WO2022237898A1

WO2022237898A1 - Onboarding method, communication apparatus, medium and chip

Info

Publication number: WO2022237898A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/092776
Authority: WO
Inventors: 朱浩仁; 诸华林; 徐艺珊
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2021-05-14
Filing date: 2022-05-13
Publication date: 2022-11-17
Also published as: CN115348582A

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are an onboarding method, a communication apparatus, a medium and a chip. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the method comprises: a core network device receiving a first message from an access network device, wherein the first message comprises a cell identifier of a first cell of the access network device to be accessed by a terminal device; on the basis of the cell identifier of the first cell, the core network device determining that the first cell does not support onboarding; and the core network device controlling the access of the terminal device to the first cell. By means of taking an onboarding capability of a cell into consideration, the restrictions on cell access can be realized on a core network side without needing to change a cell selection mechanism on a terminal device side. In this way, the load of a common cell can be effectively reduced, and the network performance and security can be improved.

Description

Method, communication device, medium and chip for online signing

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed with the Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on May 14, 2021, the application number is 202110533778.9, and the invention title is "method, communication device, medium and chip for online signing". The entire contents are hereby incorporated by reference.

technical field

The present disclosure relates to the communication field, and more specifically, to a method, a communication device, a medium, and a chip for onboarding a terminal device.

Background technique

In the fifth generation (5G) new radio ((New Radio, NR)) communication system, two types of non-public networks (Non-Public Network, NPN) are defined, that is, independent non-public networks (Standalone NPN, SPNN) And a non-public network (Public Network Integrated-NPN, PNI-NPN) integrated with the public network. SNPN has an independent radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN) and core network (5G Core, 5GC), and can be independent of network functions such as public land mobile network (Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN) and other public networks In the case of operation, PNI-NPN can partially rely on the network function of the public network. PNI-NPN can be further divided into Closed Access Group (CAG) and Network Slicing (Slicing). CAG provides services for specific businesses or users, while Slicing utilizes the slicing characteristics defined by 5G to use dedicated slices to provide services for specific businesses or users.

The NPN can serve as a target network to be accessed by the terminal device, or as an intermediate network for assisting the terminal device in accessing the target network. For example, a terminal device (eg, UE) may not have credentials for accessing the target network. In this case, the terminal device may temporarily establish a connection with an intermediate network to obtain subscription information or credentials for accessing the target network. Then, the terminal device can log out from the intermediate network, and register to the target network using the subscription information or credentials, and complete access to the target network. The current process of obtaining subscription information or credentials should satisfy: (1) the intermediate network provides instructions on whether to support online subscription; and (2) providing online subscription services to terminal devices does not affect the traditional services and network security of the intermediate network itself. In order to meet the above requirements, it is necessary to further improve the cell selection and/or cell reselection mechanism of the terminal equipment.

Contents of the invention

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for controlling a terminal device to access a cell in a communication system.

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for communication is provided. In this method, a core network device receives a first message from an access network device. The first message includes the cell identifier of the first cell of the access network device to be accessed by the terminal device. The core network device determines, based on the cell identifier of the first cell, that the first cell does not support online subscription. The core network device controls the terminal device's access to the first cell. In this way, the core network equipment can control the terminal equipment's access to the cell according to whether the cell of the access network equipment supports online subscription, thereby effectively reducing the load of common cells and improving network performance and security.

In some embodiments, the method further includes the core network device receiving cell capability information from the access network device. The cell capability information includes a cell identifier and corresponding online subscription capability for at least one cell of the access network device, and the at least one cell includes the first cell. The core network device determines that the first cell does not support online subscription based on the cell capability information and the cell identifier of the first cell.

In some embodiments, the method further includes the core network device receiving an update message from the access network device. The update message indicates an update to cell capability information. In this way, the core network device can control the terminal device's access to the cell based on the dynamic change of the cell capability of the access network device.

In some embodiments, the first message also indicates the online subscription capability of the first cell. The method further includes the core network device determining that the first cell does not support online subscription based on the cell identifier of the first cell and the online subscription capability of the first cell.

In some embodiments, controlling the access to the first cell includes: the core network device restricts the terminal device from accessing the first cell.

In some embodiments, the core network device restricting the terminal device from accessing the first cell includes: the core network device sending a second message to the terminal device. The second message includes at least one of a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication.

In some embodiments, determining to restrict the terminal device's access to the first cell is based on at least one of the following: the first message includes an online subscription indication; the credential server fails to authorize the terminal device; or there is no user for the terminal device surface context.

In some embodiments, the method further includes the core network device determining that the terminal device's access to the first cell is in a remote configuration phase. Controlling the access to the first cell includes the core network device determining not to restrict the terminal device's access to the first cell.

In some embodiments, the method further includes the core network device determining that the terminal device's access to the first cell is in a remote configuration phase. Controlling the access to the first cell includes that the core network device restricts the terminal device from accessing the first cell.

In some embodiments, the core network device determines that the access is in an online subscription phase based on at least one of the following items. If the first message includes an online subscription indication, the access is in the online subscription phase. If the credential server fails to authorize the terminal device, the access is in the online subscription phase. If there is no user plane context for the terminal device, the access is in the online subscription phase.

In some embodiments, the core network device determines that the access is in the remote configuration phase based on at least one of the following items. If the online subscription indication is not included in the first message, the access is in the remote configuration phase. If the credential server authorizes the terminal device successfully, the access is in the remote configuration stage. Or if there is a user plane context, the access is in the remote configuration phase.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for communication is provided. In this method, an access network device sends a first message to a core network device. The first message includes the cell identifier of the first cell of the access network device to be accessed by the terminal device. The access network device receives first indication information about access to the first cell from the core network device. The access network device determines that the first cell does not support online subscription. The access network device controls the terminal device's access to the first cell based on the first indication information. In this way, without changing the cell selection or cell switching mechanism on the terminal device side, the terminal device can only obtain subscription or credential information through a cell that supports online subscription services. This solution can also flexibly set whether to apply the same access restriction in the subsequent access process. In this manner, cell load can be reduced, network security can be ensured, and performance of the communication system can be improved.

In some embodiments, the first indication information indicates that access of the terminal device to the first cell is restricted. Controlling the access to the first cell includes that the access network device restricts the terminal device from accessing the first cell.

In some embodiments, the access network device restricting the terminal device from accessing the first cell includes: the access network device sending a third message to the terminal device. The third message includes at least one of the following: a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication for the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: the access network device receiving second indication information from the core network device. The second indication information indicates to cancel the restriction on access to the first cell.

In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a method for communicating is provided. In this method, the terminal device receives an online subscription capability indication from the access network device. The online subscription capability information of the at least one cell includes a cell identifier and corresponding online subscription capability for the at least one cell of the access network device. The online subscription capability indication includes online subscription capability information of at least one cell of the access network device. The terminal device selects a second cell from at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information, and the second cell supports online subscription. The terminal device sends an online subscription request for the second cell to the access network device. Through this mechanism, the terminal device can dynamically consider the online subscription capability of the cell when performing cell selection or cell reselection. For example, when a terminal device requests to access the network to obtain subscription or credential information, a cell that supports online subscription service can be selected according to the online subscription capability of each cell, thereby effectively reducing the load of common cells. After the online subscription is completed, the terminal device may consider whether to apply cell access restriction. In this manner, cell load balancing can be achieved, network security can be ensured, and performance of the communication system can be improved.

In some embodiments, the terminal device determines a candidate cell supporting online subscription among at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information. The terminal device selects a second cell for camping on from the candidate cells. The determination of candidate cells is implemented at the access layer of the terminal equipment.

In some embodiments, the fourth message is received from a core network device. The fourth message indicates that online signing is complete. The terminal device performs cell reselection or cell handover for at least one cell. Cell reselection or cell switching may not be based on online subscription capability information.

In some embodiments, the terminal device performs cell reselection or cell handover for at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a core network device is provided. The core network device includes: at least one processing unit; and at least one memory, the at least one memory is coupled to the at least one processing unit and stores instructions for execution by the at least one processing unit, the instructions cause the core when executed by the at least one processing unit The network device implements the method in the possible implementation manners according to the above first aspect.

In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, an access network device is provided. The access network device includes: at least one processing unit; and at least one memory, the at least one memory is coupled to the at least one processing unit and stores instructions for execution by the at least one processing unit, the instructions when executed by the at least one processing unit cause The access network device implements the method in a possible implementation manner according to the second aspect above.

