CN113938872B

CN113938872B - Communication method, device, system and computer storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN113938872B
Application number: CN202111107401.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴琼; 任驰; 马瑞涛
Original assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-09-22
Filing date: 2021-09-22
Publication date: 2023-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 2041-09-22
Also published as: CN113938872A

Abstract

The application provides a communication method, a device, a system and a computer storage medium, which are applied to the technical field of communication. In the communication method, although the first UE and the second UE in the same VN group are located in different networks, the session establishment request sent by the first UE may be forwarded by the first mobility management network element to the second network side, so that the session of the first UE and the session of the second UE may be respectively established in the first network and the second network. And the second mobility management network element may also send VN tunnel information corresponding to the session of the second UE and the IP address of the second UE to the first network side, so that the user plane network element corresponding to the session of the first UE may forward the data packet to the user plane network element corresponding to the session of the second UE through the VN tunnel. Thus, the first UE and the second UE may implement private network communication based on forwarding by the user plane network element.

Description

Communication method, device, system and computer storage medium

Technical Field

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

Background

The fifth generation mobile communication technology (5th generation mobile communication technology,5G) is the latest generation cellular mobile communication technology, and 5G covers a plurality of scenes such as houses, offices, enterprises, factories, and the like.

Since these scenarios require the use of dedicated network services, local area network (local area network, LAN) technologies based on 5G communication networks are proposed, which technologies may be referred to as 5G LANs. The user equipment may sign up to a Virtual Network (VN) group, and the 5G LAN may provide a private network communication service for the user equipment in the VN group. The user equipment in the VN group performs private network communication based on the 5G communication network.

However, since the 5G communication network is not fully covered, the user equipment that needs to use the private network communication service may include the user equipment in the 4G communication network, but the user equipment in the 4G communication network cannot communicate with the user equipment in the 5G communication network using the 5G LAN. Therefore, a solution for enabling a user in a 4G communication network to communicate with a user of a 5G communication network through a 5G LAN is urgently needed.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method, a device, a system and a computer storage medium, which are used for solving the problem that user equipment in a 4G communication network cannot carry out private network communication with user equipment in a 5G communication network through a 5G LAN.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the application adopts the following technical scheme:

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be performed by a first session management network element for managing a session of a first UE. The method may include: first, the first session management network element may acquire VN tunnel information and an IP address of the second UE, where the VN tunnel information is address information of the second user plane network element, and the second user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to a session of the second UE. The first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, and the first UE and the second UE are in the same VN group. Second, the first session management network element may send the IP address of the second UE to the first UE. Furthermore, the first session management network element may further send the identifier of the VN group and VN tunnel information to the first user plane network element, where the first user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to the session of the first UE. The identification of the VN group and the VN tunnel information may be used to forward the VN group data packet received by the first user plane network element to the second user plane network element, where the VN group data packet includes an IP address of the second UE, so that the second user plane network element sends the VN group data packet to the second UE through a session of the second UE according to the IP address of the second UE.

Based on the above scheme, the session management network element may acquire VN tunnel information of the second user plane network element corresponding to the session of the second UE, and send the information to the first user plane network element, so that the user plane network element of the session of the first UE may communicate with the user plane network element of the session of the second UE through the VN tunnel. Thus, the first UE and the second UE may establish a LAN session that is forwarded based on the user plane network element. The communication method provided by the application can enable the user equipment in different networks to realize LAN communication.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the acquiring, by a first session management network element, VN tunnel information and an IP address of a second UE may specifically include: the first session management network element receives the VN tunnel information from the second mobility management network element and the IP address of the second UE through the first mobility management network element. The first mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of the first UE, and the second mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of the second UE.

Based on the scheme, the first mobility management network element of the first network side and the first mobility management network element of the second network side can be communicated, so that the first session management network element can acquire VN tunnel information of a session of the second UE and an IP address of the second UE through the first mobility management network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the first session management network element may further obtain subscription information of the VN group, where the subscription information of the VN group includes an identifier of the VN group. The first session management network element sends the identifier of the VN group and the VN tunnel information to the first user plane network element, which may specifically include: the first session management network element may send, to the first user plane network element, a forwarding behavior rule FAR corresponding to the session of the first UE, where the FAR includes an identifier of the VN group and VN tunnel information.

Based on this scheme, the first session management network element may configure the first user plane network element with a FAR for forwarding the data packet, where the identity of the VN group and VN tunnel information may be included. Therefore, for the data packet in the session of the first UE, the first user plane network element can forward the data packet to the session of the second UE based on the FAR including the identification of the VN group and the VN tunnel information, so that private network communication between the first UE and the second UE based on the user plane network element can be realized.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be performed by a first mobility management network element, the first mobility management network element being a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of a first UE. The method may include: the first mobility management network element may receive a session establishment request from the first UE. The session establishment request may be used to request to establish a session between a first UE and a second UE, where the first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, the first UE and the second UE are in the same VN group, and the first mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to the first UE. The first mobility management network element may also send a session establishment request for the first UE to the second mobility management network element. The second mobility management network element belongs to a second network, and the session establishment request of the first UE is used for the second mobility management network element to send the session establishment request of the first UE to the second session management network element, so that the second session management network element establishes a session of the second UE. The first mobility management network element may also receive VN tunnel information corresponding to the session of the second UE and the IP address of the second UE, which are sent by the second mobility management network element. The first mobility management network element may also send VN tunnel information and the IP address of the second UE to the first session management network element.

Based on the scheme, the first mobility management network element can inform the second network side after receiving the session establishment request sent by the first UE, so that the second network side establishes the session of the second UE. And the first mobility management network element may further acquire VN tunnel information corresponding to the session of the second UE and an IP address of the second UE, and send the information to the first session management network element. So that the first session management network element opens the session of the first UE with the session of the second UE, thereby realizing private network communication between the first UE and the second UE.

With reference to the second aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the session establishment request includes a type field, a value of the type field is a first type, and the first type is used to indicate that the session establishment request is used to request establishment of a session between the first UE and the second UE. It should be appreciated that the communication method of the present application is for establishing private network communication between a first UE and a second UE, and thus the type of session established by the first UE and the second UE belongs to a LAN session.

In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be performed by a first user plane network element, where the first user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to a session of a first UE. The method may include: the first user plane network element may receive the VN group identifier and the VN tunnel information sent by the first session management network element. The VN tunnel information is address information of a second user plane network element, and the first UE and the second UE are in a VN group. The first user plane network element may also receive, via the session of the first UE, a data packet of the VN group, the data packet of the VN group comprising an identification of the VN group and an internet protocol IP address of the second UE. The first user plane network element may further forward the received data packet of the VN group to the second user plane network element according to the VN group identifier and the VN tunnel information, so that the second user plane network element sends the data packet of the VN group to the second UE through the session of the second UE according to the IP address of the second UE.

