlink address; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data according to the second identification parameter, the user plane network element sends the downlink data according to the second downlink address.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the first identification parameter is a first value and the second identification parameter is a second value; the method further comprises the following steps:

when the value of a first field of a first protocol frame carrying the downlink data is the first numerical value, the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the first type data; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the value of the first field of the first protocol frame carrying the downlink data is the second numerical value, the user plane network element identifies that the downlink data is the second type data.

23. A communication apparatus, characterized in that the communication apparatus comprises: a processor and a memory;

the memory is for storing computer executable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1-14, or cause the communication device to perform the method of claim 15 or 16, or cause the communication device to perform the method of claim 17 or 18, or cause the communication device to perform the method of claim 19 or 20, or cause the communication device to perform the method of claim 21 or 22.

24. A communication apparatus, characterized in that the communication apparatus comprises: a processor and an interface circuit;

the interface circuit is used for receiving computer execution instructions and transmitting the computer execution instructions to the processor;

the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1-14, or to cause the communication device to perform the method of claim 15 or 16, or to cause the communication device to perform the method of claim 17 or 18, or to cause the communication device to perform the method of claim 19 or 20, or to cause the communication device to perform the method of claim 21 or 22.

25. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when run on a communication apparatus, cause the communication apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1-14, or cause the communication apparatus to perform the method of claim 15 or 16, or cause the communication apparatus to perform the method of claim 17 or 18, or cause the communication apparatus to perform the method of claim 19 or 20, or cause the communication apparatus to perform the method of claim 21 or 22.