WO2022001761A1

WO2022001761A1 - Communication method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2022001761A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/101627
Authority: WO
Inventors: 潘奇; 黄正磊; 倪慧
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2020-06-30
Filing date: 2021-06-22
Publication date: 2022-01-06
Also published as: CN113873478B; CN113873478A

Abstract

Provided are a communication method and apparatus, which relate to the technical field of communications. The method comprises: an access network device receiving session context of a terminal group from a mobile management network element, and the access network device receiving a first message from a first terminal in the terminal group, and sending a first response to the first terminal according to the first message. The access network device is an access network device accessed by the first terminal, services of terminals in the terminal group have the same QoS requirement, the first message comprises an identifier of the terminal group, and the first response carries the session context of the terminal group. In the method, a mobile management network element sends session context of a terminal group to an access network device, and a terminal can then acquire, during a PDU session establishment flow or an SR flow, the session context of the terminal group only by means of interaction with the access network device accessed thereby, so as to avoid repeated signaling interaction, thereby greatly reducing tedious signaling interaction and effectively saving on network resources.

Description

Communication method and device

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202010617172.9 and the application name "Communication Method and Device" filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on June 30, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated into this application by reference.

technical field

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

Background technique

Massive machine type communications (mMTC) is one of the important application scenarios of the 5th-generation (5G) system, mainly for various Internet of things (IoT) services based on cellular networks application. In the mMTC application scenario, there will be large-scale and massive IoT terminal connections, which can reach 1 million connections per square kilometer, which brings great challenges to the network architecture and protocol design. In addition, the mMTC application also has low data volume (small data packet transmission of tens of bytes), low power consumption (the battery life of IoT terminals can reach 10 years), deep coverage (supports various weak coverage scenarios, such as underground garages) , elevator shaft, etc.), low complexity (reduce terminal and network costs) and other features.

Typical application scenarios of mMTC include video surveillance (surveillance cameras, etc.), industrial sensor networks (such as temperature sensors, pressure sensors, etc.), wearable devices (smart bracelets, smart watches, smart glasses, etc.), etc. As a typical mMTC scenario, In the video surveillance service, the camera is deployed at a fixed location and continuously transmits upstream video streams. Moreover, the data transmission service of each camera has the same video stream quality requirements, that is, the same quality of service (QoS). In the video surveillance scenario, each camera needs to establish a connection with the network, create a protocol data unit (PDU) session and determine the QoS parameters, which imposes a huge signaling burden on the core network and causes the network Inefficient use of resources.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, which are used to reduce signaling overhead and improve resource utilization.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the embodiments of the present application provide some technical solutions. The network elements involved in these technical solutions include mobility management network elements, session management network elements, user plane network elements, data management network elements, and policy control network elements, as follows: Taking the mobility management network element, session management network element, user plane network element, data management network element and policy control network element as AMF, SMF, UPF, UDM and PCF as examples to illustrate the technical solutions provided by this application:

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, including: an access network device receives a session context of a terminal group and an identifier of the terminal group from an AMF, and the services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same QoS requirements; The first terminal in the group receives the first message, the first message includes the identifier of the terminal group, and the access network device is the access network device accessed by the first terminal; the access network device sends the first terminal according to the first message The first response, where the session context of the terminal group is carried in the first response. In the prior art, all terminals independently perform the PDU session establishment process or the SR process, ignoring the association between the sessions of the terminals, resulting in waste of signaling. In the method provided by the first aspect, the AMF sends the session context of the terminal group to the access network device, and in the subsequent PDU session establishment process or SR process, the terminal only needs to interact with the accessed access network device to obtain the terminal group. Session context, thus avoiding repeated signaling interactions, greatly reducing tedious signaling interactions, and effectively saving network resources.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network device receiving the session context of the terminal group from the AMF includes: during the process of establishing a session by the second terminal in the terminal group, the access network device receives the session context of the terminal group from the AMF and the identifier of the terminal group, the second terminal is the first terminal in the terminal group that requests to establish a session. In this possible implementation, when the first terminal in the terminal group establishes a session, the AMF sends the session context of the terminal group to M access network devices. During the registration process of other terminals, the terminal only needs to communicate with the access network. The session context of the terminal group can be obtained by interacting with the access network devices of the terminal group, thereby avoiding repeated signaling interactions, greatly reducing tedious signaling interactions, and effectively saving network resources.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network device receives the first message from the first terminal in the terminal group, including: during the session establishment process or the service request process of the first terminal, the access network device receives the first message from the first terminal. The terminal receives the first message. In this possible implementation manner, the terminal can send the first message to the access network device in various scenarios, which increases the application scope of the method.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminals in the terminal group access M access network devices, M=1, and the method further includes: the access network device receives an IP address set from the AMF; the access network device receives the IP address set according to the IP address The set allocates an IP address to the first terminal; the access network device sends the IP address allocated to the first terminal to the first terminal. In this possible implementation manner, since a terminal in a terminal group accesses an access network device, the AMF can send an IP address set to the access network device, so that the access network device can communicate with the terminals in the terminal group. Unified management of IP addresses.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminals in the terminal group access M access network devices, where M>1, M is an integer, and the access network device is one of the M access network devices, and the method further includes : The access network device sends an IP address request to the AMF, and the IP address request is used to request an IP address for the first terminal; the access network device receives the IP address allocated by the AMF for the first terminal from the AMF; the access network device sends the first terminal to the The IP address assigned by the AMF to the first terminal is sent. In this possible implementation manner, since the terminals in the terminal group access multiple access network devices, the AMF can perform uniform IP address allocation, so as to uniformly manage the IP addresses of the terminals in the terminal group.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the access network device sends second indication information to the UPF serving the access network device, where the second indication information is used to instruct the UPF first terminal to join the first session, The terminals in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals in the terminal group accessing the access network device share one QoS flow in the first session. In this possible implementation manner, the UPF can determine the terminal that joins the first session, so that the UPF can perform IP address binding.

In a possible implementation manner, in the case that the third terminal in the terminal group that accesses the access network device stops working, the method further includes: the access network device provides services to the UPF for the access network device to the UPF Send sixth indication information and fourth indication information, the fourth indication information is used to instruct the UPF third terminal to leave the first session, the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal, and the terminals in the terminal group share the first session One QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals accessing the access network device in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session. In this possible implementation manner, the UPF can determine the terminal that leaves the first session, so that the UPF can recover the IP address.

In a possible implementation manner, when the third terminal in the terminal group that accesses the access network device stops working, the method further includes: the access network device receives third indication information from the AMF, and the third The indication information is used to instruct the third terminal to stop working; the access network device releases the connection with the third terminal. In this possible implementation manner, the access network device can determine the terminal that stops working, thereby releasing the corresponding connection and releasing network resources.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the access network device adjusts the QoS profile of the QoS flow according to the number of terminals currently accessing the access network device in the terminal group and the session context of the terminal group . In this possible implementation manner, the access network device can adjust the QoS execution rules according to the current number of terminals joining the first session, so as to ensure the normal transmission of the QoS flow.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, including: during the registration process of the terminal, the AMF determines whether the session context of the terminal group to which the terminal belongs is delivered to the access network device, and the access network device is the access network device for the terminal access. network equipment, the services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same QoS requirements; if so, the AMF sends the first indication information to the terminal, and the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal to obtain the session context from the access network equipment; During the session, the AMF sends the session context of the terminal group and the identifier of the terminal group to M access network devices, where the M access network devices are the access network devices accessed by the terminals in the terminal group, and the M access network devices are the access network devices accessed by the terminals in the terminal group. The equipment includes the access network equipment accessed by the terminal, and M is an integer greater than 0. In the method provided by the second aspect, during the process of establishing a session for the first terminal in the terminal group, the AMF sends the session context of the terminal group to M access network devices. During the registration process of other terminals, the AMF can send the message to other terminals. The first indication information instructs the terminal to obtain the session context of the terminal group from the accessed access network device. In the subsequent PDU session establishment process or SR process, the terminal only needs to interact with the accessed access network device to obtain the terminal. The session context of the group is used, thereby avoiding repeated signaling interactions, greatly reducing tedious signaling interactions, and effectively saving network resources.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is specifically used to instruct the terminal to obtain the session context from the access network device during the session establishment process or the service request process. In this possible implementation manner, the terminal can obtain the session context from the access network device in various scenarios, which enlarges the application scope of the method.

In a possible implementation manner, in the process of establishing the session by the terminal, the method further includes: the AMF receives a second message from the terminal, where the second message is used to request to establish a session for the terminal; the AMF determines that the terminal is the first in the terminal group A terminal requesting to establish a session; AMF sends a third message to SMF, the third message carries the identifier of the terminal group, and the third message is used to request the session context of the terminal group; AMF receives the session context of the terminal group from the SMF. This possible implementation provides a method for acquiring the session context of the terminal group.

In a possible implementation manner, during the process of establishing a session by the terminal, the method further includes: the AMF receives an IP address set from the SMF, where the IP address set is used for allocating IP addresses of the terminals in the terminal group.

In a possible implementation manner, if M=1, in the process of establishing a session by the terminal, the method further includes: the AMF sends an IP address set to the access network device. In this possible implementation manner, since a terminal in a terminal group accesses an access network device, the AMF can send an IP address set to the access network device, so that the access network device can communicate with the terminals in the terminal group. Unified management of IP addresses.

In a possible implementation manner, in the case that the third terminal in the terminal group stops working, the method further includes: the AMF receives the sixth indication information from the M access network devices; The UPF served by each access network device sends fourth indication information and sixth indication information, the fourth indication information is used to instruct the UPF third terminal to leave the first session, and the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal; wherein , the terminals in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals in the terminal group accessing the same access network device share one QoS flow in the first session. In this possible implementation manner, when the terminal stops working, the UPF can be notified, so that the UPF can reclaim the IP address.

In a possible implementation manner, M>1, in the process of establishing a session by the terminal, the method further includes: the AMF receives an IP address request from an access network device accessed by the terminal, and the IP address request is used to request an IP address for the terminal address; the AMF assigns an IP address to the terminal according to the IP address set; the AMF sends the IP address assigned to the terminal to the access network device accessed by the terminal. In this possible implementation manner, since the terminals in the terminal group access multiple access network devices, the AMF can perform uniform IP address allocation, so as to uniformly manage the IP addresses of the terminals in the terminal group.

In a possible implementation manner, when the third terminal in the terminal group stops working, the method further includes: the AMF reclaims the IP address of the third terminal; The UPF served by the network device sends fourth indication information and sixth indication information, the fourth indication information is used to instruct the UPF third terminal to leave the first session, and the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal; wherein, the terminal group The terminals in the terminal share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals in the terminal group that access the same access network device share one QoS flow in the first session. In this possible implementation, when the terminal stops working, the IP address can be recovered for subsequent allocation to other terminals, and the UPF can be notified so that the UPF can perform the same operation to ensure the information consistency of each network element in the network.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the AMF obtains, according to the context of the third terminal, the identity of the access network device accessed by the third terminal and the identity of the third terminal; The network access device sends third indication information, where the third indication information is used to instruct the third terminal to stop working. In this possible implementation manner, the access network device can determine the terminal that stops working, thereby releasing the corresponding connection and releasing network resources.

In a possible implementation manner, in the process of establishing the session by the terminal, the method further includes: the AMF receives the tunnel information of the M access network devices from the M access network devices; the AMF sends the M access network devices to the SMF Tunnel information for the device. Since other terminals do not need to perform the session establishment or SR process, in order to ensure that the UPF obtains the tunnel information of M access network devices, during the session establishment process of the first terminal in the terminal group, the AMF sends M Tunnel information of access network devices, SMF can let UPF obtain tunnel information of M access network devices in advance.

In a possible implementation manner, in the process of establishing the session by the terminal, the method further includes: the AMF sends the session context of the terminal to the terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, the AMF determines the terminal group to which the terminal belongs according to the identification of the terminal, including: the AMF obtains the subscription information of the terminal from the UDM according to the identification of the terminal, and the subscription information includes information of the terminal group to which the terminal belongs. This possible implementation provides a method for determining a terminal group.