Based on the scheme, the first user plane network element corresponding to the session of the first UE can obtain the identifier of the VN group and the VN tunnel information of the second user plane network element, so that the first user plane network element can be communicated with the second user plane network element, and the first UE and the second UE can realize private network communication based on forwarding of the user plane network elements.

With reference to the third aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the receiving, by the first user plane network element, the VN group identifier and the VN tunnel information sent by the first session management network element may specifically include: the first user plane network element receives a forwarding behavior rule FAR from the first session management network element, the FAR comprising an identity of a VN group and VN tunnel information. The first user plane network element forwards the received data packet of the VN group to the second user plane network element according to the VN group identifier and the VN tunnel information, which may specifically include: and the first user plane network element forwards the received data packet of the VN group to the second user plane network element according to the FAR. The technical effects of this solution may be referred to the description of the related solution of the first aspect, which is not repeated here.

In a fourth aspect, a communication system is provided, which may include: the system comprises a first UE, a second UE, a first session management network element, a second session management network element, a first mobility management network element, a second mobility management network element, a first user plane network element and a second user plane network element. The first UE may send a session establishment request to the first mobility management network element. Wherein the session establishment request is for requesting establishment of a session between the first UE and the second UE. The first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, and the first UE and the second UE are in the same VN group. The first mobility management network element sends a session establishment request to the second mobility management network element, which is used for triggering the second session management network element to establish the session of the second UE. The second mobility management network element may send VN tunnel information corresponding to the second UE session and an IP address of the second UE to the first mobility management network element, where the VN tunnel information corresponding to the second UE session is used to establish a transmission channel between the first user plane network element and the second user plane network element. The first mobility management network element may send the VN tunnel information and the IP address of the second UE to the first session management network element. The first session management network element may send an identification of the VN group and VN tunnel information to the first user plane network element, where the identification of the VN group and the VN tunnel information are used for the first user plane network element to send a data packet from the first UE to the second user plane network element. And the first session management network element sends the IP address of the second UE to the first UE. It will be appreciated that technical effects of this aspect may be referred to the description of the first to third aspects above.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the first network may be a 5G communication network, the second network may be a 4G communication network, the first session management network element may be an SMF entity, the second session management network element may be an SGW, the first user plane network element may be a UPF entity, the second user plane network element may be a PGW, the first mobility management network element may be an AMF entity, and the second mobility management network element may be an MME. Alternatively, the first network may be a 4G communication network, the second network may be a 5G communication network, the first session management network element may be an SGW, the second session management network element may be an SMF entity, the first user plane network element may be a PGW, the second user plane network element may be a UPF entity, the first mobility management network element may be an MME, and the second mobility management network element may be an AMF entity.

Based on the scheme, the first network and the second network can be a 4G communication network and a 5G communication network respectively, so that the communication method provided by the application can realize that the 5G UE and the 4G UE establish private network communication based on user plane network element forwarding.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may implement the functions performed by the communication device in the first aspect or any of the possible designs of the first aspect, where the functions may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. Such as: the communication device may include: a transceiver module and a processing module.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the transceiver module may be configured to obtain VN tunnel information and an IP address of the second UE, where the VN tunnel information is address information of a second user plane network element corresponding to a session of the second UE. The first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, and the first UE and the second UE are in the same VN group. The transceiver module may be further configured to send, by the first session management network element, the IP address of the second UE to the first UE. The transceiver module may be further configured to send, to the first user plane network element, an identifier of the VN group and VN tunnel information, where the identifier of the VN group and the VN tunnel information may be used to forward, to the second user plane network element, a data packet of the VN group received by the first user plane network element, where the data packet of the VN group includes an IP address of the second UE, so that the second user plane network element sends, according to the IP address of the second UE, the data packet of the VN group to the second UE through a session of the second UE. The first user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to a session of the first UE.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the transceiver module may be configured to obtain VN tunnel information and an IP address of the second UE, and specifically includes: and the receiving and transmitting module can be used for receiving the VN tunnel information from the second mobility management network element and the IP address of the second UE through the first mobility management network element. The first mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of the first UE, and the second mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of the second UE.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the transceiver module may be further configured to obtain subscription information of the VN group, where the subscription information of the VN group includes an identifier of the VN group.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the transceiver module may be configured to send, to the first user plane network element, an identifier of a VN group and VN tunnel information, and specifically includes: and the receiving and transmitting module can be used for transmitting forwarding behavior rules FAR corresponding to the session of the first UE to the first user plane network element, wherein the FAR comprises the identification of the VN group and the VN tunnel information.

The technical effects of the fifth aspect may be referred to the first aspect, and are not repeated here.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may implement the functions performed by the communication device in the second aspect or any of the possible designs of the second aspect, where the functions may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. Such as: the communication device may include: a transceiver module and a processing module.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the transceiver module may be configured to receive a session establishment request from the first UE. The session establishment request may be used to request to establish a session between a first UE and a second UE, where the first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, the first UE and the second UE are in the same VN group, and the first mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to the first UE. The transceiver module may be further configured to send a session establishment request of the first UE to the second mobility management network element. The second mobility management network element belongs to a second network, and the session establishment request of the first UE may be used by the second mobility management network element to send the session establishment request of the first UE to the second session management network element, so that the second session management network element establishes a session of the second UE. The transceiver module may be further configured to receive VN tunnel information corresponding to a session of the second UE and an IP address of the second UE, where the VN tunnel information is sent by the second mobility management network element. The transceiver module may be further configured to send VN tunnel information and an IP address of the second UE to the first session management network element.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the session establishment request includes a type field, a value of the type field is a first type, and the first type may be used to indicate that the session establishment request may be used to request establishment of a session between the first UE and the second UE.

The technical effects of the sixth aspect may refer to the second aspect, and are not described herein.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may implement the functions performed by the communication device in the third aspect or any of the possible designs of the third aspect, where the functions may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. Such as: the communication device may include: a transceiver module and a processing module.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the transceiver module may be configured to receive the VN group identifier and the VN tunnel information sent by the first session management network element. The VN tunnel information is address information of a second user plane network element, and the first UE and the second UE are in a VN group. The transceiver module may be further configured to receive, through a session of the first UE, a data packet of the VN group. The data packet of the VN group includes an identification of the VN group and an internet protocol IP address of the second UE. The transceiver module is further configured to forward the received data packet of the VN group to the second user plane network element according to the VN group identifier and the VN tunnel information, so that the second user plane network element sends the data packet of the VN group to the second UE through the session of the second UE according to the IP address of the second UE.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the transceiver module may be configured to receive the VN group identifier and VN tunnel information sent by the first session management network element, and specifically include: and a transceiver module, configured to receive a forwarding behavior rule FAR from the first session management network element, where the FAR includes an identification of a VN group and VN tunnel information. The transceiver module may be configured to forward, according to the identifier of the VN group and VN tunnel information, the received data packet of the VN group to the second user plane network element, and specifically includes: and the receiving and transmitting module can be used for forwarding the received data packet of the VN group to the second user plane network element according to the FAR.