In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device comprises: at least one processing unit; and at least one memory, the at least one memory being coupled to the at least one processing unit and storing instructions for execution by the at least one processing unit, the instructions causing the terminal device when executed by the at least one processing unit Implement the method in a possible implementation manner according to the third aspect above.

In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product is tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium and includes computer-executable instructions. When executed, the computer-executable instructions cause the device to implement the The operation of the method.

In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes components for implementing the method in any possible implementation manner according to the foregoing first aspect to the third aspect.

In a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, a chip is provided. The chip is configured to execute operations of the method according to any one possible implementation manner of the first aspect to the third aspect above.

In a tenth aspect of the present disclosure, a communication system is provided, including one or more of the foregoing core network equipment and access network equipment.

In some embodiments, the communication system further includes other communication devices involved in the embodiments.

Description of drawings

The features, advantages and other aspects of various implementations of the present disclosure will become more apparent with reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Several implementations of the present disclosure are shown here by way of illustration and not limitation, in the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an online subscription process for a terminal device;

Figure 2 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be;

FIG. 3 shows an interactive signaling diagram of a communication process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4 shows an interactive signaling diagram of a communication process according to other embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5 shows an interactive signaling diagram of a communication process according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 6 shows a flowchart of a method implemented at a core network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 7 shows a flowchart of a method implemented at an access network device according to other embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 8 shows a flow chart of a method implemented at a terminal device according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 9 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

Figure 10 shows a simplified block diagram of an example device suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the various drawings, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; A more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are for exemplary purposes only, and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present disclosure.

In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "comprising" and its similar expressions should be interpreted as an open inclusion, that is, "including but not limited to". The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be read as "at least one embodiment". Among them, in the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "/" indicates that the objects associated with each other are an "or" relationship, for example, A/B can indicate A or B; in this application, "and/or "It is just an association relationship describing associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. , B can be singular or plural. And, in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "plurality" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one item (piece) of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple . 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 words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the number and execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit the difference.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented according to any suitable communication protocol, including, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols such as Fourth Generation (4G) and Fifth Generation (5G), such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IEEE) 802.11 and other wireless local area network communication protocols, and/or any other protocols currently known or developed in the future. The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure are applied to any appropriate communication system, for example: General Packet Radio Service (General Packet Radio Service, GPRS), Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) system, Frequency Division Duplex (Frequency Division Duplex) , FDD) system, time division duplex (Time Division Duplex, TDD), universal mobile communication system (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service, UMTS), narrowband Internet of Things (Narrowband Internet Of Things, NB-IoT) communication system, the future fifth generation (5G) system or New Radio (New Radio, NR), etc.

For illustration purposes, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in the context of a 5G 3rd Generation Partnership Project ( ^3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP) communication system. However, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the application of the 5G 3GPP communication system, but can be applied to any communication system with similar problems, such as LTE communication system, wireless local area network (Wireless Local Area Network, WLAN ), wired communication systems, or other communication systems developed in the future, etc.

The term "terminal device" used in this disclosure refers to any terminal device capable of performing wired or wireless communication with network devices or with each other using some kind of air interface. The terminal equipment may sometimes be called user equipment (User Equipment, UE). A terminal device may be any type of mobile terminal, stationary terminal or portable terminal. As examples, a terminal device may include a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a smart phone, a station, a subscriber unit, a handheld terminal, a mobile terminal (Mobile Terminal, MT), a subscription station (Subscriber Station, SS), a portable subscription station (Portable Subscriber Station, PSS), Internet node, communicator, desktop computer, laptop computer, notebook computer, tablet computer, wireless data card, wireless modem, personal communication system (PCS) device, personal navigation device, personal digital assistant (PDA), positioning devices, radio broadcast receivers, e-book devices, game devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, machine type communication (MTC) terminals, Vehicle-mounted devices, aircraft, virtual reality (Virtual Reality, VR) devices, augmented reality (Augmented Reality, AR) devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks or future evolution of public land mobile networks (Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN) ), any terminal device in ), other device that can be used for communication, or any combination of the above. Embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this.

The term "access network device" used in this disclosure is an entity or node that can be used to communicate with a terminal device, for example, it can be a radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN) network device, which can provide Functions such as radio resource management, quality of service (QoS) management, data compression and encryption. Access network equipment may include various types of base stations. As an example, the access network equipment may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, pico base stations, femto base stations, relay stations, access points, remote radio units (Remote Radio Unit, RRU), radio heads (Radio Head, RH ), Remote Radio Head (RRH) and so on. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of access network equipment may be different, for example, it is called Node B (NodeB) in 3G network, and it is called evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE network. ), which can be called g-Node B (gNB) or NR Node B (NR NB) and so on in the 5G network. Embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this. The term "entity" used herein refers to a network element that can implement a specific function.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure may involve the following network elements:

1. (wireless) access network (radio access network, (R)AN) network element: used to provide network access functions for authorized terminal equipment in a specific area, and can use different quality network elements according to the level of terminal equipment and business requirements, etc. transport tunnel. (R)AN network elements can manage wireless resources, provide access services for terminal devices, and then complete the forwarding of control signals and terminal device data between terminal devices and the core network. (R)AN network elements can also be understood as traditional networks base station in .

2. User plane network element: used for packet routing and forwarding and quality of service (QoS) processing of user plane data. In a 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a user plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element. In the future communication system, the user plane network element may still be a UPF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

3. Data network: a network used to provide data transmission. In a 5G communication system, the data network may be a data network (data network, DN). In future communication systems, the data network may still be a DN, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

4. Access management network element: mainly used for mobility management and access management, etc., and can be used to implement other functions in the mobility management entity (mobility management entity, MME) function except session management, for example, lawful interception And functions such as access authorization/authentication. In a 5G communication system, the access management network element may be an access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) network element. In the future communication system, the access management network element may still be an AMF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

5. Session management network element: mainly used for session management, Internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) address allocation and management of terminal equipment, selection of manageable user plane functions, policy control and charging interface endpoints, and downlink data notification etc. In a 5G communication system, the session management network element may be a session management function (session management function, SMF) network element. In the future communication system, the session management network element may still be an SMF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

6. Network opening network element: used to securely open the services and capabilities provided by the 3GPP network function network element to the outside.

In the 5G communication system, the network exposure network element may be a network exposure function (network exposure function, NEF) network element. In the future communication system, the open network element may still be an NEF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

7. Unified data management network element: used to process user identification, access authentication, registration, and mobility management.

In a 5G communication system, the unified data management network element may be a unified data management (unified data management, UDM) network element. In the future communication system, the unified data management may still be a UDM network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

8. The authentication service network element is used to perform primary authentication, that is, the authentication between the terminal device and the operator's network. After the authentication service network element receives the authentication request initiated by the subscriber, it can authenticate and/or authorize the subscriber through the authentication information and/or authorization information stored in the unified data management network element, or generate an authentication request through the unified data management network element. Subscriber's authentication and/or authorization information. The authentication service network element can feed back authentication information and/or authorization information to the subscriber. In an implementation manner, the authentication service network element may also be co-located with the unified data management network element.

In a 5G communication system, the authentication service network element may be an authentication server function (authentication server function, AUSF) network element. In the future communication system, the unified data management may still be an AUSF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

9. Application network element: used for data routing for application impact, access to network elements with open network functions, and interaction with the policy framework for policy control, etc. In a 5G communication system, the application network element may be an application function (application function, AF) network element. In the future communication system, the application network element may still be an AF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

10. Terminal equipment: can include various handheld devices with wireless communication functions, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, as well as various forms of terminals, mobile stations (mobile station, MS ), terminals, user equipment (UE), soft terminals, etc., such as water meters, electricity meters, sensors, etc.

In the network architecture, Namf is the service-based interface presented by the AMF network element, Nsmf is the service-based interface presented by the SMF network element, Nnef is the service-based interface presented by the NEF network element, and Nudm is the service-based interface presented by the UDM network element. The interface of Naf is the service-based interface displayed by the AF network element. N1 is the reference point between the terminal equipment 111 and the AMF network element, N2 is the reference point between the (R)AN network element and the AMF network element, and is used for sending non-access stratum (non-access stratum, NAS) messages etc.; N3 is the reference point between the (R)AN network element and the UPF network element, used to transmit user plane data, etc.; N4 is the reference point between the SMF network element and the UPF network element, used to transmit, for example, the N3 connection The tunnel identification information, data cache attribute information, and downlink data notification messages and other information; the N6 interface is the reference point between the UPF network element and the DN, and is used to transmit user plane data, etc.