In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, including: a terminal receiving first indication information from an AMF during a registration process, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal to obtain a session context from an accessed access network device, and the terminal belongs to a terminal group , the services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same QoS requirements; the terminal sends a first message to the access network device according to the first indication information, and the first message includes the identifier of the terminal group; the terminal receives the first response from the access network device , the first response carries the session context of the terminal group. In the method provided by the third aspect, in the process of establishing a session for the first terminal in the terminal group, the AMF sends the session context of the terminal group to M access network devices, and during the registration process of other terminals, the AMF can send the The first indication information instructs the terminal to obtain the session context of the terminal group from the accessed access network device. In the subsequent PDU session establishment process or SR process, the terminal only needs to interact with the accessed access network device to obtain the terminal. The session context of the group is used, thereby avoiding repeated signaling interactions, greatly reducing tedious signaling interactions, and effectively saving network resources.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is specifically used to instruct the terminal to obtain the session context from the access network device during the session establishment process or the service request process, and the terminal sends the first indication information to the access network device according to the first indication information. A message includes: according to the first indication information, the terminal sends a first message to an access network device during a session establishment process or a service request process. In this possible implementation manner, the terminal can send the first message to the access network device in various scenarios, which increases the application scope of the method.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, including: the SMF receives a third message of a second terminal from the AMF, the second terminal is the first terminal in the terminal group that requests to establish a session, and the services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same The third message carries the identifier of the terminal group, and the third message is used to request the session context of the terminal group; SMF creates the session context of the terminal group according to the identifier of the terminal group; SMF sends the session context of the terminal group to the AMF. A fourth aspect provides a method for enabling an AMF to acquire a session context of a terminal group.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the SMF allocates an IP address set to the terminal group, and sends the IP address set to the AMF, where the IP address set is used for allocating IP addresses of the terminals in the terminal group.

In a possible implementation manner, before the SMF sends the session context of the terminal group to the AMF, the method further includes: the SMF sends fifth indication information to the PCF, where the fifth indication information is used to instruct the PCF to formulate a corresponding PCC for the terminal group Rules; the SMF receives the PCC rules formulated by the PCF for the terminal group from the PCF; the SMF generates the QoS rules in the session context of the terminal group according to the PCC rules. This possible implementation provides a method for acquiring PCC rules and generating QoS rules in the session context of the terminal group.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the SMF generates a PDR corresponding to the UPF serving the access network device accessed by the second terminal according to the PCC rule; and the SMF sends the IP address set and the PDR corresponding to the UPF to the UPF. In this possible implementation manner, the UPF can obtain the QoS enforcement rule and the IP address set, so that the UPF can perform subsequent IP address binding and QoS enforcement rule adjustment.

A fifth aspect provides a communication method, comprising: the UPF receives an IP address set from the SMF, the IP address set is used for allocating IP addresses of terminals in a terminal group, and the services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same QoS requirements, The terminals in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals in the terminal group that access the same access network device share one QoS flow in the first session; the UPF receives the second indication information, and the second The indication information is used to instruct the UPF first terminal to join the first session, and the UPF binds the first terminal to the IP address in the IP address set; or, the UPF receives the sixth indication information and the fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate The UPF third terminal leaves the first session, the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal, and the UPF recycles the IP address of the third terminal according to the fourth indication information and the sixth indication information. According to the method provided in the fifth aspect, the UPF can perform IP address binding and recovery according to the terminal joining the first session and the terminal leaving the first session, so as to timely allocate and recover the IP address and ensure the correct transmission of data of the terminal .

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the UPF receives a PDR corresponding to the UPF from the SMF, and the PDR is generated according to the PCC rule formulated for the terminal group; and the UPF adjusts the PDR according to the second indication information or the fourth indication information. In this possible implementation manner, the UPF can obtain the QoS execution rules, and adjust the QoS execution rules according to the current number of terminals joining the first session, so as to ensure the normal transmission of the QoS flow.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; a processing unit for receiving, through the communication unit, a session context of a terminal group and an identifier of the terminal group from an AMF, and services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same QoS requirements; the processing unit is further configured to receive a first message from a first terminal in the terminal group through the communication unit, where the first message includes an identifier of the terminal group, and the communication device is a communication device accessed by the first terminal; The processing unit is further configured to send a first response to the first terminal through the communication unit according to the first message, where the first response carries the session context of the terminal group.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: in the process of establishing a session by the second terminal in the terminal group, receive the session context of the terminal group from the AMF through the communication unit, and the second terminal is the terminal group in the terminal group. The first terminal to request a session.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: receive the first message from the first terminal through the communication unit during the session establishment process or the service request process of the first terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminals in the terminal group access M communication devices, M=1, the processing unit is further configured to receive an IP address set from the AMF through the communication unit; the processing unit is further configured to receive an IP address set according to the IP address The set assigns the IP address to the first terminal; the processing unit is further configured to send the IP address assigned to the first terminal to the first terminal through the communication unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminals in the terminal group access M communication apparatuses, where M>1, M is an integer, and the communication apparatus is one of the M communication apparatuses. The AMF sends an IP address request, and the IP address request is used to request an IP address for the first terminal; the processing unit is further configured to receive the IP address allocated by the AMF for the first terminal from the AMF through the communication unit; the processing unit is also used to pass the communication unit The IP address assigned by the AMF to the first terminal is sent to the first terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to send second indication information to the UPF that provides services for the communication device through the communication unit, where the second indication information is used to instruct the UPF first terminal to join the first session, the terminal group The terminals in the terminal share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals in the terminal group accessing the communication apparatus share one QoS flow in the first session.

In a possible implementation manner, when the third terminal in the terminal group that accesses the communication device stops working, the processing unit is further configured to send a sixth indication to the UPF serving the communication device through the communication unit information and fourth indication information, the fourth indication information is used to instruct the UPF third terminal to leave the first session, the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal, and the terminals in the terminal group share one QoS in the first session flow, or the terminals in the terminal group accessing the communication apparatus share one QoS flow in the first session.

In a possible implementation manner, when the third terminal in the terminal group that accesses the communication apparatus stops working, the processing unit is further configured to receive third indication information from the AMF through the communication unit, the third indication information It is used to instruct the third terminal to stop working; the processing unit is also used to release the connection with the third terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to adjust the QoS profile of the QoS flow according to the number of terminals currently accessing the communication apparatus in the terminal group and the session context of the terminal group.

In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; during the registration process of the terminal, the processing unit is used to determine whether the session context of the terminal group to which the terminal belongs is delivered to the access network device, and then receives the The network access device is the access network device accessed by the terminal, and the services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same QoS requirements; if so, the communication unit is used to send the first indication information to the terminal, and the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal to send to the terminal. The access network device obtains the session context; if not, in the process of establishing the session by the terminal, the communication unit is configured to send the session context of the terminal group and the identifier of the terminal group to the M access network devices, and the M access network devices The device is an access network device accessed by a terminal in the terminal group, the M access network devices include the access network device accessed by the terminal, and M is an integer greater than 0.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is specifically used to instruct the terminal to obtain the session context from the access network device during the session establishment process or the service request process.

In a possible implementation manner, during the process of establishing a session by the terminal, the communication unit is further configured to receive a second message from the terminal, where the second message is used to request to establish a session for the terminal; the processing unit is further configured to determine whether the terminal is the first terminal in the terminal group that requests to establish a session; the communication unit is further configured to send a third message to the SMF, where the third message carries the identifier of the terminal group, and the third message is used to request the session context of the terminal group; the communication unit, Also used to receive the session context of the endpoint group from the SMF.

In a possible implementation manner, during the process of establishing a session by the terminal, the communication unit is further configured to receive an IP address set from the SMF, where the IP address set is used for allocating IP addresses of the terminals in the terminal group.

In a possible implementation manner, if M=1, in the process of establishing a session of the terminal, the communication unit is further configured to send the IP address set to the access network device.

In a possible implementation manner, when the third terminal in the terminal group stops working, the communication unit is further configured to receive the sixth indication information from the M access network devices; the communication unit is further configured to receive the sixth indication information from the M access network devices; Send fourth indication information and sixth indication information to the UPF serving M access network devices through SMF, the fourth indication information is used to instruct the UPF third terminal to leave the first session, and the sixth indication information is used to instruct the third terminal where the terminals in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals in the terminal group accessing the same access network device share one QoS flow in the first session.

In a possible implementation manner, M>1, in the process of establishing a session for the terminal, the communication unit is further configured to receive an IP address request from an access network device accessed by the terminal, and the IP address request is used to request an IP address for the terminal address; the processing unit is further configured to assign an IP address to the terminal according to the IP address set; the communication unit is further configured to send the IP address assigned to the terminal to the access network device accessed by the terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, when the third terminal in the terminal group stops working, the processing unit is further configured to reclaim the IP address of the third terminal; the communication unit is further configured to send messages to the third terminal through SMF The UPF served by the accessed access network device sends fourth indication information and sixth indication information, the fourth indication information is used to instruct the UPF third terminal to leave the first session, and the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal wherein, the terminals in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals in the terminal group accessing the same access network device share one QoS flow in the first session.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to acquire the identity of the access network device accessed by the third terminal and the identity of the third terminal according to the context of the third terminal; the communication unit is further configured to send the third terminal to the third terminal. The access network device accessed by the terminal sends third indication information, where the third indication information is used to instruct the third terminal to stop working.

In a possible implementation manner, in the process of establishing a session by the terminal, the communication unit is further configured to receive tunnel information of the M access network devices from the M access network devices; the communication unit is further configured to send the SMF to the SMF Tunnel information of M access network devices.

In a possible implementation manner, during the process of establishing the session by the terminal, the communication unit is further configured to send the session context of the terminal to the terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: obtain subscription information of the terminal from the UDM through the communication unit according to the identifier of the terminal, where the subscription information includes information of the terminal group to which the terminal belongs.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; the processing unit is configured to receive first indication information from the AMF during a registration process through the communication unit, where the first indication information is used to instruct the communication device to send The incoming access network device obtains the session context, the communication device belongs to the terminal group, and the services of the communication devices in the terminal group have the same QoS requirements; the processing unit is further configured to send the communication unit to the access network device according to the first indication information The first message includes the identifier of the terminal group; the processing unit is further configured to receive a first response from the access network device through the communication unit, where the first response carries the session context of the terminal group.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is specifically used to instruct the communication apparatus to obtain the session context from the access network device during the session establishment process or the service request process, and the processing unit is specifically configured to: according to the first indication information , in the session establishment process or the service request process, the first message is sent to the access network device through the communication unit.

In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; the communication unit is configured to receive a third message of a second terminal from the AMF, where the second terminal is the first terminal in the terminal group that requests to establish a session , the services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same QoS requirements, the third message carries the identifier of the terminal group, and the third message is used to request the session context of the terminal group; the processing unit is used to create a terminal group according to the identifier of the terminal group. Session context; the communication unit is also used to send the session context of the terminal group to the AMF.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to allocate an IP address set to the terminal group, and send the IP address set to the AMF through the communication unit, where the IP address set is used for allocating IP addresses of the terminals in the terminal group.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send fifth indication information to the PCF, where the fifth indication information is used to instruct the PCF to formulate corresponding PCC rules for the terminal group; the communication unit is further configured to receive the PCF from the PCF The PCC rule formulated for the terminal group; the processing unit is further configured to generate the QoS rule in the session context of the terminal group according to the PCC rule.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to generate a PDR corresponding to the UPF serving the access network device accessed by the second terminal according to the PCC rule; the communication unit is further configured to send the IP address set and the UPF to the UPF. PDR corresponding to UPF.

In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; the processing unit is configured to receive an IP address set from the SMF through the communication unit, where the IP address set is used for allocating IP addresses of terminals in a terminal group, The services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same QoS requirements, and the terminals in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals in the terminal group that access the same access network device share the same QoS flow in the first session. A QoS flow; the processing unit is further configured to receive second indication information through the communication unit, the second indication information is used to instruct the first terminal of the communication device to join the first session, and the processing unit is further configured to aggregate the first terminal and the IP address or, the processing unit is further configured to receive sixth indication information and fourth indication information through the communication unit, the fourth indication information is used to instruct the third terminal of the communication device to leave the first session, and the sixth indication information is used for for indicating the IP address of the third terminal, the processing unit is further configured to recover the IP address of the third terminal according to the fourth indication information and the sixth indication information.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to receive a PDR corresponding to the communication device from the SMF through the communication unit, and the PDR is generated according to the PCC rule formulated for the terminal group; the processing unit is further configured to receive the PDR according to the second indication information or The fourth indication information adjusts the PDR.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, comprising: a processor. The processor is connected to the memory, the memory is used for storing computer-executed instructions, and the processor executes the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory, thereby implementing any one of the methods provided in any one of the first to fifth aspects. Exemplarily, the memory and the processor may be integrated together, or may be independent devices. In the latter case, the memory may be located in the communication device or outside the communication device.

In a possible implementation, the processor includes a logic circuit, and also includes at least one of an input interface and an output interface. Exemplarily, the output interface is used for performing the sending action in the corresponding method, and the input interface is used for performing the receiving action in the corresponding method.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication device further includes a communication interface and a communication bus, and the processor, the memory and the communication interface are connected through the communication bus. The communication interface is used to perform the actions of transceiving in the corresponding method. The communication interface may also be referred to as a transceiver. Optionally, the communication interface includes at least one of a transmitter and a receiver. In this case, the transmitter is configured to perform the sending action in the corresponding method, and the receiver is configured to perform the receiving action in the corresponding method.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication device exists in the form of a chip product.