The technical effects of the seventh aspect may refer to the third aspect, and are not repeated herein.

An eighth aspect provides a communication apparatus comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the communication device, cause the communication device to perform the communication method of any of the first, second, or third aspects described above.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising: a processor; the processor is configured to couple with the memory and to execute the communication method according to any one of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect described above according to the instructions after reading the instructions in the memory.

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

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Before describing the embodiments of the present application, some terms related to the embodiments of the present application will be explained. It should be noted that the following explanation is for easier understanding of the embodiments of the present application, and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection required by the embodiments of the present application.

In 5G LAN technology, by configuring different traffic forwarding methods for user plane function (user plane function, UPF) entities in the 5G communications network, data packets in the same 5G VN group can be forwarded between PDU sessions established by different terminals.

The 5G LAN technology may have the following characteristics:

1) Dynamic group management of terminals. The UDM entity may maintain all subscription information of the terminals in the VN group, and industry clients may dynamically add or delete the terminals from the VN group through the capability opening interface.

2) The IP address of the terminal is specified. Industry clients can configure specified IP address segments into UDM entities through a capability open interface. When a terminal within a VN group creates a session for private network communication, an IP address stored in the UDM may be assigned to the terminal within the VN group.

3) Point-to-point direct communication through UPF. When terminals in a VN group are accessed to the same UPF, data transmitted among the terminals can be directly forwarded through the UPF without passing through an N6 tunnel in a 5G communication network. When a terminal in one VN group accesses a plurality of UPFs, a direct tunnel is constructed between the UPFs, and data transmitted mutually between terminals connected by different UPFs can be forwarded among the UPFs through the direct tunnel between the UPFs.

It should be appreciated that at present, 5G LAN communications are implemented based on a 5G communication network, and forwarding is performed using a UPF entity. However, industry customers who need to use 5G LAN communication services may include terminals that are not covered by the 5G communication network, and these terminals still use the 4G communication network, thereby making the use of 5G LAN communication services limited. There is an urgent need for a solution that enables a 4G terminal to communicate with a 5G terminal through a 5G LAN.

Based on this, the application provides a communication method, which can open the user plane of the 4G communication network and the user plane of the 5G communication network, sign the 4G terminal and the 5G terminal into the same VN group, and when the 4G terminal and the 5G terminal in the VN group need to communicate, a session for communicating the 4G communication network and the 5G communication network can be established, and the data packets transmitted between the terminals in different networks can be forwarded through the VN tunnel between the network elements of the user plane, thereby realizing that the 4G terminal and the 5G terminal use 5GLAN communication.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Wherein, in the description of the present application, "/" means that the related objects are in a "or" relationship, unless otherwise specified, for example, a/B may mean a or B; the "and/or" in the present application is merely an association relationship describing the association object, and indicates that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may indicate: there are three cases, a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. Also, in the description of the present application, unless otherwise indicated, "a plurality" means two or more than two. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). 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 plural. In addition, in order to facilitate the clear description of the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish the same item or similar items having substantially the same function and effect. It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the words "first," "second," and the like do not limit the amount and order of execution, and that the words "first," "second," and the like do not necessarily differ. Meanwhile, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "such as" are used to mean serving as examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g." in an embodiment should not be taken as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete fashion that may be readily understood.

In addition, the network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly describing the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present application, and as a person of ordinary skill in the art can know, with evolution of the network architecture and appearance of a new service scenario, the technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

First, a simple description is made of an application scenario of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in the present application, and as shown in fig. 1, the communication system may include a network on a 5G side and a network on a 4G side. Wherein, the network of the 5G side can include: 5g ue1,5g ue2,5g radio access network (radio access network, RAN) node, access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function,) AMF entity, session management function (session management function, SMF) entity, UPF entity, UDM entity, policy control function (policy control function, PCF) entity, network opening function (network exposure function, NEF) entity, and application function (Application function, AF) entity. The network on the 4G side may include: 4g ue1,4 ue2,4g radio access network (called evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (universal mobile telecommunications system, UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, E-UTRAN)) nodes, mobility management entities (mobility management entity, MME), serving Gateway (SGW), packet data network gateway (packet data network gateway, PGW), home subscriber server (home subscriber server, HSS), and policy and charging rules function (policy and charging rules function, PCRF), etc. In the communication system shown in fig. 1, the UDM entity on the 5G side and the HSS on the 4G side are co-located, and the PCF entity on the 5G side and the PCRF on the 4G side are co-located; the AMF entity at the 5G side is communicated with the SGW at the 4G side and is connected through a VN-C tunnel; the UPF entity on the 5G side is communicated with the PGW on the 4G side and is connected through a VN-U tunnel. The tunnels between other network elements may be shown by the connection lines in fig. 1, which are not described in detail herein, where the AMF entity and the SMF entity may be connected through an N11 tunnel, the SMF entity and the UPF entity may be connected through an N4 tunnel, the 5G RAN node and the UPF entity may be connected through an N3 tunnel, the AMF entity and the MME may be connected through an N26 tunnel, the MME and the SGW may be connected through an S11 tunnel, the SGW and the PGW may be connected through an S5 tunnel, and the E-UTRAN node and the PGW may be connected through an S1-U tunnel.

It should be noted that, the description of the embodiment of the present application should be used for more clearly describing the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application. For example, the communication system shown in fig. 1 includes network elements that are merely illustrative, and the communication system shown in fig. 1 may also include other communication network elements; the connection between the network elements in the communication system shown in fig. 1 is also merely illustrative, and there may be connection between the network elements not shown in the figure. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

Alternatively, the mobility management network element, the session management network element, the user plane network element, or the User Equipment (UE) in the embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as a communication device, which may be a general-purpose device or a special-purpose device, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the mobility management network element, the session management network element, the user plane network element, or the related functions of the UE in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by one device, or may be implemented by multiple devices together, or may be implemented by one or more functional modules in one device, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application. It will be appreciated that the above described functionality may be either a network element in a hardware device, or a software functionality running on dedicated hardware, or a combination of hardware and software, or a virtualized functionality instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

For example, the mobility management element, the session management element, the user plane element, or the UE related functions in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by the communication device 20 in fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 20 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 20 includes one or more processors 201, communication lines 202, and at least one communication interface (shown in fig. 2 as merely an example to include a communication interface 204, and one processor 201 as an example), and optionally a memory 203.

The processor 201 may be a general purpose central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), microprocessor, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with aspects of the present application.