It should be noted that the naming of various network elements (eg, UPF network elements, UDM network elements, etc.) included in the network architecture is only a name, and the name does not limit the functions of the network elements themselves. In the 5G network and other networks in the future, the above-mentioned network elements may also have other names, which are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, in a 6G network, some or all of the above-mentioned network elements may use the terms in 5G, or may be named by other names, etc., which will be described in a unified manner here, and will not be described in detail below. In addition, it can be understood that the foregoing network element or function may be a network element in a hardware device, or a software function running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualization function instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform). The above-mentioned network elements or functions can be divided into one or more services, and further, there may also be services that exist independently of network functions. In this application, an instance of the above-mentioned function, or an instance of a service included in the above-mentioned function, or a service instance existing independently of the network function may be referred to as a service instance. The term "cell selection" used herein refers to a process in which a terminal device selects a cell to camp on based on certain criteria and uses the cell as a serving cell. In the context of this disclosure, "cell selection" may refer to initial cell selection, that is, the process by which a terminal device selects an initial serving cell after completing PLMN selection, and may also refer to "cell reselection", that is, a terminal device The process of switching to another cell. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "cell selection" may also include both "initial cell selection" and "cell reselection".

The current 5G 3GPP system architecture mainly includes the following network functions and entities: terminal equipment (for example, UE), (R)AN, UPF, DN, AMF, SMF, PCF, AF, Network Slice Selection Function (Network Slice Selection Function, NSSF ), AUSF and UDM. These network functions and entities interact through corresponding interfaces, for example, an N1 interface may be used for interaction between UE and AMF. Part of the interface can be implemented in the form of a service-oriented interface. In addition, the Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) and other network functions can interact through the service interface Nnwdaf. The term "entity" used herein refers to a network element that can implement a specific function.

UE, (R)AN, UPF and DN are generally referred to as user layer network functional entities. User data traffic can be transmitted via (R)AN and UPF through the PDU session established between UE and DN. Other parts are generally called control layer network functions and entities, which can be used for functions such as authentication and authentication, registration management, session management, mobility management, and policy control, so as to realize reliable and stable transmission of user layer traffic.

As discussed above, the current communication system allows the terminal device to obtain subscription information or credentials for accessing the target network through the intermediate network, so that the terminal device can then normally access the target network and establish a PDU session. Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an online subscription process 100 for a terminal device. In the SNPN scenario shown in FIG. 1 , the terminal device 130 expects to access the SNPN 140, and can obtain subscription or credential information for accessing the SNPN 140 by establishing a connection with the O-SNPN 120.

In the example of FIG. 1, SNPN 140 acts as a target network, and O-SNPN 120 acts as an intermediate network. Specifically, the O-SNPN 120 may broadcast an online subscription capability indication, and the terminal device 130 determines that the O-SNPN 120 supports online subscription based on the online subscription capability indication, and establishes a connection with the O-SNPN 120 using default subscription or credential information. The terminal device's online signing request for the O-SNPN 120 needs to be authenticated by the default credential server (Default Credential Server, DCS) 112. Only after passing the authentication can the terminal device 130 use the restricted user plane (User Plane, UP) or control The plane (Control Plane, CP) transmission channel obtains the subscription or credential information for the target network from the provisioning server (Provisioning Server, PS) 114.

The PS 114 has an agreement with the SNPN 140, and can store or obtain the signing or credential information of the SNPN 140. The PS 114 sends the subscription or credential information for the SNPN 140 to the terminal device 130 through the limited UP or CP transmission channel. The terminal device 130 can in turn de-register from the O-SNPN 120 and register to the SNPN 140 using the acquired subscription or credential information.

In the process 100, the process in which the terminal device 130 selects a network that supports online subscription and obtains the authorization of the DCS 112 may be referred to as the online subscription phase, and the subsequent process of establishing a CP or UP transmission channel and obtaining the subscription or credential information for the target network may be referred to as For the remote configuration (Remote Provisioning) stage.

In conventional communication systems, a network that provides online subscription services also provides other traditional services. If an access network device that supports online subscription service broadcasts an online subscription capability indication in all its cells, a large number of terminal devices that request online subscription initiate an online subscription request, which may increase the load of the cell, affect the traditional service of the access network device, and These online sign-up requests may contain malicious requests. Therefore, the access network device supports broadcasting the online subscription capability indication at the granularity of the cell, that is, the access network device can broadcast the online subscription capability indication in a specific cell, so as to limit the access of the terminal device requesting the online subscription service.

According to the cell selection or reselection mechanism, when the access layer (Access Stratum, AS) of the terminal device receives the information broadcast by the access network device, including network identification, online subscription capability indication and other parameters, it will send it to the NAS of the terminal device layer (Non-Access Stratum, NAS). The NAS layer of the terminal device selects a network that supports online subscription based on the online subscription capability indication, and instructs the AS layer to select a cell for accessing the network. Since the cell selection reference at this time includes information such as cell frequency point information, signal strength, and parameters contained in system messages, the AS layer of the terminal device will not consider the online subscription capability indication of the cell. In other words, the cell selected by the AS layer of the terminal device may be an ordinary cell that does not provide online subscription services, and there is no verification on the current RAN side and the core network side to restrict the UE to only access from cells that support online subscription process.

In addition, the cell reselection or cell switching process caused by the mobility of the terminal equipment should not affect the remote configuration phase of the terminal equipment, that is, only the online subscription phase of the terminal equipment needs to be restricted, and after obtaining the online subscription authorization, it is not necessary to Restrict the type of cell in which the terminal device executes the remote configuration procedure. Existing cell reselection or cell switching mechanisms cannot flexibly restrict terminal equipment's access to cells according to stages.

To address the above problems and other potential problems, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an online signing solution. This solution may consider the online subscription capability of the cell of the access network device, and control the access process of the terminal device to the cell. The solution can also apply restrictions to the access process based on the access process being in the online subscription phase, and choose whether to apply restrictions to the access process based on the access process being in the remote configuration phase. When this solution is implemented on the core network or access network side, there is no need to change the cell selection or cell switching mechanism of the terminal equipment. In addition, this solution can also be used to enhance the existing cell selection or cell switching mechanism without changing the operation of the core network or the access network side. In this way, cell load can be effectively reduced, and network performance and security can be improved.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a communications environment 200 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The communication environment 200 includes a core network device 210 , an access network device 220 and a terminal device 230 . The access network device provides a first cell 221 , a second cell 222 and a third cell 223 . The core network device 210, the access network device 220, and the terminal device 230 can communicate with each other. It should be understood that network environment 200 is for exemplary purposes only and does not imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be embodied in other network environments or architectures. In addition, it should be understood that the network environment 200 may also include other elements or entities for realizing communication connection, data transmission, control and other purposes. In order to simplify the description, these elements or entities are not shown in FIG. 2 , but it does not mean that the embodiments of the present disclosure do not have them.

The access network device 220 may broadcast a message to the terminal device 230 within its coverage, and the message may include, for example, a network identifier, an online subscription capability indication, scheduling information, configuration parameters, cell access related information, and the like. The terminal device 230 may determine based on the broadcast message that the network provided by the access network device 220 supports online subscription services, and select a cell (for example, the first cell 221 ) to access the access network device 220 . For example, the terminal device 230 may select the first cell 221 for camping, and send a registration request to the core network device 210 through the access network device 220, where the registration request includes indication information for online subscription. As the terminal device 230 moves, the terminal device 230 may switch to another cell of the access network device 220 except the first cell 221 , such as

cell

222 or 223 , through a cell reselection or cell switching mechanism. For illustrative purposes only, in the following description, the access network device 220 refers to an intermediate network that provides the terminal device 230 with subscription or credential information for accessing a target network (not shown).