A twelfth aspect provides a communication device, comprising a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit is configured to receive signals from other communication devices other than the communication device and transmit to the processor or send signals from the processor to the communication device For other communication devices other than the device, the processor is used to implement any one of the methods provided in any one of the first to fifth aspects by using a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

A thirteenth aspect provides a communication system, including the communication apparatus provided by any one or more of the sixth aspect, the seventh aspect, the eighth aspect, the ninth aspect, and the tenth aspect.

A fourteenth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when the computer-executable instructions are run on a computer, cause the computer to execute any one of the first to fifth aspects provided method.

A fifteenth aspect provides a computer program product, comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when the computer-executable instructions are run on a computer, cause the computer to perform any one of the methods provided in any one of the first to fifth aspects.

For the technical effects brought by any one of the implementation manners of the sixth aspect to the fifteenth aspect, reference may be made to the technical effects brought about by the corresponding implementation manners in the first aspect to the fifth aspect, which will not be repeated here.

It should be noted that, on the premise that the solutions are not contradictory, the solutions in the above aspects can be combined.

Description of drawings

Figure 1 is an architecture diagram of a 5G network;

2 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

3 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

4 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

6 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

10 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

11 is a flowchart of still another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of another communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application.

detailed description

In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "/" means or means, for example, A/B can mean A or B; "and/or" in this text is only a relationship to describe the related objects, Indicates that three relationships can exist, for example, A and/or B, can represent: A alone exists, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In the description of this application, unless stated otherwise, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more.

In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same or similar items with basically the same function and effect. Those skilled in the art can understand that the words "first", "second" and the like do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the words "first", "second" and the like are not necessarily different.

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application may be applied to a fourth generation (4th Generation, 4G) system, various systems based on 4G system evolution, 5G systems, and various systems based on 5G system evolution. The 4G system may also be called an evolved packet system (EPS). The core network of the 4G system may be called an evolved packet core (EPC), and the access network may be called long term evolution (LTE). The core network of the 5G system can be called 5GC (5G core), and the access network can be called new radio (NR).

FIG. 1 exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a 5G system. In this schematic diagram, the 5G system may include: an authentication server function (AUSF) network element, an access and mobility management function (core access and mobility management function, AMF) network element, a data network (DN, DN) ), unified data management (UDM) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, (radio) access network ((R)AN) network element, user User plane function (UPF) network element, terminal (terminal), application function (AF) network element, session management function (session management function, SMF) network element, network exposure function (network exposure function, NEF) ) network element, network function repository function (NRF) network element, unified database (unified data repository, UDR) network element.

It should be noted that the (R)AN network element, AMF network element, SMF network element, AUSF network element, UDM network element, UPF network element and PCF network element in Figure 1 are only a name, and the name is related to the network element itself. does not constitute a limitation. In the 5G network and other future networks, the entities or devices corresponding to these network elements may also have other names, which are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, the UDM network element may also be replaced with a user home server (home subscriber server, HSS) or user subscription database (user subscription database, USD) or database network element, etc., which are described here uniformly, and will not be repeated below. .

For convenience of description, in the following, (R)AN network element, AMF network element, SMF network element, UDM network element, UPF network element, PCF network element, etc. are referred to by RAN, AMF, SMF, UDM, UPF, PCF, etc. respectively. .

The terminal, RAN, UPF, and DN in Figure 1 are generally referred to as user plane network elements. User data traffic can be transmitted through the PDU session established between the terminal and the DN, and the transmission will pass through the two network elements, RAN and UPF. Among them, the user plane is used for service data bearing. The other network elements in Figure 1 are called control plane network elements, and are mainly responsible for functions such as authentication and authentication, registration management, session management, mobility management, and policy control, so as to achieve reliable and stable transmission of user layer traffic. The control plane is used to carry signaling messages.

Figure 1 shows the interaction relationship between network elements and corresponding interfaces. For example, the terminal and the AMF can interact through the N1 interface, and the interaction message is called an N1 message (Message). Some interfaces are implemented in the form of service interfaces.

The functions of some network elements in Figure 1 are as follows:

PCF has functions such as providing policy rules to network elements on the control plane.

UDM has functions such as managing user contract data and generating user authentication information.

AF, which may be an application server, may belong to an operator or a third party. It mainly supports interaction with the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) core network to provide services, such as influencing data routing decisions, policy control functions, or providing some third-party services to the network side.

RAN, a network composed of multiple access network devices (also known as RAN nodes or network devices), implements wireless physical layer functions, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, wireless access control and mobility management functions, and quality of service management. , data compression and encryption functions. The access network equipment is connected to the UPF through the user plane interface N3, and is used to transmit data of the terminal. The access network equipment establishes a control plane signaling connection with the AMF through the control plane interface N2 to implement functions such as radio access bearer control.

AMF is mainly responsible for the signaling processing part, such as terminal registration management, terminal connection management, terminal reachability management, terminal access authorization and access authentication, terminal security function, terminal mobility management, Network slice selection, SMF selection, terminal attachment and detachment functions. The AMF acts as the anchor point for the N1 and N2 signaling connections and provides the N1/N2 interface session management (session management, SM) message routing for the SMF; maintains and manages the state information of the terminal. When the AMF network element provides services for a session in the terminal, it provides storage resources of the control plane for the session to store the session ID, the ID of the SMF associated with the session ID, and the like.

SMF is mainly responsible for all control plane functions of terminal session management, including UPF selection, control and redirection, Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, session QoS management, and obtaining policy and charging control from PCF ( policy and charging control, PCC) policy, bearer establishment, modification and release, etc. The SMF also acts as a termination point for the SM part of a non-access stratum (NAS) message.

UPF, as the anchor point of the PDU session connection, is responsible for the terminal data packet filtering, data transmission/forwarding (for example, forwarding the data exchanged between the access network device and the DN), rate control, generation of charging information, User plane QoS processing, uplink transmission authentication, transmission level verification, downlink data packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, etc. The UPF can also act as a branch point for a multi-homed PDU session. The transmission resources and scheduling functions that serve the terminal in the UPF are managed and controlled by the SMF.

The terminal may be a wireless terminal or a wired terminal. A wireless terminal may be a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with wireless connectivity, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. A certain air interface technology (such as NR technology or LTE technology) is used between the terminal and the access network device to communicate with each other. A certain air interface technology (such as NR technology or LTE technology) can also be used between terminals to communicate with each other. A wireless terminal may communicate with one or more core network devices via access network devices, such as with AMF, SMF, and the like. The wireless terminal may be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone), smart phone, satellite wireless device, wireless modem card, and computer with a mobile terminal, for example, may be laptop, portable, pocket, Handheld, computer built-in or vehicle mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and/or data with access network equipment. Exemplarily, the wireless terminal may be a personal communication service (PCS) phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital Assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), virtual reality (virtual reality, VR) glasses, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) glasses, machine type communication terminals and other equipment. In the Internet of Vehicles communication, the communication equipment loaded on the vehicle is a kind of terminal, and the roadside unit (RSU) can also be used as a kind of terminal. The communication equipment loaded on the UAV can also be regarded as a kind of terminal. A wireless terminal may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), subscriber unit (subscriber unit), subscriber station (subscriber station), mobile station (mobile station), mobile station (mobile), remote station (remote station), receiver Access point, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, etc.

It can be understood that, in addition to the functional network elements shown in FIG. 1 , the network architecture of the 5G network may also include other functional network elements. For example, a network exposure function (NEF) network element may also be included between the AF network element and the PCF network element, which may be used to exchange internal and external information of the network. In this embodiment of the present application, a network element may also be referred to as an entity or a device or the like.

In a 5G network, the session in this embodiment of the present application may be a PDU session, which is a connection between a terminal and a DN, and is used to provide a PDU connection service. The PDU session type may be an IP connection, an Ethernet connection, or an unstructured data connection. A terminal can initiate the establishment of one or more PDU sessions to connect to the same DN or to different DNs.

A QoS flow is the most refined QoS differentiation granularity in a PDU session, and a QoS flow identity (QFI) is used to identify a QoS flow. A PDU session can include multiple QoS flows, and each QoS flow can carry multiple services.

It should be noted that, for the same QoS flow, different devices have corresponding QoS enforcement rules. Among them, on the access network device, the QoS execution rule can be called QoS profile (QoS profile), on the terminal, the QoS execution rule can be called QoS rule (QoS rule), on UPF, the QoS rule The execution rules can be called packet detection rules (packet detection rules, PDR).

This application can be applied to the Internet of Things, specifically in scenarios where there are a large number of terminals, the QoS requirements of the terminals are the same or similar, and the location of the terminals is relatively fixed, for example, video surveillance scenarios, sensor network scenarios, wearable devices (smart wristbands, smart watches, smart glasses, etc.)

In the prior art, in a video surveillance scenario, when an application provider needs to install a series of cameras, each installed camera independently executes the PDU session establishment process specified by the existing 3GPP protocol (for the specific process, please refer to the third-generation partners. Plan (3rd generation partnership project, 3GPP) technical specification (technical specification, TS) 23.502 clause (Clause) 4.3.2), to achieve the establishment of PDU session, resulting in complicated, repetitive, inefficient signaling interaction, resulting in waste of resources. Similarly, under the sensor network, each sensor independently executes the PDU session establishment process to realize the establishment of the PDU session. Therefore, the same problem also exists.

In addition, in the video surveillance scenario, when multiple cameras are restored from the idle state (ie CM-IDLE state) to the connected state (ie CM-CONNECTED state), each camera needs to perform a service request (SR) process one by one. Enter the connection state, and activate the existing PDU session at the same time to realize the corresponding uplink data transmission (for the specific process, please refer to 3GPP TS 23.502 Clause 4.2.3), which causes a huge signaling burden on the core network, resulting in inefficient use of network resources . Similarly, under the sensor network, sensors with fixed locations and the same QoS requirements need to enter the idle state to save energy. When multiple sensors transition from the idle state to the connected state, each sensor needs to execute the SR process to enter the connected state. , and activate the existing PDU session at the same time to realize the corresponding uplink data transmission. Therefore, the same problem also exists.

In the prior art, the correlation between terminals (eg, cameras or sensors) with fixed locations and consistent QoS requirements cannot be applied at all, resulting in complicated, repetitive, and inefficient signaling interaction, thereby resulting in waste of resources. In order to solve this problem, the present application proposes a communication method. The network side can make use of these correlations between terminals to create a "whole/group" PDU session for such terminals, that is, in a group unit. To establish a PDU session or activate a PDU session, it is not necessary for each terminal to perform a PDU session establishment process or an SR process, simplifying the PDU session establishment process or SR process to ensure that the terminal can quickly complete the PDU session establishment or PDU session activation, effectively avoiding complex information. Enable interaction, improve network resource utilization, speed up network connection establishment and state transition, and avoid waste of signaling resources. The methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below.

The network elements involved in this application include mobility management network elements, session management network elements, user plane network elements, data management network elements, and policy control network elements. , the data management network element and the policy control network element are respectively AMF, SMF, UPF, UDM and PCF in the 5G network as an example to illustrate the method provided in this application. It should be noted that AMF, SMF, UPF, UDM and PCF in the following may be replaced by mobility management network elements, session management network elements, user plane network elements, data management network elements and policy control network elements, respectively. When this application is applied to a 4G system or other communication systems (for example, a communication system that will evolve in the future), it is sufficient to replace the network elements involved in this application with network elements with the same or similar functions in the corresponding communication system for understanding. .

Referring to Figure 2, the method includes:

201. During the registration process of the terminal (denoted as terminal A), the AMF determines whether the session context of the terminal group to which terminal A belongs is delivered to the access network device (denoted as access network device A), and the access network device A is: Access network equipment accessed by terminal A.

The services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same or similar QoS requirements. Exemplarily, the terminal group may be a group of cameras with the same QoS requirement or a group of sensors with the same QoS requirement.

QoS requirements can be characterized by multiple QoS parameters, such as delay, packet loss rate, etc. Similar QoS requirements may refer to two QoS requirements with the same partial QoS parameters, for example, two QoS requirements with the same delay and/or packet loss rate. Similar QoS requirements can also refer to two QoS requirements whose difference between the same QoS parameters does not exceed a threshold. Applications are not limited. For example, two QoS requirements that differ by no more than 2 milliseconds (ms) between delays can be considered similar QoS requirements, or, where the difference between Two QoS requirements exceeding 0.1% can be considered as similar QoS requirements.

Terminal A may be any terminal in the terminal group.

When step 201 is specifically implemented, terminal A can send a registration request (registration request) to the AMF, and the registration request can include the identity of terminal A, and AMF determines the terminal group to which terminal A belongs according to the identity of terminal A, and then judges the session of the terminal group. Whether the context is delivered to access network device A.