The communication line 202 may include a passageway for connecting between the various components.

The communication interface 204, which may be a transceiver module, is used to communicate with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, RAN, wireless local area network (wireless local area networks, WLAN), etc. For example, the transceiver module may be a device such as a transceiver, or the like. Alternatively, the communication interface 204 may be a transceiver circuit located in the processor 201, so as to implement signal input and signal output of the processor.

The memory 203 may be a device having a memory function. For example, but 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 (random access memory, RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (compact disc read-only memory) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, blu-ray discs, 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 stand alone and be coupled to the processor via communication line 202. The memory may also be integrated with the processor.

The memory 203 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for executing the present application, and is controlled by the processor 201. The processor 201 is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 203 to implement the method for notifying QoS information provided in the embodiment of the present application.

Alternatively, in the embodiment of the present application, the processor 201 may perform a function related to processing in the method for notifying QoS information provided in the embodiment of the present application, where the communication interface 204 is responsible for communicating with other devices or communication networks, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited in detail.

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

In a particular implementation, as one embodiment, processor 201 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 of FIG. 2.

In a particular implementation, as one embodiment, the communication device 20 may include a plurality of processors, such as processor 201 and processor 208 in FIG. 2. Each of these processors may be a single-core processor or a multi-core processor. The processor herein may include, but is not limited to, at least one of: a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), microprocessor, digital Signal Processor (DSP), microcontroller (microcontroller unit, MCU), or artificial intelligence processor, each of which may include one or more cores for executing software instructions to perform operations or processes.

In a particular implementation, as one embodiment, the communication device 20 may also include an output device 205 and an input device 206. The output device 205 communicates with the processor 201 and may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 205 may be a liquid crystal display (liquid crystal display, LCD), a light emitting diode (light emitting diode, LED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, or a projector (projector), or the like. The input device 206 is in communication with the processor 201 and may receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 206 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, a sensing device, or the like.

The communication device 20 described above may also be referred to as a communication apparatus, which may be a general purpose device or a special purpose device. For example, the communication device 20 may be a desktop, a portable computer, a web server, a palm top (personal digital assistant, PDA), a mobile handset, a tablet, a wireless terminal device, an embedded device, a terminal device as described above, a network device as described above, or a device having a similar structure as in fig. 2. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to the type of communication device 20.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be specifically described with reference to fig. 1 and 2.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 3, the method may include the following steps.

S301, the first UE sends a session establishment request to a first mobility management network element.

The session establishment request is used to request establishment of a session between the first UE and the second UE, which may be understood as a session in which private network communication is performed between the first UE and the second UE. The first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, and the first UE and the second UE are in the same VN group.

Note that, the VN to which the first UE and the second UE belong is a VN group for private network communication, which may be referred to as a LAN VN group, and members in the VN group may establish private network communication.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first network may be a 5G communication network, the second network is a 4G communication network, and taking the communication system shown in fig. 1 as an example, in this case, the first UE may be 5G UE1, the second UE may be 4G UE1, and the first mobility management network element may be an AMF entity. Alternatively, the first network may be a 4G communication network, the second network is a 5G communication network, taking the communication system shown in fig. 1 as an example, in this case, the first UE may be a 4G UE1, the second UE may be a 5G UE1, and the first mobility management network element may be an MME.

Taking the first network as a 5G communication network for example, in connection with the communication system shown in fig. 1, the session establishment request may be sent by the 5G UE1 to the AMF entity, and it should be understood that the session establishment request may be forwarded to the AMF entity by the 5G RAN node.

It should be noted that, the first mobility management network element may forward the session establishment request to the first session management network element, thereby triggering the first session management network element to establish the session of the first UE. For example, as shown in fig. 1, the AMF entity may forward the session establishment request to the SMF entity through the N11 tunnel to trigger the SMF entity to establish the session of 5g UE1.

It should be noted that, the session establishment request may be a PDU session establishment request (PDU session establishment request), and accordingly, the first session management network element may establish a PDU session of the first UE. For example, the SMF entity may establish a PDU session for 5g UE1.

It should be appreciated that the session of the first UE established according to the session establishment request is used for private network communication between the first UE and the second UE, and data packets of the session of the first UE are forwarded to the second UE.

Alternatively, the session establishment request may include a type field, the value of which may be a first type, which may be used to indicate that the session establishment request is for requesting establishment of a session between the first UE and the second UE. In other words, the first type is used to indicate that the session establishment request is used to request establishment of a session for private network communication between the first UE and the second UE.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, since one of the first network and the second network is a 4G communication network and the other is a 5G communication network, a session between the first UE and the second UE may be understood as a session between the 4G communication network and the 5G communication network for private network communication, which may be referred to as a 4G-5G LAN session (session). Optionally, the first type carried by the type field of the session establishment request may be: 4G-5G LAN session.

S302, the first mobility management network element sends a session establishment request to the second mobility management network element, and the session establishment request is used for triggering the second session management network element to establish the session of the second UE.

It should be understood that the first mobility management network element belongs to the first network and the second mobility management network element belongs to the second network. Since the session establishment request is for requesting establishment of a session between the first UE and the second UE, the first mobility management network element needs to send the session establishment request to the second mobility management network element.

It should be noted that the second mobility management network element may forward the session establishment request to the second session management network element, thereby triggering the second session management network element to establish a session of the second UE.

In the embodiment of the present application, when the first network is a 5G communication network, the first mobility management network element may be an AMF entity, the second mobility management network element may be an MME, the second session management network element may be an SGW, and the second UE may be a 4G UE1. Or when the first network is a 4G communication network, the first mobility management network element may be an MME, the second mobility management network element may be an AMF entity, the second session management network element may be an SMF, and the second UE may be a 5G UE1.

Taking the first network as a 5G communication network as an example, referring to the communication system shown in fig. 1, the AMF entity may forward the session establishment request to the MME through the N26 tunnel, and further, the MME may forward the session establishment request to the SGW, thereby triggering the SGW to establish the session of the 4G UE1.

It should be noted that, as described above, the session establishment request may be a PDU session establishment request, and thus the SGW may establish a PDU session of the 4g UE1 according to the PDU session establishment request.

Optionally, the first mobility management network element may determine, according to a value (first type) of a type field of the session establishment request, that the session establishment request is used to request establishment of a session between the first UE and the second UE, and further determine to send the session establishment request to the second mobility management network element. Illustratively, the first type is: the 4G-5G LAN session,AMF entity may determine to establish a LAN session with the 4G communication network side according to the first type, so that the AMF entity determines to send the session establishment request to the MME.

S303, the second mobility management network element may send, to the first mobility management network element, VN tunnel information corresponding to the second UE session and an internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) address of the second UE.