The access network device 220 can communicate with the core network device 210 . The access network device 220 may send the cell capability information to the core network device 210 through a Next Generation Application Protocol (Next Generation Application Protocol, NGAP) message. As an example, the cell capability information may include overall capability information of the cells 221 to 223, such as cell identifiers of the cells 221 to 223 (for example, global cell identifiers (Cell Global identifier, CGI)), online subscription capability information, service support capability information, etc. As another example, the cell capability information may only include the cell identifier of the first cell 221 to be accessed by the terminal device 230 and online subscription capability information. In addition, the access network device 220 may send to the core network device 210 a message for indicating the cell identity of the first cell 221 to be accessed by the terminal device 230 . The access network device 220 may also send instruction information for online subscription to the core network device 210, and the core network device 210 may determine whether the access process of the terminal device 230 to the first cell 221 is in the online subscription stage or the remote configuration stage based on the instruction information .

The core network device 210 may be implemented as AMF, DCS, UDM, PCF, SMF and any other appropriate network elements on the core network side. For example, in the case that the core network device 210 is implemented as an AMF, it can provide a storage resource of the control plane for the session of the terminal device 230, and store the session identifier, the SMF network element identifier associated with the session identifier, and the like.

In the case that the core network device 210 is implemented as a DCS, it can authenticate the terminal device 230 and determine an authorization result. If the core network device 210 authorizes the terminal device 230 successfully, the terminal device 230 can obtain the online subscription service.

In the case that the core network device 210 is implemented as a UDM, it may be responsible for subscription management and authentication, and store subscription information for terminal devices in the network. In addition, the subscription information may further indicate the device type and/or capability information of the terminal device. In this case, regardless of whether the core network device 210 is the UDM itself or another network element different from the UDM, the core network device 210 can determine whether to restrict online subscriptions according to the device type and/or capability information indicated by the subscription information. Phase terminal equipment access to the cell.

In case the core network device 210 is implemented as a PCF, it can provide policy information related to mobility, access selection and PDU sessions. In addition, the policy information may further indicate the device type and/or capability information of the terminal device. In this case, in this case, regardless of whether the core network device 210 is the PCF itself or another network element different from the PCF, the core network device 210 can implement the Determine whether to restrict the terminal equipment in the online subscription phase from accessing the cell.

In the case that the core network device 210 is implemented as an SMF, it may be responsible for user plane network element selection, user plane network element redirection, IP address allocation, bearer establishment, modification and release, and QoS control. After the core network device 210 establishes a user plane transmission channel for the terminal device 230 , there is a user plane context for the terminal device 230 in the network.

In addition, the core network device 210 can also communicate with other network entities or functions in the communication environment 200 . For example, in the case that the core network device 210 is not implemented as a DCS, it can obtain the authorization result from the DCS. As mentioned above, if the terminal device 230 completes the DCS authentication in the intermediate network, it can obtain the online subscription service, and can perform the subsequent remote configuration process. Therefore, the core network device 210 can determine whether the access process of the terminal device 230 to the first cell 221 is in the online subscription stage or the remote configuration stage according to the authorization result of the DCS, and then further select whether to restrict the access of the terminal device 230 to the first cell 221. access.

In the case that the core network device 210 is not implemented as an SMF, it can communicate with the SMF to obtain verification results about the context of the user plane. If there is no user plane context for the terminal device 230 , it means that the online subscription process has not been completed, and then the core network device 210 may determine that it is necessary to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 . If there is a user plane context for the terminal device 230, it means that the online subscription process has been completed, that is, the access process is in the remote configuration stage. In this case, the core network device 210 may further choose whether to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 .

It should be understood that the number of various devices and their connections shown in FIG. 2 are given for illustrative purposes and no limitation is suggested. Communications environment 200 may include any suitable number of devices and networks suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. In the communication environment 200, the core network device 210, the access network device 220, and the terminal device 230 can transmit data and control information to each other.

Communications in the communication environment 200 may be implemented according to any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to first generation cellular communication protocol (1G), second generation cellular communication protocol (2G), third generation cellular communication protocol (3G), WLAN communication protocols such as fourth-generation cellular communication protocols (4G) and fifth-generation cellular communication protocols (5G), such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, etc., and/or any other currently known or will develop in the future. In addition, communication may utilize any suitable wireless communication technology, including but not limited to: Narrow Band-Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rate GSM evolution system (Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution, EDGE), wideband code division multiple access system (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA), code division multiple access 2000 system (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA2000), time division synchronization code Three major application scenarios of the Division Multiple Access System (Time Division-Synchronization Code Division Multiple Access, TD-SCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G mobile communication system eMBB, URLLC and eMTC and/or currently known Or any other technology that will be developed in it.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be discussed in detail below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9 . For ease of discussion, signaling interactions between communicating entities according to example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the example communication environment of FIG. 2 . It should be appreciated that example embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in a similar manner in other communication environments.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, access restrictions on online subscribed cells can be implemented on the core network side, thereby avoiding changing the cell selection mechanism for terminal equipment. For example, FIG. 3 shows an interactive signaling diagram of a specific communication process 300 according to the above solution. As shown in FIG. 3 , a communication process 300 involves a core network device 210 , an access network device 220 and a terminal device 230 . It should be understood that the communication process shown in FIG. 3 is only exemplary and not restrictive. Embodiments of the present disclosure may include interactive signaling not shown in FIG. 3 , or omit some signaling shown in FIG. 3 .

305. The terminal device 230 and the access network device 220 perform a 305 cell selection process. For example, the access network device 220 may broadcast system messages in its cells 221 to 223, and the system messages may include, for example, network identifiers, online subscription capability indications, scheduling information, configuration parameters, cell access related information, and the like. The terminal device 230 may determine based on the system message that the network provided by the access network device 220 supports online subscription services, and select one of the cells of the access network device 220 (for example, the first cell 221 ) to camp on. The terminal device 230 may send a registration request for the first cell 221 to the access network device 220, where the registration request includes indication information for online subscription.

310. After receiving the registration request, the access network device 220 sends 310 to the core network device 210 a first message including the cell identifier of the first cell 221 selected by the terminal device 230 . The first message may be an NGAP message, for example, an initial UE message (Initial UE Message). In some embodiments, the first message may also indicate the online subscription capability of the first cell 221 .

In some other exemplary embodiments, the core network device 210 may obtain cell capability information from the access network device 220, including but not limited to, cell identities of the cells 221 to 223 and corresponding online subscription capability information, service support capability information, etc. Wait. The cell capability information may be included in messages such as NG Setup Request message, RAN Configuration Update message and the like. The core network device 210 may also receive update information from the access network device 220, which indicates the update of the cell capability information.

315. The core network device 210 may determine, based on the first message, whether the cell to be accessed by the terminal device 230 supports online subscription services. For example, the core network device 210 determines 315 that the first cell 221 does not support online subscription based on the cell identifier of the first cell 221 . Then, the core network device 210 may control the access of the terminal device 230 to the first cell 221 .

320. The core network device 210 may determine whether the access process is in the online subscription phase or the remote configuration phase, and based on the phase of the access process and the online subscription capability of the cell to be accessed, determine whether to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the cell. enter. For example, the core network device 210 may determine 320 that the terminal device 230's access to the first cell 221 is in an online subscription phase. The core network device 210 determines that the terminal device 230 is restricted from accessing the first cell 221 based on the judgment of the access process in 315 and 320 .

325. The core network device 210 sends 325 an indication message to the access network device to restrict access to the first cell 221.

330 . The core network device 210 sends 330 a second message to the terminal device 230 . The second message may include a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication.

335. After receiving the second message, the terminal device 230 and the access network device 220 perform 335 a cell reselection process. The access network device 220 may send a message indicating a cell reselection process to the core network device 210, and the message may include other messages different from the first message, for example, an uplink NAS Transport (Uplink NAS Transport) message, etc., the present disclosure Unrestricted in this respect.

As mentioned above, once the online subscription process is completed, the subsequent access procedures of the terminal device 230 and the access network device 220 (such as remote configuration, cell reselection/cell handover triggered by mobility) may not be affected by the online subscription process of the cell. Capability, so no access restriction is required. Of course, the same access restriction can also be continuously applied to the subsequent access process.