Optionally, the AMF determines the terminal group to which the terminal A belongs according to the identifier of the terminal A, including: the AMF obtains the subscription information of the terminal A from the UDM according to the identifier of the terminal A, and the subscription information includes information of the terminal group to which the terminal A belongs.

Wherein, the information of the terminal group in the UDM can be obtained from the AF, and the AF can send the information of the terminal group to the UDM through the capability opening information. The information of the terminal group in the UDM may also be configured by the operator, which is not limited in this application. The information of the terminal group may indicate which terminals belong to a terminal group and the identifier of the terminal group. Further, the information of the terminal group may also include location information of each terminal, so as to determine which access network equipment these terminals are covered by.

If the judgment result in step 201 is yes, it means that the terminal A is not the first terminal in the terminal group to request the establishment of the session. In this case, step 202 is executed. If the judgment result in step 201 is no, it means that terminal A is the first terminal in the terminal group that requests to establish a session, and in this case, step 203 is executed.

202. The AMF sends first indication information to terminal A, where the first indication information is used to instruct terminal A to obtain a session context from access network device A (or the first indication information is used to instruct terminal A to access the access network device A). get the session context). Correspondingly, the terminal A receives the first indication information from the AMF during the registration process.

The first indication information may be carried in a registration response (or a registration accept (registration accept) message).

203. During the process of establishing a session by terminal A, the AMF sends one or more of the session context of the terminal group and the identifier of the terminal group to the M access network devices. Correspondingly, each of the M access network devices receives one or more of the session context of the terminal group and the identifier of the terminal group from the AMF.

The M access network devices are access network devices accessed by terminals in the terminal group, the M access network devices include access network device A accessed by terminal A, and M is an integer greater than 0.

The AMF may determine the location information of each terminal according to the information of the terminal group, and determine the M access network devices corresponding to the terminal group according to the location information of each terminal.

The identifier of the terminal group is used to identify a terminal group. The session context of the terminal group may include QoS rules, PDU session identifiers, slice related information (for example, data network name (DNN) or network slice selection identifier (single-network slice selection assistance information, S-NSSAI)), etc. . Among them, QoS rules include QFI, rate, delay, etc.

Some or all of the terminals in the terminal group may share one QoS flow in one session (referred to as the first session).

In the first case, all terminals in the terminal group share the first QoS flow in the first session. In this case, the session context of the terminal group refers to the common part of the session contexts of all the terminals in the terminal group, and in this case, all the terminals in the terminal group correspond to the same QFI. At this time, each terminal in the terminal group maps data to a data radio bearer (DRB) corresponding to the first QFI (that is, the QFI of the first QoS flow), and the access network equipment accessed by the terminal After receiving, the data of the DRB corresponding to the first QoS flow is mapped to the first QoS flow corresponding to the first QFI.

Exemplarily, if there are 12 terminals in the terminal group, 12 terminals access 3 access network devices (referred to as access network device 1 to access network device 3), and the 12 terminals share the For the first QoS flow, the QFI in the session context of the terminal group is the QFI of the first QoS flow.

In the second case, the terminals in the terminal group accessing the same access network device share one QoS flow in the first session. The session context of the terminal group corresponds to the access network device, and the session contexts corresponding to different access network devices may be the same or different. The session context of the terminal group corresponding to one access network device refers to the common part of the session context of the terminals accessing the same access network device. In this case, terminals accessing the same access network device correspond to the same QFI, and terminals accessing different access network devices correspond to the same QFI or different QFIs. At this time, each terminal accessing the same access network device maps data to the DRB corresponding to the QFI of the QoS flow corresponding to the access network device. The data corresponding to the QoS flow corresponding to the access network device is mapped to the QoS flow corresponding to the QFI of the QoS flow corresponding to the access network device.

Exemplarily, if there are 12 terminals in the terminal group, and the 12 terminals access 3 access network devices (referred to as access network device 1 to access network device 3), the terminals that access access network device 1 The QoS flow 1 in the first session is shared, the terminals accessing the access network device 2 share the QoS flow 2 in the first session, and the terminals accessing the access network device 3 share the QoS flow 3 in the first session. , referring to Table 1, the QFI in the session context of the terminal group corresponding to the access network device 1 is the QFI of the QoS flow 1, and the QFI in the session context of the terminal group corresponding to the access network device 2 is the QFI of the QoS flow 2. The QFI in the session context of the terminal group corresponding to the network access device 3 is the QFI of the QoS flow 3 .

Table 1

接入网设备Access network equipment	终端组的会话上下文中的QFIQFI in the session context of a terminal group
接入网设备1Access network equipment 1	QoS流1的QFIQFI for QoS Flow 1
接入网设备2Access network equipment 2	QoS流2的QFIQFI for QoS Flow 2
接入网设备3 Access network equipment 3	QoS流3的QFIQFI for QoS Flow 3

In the prior art, all terminals independently perform the PDU session establishment process or the SR process, ignoring the association between the sessions of the terminals, resulting in waste of signaling. In the method provided by this embodiment of the present application, in the process of establishing a session for the first terminal in the terminal group, the AMF sends the session context of the terminal group to M access network devices. Send the first indication information to instruct the terminal to obtain the session context of the terminal group from the accessed access network device. In the subsequent PDU session establishment process or SR process, the terminal only needs to interact with the accessed access network device to obtain the session context. The session context of the terminal group, thereby avoiding repeated signaling interactions, greatly reducing tedious signaling interactions, and effectively saving network resources.

The following is divided into case 1 (terminal A is the first terminal in the terminal group to request to establish a session) and case 2 (terminal A is not the first terminal in the terminal group to request to establish a session) to describe further solutions of the method provided by the present application.

Case 1. Terminal A is the first terminal in the terminal group that requests to establish a session.

In case 1, terminal A is denoted as the second terminal.

In case 1, the access network device receives one or more of the session context of the terminal group and the identity of the terminal group from the AMF, including:

1-1) During the process of establishing a session by the second terminal in the terminal group, the access network device accessed by the second terminal receives one or more of the session context of the terminal group and the identifier of the terminal group from the AMF. That is to say, in the process of establishing a session for the first terminal in the terminal group, the access network device to which the terminal accesses receives one or more of the session context of the terminal group and the identifier of the terminal group from the AMF, so as to facilitate subsequent processes , other terminals accessing the access network device acquire the session context of the terminal group from the access network device.

In case 1, optionally, the AMF can obtain the session context of the terminal group from the SMF, including:

2-1) The AMF receives a second message from the second terminal, where the second message is used to request the establishment of a PDU session for the second terminal.

2-2) The AMF determines that the second terminal is the first terminal in the terminal group that requests to establish a PDU session. Specifically, the AMF may determine whether other terminals in the terminal group have requested to establish a PDU session, and if not, determine that the second terminal is the first terminal in the terminal group that requests to establish a PDU session.

2-3) The AMF sends a third message to the SMF, where the third message carries the identifier of the terminal group, and the third message is used to request the session context of the terminal group. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the third message of the second terminal from the AMF.

2-4) The SMF creates a session context of the terminal group according to the identifier of the terminal group.

2-5) The SMF sends the session context of the terminal group to the AMF. Accordingly, the AMF receives the session context of the terminal group from the SMF.

In case 1, optionally, the QoS rule in the session context of the terminal group can be determined according to the PCC rule. Therefore, the method further includes:

3-1) The SMF sends fifth indication information to the PCF, where the fifth indication information is used to instruct the PCF to formulate a corresponding PCC rule for the terminal group. Wherein, the fifth indication information may include the identifier of the terminal group. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the fifth indication information from the SMF.

3-2) The PCF formulates a PCC rule for the terminal group according to the identifier of the terminal group, and sends the PCC rule to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the PCC rules formulated by the PCF for the terminal group from the PCF.

3-3) The SMF generates the QoS rule in the session context of the terminal group according to the PCC rule.

In case 1, optionally, in order for the second terminal to acquire the session context, during the process of establishing the session by the second terminal, the method further includes:

4-1) The AMF sends the session context of the second terminal to the second terminal. Correspondingly, the second terminal receives the session context of the second terminal from the AMF. The session context of the second terminal and the session context of the terminal group may be the same, or the session context of the second terminal contains more information than the session context of the terminal group.

The second terminal may send the session context of the second terminal to the second terminal through the access network device accessed by the second terminal.

In case 1, optionally, during the process of establishing the session by the second terminal, the method further includes:

5-1) The M access network devices send the tunnel information of the access network devices to the AMF. Correspondingly, the AMF receives the tunnel information of the access network devices from the M access network devices, and sends the tunnel information of the M access network devices to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the tunnel information of the M access network devices from the AMF, and sends the tunnel information of the access network device to the UPF serving each access network device, so that the UPF sends data packets to the access network device.

In case 1, during the process of establishing the session by the second terminal, the method further includes:

6-1) The SMF allocates an IP address set to the terminal group, and sends the IP address set to the AMF, and the IP address set is used for allocating IP addresses of the terminals in the terminal group. Accordingly, the AMF receives the set of IP addresses from the SMF.

In case 1, optionally, the method further includes:

7-1) The SMF generates a PDR corresponding to the UPF serving the access network device accessed by the second terminal according to the PCC rule.

7-2) The SMF sends the IP address set and the corresponding PDR to the UPF. Accordingly, the UPF receives the IP address set and the corresponding PDR from the SMF.

The PDR may include the IP address of the second terminal, and the UPF may determine that the second terminal joins the first session according to the PDR. During the session establishment process of the first terminal in the terminal group, the first terminal can obtain the session context and the IP address assigned to itself through the PDU session establishment accept message.

Case 2: Terminal A is not the first terminal in the terminal group that requests to establish a session.

In case 2, terminal A is denoted as the first terminal.

In case 2, the method also includes:

8-1) The first terminal sends a first message to the access network device according to the first indication information, where the first message includes the identifier of the terminal group. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first message from the first terminal in the terminal group.

8-2) The access network device sends a first response to the first terminal according to the first message, where the first response carries the session context of the terminal group. Correspondingly, the first terminal receives the first response from the access network device, and determines the session context of the terminal group according to the first response.

In case 2, optionally, the first indication information is specifically used to instruct the terminal to obtain the session context of the terminal group from the access network device during the session establishment process or the SR process. In this case, sending the first message to the access network device by the first terminal according to the first indication information includes: according to the first indication information, the terminal sends the first message to the access network device during the session establishment process or the SR process. Correspondingly, the access network device receiving the first message from the first terminal in the terminal group includes: during the session establishment process or the SR process of the first terminal, the access network device receives the first message from the first terminal in the terminal group. a message.

Wherein, both the first message and the first response may be radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) messages. For example, the first message may be an RRC Connection Reconfiguration (RRC Connection Reconfiguration) message, and the first response may be an RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete (RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete) message; or, the first message may be an RRC establishment after an RRC connection is established Complete (RRC Setup Complete) message, the first response may be an RRC Connection Reconfiguration (RRC Connection Reconfiguration) message.

Wherein, the first response may be a NAS message.

In case 2, optionally, the method further includes:

9-1) The access network device accessed by the first terminal sends second indication information to the UPF serving the access network device, where the second indication information is used to instruct the UPF first terminal to join the first session. Correspondingly, the UPF receives the second indication information, and the UPF binds the first terminal to the IP address in the IP address set.

It should be noted that, in one case, the first session in the present application may include only one QoS flow, and the terminals in the terminal group share the QoS flow. In this case, the first terminal in this embodiment of the present application joins the first session It can also be understood that the first terminal joins the QoS flow. In another case, the first session includes multiple QoS flows. In this case, after the UPF receives the second indication information, since the second indication information is new information, the UPF can determine according to the second indication information The first terminal joins the QoS flow corresponding to the terminal group. Of course, the second indication information may also directly indicate which QoS flow of the first session the first terminal has joined, which is not limited in this application.

In case 2, optionally, the method further includes:

10-1) The UPF adjusts the PDR according to the second indication information.

It should be noted that, in the prior art, each terminal independently establishes a PDU session. Therefore, each terminal uses one QoS flow, and each QoS flow has a fixed bandwidth. In this application, multiple terminals can share a QoS flow. The more terminals, the more bandwidth required. For example, if one terminal needs 2M bandwidth, then two terminals need 4M bandwidth. Correspondingly, three terminals need to 6M bandwidth is required, and so on. Therefore, when a new terminal joins the first session, the UPF and the access network equipment need to increase the bandwidth of the QoS flow. Similarly, when a new terminal exits the first session, the UPF and the access network equipment need to reduce the bandwidth of the QoS flow.

In case 2, according to the different values of M, it can be divided into the following scenario 1 (M=1) and scenario 2 (M>1). The following describes the further scheme of the method provided by the present application for scenario 1 and scenario 2. .

Scenario 1, M=1

In scenario 1, since all the terminals in the terminal group are connected to the same access network device, the IP addresses of the terminals in the terminal group can be allocated by the same access network device. Therefore, this method can also include:

11-1) The access network device allocates an IP address to the first terminal according to the IP address set.