The VN tunnel information corresponding to the second UE session is used for establishing a transmission channel between the first user plane network element and the second user plane network element. The first user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to a session of the first UE, and the second user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to a session of the second UE.

It should be appreciated that in order to establish a session for private network communication between a first UE and a second UE, the session established by the first UE in the first network needs to be opened with the session established by the second UE in the second network. In the embodiment of the application, a transmission channel can be established between the first user plane network element corresponding to the session of the first UE and the second user plane network element corresponding to the session of the second UE, thereby realizing the intercommunication of the session of the first UE and the session of the second UE.

In the embodiment of the present application, when the first network is a 5G communication network, the first user plane network element may be a UPF entity, and the second user plane network element may be a PGW. When the first network is a 4G communication network, the first user plane network element may be a PGW, and the second user plane network element may be a UPF entity.

For the description of the first network as a 5G communication network, as shown in fig. 1, the VN tunnel information may be tunnel information corresponding to PGW, and the IP address of the second UE may be the IP address of the 4G UE1. The MME may send the tunnel information corresponding to the PGW and the IP address of the 4g UE1 to the AMF entity through the N26 tunnel.

Optionally, the VN tunnel information corresponding to the second UE session may include a tunnel endpoint identification (tunnel endpoint identifier, TEID) and an IP address of the second user plane network element. Taking the second user plane network element as the PGW as an example, the VN tunnel information may include the TEID and the IP address of the PGW.

S304, the first mobility management network element sends VN tunnel information and the IP address of the second UE to the first session management network element.

It should be understood that, when the first mobility management network element sends VN tunnel information to the first session management network element for the first session management network element to establish a session of the first UE, forwarding information for forwarding a data packet to the second user plane network element can be configured, so that the data packet of the session of the first UE can be forwarded to the session of the second UE through a tunnel between the first user plane network element and the second user plane network element.

The first mobility management network element sends the IP address of the second UE to the first session management network element, and may be configured to send the IP address of the second UE to the first UE by using the first session management network element, so that the first UE may send a data packet with a destination address of the second UE.

Taking the first mobility management network element as an AMF entity and the first session management network element as an SMF entity as an example, referring to the communication system shown in fig. 1, the AMF entity may send VN tunnel information and the IP address of the second UE to the SMF entity through an N11 tunnel.

S305, the first session management network element sends the identity of the VN group and the VN tunnel information to the first user plane network element.

In the embodiment of the application, the session established by the first UE and the second UE for private network communication is based on forwarding of the data packet by the user plane network element, so that the first session management network element needs to configure forwarding information of the session leading to the second UE for the first user plane network element.

The first session management network element sends the VN tunnel information to the first user plane network element, so that the first user plane network element can forward the data packet of the session of the first UE to the second user plane network element through the VN tunnel.

In addition, the identifier of the VN group is associated with the VN tunnel, and the first session management network element sends the identifier of the VN group to the first user plane network element, so that the first user plane network element can determine different VN tunnels corresponding to the data packets of different VN groups according to the identifier of the VN group, so that the data packets are correctly forwarded to the second user plane network element. It should be understood that, the packet sent by the first UE to the second UE may carry the VN group identifier, and the first user plane network element may compare the VN group identifier locally with the VN group identifier of the received packet.

Taking the first session management network element as an SMF entity and the first user plane network element as a UPF entity as an example, reference is made to the communication system shown in fig. 1. The SMF entity may send the identity of the VN group and the VN tunnel information to the UPF entity through the N4 tunnel.

It should be appreciated that the first session management network element sends the identity of the VN group to the first user plane network element is obtained from subscription information on the udm+hss co-located network element.

It should be noted that, when the SMF entity is a PDU session of a 5G UE (including 5G UE1 and 5G UE2), the SMF entity may also establish a PFCP session (may also be referred to as an N4 session) with the UPF entity, where each PDU session has its corresponding PFCP session. Subsequently, the SMF entity may configure packet detection rules (packet detection rules, PDR) for the UPF entity via the PFCP session, and forwarding behavior rules (forwarding action rules, FAR) associated with the PDR, and the UPF entity may forward data packets from the PDU session according to the PDR and FAR.

Optionally, after the SMF entity establishes a PDU session for private network communication for 5g UE1, a PDR and an associated FAR may also be configured for a UPF entity corresponding to the PDU session of 5g UE1, where the FAR corresponding to the PDU session of 5g UE1 in the UPF entity may include an identification of a VN group and VN tunnel information. Further, the UPF entity may forward, according to the FAR, a packet in the PDU session of the 5g UE1 to the PGW corresponding to the session of the 4g UE1.

It should be understood that after the session of the first UE and the session of the second UE are established, and the first user plane network element corresponding to the first UE configures forwarding information of the session to the second UE, the session between the first UE and the second UE is considered to be established. Taking the communication system shown in fig. 1 as an example, the session establishment between the 5G UE1 and the 4G UE1 may be completed by using a 4G-5G LAN.

In summary, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, in which, although a first UE and a second UE in the same VN group are located in different networks, a session establishment request sent by the first UE may be forwarded by a first mobility management network element to a second network side, so that a session of the first UE and a session of the second UE may be respectively established in the first network and the second network. And the second mobility management network element may also send VN tunnel information corresponding to the session of the second UE and the IP address of the second UE to the first network side, so that the user plane network element corresponding to the session of the first UE may forward the data packet to the user plane network element corresponding to the session of the second UE. Thus, the session of the first UE and the session of the second UE are mutually communicated, and the first UE can send a data packet to the second UE according to the IP address of the second UE. Because the first network and the second network can be a 5G communication network and a 4G communication network respectively, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can solve the problem that the 5G terminal and the 4G terminal can not establish private network communication.

Note that, referring to the communication system shown in fig. 1, the information of the VN group is signed in the udm+hss combined network element. As can be seen from the above described communication method, the VN group may include both 5G terminals and 4G terminals. In the embodiment of the present application, subscription information and application range of the VN group in the udm+hss may be shown in table 1. Referring to table 1, a column in which the subscription data type (subscription data type) is located may include a group identifier (group identifier) table entry and a group data (group data) table entry. The field (field) entry corresponding to the group identifier may include: an internal group identifier (internal group identifier) entry and an international mobile subscriber identity (international mobile subscriber identity, IMSI)/subscription permanent identifier (subscription permanent identifier, SUPI) list (list) entry. The internal group identifier table entry corresponding to the group identifier is used for indicating the identification of the VN group, and the IMSI/SUPI list table entry is used for indicating the SUPI/IMSI list included in the VN group. The field table entry corresponding to the group data may include: an inner group identifier table entry, an access point name (access point name, APN)/data network name (data network name, DNN) table entry, a single network slice selection assistance information (single network slice selection assistance information, S-nsai) table entry, a PDU session type (session type) table entry, and an application descriptor (application descriptor) table entry. Wherein the internal group identifier table entry corresponding to the group data is used for indicating the identity of the VN group to which the group data belongs, the APN/DNN table entry is used for indicating APN and DNN that can be used when the UE in the VN group establishes a session, the S-nsai table entry is used for indicating the identity of the 5G network slice, the PDU session type table entry is used for indicating the type of PDU session established by the UE in the VN group, and the program descriptor table entry is used for indicating the UE routing policy (UE route selection policy, urs) used by the UE in the VN group when establishing the PDU session.