340. As an example, after 315, the core network device 210 determines 340 that the terminal device 230's access to the first cell 221 is in a remote configuration phase. Although in the context of the present disclosure, the process in which the terminal device 230 obtains the authorization of the DCS 112 through the intermediate network is called the online signing phase, and the subsequent process of establishing a CP or UP transmission channel and obtaining the signing or certificate information for the target network can be It is called the remote configuration stage, but the naming of "online subscription stage" and "remote configuration stage" corresponds to the current standard, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are also applicable to equivalent or equivalent concepts in future or subsequent standards. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

In some exemplary embodiments, the core network device 210 may determine the stage of the access process of the terminal device 230 or whether to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 based on one or more criteria. As an example, if the first message includes an online subscription indication, the core network device 210 may determine that the access process is in the online subscription phase, and the access of the terminal device 230 to the first cell 221 needs to be restricted. If the first message does not include an online subscription indication, the core network device 210 may determine that the access process is in the remote configuration phase, and the core network device 210 may further choose whether to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 .

As another example, the core network device 210 may make a judgment based on, for example, the authorization result of the terminal device 230 by the DCS 112 shown in FIG. 1 . If the DCS 112 fails to authorize the terminal device 230, it means that the online subscription process has not been completed, and the core network device 210 may determine that it is necessary to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221. If the authorization of the terminal device 230 by the DCS 112 is successful, it means that the online subscription process has been completed, that is, the access process is in the remote configuration stage. In this case, the core network device 210 may further choose whether to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 .

It should be understood that judging the stage of the access process according to the authorization result of the DCS for the terminal device 230 is given for illustrative purposes only. Embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to DCS authentication, and may also be applicable to other authorization authentications. For example, the core network device 210 may judge according to the authorization result of the UDM network element to the terminal device 230 . If the UDM network element fails to authorize the terminal device 230, it means that the online subscription process of the terminal device 230 has not been completed, and the core network device 210 may determine that the access process of the terminal device 230 is in the online subscription stage. For the terminal device 230 in the online subscription phase, the core network device 210 may determine that access of the terminal device 230 to the first cell 221 needs to be restricted. If the UDM network element authorizes the terminal device 230 successfully, it means that the online subscription process has been completed, that is, the access process is in the remote configuration stage. In this case, the core network device 210 may further choose whether to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 .

Since a user plane transmission channel for transmitting subscription or credential information will be established during the online subscription phase, the core network device 210 may also make a judgment based on whether there is a user plane context for the terminal device 230 in the network. For example, the core network device 210 may communicate with the SMF network element to verify whether there is user plane context information. If there is no user plane context for the terminal device 230 , it means that the online subscription process has not been completed, and then the core network device 210 may determine that it is necessary to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 . If there is a user plane context for the terminal device 230, it means that the online subscription process has been completed, that is, the access process is in the remote configuration stage. In this case, the core network device 210 may further choose whether to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 .

345. The core network device 210 may determine 345 whether to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221. If it is determined that the access is not restricted, the terminal device 230 is allowed to access the first cell 221 . further,

350. Alternatively, if it is determined in 345 that access to the first cell 221 is restricted, similar to 330, the core network device 210 may send 350 a second message to the terminal device 230.

355. In response to the second message, the terminal device 230 may perform 355 a cell reselection procedure with the access network device 220 . The cell reselection process may be based on an existing criterion or a mechanism to be developed in the future, so details will not be described here. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

Although in process 300, the core network device 210 is described as first performing 315 and then performing 320 or 340, that is, first judging the online subscription capability of the first cell 221, and then determining the stage of the access process of the terminal device 230, but Execution of process 300 is not dependent on the order of 315 , 320 or 340 . For example, in some alternative embodiments, the core network device 210 may first determine the stage of the terminal device 230's access process, that is, first perform 320 or 340, and then determine the online subscription capability of the first cell 221, that is, perform 315. In some other example embodiments, the determination of the stage of the access process and the online subscription capability of the first cell 221 may also be performed in parallel. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

According to the exemplary embodiments described above, a solution for controlling terminal device access to a network is provided. This solution is implemented on the core network side, and without changing the cell selection or cell switching mechanism on the terminal device side, the terminal device can only obtain subscription or credential information through cells that support online subscription services. This solution can also flexibly set whether to apply the same access restriction in the subsequent access process. In this way, the cell load can be adjusted, network security can be ensured, and the performance of the communication system can be improved.

According to some other embodiments of the present disclosure, access restrictions on online subscribed cells can be implemented on the access network side, thereby avoiding changing the cell selection mechanism for terminal equipment. For example, FIG. 4 shows an interactive signaling diagram of a specific communication process 400 according to the above solution. As shown in FIG. 4 , the communication process 400 involves the core network device 210 , the access network device 220 and the terminal device 230 . It should be understood that the communication process shown in FIG. 4 is only exemplary rather than limiting. Embodiments of the present disclosure may include interactive signaling not shown in FIG. 4 , or omit some signaling shown in FIG. 4 .

405. The terminal device 230 and the access network device 220 perform a 405 cell selection process, and send a registration request to the core network device 210 through the access network device 220 . The cell selection process in 405 is similar to 305 in FIG. 3 , and will not be repeated here.

410. After receiving the registration request, the access network device 220 sends 410 to the core network device 210 a first message including the cell identifier of the first cell 221 selected by the terminal device 230 . For example, the access network device 220 may forward the registration request of the terminal device 230 through the first message. The first message may be an NGAP message, for example, an initial UE message (Initial UE Message).

After receiving the first message, the core network device 210 may determine whether the access process is in the online subscription phase or the remote configuration phase. The core network device 210 and the access network device 220 can establish a connection (for example, NGAP Association) for each terminal device in the network. The association may be uniquely identified at the access network device 220 using an identifier such as a RAN UE NGAP ID. Similarly, an identifier such as AMF UE NGAP ID may be used at the core network device 210 to uniquely identify the association. After the NGAP connection is established, the core network device 210 can verify the stage of the terminal device 230 at any time, and the core network device 210 can judge the stage of the access process based on one or more criteria described in conjunction with the process 300 . Therefore, details are not repeated here. Then, the core network device 210 may send indication information to the access network device 220 to indicate the stage of the access process.

In some example embodiments, the core network device 210 may be a core network element supporting online subscription in the network selected by the access network device 220 . In this case, the core network device 210 may determine whether to control the terminal device 230's access to the first cell 221 based on a preconfigured rule or policy. For example, the core network device 210 may determine whether to restrict the access of the terminal device 230 based on the device type and/or device capability indicated by the preconfigured rules or policies of the terminal device 230 . In such an embodiment, the pre-configured rules or policies may be stored locally on the core network device 210 . The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

415. As an example, the core network device 210 may determine 415 that the access process is in an online subscription phase.

420. Then, the core network device 210 sends 420 first indication information to the access network device 220, so as to indicate that the terminal device 230 is restricted from accessing the first cell 221. The access network device 220 may store the first indication information. In the case that the core network device 210 has previously sent another indication information, the access network device 220 may use the first indication information to update the stored another indication information.

425. The access network device 220 may determine 425 that the first cell 221 does not support the online subscription service based on the online subscription capability information of the first cell 221. The access network device 220 may control access of the terminal device 230 to the first cell 221 based on the first indication information and the online subscription capability of the first cell 221 .

In the foregoing embodiment, the access network device 220 may determine that the terminal device 230 should be restricted from accessing the first cell 221 . 430. In this case, the access network device 220 sends 430 a third message to the terminal device 230, where the third message may include at least one of a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication for the terminal device.

435. After receiving the third message, the terminal device 230 and the access network device 220 perform 435 a cell reselection process. The cell reselection process may be based on an existing criterion or a mechanism to be developed in the future, so details will not be described here. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

440. As another example, the core network device 210 may determine 440 that the access process is in a remote configuration phase. If the core network device 210 has previously sent the first indication information to the access network device 220 to instruct the terminal device 230 to restrict access to the first cell 221, the core network device 210 may send 445 the second indication information to the access network device 220. The indication information is used to indicate to cancel the access restriction on the first cell 221. In this case, the access network device 220 may use the second indication information to update the previously stored first indication information.