11-2) The access network device sends the IP address allocated for the first terminal to the first terminal.

Scenario 2, M＞1

In Scenario 2, since all the terminals in the terminal group access different access network devices, the IP addresses of the terminals in the terminal group can be allocated by AMF and then sent to the terminals through the access network devices accessed by the terminals. , so the method can also include:

12-1) The access network device sends an IP address request to the AMF, where the IP address request is used to request an IP address for the first terminal. Correspondingly, the AMF receives the IP address request from the access network device.

12-2) The AMF allocates an IP address to the first terminal according to the IP address set.

12-3) The AMF sends the IP address allocated for the first terminal to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the IP address allocated by the AMF for the first terminal from the AMF.

12-4) The access network device sends the IP address allocated for the first terminal to the first terminal.

It should be noted that, when the access network device sends the IP address and the session context of the terminal group to the first terminal, it may carry the IP address and the session context of the terminal group in the same message and send it to the first terminal, or may carry the IP address and the session context of the terminal group in the same message. It is sent to the first terminal in different messages, which is not limited in this application.

The above is a specific description of the method provided by the present application in case 1 and case 2. It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the present application, the IP address set may also be allocated by the UPF. In this case, the IP address set obtained by the AMF is sent by the UPF to the SMF, and then sent by the SMF to the AMF. In this case, it can be understood that The good thing is that the SMF does not need to send the IP address set to the UPF anymore.

The following describes a further solution of the method provided by the present application when the terminal in the terminal group (referred to as the third terminal) stops working.

When the third terminal in the terminal group stops working, the method further includes:

13-1) The AMF obtains, according to the context of the third terminal, the identity of the access network device accessed by the third terminal and the identity of the third terminal.

13-2) The AMF sends third indication information to the access network device accessed by the third terminal, where the third indication information is used to instruct the third terminal to stop working. The third indication information may include information indicating stop working and an identifier of the third terminal, thereby instructing the third terminal to stop working. Correspondingly, the access network device accessed by the third terminal receives the third indication information from the AMF, and determines that the third terminal stops working according to the third indication information.

13-3) The access network device releases the connection with the third terminal (eg, RRC connection).

14-1) The AMF reclaims the IP address of the third terminal.

In the case that the third terminal in the terminal group stops working, the UPF may be informed that the third terminal leaves the first session through the following manner 1 or manner 2.

method one

Method 1 includes:

15-1) The access network device accessed by the third terminal sends sixth indication information and fourth indication information to the UPF serving the access network device, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the UPF third terminal to leave the first session, the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal. Correspondingly, the UPF receives the sixth indication information and the fourth indication information.

Method 2

The second method includes:

16-1) The AMF receives the sixth indication information from the access network device accessed by the third terminal.

16-2) The AMF sends fourth indication information and sixth indication information to the UPF serving the access network device accessed by the third terminal through the SMF, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the UPF to leave the first session by the third terminal , and the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal. Correspondingly, the UPF receives the sixth indication information and the fourth indication information.

The above-mentioned sixth indication information may be the IP address of the third terminal, or may be an identifier of the IP address of the third terminal, for example, the number or serial number corresponding to the IP address of the third terminal, and the number or serial number may indicate the third terminal. The location of the terminal's IP address in the IP address set.

It should be noted that, in one case, the first session in the present application may include only one QoS flow, and the terminals in the terminal group share the QoS flow. In this case, the third terminal in this embodiment of the present application leaves the first session It can also be understood that the third terminal leaves the QoS flow. In another case, the first session includes multiple QoS flows. In this case, after the UPF receives the fourth indication information, since the fourth indication information is new information, the UPF can determine according to the fourth indication information What the third terminal leaves is the QoS flow corresponding to the terminal group. Of course, the fourth indication information may also directly indicate which QoS flow of the first session the third terminal has left, which is not limited in this application.

Under the first mode and the second mode, the method further includes step 17-1) and/or step 17-2):

17-1) The UPF reclaims the IP address of the third terminal according to the fourth indication information and the sixth indication information.

17-2) The UPF adjusts the PDR according to the fourth indication information.

In the above embodiment, once a terminal joins (for example, the above-mentioned first terminal) or the terminal stops working (for example, the above-mentioned third terminal), the above-mentioned method further includes:

18-1) The access network device adjusts the QoS profile of the first QoS flow according to the number of terminals currently accessing the access network device in the terminal group and the session context of the terminal group. For example, if the bandwidth in the session context of the terminal group is 2M, and the number of terminals accessing the access network device is 5, the access network device can adjust the bandwidth in the current QoS profile to 10M. The bandwidth information may be a maximum flow rate (maximum flow bit rate, MFBR) or a guaranteed flow rate (guaranteed flow bit rate, GFBR), which is not limited here.

In the above embodiment, after acquiring the PCC rule, the SMF can generate a QoS profile according to the PCC rule, and send the QoS profile to the access network device.

In the above embodiment, when the AMF or the access network device assigns the IP address to the terminal, and when the UPF binds the IP address to the terminal, the assignment and binding are performed in sequence according to the sequence of the IP addresses in the IP address set. The sequence of addresses may specifically include the following, and of course, other sequences may be used, which are not limited in this application.

The first: the order of IP addresses from large to small or from small to large.

For example, if the IP address set includes 3 IP addresses, they are 10.2.2.2.3, 10.2.2.2.4, and 10.2.2.2.5 respectively. Then, the AMF or the access network device can assign IP addresses to the terminals in the order of 10.2.2.2.3-10.2.2.2.4-10.2.2.2.5. Similarly, the UPF can follow the order of 10.2.2.2.3-10.2.2.2 The sequence of .4-10.2.2.2.5 is the terminal binding IP address.

The second type: front-to-back or back-to-front order in the IP address table.

For example, if the IP address set includes three IP addresses as shown in Table 2. If the order of IP addresses is from front to back in the IP address table. Then, the AMF or the access network device can assign IP addresses to the terminals in the order of 10.2.2.2.3-10.2.2.2.4-10.2.2.2.5. Similarly, the UPF can follow the order of 10.2.2.2.3-10.2.2.2 The sequence of .4-10.2.2.2.5 is the terminal binding IP address.

Table 2

IP address

10.2.2.2.310.2.2.2.3
10.2.2.2.410.2.2.2.4
10.2.2.2.510.2.2.2.5

The third type: according to the order of the numbers corresponding to the IP addresses from large to small or from small to large.

For example, if the IP address set includes three IP addresses as shown in Table 3. If the order of the IP addresses is the order of the numbers corresponding to the IP addresses from small to large. Then, the AMF or the access network device can assign IP addresses to the terminals in the order of 10.2.2.2.3-10.2.2.2.4-10.2.2.2.5. Similarly, the UPF can follow the order of 10.2.2.2.3-10.2.2.2 The sequence of .4-10.2.2.2.5 is the terminal binding IP address.

table 3

IP地址对应的编号The number corresponding to the IP address	IP地址IP address
11	10.2.2.2.310.2.2.2.3
22	10.2.2.2.410.2.2.2.4
33	10.2.2.2.510.2.2.2.5

In order to make the embodiments of the present application clearer, taking the terminal as a camera as an example, the following Embodiments 1 to 7 are used to illustrate the methods provided by the foregoing embodiments of the present application.

Example 1

Embodiment 1 describes the process in which the AMF determines whether to send the first indication information to the camera according to whether the session context of the camera group is delivered to the access network device connected to the camera during the camera registration process.

Referring to Figure 3, the method provided by Embodiment 1 includes:

301. After the camera is installed and powered on, the camera sends a registration request to the AMF.

The registration request may include a camera identifier. The camera can communicate with the AMF through the access network device.

302. The AMF performs a registration procedure (registration procedure) by interacting with other network elements.

303. The AMF determines the camera group to which the camera belongs according to the camera identifier, and determines whether the session context of the camera group is delivered to the access network device to which the camera is connected.

If yes, it means that other cameras in the camera group have already requested to establish a session, and after step 303, step 304 is performed;

304. The AMF sends a registration response to the camera, where the registration response includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the camera to obtain the session context of the camera group from the connected access network device.

305. The AMF sends a registration response to the camera.

Wherein, both the registration request and the registration response may be NAS messages.

In the above process, step 302 and step 303 are executed in no particular order.

Example 2

Embodiment 2 exemplifies the process of establishing a session for the first camera in the camera group (referred to as camera 1) when the M access network devices are one access network device. In this case, camera 1 is registering. During the process, the first indication information is not received.

Referring to Figure 4, the method provided by Embodiment 2 includes:

401. The camera 1 sends a second message to the AMF through the access network device. Correspondingly, the AMF receives the second message from the camera 1 through the access network device.

The second message is used to request to establish a PDU session for the camera 1, and the second message may be a NAS message.

Exemplarily, the second message may be a PDU session establishment request (PDU session establishment request).

402. The AMF determines that the camera 1 is the first camera in the camera group that requests to establish a PDU session.

Specifically, the AMF can determine whether other cameras in the camera group have requested to establish a PDU session, and if not, determine that camera 1 is the first camera in the camera group that requests to establish a PDU session.

The AMF can determine whether camera 1 is the first camera in the camera group to request the establishment of a PDU session according to the information of the camera group (for example, the information of which cameras belong to the same camera group, the location information of the cameras, etc.).

Wherein, the AMF may acquire the contract information including the information of the camera group in the registration process of the camera 1, and may also execute it before step 402, which is not limited in this application.

403. The AMF sends a third message to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF receives the third message from the AMF.

The third message carries the identifier of the camera group, and the third message is used to request the session context of the camera group. The third message may be a PDU session context establishment request (Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request) sent to the SMF.

404. The SMF sends fifth indication information to the PCF, where the fifth indication information is used to instruct the PCF to formulate a corresponding PCC rule for the camera group. Correspondingly, the PCF receives the fifth indication information from the SMF.

Wherein, the fifth indication information may include the identification of the camera group.

405. The PCF sends the PCC rule formulated for the camera group to the SMF according to the fifth indication information. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the PCC rules formulated by the PCF for the camera group from the PCF.

Wherein, before sending the PCC rule formulated for the camera group, the PCF may formulate the PCC rule for the camera group according to the fifth instruction information.

Steps 404 and 405 may be implemented in a session management policy association establishment (SM policy association establishment)/session management policy association modification (SM policy association modification) process.

406. The SMF allocates an IP address set to the camera group.

407. The SMF sends the IP address set and the corresponding PDR to the UPF through the N4 session flow. Accordingly, the UPF receives the IP address set and the corresponding PDR from the SMF.

The UPF is a UPF that serves the access network device connected to the camera 1 . Before step 407, the SMF may generate the PDR corresponding to the UPF according to the PCC rule. After receiving the IP address set and the corresponding PDR, the UPF may save the IP address set and the corresponding PDR.

The N4 session process may be an N4 session establishment (N4 session establishment) process or an N4 session modification (N4 session modification) process.

408. The SMF sends the session context and IP address set of the camera group to the AMF. Accordingly, the AMF receives the session context and IP address set of the camera group from the SMF.

Wherein, before step 408, the SMF can generate the QoS rule corresponding to the camera group according to the PCC rule, and then generate other information in the session context of the camera group according to other information, and then send the session context of the camera group to the AMF. The session context and IP address set of the camera group may be carried in the N1N2 transfer message (Namf_communication N1N2message transfer) sent to the AMF.

409. The AMF sends the session context of the camera group and the N1 SM container and the N2 SM container from the SMF side to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the session context of the camera group and the N1 SM container and the N2 SM container from the SMF side.

The N1 SM container may include a PDU session establishment accept message, and the PDU session establishment accept message includes the session context of the camera 1. The N2 SM container may include the QoS profile, IP address set and terminal group identifier generated by the SMF for the access network device. The session context of the camera group may be located in the N2 SM container or outside the N2 SM container, and any one or more of the IP address set and the identifier of the terminal group may also be located outside the N2 SM container, which is not limited in this application. After receiving the session context and IP address set of the camera group, the access network device saves the session context and IP address set of the camera group.

The session context and IP address set of the camera group can be carried in the N2 PDU session request (N2 PDUsession request).

410 . The access network device sends a PDU session establishment acceptance message to the camera 1 . Correspondingly, the camera 1 receives the PDU session establishment accept message, and obtains the session context of the camera 1 according to the information in the PDU session establishment accept message.

It should be noted that, in the process of establishing a PDU session, the access network device and the UPF may exchange tunnel information (eg, tunnel address information) through AMF and SMF, so as to transmit uplink and downlink data.

Example 3

Embodiment 3 is an example of the process of establishing a session with other cameras (denoted as camera 2) after the first camera in the camera group (that is, camera 1) establishes a session when the M access network devices are one access network device. In this case, the camera 2 receives the first indication information during the registration process.