TABLE 1

It should be noted that, as shown in fig. 1, the udm+hss combined network element in the embodiment of the present application may also configure a static IP address, and when a UE in the VN group establishes a session, the static IP address in the udm+hss combined network element may be allocated to the UE that establishes the session.

In addition, the communication system of the embodiment of the application also connects the SMF entity at the 5G communication network side and the SGW at the 4G communication network side, and the SMF entity and the SGW can carry out the signaling interaction of the session through the VN-C tunnel.

It should be appreciated that after a 4G-5G LAN session for private network communication is established between a first UE and a second UE, the first UE may send data packets to the second UE directly according to the IP address of the second UE. The process of sending data packets by the 5G UE1 to the 4G UE1 through the 4G-5G LAN session will be described below using the first network as a 5G communication network as an example, in connection with the communication system shown in fig. 1, and may include the following steps as shown in fig. 4.

S401, 5g UE1 transmits a packet.

The destination address of the data packet is the IP address of the 4g UE1, and the data packet may also carry the identifier of the VN group to which the UE1 belongs. The packet may be sent to the 5G RAN node first and then the 5G RAN node forwards to the UPF entity via the N3 tunnel.

S402, the SMF entity controls the UPF entity to determine the PDR corresponding to the data packet sent by the 5G UE1.

It should be appreciated that after the PDU session is established, the UPF is controlled by the SMF to perform the session function. After the data packet sent by the 5g UE1 enters the UPF entity, the SMF may determine, according to the N3 tunnel information of the data packet, an N4 session (PFCP session) corresponding to the PDU session of the 5g UE1 to which the data packet belongs, and further determine a PDR corresponding to the N4 session in the UPF entity, that is, determine a PDR corresponding to the data packet sent by the 5g UE1.

S403, the UPF entity sets the destination interface of the FAR associated with the determined PDR as an internal (internal) interface of 4G-5G LAN internal.

It should be understood that the FAR associated with the PDR corresponding to the packet sent by the 5g UE1 includes the identity of the VN group to which the UE1 belongs, and VN tunnel information of the PGW.

S404, the UPF entity performs PDR matching on the data packet sent by the 5G UE1, so as to determine FAR.

It should be understood that after the UPF entity performs PDR matching on the data packet sent by the 5g UE1, a FAR corresponding to the data packet is determined. The UPF entity may compare the identifier of the VN group carried by the data packet sent by the 5G UE1 with the identifier of the VN in the FAR, and when the comparison is successful, the UPF entity may transmit the data packet sent by the 5G UE1 to the internal interface "4G-5GLAN interface" for processing.

And S405, forwarding the data packet sent by the 5G UE1 to the PGW by the UPF entity according to the FAR.

Since the destination interface of the packet sent by the 5G UE1 for transmission inside the UPF entity is "4G-5G LAN interface", and the destination address of the packet is the IP address of the 4G UE1. The UPF entity can thus determine that the packet belongs to a 4G-5GLAN session and needs to be forwarded to the 4G communication network side.

It should be understood that the FAR associated with the PDR to which the packet sent by 5g UE1 matches includes the TEID and IP address of the PGW. Thus, the UPF entity may encapsulate the VN tunnel header for the packet before sending from the VN-U tunnel to the PGW.

It should be noted that, before the packet is forwarded from the UPF entity, the UPF entity may implement rules (Qos enforment rules, QER) according to the quality of service (quality of service, qoS) associated with the PDR, so as to complete QoS-related operations. And, completing reporting of the usage according to the usage reporting rules (usage reporting rules, URR) associated with the PDR.

S406, the PGW receives the data packet sent by the 5G UE1 through the VN-U tunnel.

It should be appreciated that the PGW may identify that the packet belongs to a 4G-5G LAN session based on the VN tunnel header of the packet.

S407, the PGW sets a destination interface receiving the data packet sent by the 5G UE1 from the VN-U tunnel as an internal interface '4G-5G LAN interface', and transmits the data packet to the internal interface for processing.

S408, the PGW matches the downlink tunnel for the data packet sent by the 5g UE1.

Since the destination interface of the data packet sent by the 5G UE1 is the internal interface "4G-5G LAN interface" of the PGW, the PGW can determine that the data packet belongs to the 4G-5G LAN session. Further, the PGW may match the packet with a downlink tunnel to UE2 based on the destination address of UE2 (i.e., the IP address of 4g UE1);

and S409, the PGW transmits the data packet transmitted by the 5G UE1 to the UE2 through the matched downlink tunnel.

It should be understood that the PGW also transmits the data packet transmitted by the 5G UE1 to the 4G access network E-UTRAN node, and then forwards the data packet to the 4G UE1.

It can be seen that through the above steps, private network communication between 5g UE1 and 4g UE1 is achieved.

It should be noted that, in the above-mentioned method embodiment, the action of the first mobility management network element may be executed by the processor 201 in the communication device 20 shown in fig. 2 to call the application program code stored in the memory 202 to instruct the first mobility management network element; the actions of the second mobility management network element may be invoked by the processor 201 in the communication device 20 shown in fig. 2 to instruct the second mobility management network element to execute; the actions of the first session management network element may be invoked by the processor 201 in the communication device 20 shown in fig. 2 to instruct the first session management network element to execute; the actions of the second session management network element may be invoked by the processor 201 in the communication device 20 shown in fig. 2 to instruct the second session management network element to execute; the actions of the first user plane element may be invoked by the processor 201 in the communication device 20 shown in fig. 2 to instruct the first user plane element to execute; the actions of the second user plane element may be invoked by the processor 201 in the communication device 20 shown in fig. 2 to instruct the second user plane element to execute; the actions of the first UE may be invoked by the processor 201 in the communication device 20 shown in fig. 2 to instruct the first UE to execute the application code stored in the memory 202; the present embodiment is not limited in this regard.