As yet another example, in the case that the core network device 210 determines 440 that the access process is in the remote configuration phase, the core network device 210 may also send a first indication indicating to restrict access to the first cell 221 to the access network device 220 information. In this case, the access network device 220 and the terminal device 230 may perform operations similar to 430 and 435 . The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

Although in the process 400, the access network device 220 is described as first executing 415 and then executing 420, that is, first judging the stage of the access process, and then judging the online subscription capability of the first cell 221, the execution of the process 400 does not The sequence of 415 and 420 is not dependent. For example, in some alternative embodiments, the core network device 210 may first determine the online subscription capability of the first cell 221, and then determine the stage of the access process of the terminal device 230, that is, first perform 420, and then perform 415. In some other example embodiments, the determination of the stage of the access process and the online subscription capability of the first cell 221 may also be performed in parallel. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

According to the exemplary embodiments described above, a solution for controlling terminal device access to a network is provided. This solution is implemented on the access network side, and without changing the cell selection or cell switching mechanism on the terminal device side, the terminal device can only obtain subscription or credential information through cells that support online subscription services. This solution can also flexibly set whether to apply the same access restriction in the subsequent access process. In this manner, cell load can be reduced, network security can be ensured, and performance of the communication system can be improved.

According to still other embodiments of the present disclosure, an enhanced cell selection or cell reselection mechanism may be implemented at a terminal device. For example, FIG. 5 shows an interactive signaling diagram of a specific communication process 500 according to the above solution. As shown in FIG. 5 , a communication process 500 involves a core network device 210 , an access network device 220 and a terminal device 230 . It should be understood that the communication process shown in FIG. 5 is only exemplary rather than limiting. Embodiments of the present disclosure may include interactive signaling not shown in FIG. 5 , or omit some signaling shown in FIG. 5 .

505. The access network device 220 sends 505 an online subscription capability indication to the terminal device 230. The online subscription capability indication may include online subscription capability information of the cells 221 to 223 of the access network device 220 . For example, the access network device 220 may broadcast a message including an online subscription capability indication to terminal devices within its coverage area. The message may be a system message, and may include network identification, scheduling information, configuration parameters, cell access related information, etc.

In some example embodiments, after receiving the broadcast messages from multiple access network devices, the AS of the terminal device 230 transmits the relevant parameters and indication information in the messages to the NAS layer. The NAS layer of the terminal device 230 may select an access network device that supports online subscription services according to the online subscription capability indication, and instruct the AS layer to select a cell that supports online subscription provided by the access network device based on the online subscription capability indication for camping. Keep.

510. For example, the NAS layer of the terminal device 230 determines that the network provided by the access network device 220 supports online subscription services, and thus instructs the AS layer to determine 510 from the cells 221 to 223 of the access network device 220 to support online subscription services based on the online subscription capability information. Subscribed candidate cells, such as the second cell 222 and the third cell 223 .

515. The AS layer of the terminal device 230 may select 515 the second cell 222 from the

candidate cells

222 and 223 to camp on, and send 520 an online subscription request for the second cell 222 to the access network device 220 . It should be understood that the terminal device 230 may determine the cell for camping on from the candidate cells based on any existing or to-be-developed criteria, and thus details are not described here. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

525. After receiving the online subscription request, the access network device 220 and the core network device 210 may perform 525 an online subscription process with the terminal device 230 .

530. After the online subscription process is completed, the core network device 210 sends 530 a fourth message to the terminal device 230 to indicate that the online subscription is completed. After receiving the fourth message, the terminal device 230 may store the fourth message.

As mentioned above, once the online subscription process is completed, the subsequent access procedures of the terminal device 230 and the access network device 220 (such as remote configuration, cell reselection triggered by mobility, or cell handover) may not be affected by the online subscription process of the cell. Capability, so no access restriction is required. Of course, the same access restriction can also be continuously applied to the subsequent access process.

535. As an example, after receiving the fourth message, the terminal device 230 may determine 535 that cell reselection needs to be based on online subscription capability information. In this case, the AS layer of the terminal device 230 still considers the online subscription capability information during the cell reselection process. In this case, the terminal device 230 may reselect 545 a cell for camping on among the

cells

222 and 223 of the access network device 220 that support online subscription.

540. As another example, after receiving the fourth message, the terminal device 230 may determine 540 that the cell reselection need not be based on online subscription capability information. The NAS layer of the terminal device 230 may instruct the AS layer to cancel the restriction on cell selection.

545. In this case, the terminal device 230 may reselect 545 a cell for camping on among all the cells of the access network device 220.

It should be understood that other steps of cell reselection may be based on any existing or to-be-developed criteria, so details will not be described here. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

According to the example embodiments described above, an enhanced cell selection mechanism is provided. Through this mechanism, the terminal device can dynamically consider the online subscription capability of the cell when performing cell selection or cell reselection. For example, when a terminal device requests to access the network to obtain subscription or credential information, a cell that supports online subscription service can be selected according to the online subscription capability of each cell, thereby effectively reducing the load of common cells. After the online subscription is completed, the terminal device may consider whether to apply cell access restriction. In this manner, cell load balancing can be achieved, network security can be ensured, and performance of the communication system can be improved.

The communication process in the exemplary embodiment described in conjunction with FIG. 3 will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a method 600 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 600 can be implemented at a core network device. For example, the method 600 can be implemented at the core network device 210 . For convenience of discussion, the method 600 will be described below in conjunction with FIG. 2 . It should be understood that the method 600 is also applicable to other communication scenarios and devices.

At block 610 , the core network device 210 receives a first message from the access network device 220 . The first message may include a cell identifier of the first cell 221 of the access network device 220 to be accessed by the terminal device 230 . For example, the first message may be an NGAP message.

At block 620, the core network device 210 determines based on the cell identity of the first cell 221 that the first cell 221 does not support online subscription.

In some example embodiments, the core network device 210 may receive cell capability information from the access network device 220 . The cell capability information may include a cell identifier for at least one cell of the access network device 220 and an online subscription capability corresponding to the at least one cell, where the at least one cell includes the first cell 221 . In such an embodiment, the core network device 210 may determine that the first cell 221 does not support online subscription based on the cell capability information and the cell identifier of the first cell 221 obtained from the first message.

In some example embodiments, the core network device 210 may receive an update message from the access network device 220 . The update message may indicate an update to previously received cell capability information.

In some example embodiments, the first message may also indicate the online subscription capability of the first cell 221, and the core network device 210 may determine the first cell based on the cell identity of the first cell 221 and the online subscription capability of the first cell 221 221 does not support online signing.

At block 630 , the core network device 210 controls access of the terminal device 230 to the first cell 221 .

In some exemplary embodiments, the core network device 210 may restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 . In such an embodiment, the core network device 210 may send the second message to the terminal device 230 . The second message may include at least one of the following: a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication.

In some example embodiments, the core network device 210 may determine to restrict the terminal device 230's access to the first cell 221 based on at least one of the following: the first message includes an online subscription indication, and the credential server fails to authorize the terminal device 230 , or there is no user plane context for the terminal device 230 in the network.

In some example embodiments, the core network device 210 may determine that the terminal device 230's access to the first cell 221 is in an online subscription phase. Based on the above determination, the core network device 210 may restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 , and send the second message to the terminal device 230 . The second message includes at least one of the following: a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication.

In some other exemplary embodiments, the core network device 210 may determine that the terminal device 230 is in a remote configuration phase when accessing the first cell 221 . Based on the foregoing determination, the core network device 210 may determine not to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 .

Alternatively, if it is determined that the terminal device 230's access to the first cell 221 is in the remote configuration stage, the core network device 210 may restrict the terminal device 230's access to the first cell 221 .

The core network device 210 may determine the access stage based on whether the first message includes an online subscription indication. For example, if the first message includes an online subscription indication, the access is in the online subscription phase. If the online subscription indication is not included in the first message, the access is in the remote configuration phase.

The core network device 210 may determine the access stage based on the authorization result of the credential server to the terminal device 230 . For example, if the credential server fails to authorize the terminal device 230, the access is in the online subscription phase. If the credential server authorizes the terminal device 230 successfully, the access is in the remote configuration stage.

The core network device 210 may determine the access stage based on whether there is a user plane context for the terminal device 230 in the network. For example, if there is no user plane context for the terminal device 230 in the network, the access is in the online subscription phase. If there is a user plane context for the terminal device 230 in the network, the access is in the remote configuration phase.

The communication process in the exemplary embodiment described in conjunction with FIG. 4 will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 7 . FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a method 700 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 700 can be implemented at an access network device. For example, method 700 may be implemented at access network device 220 . For convenience of discussion, the method 700 will be described below in conjunction with FIG. 2 . It should be understood that the method 700 is also applicable to other communication scenarios and devices.

At block 710 , the access network device 220 sends a first message to the core network device 210 . The first message may include a cell identifier of the first cell 221 of the access network device 220 to be accessed by the terminal device 230 .