In one case, referring to FIG. 5, the method provided by Embodiment 3 includes:

501. The camera 2 sends an RRC message to the access network device, where the RRC message includes the identifier of the camera group to which the camera 2 belongs. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the RRC message from the camera 2 .

502. The access network device determines whether there is a session context and an IP address set of the camera group according to the identifier of the camera group in the RRC message.

503. The access network device sends a response message of the RRC message to the camera 2.

Wherein, if the session context and IP address set of the camera group exist in the access network device, the response message includes the session context of the camera group and the IP address assigned to camera 2 . Optionally, the response message also includes an identifier of the camera group.

If the session context and IP address set of the camera group do not exist in the access network device, the response message includes an indication message, which can instruct Camera 2 to perform the existing PDU session establishment process or indicate that Camera 2 has not acquired the camera group session context.

504. The access network device adjusts the QoS profile of the first QoS flow according to the number of cameras currently accessing the access network device in the camera group and the session context of the camera group.

Specifically, after the camera 2 joins the first session, if the data transmission of the camera 2 requires 3M bandwidth, the access network device may increase the bandwidth in the QoS profile of the first QoS flow by 3M.

505. The access network device sends second indication information to the UPF that provides the service for the access network device, where the second indication information is used to instruct the UPF camera 2 to join the first session. Correspondingly, the UPF receives the second indication information from the access network device.

The access network device may add the second indication information at a general packet radio service tunneling protocol (GTP) layer (for example, a GTP-user plane (GTP-user plane, GTP-U) layer).

506 . The UPF adjusts the PDR of the first QoS flow, and binds the IP address in the IP address set with the camera 2 .

The method for adjusting the PDR of the first QoS flow by the UPF is similar to that of the access network device, and details are not repeated here.

In another case, referring to FIG. 6 , the method provided by Embodiment 3 includes:

601. The camera 2 sends an RRC message to the access network device, where the RRC message includes the NAS information for requesting the establishment of the PDU session and the identifier of the camera group to which the camera 2 belongs.

602. The access network device determines whether there is a session context and an IP address set of the camera group according to the identifier of the camera group in the RRC message.

If yes, go to step 603, if not, go to step 604 and step 605.

603 . The access network device sends a response message of the RRC message to the camera 2 , where the response message of the RRC message includes the session context of the camera group and the IP address assigned to the camera 2 .

604. The access network device sends the NAS information in the RRC message for requesting the establishment of the PDU session to the AMF.

605. In the subsequent process, the access network device will save the session context and IP address set of the camera group again, and send the session context of the camera 2 and the IP address assigned to the camera 2 to the camera 2, or transfer the The PDU session establishment accept message is sent to camera 2.

The PDU session establishment accept message includes the session context of the camera group and the IP address assigned to the camera 2 .

Steps 606 to 608 are the same as the above steps 504 to 506 respectively.

Example 4

Embodiment 4 exemplifies the process of establishing a session for the first camera in the camera group (denoted as camera 1) when the M access network devices are multiple access network devices. During the registration process, the first indication information is not received.

Referring to Figure 7, the method provided by Embodiment 4 includes:

701-708 are the same as steps 401 to 408 respectively.

709. The AMF stores the IP address set.

710. The AMF sends the session context of the camera group and the N1 SM container and the N2 SM container from the SMF side to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the session context of the camera group and the N1 SM container and the N2 SM container from the SMF side.

The N1 SM container may include a PDU session establishment accept message, and the PDU session establishment accept message includes the session context of the camera 1. The N2 SM container may include the QoS profile generated by the SMF for the access network device and the identifier of the terminal group. The session context of the camera group may be located in the N2 SM container or outside the N2 SM container, and the identifier of the terminal group may also be located outside the N2 SM container, which is not limited in this application.

711 . The access network device sends a PDU session establishment acceptance message to the camera 1 . Correspondingly, the camera 1 receives the PDU session establishment accept message, and obtains the session context of the camera 1 according to the information in the PDU session establishment accept message.

712. The AMF sends the session context of the camera group to M-1 access network devices (except the access network device connected to camera 1). Accordingly, each access network device receives and stores the session context of the camera group from the AMF.

Before step 712, the AMF may determine, according to the location information of the cameras, which access network devices the cameras in the camera group are located within the coverage range.

Example 5

Embodiment 5 In the case where the M access network devices are multiple access network devices, after the first camera in the camera group (that is, camera 1) establishes a session, the process of establishing sessions for other cameras (denoted as camera 2) is as follows. For example, in this case, the camera 2 receives the first indication information during the registration process.

In one case, referring to FIG. 8 , the method provided by Embodiment 5 includes:

801. The camera 2 sends an RRC message to the access network device, where the RRC message includes the identifier of the camera group to which the camera 2 belongs. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the RRC message from the camera 2 .

802. The access network device determines, according to the identifier of the camera group in the RRC message, whether there is a session context and an IP address set of the camera group.

If the session context of the camera group exists in the access network device, and there is no IP address set, step 803 to step 806 are performed. If the access network device does not have the session context and IP address set of the camera group, step 807 is performed.

803. The access network device requests the IP address of the camera 2 from the AMF through the N2 session process.

804. The AMF assigns an IP address to the camera 2 according to the IP address set.

805. The AMF sends the IP address allocated for the camera 2 to the access network device.

806 . The access network device sends a response message of the RRC message to the camera 2 , where the response message includes the session context of the camera group and the IP address assigned to the camera 2 .

807. The access network device sends a response message of the RRC message to the camera 2, where the response message includes an indication information, and the indication information can instruct the camera 2 to perform the existing PDU session establishment process or indicate that the camera 2 has not acquired the session of the camera group context.

808-810 are the same as steps 504 to 506, respectively.

In another case, referring to FIG. 9, the method provided by Embodiment 5 includes:

901. The camera 2 sends an RRC message to the access network device, where the RRC message includes the NAS information for requesting the establishment of the PDU session and the identifier of the camera group to which the camera 2 belongs.

902. The access network device determines whether there is a session context and an IP address set of the camera group according to the identifier of the camera group in the RRC message.

If the session context of the camera group exists in the access network device and the IP address set does not exist, step 903 to step 906 are performed. If the access network device does not have the session context and IP address set of the camera group, step 907 and step 908 are performed.

903-906 are the same as steps 803 to 806 respectively.

907. The access network device sends the NAS information in the RRC message for requesting the establishment of the PDU session to the AMF.

908. In the subsequent process, the access network device will save the session context of the camera group again, and send the session context of camera 2 and the IP address assigned by AMF to camera 2 to camera 2, or establish a PDU session from the core network. Accept the message to send to camera 2.

The PDU session establishment accept message includes the session context of the camera group and the IP address assigned by the AMF to the camera 2 . The implementation process of step 908 can be understood by referring to the process of establishing a session by the first terminal in the terminal group, and details are not repeated here.

909-911 are the same as steps 504 to 506 respectively.

Example 6

Embodiment 6 When the M access network devices are one access network device, when the camera in the camera group (referred to as camera 3) stops working, it is necessary to delete the corresponding session context information, release the RRC connection and perform QoS flow. QoS adjustment of the QoS, and these processes are exemplified below.

Referring to Figure 10, the method provided by Embodiment 6 includes:

1001. When the camera 3 stops working, the AF instructs the UDM to delete the camera 3 from the information of the camera group, the UDM modifies the subscription data of the camera 3 according to the instruction, and the UDM notifies the SMF of the modified subscription data of the camera 3.

The UDM can notify the SMF of the modified subscription data of the camera 3 through Nudm_SDM_notification, and the SMF can determine that the camera 3 no longer belongs to the camera group according to the modified subscription data of the camera 3 .

The camera 3 may stop working due to various reasons, for example, the external physical entity is damaged, and for example, AF or a third party wants the camera 3 to stop working. If the third party wants the camera 3 to stop working, the third party can notify the AF. In the subsequent process, when the camera 3 can work normally, the AF can instruct the UDM to re-add the camera 3 to the camera group. 1002. The AF sends notification information to the SMF, where the notification information is used to notify the SMF that the camera 3 stops working.

Wherein, the notification information may include identity information of the camera 3 and information indicating to stop working. The identity information of the camera 3 may be a user permanent identifier (subscriber permanent identifier, SUPI) of the camera 3 .

AF can communicate with SMF via NEF.

Wherein, only one step in step 1001 and step 1002 may be executed.

1003 . The SMF notifies the SUPI of the AMF camera 3 .

Among them, the SUPI of camera 3 can be carried in Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer.

1004. The AMF determines, according to the SUPI of the camera 3 and the session context of the camera 3, the access network device that the camera 3 accesses and the temporary mobile subscriber identity (S-Temporary mobile subscriber identity, S-TMSI) of the camera 3.

Wherein, since the SUPI of the camera 3 cannot be recognized by the access network device, the SUPI of the camera 3 needs to be converted into S-TMSI and then sent to the access network device.

1005. The AMF informs the access network device of the S-TMSI of the camera 3 through the N2 session process.

Among them, the S-TMSI of the camera 3 can be carried in the N2 PDU session request (N2 PDU session request).

1006. The access network device executes RRC connection release (release), and informs the camera 3 to delete the session context.

1007. The access network device adjusts the QoS profile of the first QoS flow, and reclaims the IP address of the camera 3.

1008. The access network device sends the IP address of the camera 3 to the SMF through the AMF.

The IP address of the camera 3 sent by the access network device to the AMF can be carried in the N2 PDU session response (N2 PDU session response), and the IP address of the camera 3 sent by the AMF to the SMF can be carried in the PDU session update sent to the SMF. context (Nsmf_PDU session updateSMcontext) message.

1009. The SMF informs the UPF of the IP address of the camera 3 through the N4 session process.

The N4 session process may be an N4 session modification process.

Wherein, in addition to sending the IP address of the camera 3 to the UPF through the AMF and the SMF, the access network device may also directly send the IP address of the camera 3 to the UPF.

1010 . The UPF adjusts the PDR of the first QoS flow, and reclaims the IP address of the camera 3 .

Among them, after receiving the IP address of camera 3 provided by SMF, UPF will make it clear that the camera corresponding to the IP address is deleted.

Example 7

Embodiment 7 In the case where the M access network devices are multiple access network devices, when the camera in the camera group (referred to as camera 3) stops working, it is necessary to delete the corresponding session context information, release the RRC connection and perform QoS. QoS adjustment of the flow, these processes are exemplified below.

Referring to Figure 11, the method provided by Embodiment 7 includes:

1101-1103 are the same as steps 1001 to 1003 respectively.

1104. The AMF determines the access network device connected to the camera 3 and the S-TMSI of the camera 3 according to the SUPI of the camera 3 and the session context of the camera 3, and reclaims the IP address of the camera 3 at the same time.

1105-1106, which are the same as step 1005 and step 1006, respectively.

1107. The access network device adjusts the QoS profile of the first QoS flow.

1108. The AMF sends the IP address of the camera 3 to the SMF.

1109-1110 are the same as step 1009 and step 1010, respectively.

This application abandons the original complex signaling interaction scheme for each terminal to establish a PDU session. In the process of establishing a session for the first terminal in a terminal group, the core network will directly generate the corresponding session context and IP address set for the terminal group, and Send the session context to the access network device, and other terminals in the subsequent terminal group can directly interact with the access network device to realize the establishment of the PDU session or the SR process, and send the IP address set to the AMF (when M>1) or the connection. On the network access device (when M=1), and on the UPF, the access network device or AMF performs unified IP address allocation and management, and no longer performs repeated interaction and repeated QoS decisions with the core network, so as to ensure that the subsequent terminal group In the session establishment or SR process, the signaling of other terminals is greatly simplified, which effectively improves the efficiency and resource utilization.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a session modification solution in a scenario where a terminal in a terminal group stops working, which can ensure that the network side deletes the terminal that has stopped working or needs to stop working, and can perform QoS adjustment for the QoS flow of the group in time , to ensure that the access network equipment (when M=1) or the AMF (when M>1), and the UPF update the IP address set.

The system architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for the purpose of illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application more clearly, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Those of ordinary skill in the art know that with the evolution of the network architecture and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

The solutions of the embodiments of the present application have been introduced above mainly from the perspective of methods. It can be understood that each network element, such as SMF, AMF, UPF, access network equipment, and terminal, includes at least one of corresponding hardware structures and software modules for performing each function in order to implement the above functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that the present application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein. Whether a function is performed by hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality using different methods for each particular application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

In this embodiment of the present application, functional units may be divided for SMF, AMF, UPF, access network equipment, and terminals according to the foregoing method examples. For example, each functional unit may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be divided integrated in one processing unit. The above-mentioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware, or may be implemented in the form of software functional units. It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division, and other division methods may be used in actual implementation.