It will be appreciated that in the above embodiments, the methods and/or steps implemented by the first mobility management element may also be implemented by a component (e.g. a chip or a circuit) that may be used in the first mobility management element; the method and/or steps implemented by the second mobility management network element may also be implemented by a component (e.g. a chip or a circuit) usable for the second mobility management network element; the methods and/or steps implemented by the first session management network element may also be implemented by a component (e.g. a chip or a circuit) usable with the first session management network element; the methods and/or steps implemented by the second session management network element may also be implemented by a component (e.g. a chip or a circuit) usable with the second session management network element; the methods and/or steps implemented by the first user plane network element may also be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or circuit) that is available to the first user plane network element; the methods and/or steps implemented by the second user plane network element may also be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or circuit) that is available to the second user plane network element; the methods and/or steps implemented by the first UE may also be implemented by components (e.g., chips or circuitry) available to the first UE.

The scheme provided by the embodiment of the application is mainly introduced from the interaction point of the devices. Correspondingly, the embodiment of the application also provides a communication device which is used for realizing the various methods. The communication device may be the first mobility management network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the first mobility management network element, or a component that may be used for the first mobility management network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the second mobility management network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the second mobility management network element, or a component that may be used for the second mobility management network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the first session management network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the first session management network element, or a component that may be used for the first session management network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the second session management network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the second session management network element, or a component that may be used for the second session management network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the first user plane network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the first user plane network element, or a component that may be used for the first user plane network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the second user plane network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the second user plane network element, or a component that may be used for the second user plane network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the first UE in the above method embodiment, or a device including the first UE, or a component that may be used for the first UE. It will be appreciated that the communication device, in order to achieve the above-described functions, comprises corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules performing the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will 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 implemented as hardware or computer software driven 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.

The embodiment of the application can divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above method embodiment, for example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated modules may be implemented in hardware or in software functional modules. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the modules is schematic, which is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be implemented in actual implementation.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of another communication device 50. The communication device 50 comprises a transceiver module 501 and a processing module 502. The transceiver module 501, which may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, is used to implement a transceiver function, and may be, for example, a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

Taking the communication device 50 as the first session management network element in the above method embodiment as an example:

the transceiver module 501 is configured to obtain VN tunnel information and an IP address of the second UE, where the VN tunnel information is address information of a second user plane network element corresponding to a session of the second UE. The first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, and the first UE and the second UE are in the same VN group. The transceiver module 501 is further configured to send, by the first session management network element, the IP address of the second UE to the first UE. The transceiver module 501 is further configured to send, to the first user plane network element, an identification of a VN group and VN tunnel information, where the identification of the VN group and the VN tunnel information are used to forward, to the second user plane network element, a data packet of the VN group received by the first user plane network element, where the data packet of the VN group includes an IP address of the second UE, so that the second user plane network element sends, according to the IP address of the second UE, the data packet of the VN group to the second UE through a session of the second UE. The first user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to a session of the first UE.

Optionally, the transceiver module 501 is configured to obtain VN tunnel information and an IP address of the second UE, and specifically includes: a transceiver module 501, configured to receive, by the first mobility management network element, VN tunnel information from the second mobility management network element and an IP address of the second UE. The first mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of the first UE, and the second mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of the second UE.

Optionally, the transceiver module 501 is further configured to obtain subscription information of the VN group, where the subscription information of the VN group includes an identifier of the VN group.

Optionally, the transceiver module 501 is configured to send, to the first user plane network element, an identification of a VN group and VN tunnel information, and specifically includes: the transceiver module 501 is configured to send, to the first user plane network element, a forwarding behavior rule FAR corresponding to a session of the first UE, where the FAR includes an identifier of a VN group and VN tunnel information.

Taking the communication device 50 as the first mobility management network element in the above method embodiment as an example:

a transceiver module 501, configured to receive a session establishment request from a first UE. The session establishment request is used for requesting to establish a session between a first UE and a second UE, the first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, the first UE and the second UE are in the same VN group, and the first mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to the first UE. The transceiver module 501 is further configured to send a session establishment request of the first UE to the second mobility management network element. The second mobility management network element belongs to a second network, and the session establishment request of the first UE is used for the second mobility management network element to send the session establishment request of the first UE to the second session management network element, so that the second session management network element establishes a session of the second UE. The transceiver module 501 is further configured to receive VN tunnel information corresponding to a session of the second UE and an IP address of the second UE, which are sent by the second mobility management network element. The transceiver module 501 is further configured to send VN tunnel information and an IP address of the second UE to the first session management network element.

Taking the communication device 50 as the first user plane network element in the above method embodiment as an example:

a transceiver module 501, configured to receive the VN group identifier and VN tunnel information sent by the first session management network element. The VN tunnel information is address information of a second user plane network element, and the first UE and the second UE are in a VN group. The transceiver module 501 is further configured to receive a data packet of the VN group through the session of the first UE. The data packet of the VN group includes an identification of the VN group and an internet protocol IP address of the second UE. The transceiver module 501 is further configured to forward the received data packet of the VN group to the second user plane network element according to the VN group identifier and the VN tunnel information, so that the second user plane network element sends the data packet of the VN group to the second UE through the session of the second UE according to the IP address of the second UE.

Optionally, the transceiver module 501 is configured to receive the VN group identifier and the VN tunnel information sent by the first session management network element, and specifically includes: a transceiver module 501 is configured to receive a forwarding behavior rule FAR from a first session management network element, where the FAR includes an identification of a VN group and VN tunnel information. The transceiver module 501 is configured to forward, to the second user plane network element, the received data packet of the VN group according to the VN group identifier and the VN tunnel information, and specifically includes: the transceiver module 501 is configured to forward the received data packet of the VN group to the second user plane network element according to the FAR.

All relevant contents of each step related to the above method embodiment may be cited to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, which is not described herein.

In the present embodiment, the communication device 50 is presented in a form in which the respective functional modules are divided in an integrated manner. A "module" herein may refer to a particular ASIC, an electronic circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other device that can provide the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the communication device 50 may take the form of the communication device 20 shown in fig. 2.

For example, the processor 201 in the communication apparatus 20 shown in fig. 2 may cause the communication apparatus 20 to execute the forwarding method in the above-described method embodiment by calling the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 203.

In particular, the functions/implementation of the transceiver module 501 and the processing module 502 in fig. 5 may be implemented by the processor 201 in the communication device 20 shown in fig. 2 invoking computer executable instructions stored in the memory 203. Alternatively, the functions/implementation of the processing module 502 in fig. 5 may be implemented by the processor 201 in the communication device 20 shown in fig. 2 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 203, and the functions/implementation of the transceiver module 501 in fig. 5 may be implemented by the communication interface 204 in the communication device 20 shown in fig. 2.

Since the communication device 50 provided in this embodiment can execute the above forwarding method, the technical effects obtained by the method can be referred to the above method embodiment, and will not be described herein.