At block 720 , the access network device 220 receives first indication information about access to the first cell 221 from the core network device 210 . The first indication information may indicate whether to restrict the terminal device 230 from accessing the first cell 221 .

At block 730, the access network device 220 determines that the first cell 221 does not support online subscription.

At block 740, the access network device 220 controls the terminal device 230's access to the first cell 221 based on the first indication information. In the embodiment in which the first indication information indicates that the terminal device 230 is restricted from accessing the first cell 221 , the access network device 220 may send the third message to the terminal device 230 . The third message may include at least one of the following: a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication for the terminal device 230 .

In some example embodiments, the access network device 220 receives the second indication information from the core network device. The second indication information indicates to cancel the restriction on access to the first cell 221 . In such an example embodiment, the second indication information may indicate to cancel the access restriction on the first cell 2210 .

The communication process in the example embodiment described in conjunction with FIG. 5 will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method 800 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 800 can be implemented at a terminal device. For example, the method 800 can be implemented at the terminal device 230 . For ease of discussion, the method 800 will be described below in conjunction with FIG. 2 . It should be understood that the method 800 is equally applicable to other communication scenarios and devices.

At block 810 , the terminal device 230 receives an online subscription capability indication from the access network device 220 . The online subscription capability indication may include online subscription capability information of at least one cell (for example, the first cell 221 , the second cell 222 and the third cell 223 ) of the access network device 220 .

At block 820, the terminal device 230 selects the second cell 222 supporting online subscription from at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information.

In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal device 230 may determine candidate cells supporting online subscription among at least one cell 221 to 223 based on the online subscription capability information, such as the second cell 222 and the third cell 223 . The terminal device 230 may then select the second cell 222 from the

candidate cells

222 and 223 to camp on. In the above embodiments, the determination of the

candidate cells

222 and 223 is implemented at the AS layer of the terminal device 230 .

At block 830 , the terminal device 230 sends an online subscription request for the second cell 222 to the access network device 220 .

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 230 may receive the fourth message from the core network 210 device. The fourth message may indicate that the online subscription is complete. In response to the fourth message, the terminal device 230 may perform cell reselection or cell switching for at least one cell 221 to 223 . For example, cell reselection or cell switching need not be based on online subscription capability information.

In some other exemplary embodiments, the terminal device 230 may also perform cell reselection or cell switching for at least one of the cells 221 to 223 based on the online subscription capability information.

Above, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 8 . Hereinafter, the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 9 to FIG. 10 .

Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 9 , the apparatus 900 may include a processing unit 910 and a transceiver unit 920 . The processing unit 910 is used to control and manage the actions of the communication device, for example, the processing unit 910 is used to execute the steps of information/data processing in the communication device. The transceiver unit 920 is used to support the communication device in the steps of sending or receiving information/data.

In a possible embodiment, the transceiver unit 920 may be further divided into a sending unit and a receiving unit.

In a possible embodiment, the communication device may further include a storage module, configured to store program codes and data available on the communication device.

(1) In a possible design, the apparatus 900 may be the core network device in the method embodiment above, or a module (such as a chip) applied to the core network device. The apparatus 900 may be used to execute various steps or processes corresponding to the core network equipment in the above method 300-method 800. specifically,

The transceiver unit 920 is configured to: receive a first message from the access network device, where the first message includes a cell identifier of a first cell of the access network device to be accessed by the terminal device;

The processing unit 910 is configured to: determine based on the cell identifier of the first cell that the first cell does not support online subscription; and control the terminal device's access to the first cell.

Optionally, the transceiving unit 920 is further configured to: receive cell capability information from the access network device, where the cell capability information includes a cell identifier and corresponding online subscription capability for at least one cell of the access network device, the at least one cell includes the first cell; and

The processing unit 910 is further configured to: determine that the first cell does not support the online subscription based on the cell capability information and the cell identity of the first cell.

Optionally, the transceiving unit 920 is further configured to: receive an update message from the access network device, where the update message indicates an update to the cell capability information.

Optionally, the processing unit 910 is further configured to: determine the cell identifier of the first cell and the online subscription capability of the first cell, and determine that the first cell does not support the online subscription.

Optionally, the processing unit 910 is further configured to: restrict the terminal device from accessing the first cell.

Optionally, determining to restrict the terminal device's access to the first cell is based on at least one of the following:

The first message includes an online subscription indication;

the credential server fails to authorize said terminal device; or

There is no user plane context for the terminal device.

Optionally, the processing unit 910 is further configured to: determine that the terminal device's access to the first cell is in an online subscription phase, and controlling the access to the first cell includes:

The processing unit 910 is further configured to: restrict the terminal device from accessing the first cell.

Optionally, the transceiving unit 920 is further configured to: send a second message to the terminal device, where the second message includes at least one of the following: a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication.

Optionally, the processing unit 910 is further configured to: determine that the terminal device's access to the first cell is in a remote configuration stage, and determine that the terminal device's access to the first cell is not restricted.

Optionally, the processing unit 910 determines that the terminal device's access to the first cell is in a remote configuration stage, and restricts the terminal device's access to the first cell.

Optionally, the processing unit 910 determines that the access is in the online subscription phase based on at least one of the following:

If the first message includes an online subscription indication, the access is in the online subscription phase;

said access is in said online subscription phase if said credential server fails to authorize said terminal device; or

If there is no user plane context for the terminal device, the access is in the online subscription phase.

Optionally, the processing unit 910 determines that the access is in the remote configuration stage based on at least one of the following:

If the online subscription indication is not included in the first message, the access is in the remote configuration stage;

If the credential server successfully authorizes the terminal device, the access is in the remote configuration phase; or

If the user plane context exists, the access is in the remote configuration phase.

(2) In a possible design, the apparatus 900 may be the access network device in the method embodiment above, or a module (such as a chip) applied to the access network device. The apparatus 900 may be used to execute each step or process corresponding to the access network device in the above method 300-method 800. specifically,

The transceiver unit 920 is configured to: send a first message to the core network device, where the first message includes the cell identifier of the first cell of the access network device to be accessed by the terminal device; receive from the core network device information about the The first indication information of the access of the first cell;

The processing unit 910 is configured to: determine that the first cell does not support online subscription; and control access of the terminal device to the first cell based on the first indication information.

Optionally, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is restricted from accessing the first cell, and controlling access to the first cell includes:

Optionally, restricting the terminal device's access to the first cell includes:

The processing unit 910 is further configured to: send a third message to the terminal device through the transceiver unit 920, where the third message includes at least one of the following: a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication for the terminal device.

Optionally, the transceiving unit 920 is further configured to: receive second indication information from the core network device, where the second indication information indicates to cancel the restriction on access to the first cell.

(3) In a possible design, the apparatus 900 may be the terminal device in the method embodiment above, or may be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device. The apparatus 900 may be used to execute each step or process corresponding to the terminal device in the above-mentioned method 300-method 800. specifically,

The transceiver unit 920 is configured to: receive an online subscription capability indication from an access network device, where the online subscription capability indication includes online subscription capability information of at least one cell of the access network device, wherein the online subscription capability of the at least one cell The capability information includes a cell identifier and a corresponding online subscription capability for at least one cell of the access network device;

The processing unit 910 is configured to: select a second cell from the at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information of the at least one cell, and the second cell supports online subscription; and

The transceiving unit 920 is further configured to: send an online subscription request for the second cell to the access network device.

Optionally, the processing unit 910 is further configured to: determine a candidate cell supporting online subscription among the at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information of the at least one cell; and select the second cell from the candidate cells for residency,

The determination of the candidate cell is implemented at the access layer of the terminal device.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 920 is further configured to receive a fourth message from the core network device, the fourth message indicating that the online subscription is completed; and

The processing unit 910 is further configured to: perform cell reselection or cell switching for the at least one cell, and the cell reselection or cell switching does not need to be based on the online subscription capability information of the at least one cell.

Optionally, the processing unit 910 is further configured to: perform cell reselection or cell switching for the at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information of the at least one cell.