Exemplarily, FIG. 12 shows a possible schematic structural diagram of the communication device (referred to as the communication device 120 ) involved in the above-mentioned embodiment, where the communication device 120 includes a processing unit 1201 and a communication unit 1202 . Optionally, a storage unit 1203 is also included. The communication apparatus 120 may be used to illustrate the structures of the SMF, AMF, UPF, access network equipment, and terminal in the foregoing embodiments.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 12 is used to illustrate the structure of the SMF involved in the above embodiment, the processing unit 1201 is used to control and manage the actions of the SMF, for example, the processing unit 1201 is used to execute 403- 408, 703-708 in Fig. 7, 1002, 1003, 1008 and 1009 in Fig. 10, 1102, 1103, 1108 and 1109 in Fig. 11, and/or SMF in other processes described in the examples of this application Action performed. The processing unit 1201 may communicate with other network entities through the communication unit 1202, for example, with the AMF in FIG. 4 . The storage unit 1203 is used to store program codes and data of the SMF.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 12 is used to illustrate the structure of the AMF involved in the above embodiment, the processing unit 1201 is used to control and manage the actions of the AMF, for example, the processing unit 1201 is used to execute 201- 203, 301-305 in Fig. 3, 401-403, 408 and 409 in Fig. 4, 604 in Fig. 6, 701-703, 708-710, 712 in Fig. 7, 803-805 in Fig. 8, 903-905, 907 in FIG. 9, 1003-1005, 1008 in FIG. 10, 1103-1105, 1108 in FIG. 11, and/or actions performed by the AMF in other processes described in the embodiments of the present application. The processing unit 1201 may communicate with other network entities through the communication unit 1202, for example, with the SMF in FIG. 4 . The storage unit 1203 is used to store program codes and data of the AMF.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 12 is used to illustrate the structure of the UPF involved in the above embodiment, the processing unit 1201 is used to control and manage the actions of the UPF. For example, the processing unit 1201 is used to execute 407 in FIG. 4 , 505, 506 in Figure 5, 607, 608 in Figure 6, 707 in Figure 7, 809, 810 in Figure 8, 910, 911 in Figure 9, 1009, 1010 in Figure 10, Figure 11 Actions performed by the UPF in 1109, 1110, and/or other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processing unit 1201 may communicate with other network entities through the communication unit 1202, for example, with the SMF in FIG. 4 . The storage unit 1203 is used to store program codes and data of the UPF.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 12 is used to illustrate the structure of the access network equipment involved in the above embodiment, the processing unit 1201 is used to control and manage the actions of the access network equipment, for example, the processing unit 1201 is used to execute 203 in Fig. 2 (at this time, the access network device is any one of the M access network devices), 301, 304, 305 in Fig. 3, 401, 409, 410 in Fig. 4, 501-505 in Fig. 5, 601-607 in Fig. 6, 701, 710, 711 in Fig. 7, 801-803, 805-809 in Fig. 8, 901-903, 905-910 in Fig. 9, Actions performed by the access network device in 1005-1008 in FIG. 10, 1105-1107 in FIG. 11, and/or other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processing unit 1201 may communicate with other network entities through the communication unit 1202, for example, with the AMF in FIG. 4 . The storage unit 1203 is used to store program codes and data of the access network equipment.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 12 is used to illustrate the structure of the terminal involved in the above embodiment, the processing unit 1201 is used to control and manage the actions of the terminal, for example, the processing unit 1201 is used to execute 202 ( At this time, the terminal is terminal A), 301, 304, 305 in FIG. 3 (at this time, the terminal is a camera), 401, 410 in FIG. 4 (at this time, the terminal is camera 1), 501, 501 in FIG. 503 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 601 and 603 in Figure 6 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 701 and 711 in Figure 7 (at this time, the terminal is camera 1), 801 in Figure 8 , 806, 807 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 901, 906 in Figure 9 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 1006 in Figure 10 (at this time, the terminal is camera 3), in Figure 11 1106 (at this time, the terminal is the camera 3), and/or an action performed by the terminal in other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processing unit 1201 may communicate with other network entities through the communication unit 1202, for example, communicate with the access network device in FIG. 4 . The storage unit 1203 is used to store program codes and data of the terminal.

Exemplarily, the communication apparatus 120 may be a device or a chip or a chip system.

When the communication apparatus 120 is a device, the processing unit 1201 may be a processor; the communication unit 1202 may be a communication interface, a transceiver, or an input interface and/or an output interface. Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input interface may be an input circuit, and the output interface may be an output circuit.

When the communication device 120 is a chip or a chip system, the communication unit 1202 may be a communication interface, input interface and/or output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin or related circuit, etc. on the chip or chip system. The processing unit 1201 may be a processor, a processing circuit, a logic circuit, or the like.

The integrated units in FIG. 12 may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium if implemented in the form of software functional modules and sold or used as independent products. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be embodied in the form of software products in essence, or the parts that contribute to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solutions, and the computer software products are stored in a storage The medium includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. Storage media for storing computer software products include: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk or CD, etc. that can store program codes medium.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a communication device, see FIG. 13 or FIG. 14 , the communication device includes a processor 1301 , and optionally, a memory 1302 connected to the processor 1301 .

The processor 1301 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more processors used to control the execution of the programs of the present application. integrated circuit. The processor 1301 may also include multiple CPUs, and the processor 1301 may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, or processing cores for processing data (eg, computer program instructions).

The memory 1302 can be a ROM or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a RAM or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory. read-only memory, EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk A storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The memory 1302 may exist independently (in this case, the processor may be located outside the communication device, or may be located in the communication device), or may be integrated with the processor 1301 . Among them, the memory 1302 may contain computer program code. The processor 1301 is configured to execute the computer program codes stored in the memory 1302, so as to implement the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application.

In a first possible implementation manner, referring to FIG. 13 , the communication apparatus further includes a transceiver 1303 . The processor 1301, the memory 1302 and the transceiver 1303 are connected by a bus. The transceiver 1303 is used to communicate with other devices or communication networks. Optionally, the transceiver 1303 may include a transmitter and a receiver. A device in the transceiver 1303 for implementing the receiving function may be regarded as a receiver, and the receiver is configured to perform the receiving steps in the embodiments of the present application. A device in the transceiver 1303 for implementing the sending function may be regarded as a transmitter, and the transmitter is used to perform the sending step in the embodiment of the present application.

Based on the first possible implementation manner, the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 13 may be used to illustrate the structures of the SMF, AMF, UPF, access network equipment, and terminal involved in the foregoing embodiment.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 13 is used to illustrate the structure of the SMF involved in the above embodiment, the processor 1301 is used to control and manage the actions of the SMF, for example, the processor 1301 is used to execute 403- 408, 703-708 in Fig. 7, 1002, 1003, 1008 and 1009 in Fig. 10, 1102, 1103, 1108 and 1109 in Fig. 11, and/or SMF in other processes described in the examples of this application Action performed. The processor 1301 may communicate with other network entities through the transceiver 1303, eg, with the AMF in FIG. 4 . Memory 1302 is used to store program codes and data for the SMF.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 13 is used to illustrate the structure of the AMF involved in the above embodiment, the processor 1301 is used to control and manage the actions of the AMF, for example, the processor 1301 is used to execute 201- 203, 301-305 in Fig. 3, 401-403, 408 and 409 in Fig. 4, 604 in Fig. 6, 701-703, 708-710, 712 in Fig. 7, 803-805 in Fig. 8, 903-905, 907 in FIG. 9, 1003-1005, 1008 in FIG. 10, 1103-1105, 1108 in FIG. 11, and/or actions performed by the AMF in other processes described in the embodiments of the present application. The processor 1301 may communicate with other network entities through the transceiver 1303, eg, with the SMF in FIG. 4 . The memory 1302 is used to store program codes and data of the AMF.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 13 is used to illustrate the structure of the UPF involved in the above embodiment, the processor 1301 is used to control and manage the actions of the UPF, for example, the processor 1301 is used to execute 407 in FIG. 4 , 505, 506 in Figure 5, 607, 608 in Figure 6, 707 in Figure 7, 809, 810 in Figure 8, 910, 911 in Figure 9, 1009, 1010 in Figure 10, Figure 11 Actions performed by the UPF in 1109, 1110, and/or other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processor 1301 may communicate with other network entities through the transceiver 1303, eg, with the SMF in FIG. 4 . Memory 1302 is used to store program codes and data for the UPF.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 13 is used to illustrate the structure of the access network equipment involved in the above embodiment, the processor 1301 is used to control and manage the actions of the access network equipment, for example, the processor 1301 is used to execute 203 in Fig. 2 (at this time, the access network device is any one of the M access network devices), 301, 304, 305 in Fig. 3, 401, 409, 410 in Fig. 4, 501-505 in Fig. 5, 601-607 in Fig. 6, 701, 710, 711 in Fig. 7, 801-803, 805-809 in Fig. 8, 901-903, 905-910 in Fig. 9, Actions performed by the access network device in 1005-1008 in FIG. 10, 1105-1107 in FIG. 11, and/or other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processor 1301 may communicate with other network entities through the transceiver 1303, eg, with the AMF in FIG. 4 . The memory 1302 is used to store program codes and data of the access network equipment.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 13 is used to illustrate the structure of the terminal involved in the above embodiment, the processor 1301 is used to control and manage the actions of the terminal, for example, the processor 1301 is used to execute 202 ( At this time, the terminal is terminal A), 301, 304, 305 in FIG. 3 (at this time, the terminal is a camera), 401, 410 in FIG. 4 (at this time, the terminal is camera 1), 501, 501 in FIG. 503 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 601 and 603 in Figure 6 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 701 and 711 in Figure 7 (at this time, the terminal is camera 1), 801 in Figure 8 , 806, 807 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 901, 906 in Figure 9 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 1006 in Figure 10 (at this time, the terminal is camera 3), in Figure 11 1106 (at this time, the terminal is the camera 3), and/or an action performed by the terminal in other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processor 1301 may communicate with other network entities through the transceiver 1303, eg, with the access network device in FIG. 4 . The memory 1302 is used to store program codes and data of the terminal.

In a second possible implementation, the processor 1301 includes a logic circuit and at least one of an input interface and an output interface. Exemplarily, the output interface is used for performing the sending action in the corresponding method, and the input interface is used for performing the receiving action in the corresponding method.

Based on the second possible implementation manner, see FIG. 14 . The schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 14 may be used to illustrate the structures of the SMF, AMF, UPF, access network equipment, and terminal involved in the foregoing embodiment.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 14 is used to illustrate the structure of the SMF involved in the above embodiment, the processor 1301 is used to control and manage the actions of the SMF, for example, the processor 1301 is used to execute 403- 408, 703-708 in Fig. 7, 1002, 1003, 1008 and 1009 in Fig. 10, 1102, 1103, 1108 and 1109 in Fig. 11, and/or SMF in other processes described in the examples of this application Action performed. The processor 1301 may communicate with other network entities, eg, with the AMF in FIG. 4 , through at least one of an input interface and an output interface. Memory 1302 is used to store program codes and data for the SMF.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 14 is used to illustrate the structure of the AMF involved in the above embodiment, the processor 1301 is used to control and manage the actions of the AMF, for example, the processor 1301 is used to execute the steps 201- 203, 301-305 in Fig. 3, 401-403, 408 and 409 in Fig. 4, 604 in Fig. 6, 701-703, 708-710, 712 in Fig. 7, 803-805 in Fig. 8, 903-905, 907 in FIG. 9, 1003-1005, 1008 in FIG. 10, 1103-1105, 1108 in FIG. 11, and/or actions performed by the AMF in other processes described in the embodiments of the present application. The processor 1301 may communicate with other network entities, eg, with the SMF in FIG. 4 , through at least one of an input interface and an output interface. The memory 1302 is used to store program codes and data of the AMF.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 14 is used to illustrate the structure of the UPF involved in the above embodiment, the processor 1301 is used to control and manage the actions of the UPF, for example, the processor 1301 is used to execute 407 in FIG. 4 , 505, 506 in Figure 5, 607, 608 in Figure 6, 707 in Figure 7, 809, 810 in Figure 8, 910, 911 in Figure 9, 1009, 1010 in Figure 10, Figure 11 Actions performed by the UPF in 1109, 1110, and/or other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processor 1301 may communicate with other network entities, eg, with the SMF in FIG. 4 , through at least one of an input interface and an output interface. Memory 1302 is used to store program codes and data for the UPF.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 14 is used to illustrate the structure of the access network equipment involved in the above embodiment, the processor 1301 is used to control and manage the actions of the access network equipment, for example, the processor 1301 is used to execute 203 in Fig. 2 (at this time, the access network device is any one of the M access network devices), 301, 304, 305 in Fig. 3, 401, 409, 410 in Fig. 4, 501-505 in Fig. 5, 601-607 in Fig. 6, 701, 710, 711 in Fig. 7, 801-803, 805-809 in Fig. 8, 901-903, 905-910 in Fig. 9, Actions performed by the access network device in 1005-1008 in FIG. 10, 1105-1107 in FIG. 11, and/or other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processor 1301 may communicate with other network entities, eg, with the AMF in FIG. 4 , through at least one of an input interface and an output interface. The memory 1302 is used to store program codes and data of the access network equipment.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 14 is used to illustrate the structure of the terminal involved in the above embodiment, the processor 1301 is used to control and manage the actions of the terminal, for example, the processor 1301 is used to execute 202 ( At this time, the terminal is terminal A), 301, 304, 305 in FIG. 3 (at this time, the terminal is a camera), 401, 410 in FIG. 4 (at this time, the terminal is camera 1), 501, 501 in FIG. 503 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 601 and 603 in Figure 6 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 701 and 711 in Figure 7 (at this time, the terminal is camera 1), 801 in Figure 8 , 806, 807 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 901, 906 in Figure 9 (at this time, the terminal is camera 2), 1006 in Figure 10 (at this time, the terminal is camera 3), in Figure 11 1106 (at this time, the terminal is the camera 3), and/or an action performed by the terminal in other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processor 1301 may communicate with other network entities, eg, with the access network device in FIG. 4 , through at least one of an input interface and an output interface. The memory 1302 is used to store program codes and data of the terminal.