It should be understood that, in various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the foregoing processes do not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of the processes should be determined by the functions and internal logic thereof, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software 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.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be through some interface, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, electrical, mechanical, or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in accordance with embodiments of the present application are produced in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (Digital Subscriber Line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device including one or more servers, data centers, etc. that can be integrated with the medium. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy Disk, a hard Disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), or the like.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present application, and the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art will readily recognize that variations or substitutions are within the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that the method is performed by a first session management network element for managing a session of a first user equipment, UE, the method comprising:

the first session management network element receives VN tunnel information from the second mobility management network element and an IP address of the second UE through the first mobility management network element;

the first mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of the first UE, and the second mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to the session of the second UE; the VN tunnel information is address information of a second user plane network element, and the second user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to a session of the second UE; the first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, and the first UE and the second UE are in the same Virtual Network (VN) group;

The first session management network element sends an IP address of the second UE to the first UE;

the first session management network element sends the identifier of the VN group and the VN tunnel information to a first user plane network element, wherein the first user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to the session of the first UE; the identifier of the VN group and the VN tunnel information are used for forwarding the data packet of the VN group received by the first user plane network element to the second user plane network element; the data packet of the VN group comprises the IP address of the second UE, so that the second user plane network element sends the data packet of the VN group to the second UE through the session of the second UE according to the IP address of the second UE.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

the first session management network element obtains subscription information of the VN group, where the subscription information of the VN group includes an identifier of the VN group.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first session management network element sending the identity of the VN group and the VN tunnel information to the first user plane network element comprises:

and the first session management network element sends a forwarding behavior rule FAR corresponding to the session of the first UE to the first user plane network element, wherein the FAR comprises the identifier of the VN group and the VN tunnel information.

4. A communication method, characterized in that the method is performed by a first mobility management network element, the first mobility management network element being a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of a first user equipment UE, the method comprising:

the first mobility management network element receives a session establishment request from the first UE; the session establishment request is used for requesting to establish a session between the first UE and the second UE, the first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, and the first UE and the second UE are in the same virtual network VN group;

the first mobility management network element sends a session establishment request of the first UE to a second mobility management network element; the second mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of the second UE, and the session establishment request of the first UE is used for the second mobility management network element to send the session establishment request of the first UE to the second session management network element, so that the second session management network element establishes the session of the second UE;

the first mobility management network element receives VN tunnel information corresponding to a session of the second UE and an IP address of the second UE, which are sent by the second mobility management network element, wherein the VN tunnel information is address information of a second user plane network element, and the second user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to the session of the second UE;

The first mobility management network element sends the VN tunnel information and the IP address of the second UE to a first session management network element, wherein the first session management network element is used for managing the session of the first UE.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the session establishment request includes a type field having a value of a first type, the first type indicating that the session establishment request is for requesting establishment of a session between the first UE and the second UE.

6. A communication system, which is characterized in that the communication system comprises a first user equipment UE, a second UE, a first session management network element, a second session management network element, a first mobility management network element, a second mobility management network element, a first user plane network element, and a second user plane network element;

the first UE sends a session establishment request to the first mobility management network element; wherein the session establishment request is used for requesting to establish a session between the first UE and the second UE; the first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, and the first UE and the second UE are in the same Virtual Network (VN) group;

The first mobility management network element sends the session establishment request to the second mobility management network element, and the session establishment request is used for triggering the second session management network element to establish the session of the second UE;

the second mobility management network element sends VN tunnel information corresponding to the second UE session and an IP address of the second UE to the first mobility management network element, wherein the VN tunnel information is used for establishing a transmission channel between the first user plane network element and the second user plane network element;

the first mobility management network element sends the VN tunnel information and the IP address of the second UE to the first session management network element;

the first session management network element sends the identifier of the VN group and the VN tunnel information to the first user plane network element, wherein the identifier of the VN group and the VN tunnel information are used for the first user plane network element to send a data packet from the first UE to the second user plane network element; and the first session management network element sends the IP address of the second UE to the first UE.

7. The communication system according to claim 6, wherein the first network is a 5 th generation 5G communication network, the second network is a 4 th generation 4G communication network, the first session management network element is a session management function SMF entity, the second session management network element is a serving gateway SGW, the first user plane network element is a user plane function UPF entity, the second user plane network element is a packet data network gateway PGW, the first mobility management network element is an access and mobility management function AMF entity, and the second mobility management network element is a mobility management entity MME;

Or the first network is a 4G communication network, the second network is a 5G communication network, the first session management network element is a serving gateway SGW, the second session management network element is a session management function SMF entity, the first user plane network element is a packet data network gateway PGW, the second user plane network element is a user plane function UPF entity, the first mobility management network element is a mobility management entity MME, and the second mobility management network element is an access and mobility management function AMF entity.

8. A communication device, wherein the communication device is applied to a first session management network element, the first session management network element being configured to manage a session of a first user equipment UE, the communication device comprising: a transceiver module;

the transceiver module is configured to obtain virtual network VN tunnel information and an internet protocol IP address of a second UE, where the VN tunnel information is address information of a second user plane network element, and the second user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to a session of the second UE; the first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, and the first UE and the second UE are in the same VN group;

The transceiver module is further configured to send an IP address of the second UE to the first UE;

the transceiver module is further configured to send the identifier of the VN group and the VN tunnel information to a first user plane network element, where the first user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to a session of the first UE; the identifier of the VN group and the VN tunnel information are used for forwarding the data packet of the VN group received by the first user plane network element to the second user plane network element; the data packet of the VN group comprises the IP address of the second UE, so that the second user plane network element sends the data packet of the VN group to the second UE through the session of the second UE according to the IP address of the second UE.

9. A communication apparatus, wherein the communication apparatus is applied to a first mobility management network element, the first mobility management network element being a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of a first user equipment UE, the communication apparatus comprising: a transceiver module;

the transceiver module is configured to receive a session establishment request from the first UE; the session establishment request is used for requesting to establish a session between the first UE and the second UE, the first UE is in a first network, the second UE is in a second network, and the first UE and the second UE are in the same virtual network VN group;

The transceiver module is further configured to send a session establishment request of the first UE to a second mobility management network element; the second mobility management network element is a mobility management network element corresponding to a session of the second UE, and the session establishment request of the first UE is used for the second mobility management network element to send the session establishment request of the first UE to the second session management network element, so that the second session management network element establishes the session of the second UE;

the transceiver module is further configured to receive VN tunnel information corresponding to a session of the second UE and the IP address of the second UE, where the VN tunnel information is address information of a second user plane network element, and the second user plane network element is a user plane network element corresponding to the session of the second UE, where the second user plane network element is sent by the second mobility management network element;

the transceiver module is further configured to send the VN tunnel information and the IP address of the second UE to a first session management network element, where the first session management network element is configured to manage a session of the first UE.

10. A communication device, the communication device comprising: a processor and a memory;

the memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the method of any of claims 1-3 or 4-5.

11. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium has stored therein a computer program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any of claims 1-3 or 4-5.