In the implementation process, each step in the method provided in this embodiment may be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in a processor or an instruction in the form of software. The steps of the methods disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as executed by a hardware processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium, including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute any of the foregoing methods.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing instructions, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute any of the above methods.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, including: any one or more of SMF, AMF, UPF, access network equipment, and terminals.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, including: a processor and an interface, where the processor is coupled to a memory through the interface, and when the processor executes a computer program or instruction in the memory, any one of the methods provided in the above embodiments is executed by the processor. implement.

In the above-mentioned 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 can 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 the computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. Computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website site, computer, server, or data center over a wire (e.g. coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (eg infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means to transmit to another website site, computer, server or data center. Computer-readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer or data storage devices including one or more servers, data centers, etc., that can be integrated with the media. Useful media may be magnetic media (eg, floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (eg, DVDs), or semiconductor media (eg, solid state disks (SSDs)), and the like.

Although the application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in practicing the claimed application, those skilled in the art can understand and implement the disclosure by reviewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims Other variations of the embodiment. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that these measures cannot be combined to advantage.

Although the application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that various modifications and combinations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, this specification and drawings are merely exemplary illustrations of the application as defined by the appended claims, and are deemed to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents within the scope of this application. Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

A communication method, comprising:

The access network device receives the session context of the terminal group and the identifier of the terminal group from the mobility management network element, and the services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same QoS requirements;

The access network device receives a first message from a first terminal in the terminal group, where the first message includes an identifier of the terminal group, and the access network device is an access network device accessed by the first terminal. access network equipment;

The access network device sends a first response to the first terminal according to the first message, where the first response carries the session context of the terminal group.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the access network device receives the session context of the terminal group from the mobility management network element, comprising:

In the process of establishing a session by a second terminal in the terminal group, the access network device receives the session context of the terminal group and the identifier of the terminal group from the mobility management network element, and the second terminal The first terminal in the terminal group to request the establishment of a session.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the access network device receives the first message from the first terminal in the terminal group, comprising:

During a session establishment process or a service request process of the first terminal, the access network device receives the first message from the first terminal.
The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the terminals in the terminal group access M access network devices, M=1, and the method further comprises:

receiving, by the access network device, an Internet Protocol IP address set from the mobility management network element;

assigning, by the access network device, an IP address to the first terminal according to the IP address set;

The access network device sends the IP address allocated for the first terminal to the first terminal.
The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the terminals in the terminal group access M access network devices, where M>1, M is an integer, and the access network devices are all access network devices. One of the M access network devices, the method further includes:

sending, by the access network device, an IP address request to the mobility management network element, where the IP address request is used to request an IP address for the first terminal;

receiving, by the access network device, the IP address allocated by the mobility management network element for the first terminal from the mobility management network element;

The access network device sends, to the first terminal, the IP address allocated by the mobility management network element for the first terminal.
The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the method further comprises:

The access network device sends second indication information to the user plane network element that provides services for the access network device, where the second indication information is used to instruct the user plane network element and the first terminal to join the first terminal. session, the terminals in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals in the terminal group accessing the access network device share one QoS flow in the first session .
The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein, in the case that a third terminal in the terminal group that accesses the access network device stops working, the method further comprises:

The access network device sends sixth indication information and fourth indication information to the user plane network element that provides services for the access network device, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate the user plane network element that the first indication information is Three terminals leave the first session, the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal, the terminals in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminal group The terminals accessing the access network device in the shared one QoS flow in the first session.
The method according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein, in the case that a third terminal in the terminal group that accesses the access network device stops working, the method further comprises:

receiving, by the access network device, third indication information from the mobility management network element, where the third indication information is used to instruct the third terminal to stop working;

The access network device releases the connection with the third terminal.
The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the method further comprises:

The access network device adjusts the QoS configuration file of the QoS flow according to the number of terminals in the terminal group currently accessing the access network device and the session context of the terminal group.
A communication method, comprising:

During the registration process of the terminal, the mobility management network element judges whether the session context of the terminal group to which the terminal belongs is delivered to the access network device, and the access network device is the access network device accessed by the terminal. The services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same quality of service QoS requirements;

If so, the mobility management network element sends first indication information to the terminal, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal to obtain a session context from the access network device;

If not, in the process of establishing a session by the terminal, the mobility management network element sends the session context of the terminal group and the identifier of the terminal group to the M access network devices, and the M access network devices is an access network device accessed by a terminal in the terminal group, the M access network devices include access network devices accessed by the terminal, and M is an integer greater than 0.
The method according to claim 10, wherein the first indication information is specifically used to instruct the terminal to obtain a session context from the access network device in a session establishment process or a service request process.
The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein in the process of establishing the session by the terminal, the method further comprises:

receiving, by the mobility management network element, a second message from the terminal, where the second message is used to request the establishment of a session for the terminal;

The mobility management network element determines that the terminal is the first terminal in the terminal group that requests to establish a session;

The mobility management network element sends a third message to the session management network element, where the third message carries the identifier of the terminal group, and the third message is used to request the session context of the terminal group;

The mobility management network element receives the session context of the terminal group from the session management network element.
The method according to any one of claims 10-12, wherein in the process of establishing a session by the terminal, the method further comprises:

The mobility management network element receives an Internet Protocol IP address set from the session management network element, the IP address set being used for assignment of IP addresses of terminals in the terminal group.
The method according to claim 13, wherein if M=1, in the process of establishing the session by the terminal, the method further comprises:

The mobility management network element sends the IP address set to the access network device.
The method according to claim 14, wherein in the case that the third terminal in the terminal group stops working, the method further comprises:

receiving, by the mobility management network element, sixth indication information from the M access network devices, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal;

The mobility management network element sends fourth indication information and the sixth indication information to the user plane network element serving the M access network devices through the session management network element, where the fourth indication information is used for instructing the user plane network element, the third terminal, to leave the first session;

The terminals in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals in the terminal group accessing the same access network device share one QoS flow in the first session .
The method according to claim 13, wherein M>1, in the process of establishing a session by the terminal, the method further comprises:

receiving, by the mobility management network element, an IP address request from an access network device accessed by the terminal, where the IP address request is used to request an IP address for the terminal;

The mobility management network element allocates an IP address to the terminal according to the IP address set;

The mobility management network element sends the IP address allocated for the terminal to the access network device accessed by the terminal.
The method according to claim 16, wherein in the case that the third terminal in the terminal group stops working, the method further comprises:

The mobility management network element reclaims the IP address of the third terminal;

The mobility management network element sends fourth indication information and sixth indication information to the user plane network element serving the access network device accessed by the third terminal through the session management network element, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the user plane network element, the third terminal, to leave the first session, and the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal;

The terminals in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session, or the terminals in the terminal group accessing the same access network device share one QoS flow in the first session .
The method of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining, by the mobility management network element, the identity of the access network device accessed by the third terminal and the identity of the third terminal according to the context of the third terminal;

The mobility management network element sends third indication information to the access network device accessed by the third terminal, where the third indication information is used to instruct the third terminal to stop working.
The method according to any one of claims 10-18, wherein in the process of establishing a session by the terminal, the method further comprises:

receiving, by the mobility management network element, the tunnel information of the M access network devices from the M access network devices;

The mobility management network element sends the tunnel information of the M access network devices to the session management network element.
The method according to any one of claims 10-19, wherein in the process of establishing a session by the terminal, the method further comprises:

The mobility management network element sends the terminal's session context to the terminal.
The method according to any one of claims 10-20, wherein the mobility management network element determines the terminal group to which the terminal belongs according to the identifier of the terminal, comprising:

The mobility management network element acquires the subscription information of the terminal from the data management network element according to the identifier of the terminal, where the subscription information includes information of a terminal group to which the terminal belongs.
A communication method, comprising:

The terminal receives first indication information from the mobility management network element during the registration process, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal to obtain a session context from the access network device that is accessed, the terminal belongs to a terminal group, and the terminal The services of the terminals in the group have the same quality of service QoS requirements;

sending, by the terminal, a first message to the access network device according to the first indication information, where the first message includes the identifier of the terminal group;

The terminal receives a first response from the access network device, where the first response carries the session context of the terminal group.
The method according to claim 22, wherein the first indication information is specifically used to instruct the terminal to obtain a session context from the access network device in a session establishment process or a service request process, and the terminal Sending a first message to the access network device according to the first indication information includes:

The terminal sends the first message to the access network device in a session establishment process or a service request process according to the first indication information.
A communication method, comprising:

The session management network element receives the third message of the second terminal from the mobility management network element, where the second terminal is the first terminal in the terminal group that requests to establish a session, and the services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same quality of service QoS requirements, the third message carries the identifier of the terminal group, and the third message is used to request the session context of the terminal group;

The session management network element creates a session context of the terminal group according to the identifier of the terminal group;

The session management network element sends the session context of the terminal group to the mobility management network element.
The method of claim 24, wherein the method further comprises:

The session management network element allocates an Internet Protocol IP address set to the terminal group, and sends the IP address set to the mobility management network element, where the IP address set is used for the IP addresses of the terminals in the terminal group allocation.
The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein before the session management network element sends the session context of the terminal group to the mobility management network element, the method further comprises:

The session management network element sends fifth indication information to the policy control network element, where the fifth indication information is used to instruct the policy control network element to formulate a corresponding policy and charging control PCC rule for the terminal group;

receiving, by the session management network element, the PCC rule formulated by the policy control network element for the terminal group from the policy control network element;

The session management network element generates a QoS rule in the session context of the terminal group according to the PCC rule.
The method of claim 26, wherein the method further comprises:

The session management network element generates, according to the PCC rule, a packet detection rule PDR corresponding to the user plane network element serving the access network device accessed by the second terminal;

The session management network element sends an IP address set and a PDR corresponding to the user plane network element to the user plane network element.
A communication method, comprising:

The user plane network element receives the Internet Protocol IP address set from the session management network element, the IP address set is used for the allocation of IP addresses of the terminals in the terminal group, and the services of the terminals in the terminal group have the same service quality QoS requirements , the terminals in the terminal group share one QoS flow in the first session, or, the terminals in the terminal group that access the same access network device share one QoS flow in the first session;

The user plane network element receives second indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct the user plane network element of the first terminal to join the first session, and the user plane network element associates the first terminal with the first session. The IP addresses in the IP address set are bound; or, the user plane network element receives sixth indication information and fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the user plane network element for the third terminal to leave the location. the first session, the sixth indication information is used to indicate the IP address of the third terminal, and the user plane network element reclaims the third terminal's IP address according to the fourth indication information and the sixth indication information IP address.
The method of claim 28, wherein the method further comprises:

The user plane network element receives the packet detection rule PDR corresponding to the user plane network element from the session management network element, and the PDR is generated according to the policy and charging control PCC rule formulated for the terminal group;

The user plane network element adjusts the PDR according to the second indication information or the fourth indication information.
A communication device, characterized in that it includes: one or more functional units, wherein the one or more functional units are used to execute the communication method according to any one of claims 1-9, or, to execute the communication method as claimed in any one of claims 1-9 The communication method according to any one of claims 10-21, or, for executing the communication method according to any one of claims 22 or 23, or, for executing the communication method according to any one of claims 24-27 , or, for performing the communication method as claimed in claim 28 or 29.
A communication device, comprising: a processor, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory, and the processor is configured to execute the communication method according to any one of claims 1-9, or to execute the communication method according to claim 1. The communication method according to any one of claims 10-21, or, for executing the communication method according to any one of claims 22 or 23, or, for executing the communication method according to any one of claims 24-27, Or, for performing the communication method as claimed in claim 28 or 29.