It should be understood that the device 900 here is embodied in the form of functional units. The term "unit" here may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor for executing one or more software or firmware programs (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor, or a group processor, etc.) and memory, incorporated logic, and/or other suitable components to support the described functionality. In an optional example, those skilled in the art can understand that the apparatus 900 may specifically be the core network device in the above embodiment, and may be used to execute various processes and/or steps corresponding to the core network device in the above method embodiment, Alternatively, the apparatus 900 may specifically be the terminal device in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be used to execute various procedures and/or steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, or, the apparatus 900 may be specifically the access terminal device in the above-mentioned embodiment. The network equipment may be used to execute the processes and/or steps corresponding to the access network equipment in the foregoing method embodiments. In order to avoid repetition, details are not repeated here.

The apparatus 900 of each of the above-mentioned solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the core network equipment of the above-mentioned methods, or, the apparatus 900 of the above-mentioned various solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps of the terminal equipment in the above-mentioned methods, or, the above-mentioned each of the solutions Apparatus 900 has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the access network device in the above methods. The functions described above may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software on the hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions; for example, the communication unit can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the sending unit in the communication unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the communication unit can be replaced by a receiver computer), and other units, such as a processing unit, may be replaced by a processor to respectively perform the sending and receiving operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

In addition, the above-mentioned communication unit may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, may include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

FIG. 10 shows a communication device 1000 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1000 includes a processor 1010 and a transceiver 1020 . Wherein, the processor 1010 and the transceiver 1020 communicate with each other through an internal connection path, and the processor 1010 is used to execute instructions to control the transceiver 1020 to send signals and/or receive signals.

Optionally, the apparatus 1000 may further include a memory 1030, and the memory 1030 communicates with the processor 1010 and the transceiver 1020 through an internal connection path. The memory 1030 is used to store instructions, and the processor 1010 can execute the instructions stored in the memory 1030 . In a possible implementation manner, the apparatus 1000 is configured to implement various processes and steps corresponding to the core network equipment in the foregoing method embodiments. In another possible implementation manner, the apparatus 1000 is configured to implement various processes and steps corresponding to the access network device in the foregoing method embodiments. In yet another possible implementation manner, the apparatus 1000 is configured to implement various processes and steps corresponding to the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments.

It should be understood that the apparatus 1000 may specifically be the core network device, the access network device, or the terminal device in the foregoing embodiments, or may be a chip or a chip system. Correspondingly, the transceiver 1020 may be a transceiver circuit of the chip, which is not limited here. Specifically, the apparatus 1000 can be used to execute various steps and/or processes corresponding to core network equipment, access network equipment or terminal equipment in the foregoing method embodiments. Optionally, the memory 1030 may include read-only memory and random-access memory, and provides instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory may also store device type information. The processor 1010 may be used to execute the instructions stored in the memory, and when the processor 1010 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 1010 is used to execute the above-mentioned instructions corresponding to the core network equipment, access network equipment or terminal equipment. Various steps and/or processes of the method embodiments. In the implementation process, each step of the above method can 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 connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module can be located in a mature storage medium in the field such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory, register. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory, and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware. To avoid repetition, no detailed description is given here.

It should be noted that the processor in the embodiment of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip, which has a signal processing capability. In the implementation process, each step of the above-mentioned method embodiments may be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The above-mentioned processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components . Various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or executed. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor, or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a mature storage medium in the field such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory, register. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory, and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

It can be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (read-only memory, ROM), programmable read-only memory (programmable ROM, PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (erasable PROM, EPROM), electrically programmable Erases programmable read-only memory (electrically EPROM, EEPROM) or flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available such as static random access memory (static RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (double data rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous connection dynamic random access memory (synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM ) and direct memory bus random access memory (direct rambus RAM, DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product, the computer program product including: computer program code, when the computer program code is run on the computer, the computer is made to execute the computer program described in Fig. 3 to Fig. 8 . The core network device, access network device or terminal device in the illustrated embodiment.

According to the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium stores program codes, and when the program codes are run on a computer, the computer is made to execute In the embodiment shown in 8, core network equipment, access network equipment or terminal equipment.

According to the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application further provides a communication system, which may include core network equipment, access network equipment, and other network elements in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 to 8 .

The embodiments shown in Figure 3 to Figure 8 in the above-mentioned various device embodiments and method embodiments correspond completely, and corresponding steps are performed by corresponding modules or units, for example, the communication unit (transceiver) performs receiving or sending in the method embodiments Steps, other steps except sending and receiving can be executed by a processing unit (processor). The functions of the specific units may be based on the corresponding method embodiments. Wherein, there may be one or more processors.

In the embodiments of the present application, each term and English abbreviation are illustrative examples given for convenience of description, and shall not constitute any limitation to the present application. This application does not exclude the possibility of defining other terms that can achieve the same or similar functions in existing or future agreements.

In the embodiments of the present application, the first, second and various numbers are only for convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, distinguishing different core network devices, distinguishing different attribute information, and so on.

The terms "component", "module", "system" and the like are used in this specification to refer to a computer-related entity, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be components. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable storage media having various data structures stored thereon. A component may, for example, be based on a signal having one or more packets of data, such as data from two components interacting with another component between a local system, a distributed system, and/or a network, such as the Internet through a signal interacting with other systems. Communicate through local and/or remote processes.

Those of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that various illustrative logical blocks (illustrative logical blocks) and steps (steps) described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented with electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. accomplish. Whether these functions are executed by hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be regarded as exceeding the scope of the present application.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the system, device and unit described above can be based on the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or May be integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored, or not implemented. In another point, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or may be distributed to multiple network units. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

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

In the above embodiments, the functions of each functional unit may be fully or partially implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product comprises one or more computer instructions (programs). When the computer program instructions (program) are loaded and executed on the computer, the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application will be generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The 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, computer, server or data center Transmission to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wired (eg, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (eg, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer, or a data storage device such as a server or a data center integrated with one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape), an optical medium (such as a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (such as a solid state disk (solid state disk, SSD)), etc.

If the functions are realized in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including Several instructions are used to make a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (read-only memory, ROM), random access memory (random access memory, RAM), magnetic disk or optical disc and other media that can store program codes. .

The above is only a specific implementation of the application, but the scope of protection of the application is not limited thereto. Anyone familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the application. Should be covered within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be determined by the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A method for communication, characterized in that the method comprises:

The core network device receives a first message from the access network device, where the first message includes a cell identifier of a first cell of the access network device to be accessed by the terminal device;

The core network device determines, based on the cell identity of the first cell, that the first cell does not support online subscription; and

The core network device controls the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

The core network device receives cell capability information from the access network device, the cell capability information includes a cell identifier and a corresponding online subscription capability for at least one cell of the access network device, and the at least one cell includes said first cell; and

The core network device determines that the first cell does not support the online subscription based on the cell capability information and the cell identifier of the first cell.
The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

The core network device receives an update message from the access network device, where the update message indicates an update to the cell capability information.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the first message also indicates the online subscription capability of the first cell, and the method further comprises:

The core network device determines that the first cell does not support the online subscription based on the cell identifier of the first cell and the online subscription capability of the first cell.
The method according to claim 1, wherein controlling access to the first cell comprises:

The core network device restricts the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The method according to claim 5, wherein determining to restrict the terminal device's access to the first cell is based on at least one of the following:

The first message includes an online subscription indication;

the credential server fails to authorize said terminal device; or

There is no user plane context for the terminal device.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

The core network device determines that the terminal device's access to the first cell is in an online subscription phase, and controlling access to the first cell includes:

The core network device restricts the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The method according to claim 5 or 7, wherein the core network device restricting the terminal device from accessing the first cell includes:

The core network device sends a second message to the terminal device, where the second message includes at least one of the following: a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

The core network device determines that the terminal device's access to the first cell is in a remote configuration stage, and controlling access to the first cell includes:

The core network device determines not to restrict the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

The core network device determines that the terminal device's access to the first cell is in a remote configuration phase, and

Wherein, controlling the access of the first cell includes:

The core network device restricts the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the core network device determines that the access is in the online subscription phase based on at least one of the following:

If the first message includes an online subscription indication, the access is in the online subscription phase;

said access is in said online subscription phase if said credential server fails to authorize said terminal device; or

If there is no user plane context for the terminal device, the access is in the online subscription phase.
The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the core network device determines that the access is in the remote configuration stage based on at least one of the following:

If the online subscription indication is not included in the first message, the access is in the remote configuration stage;

If the credential server successfully authorizes the terminal device, the access is in the remote configuration phase; or

If the user plane context exists, the access is in the remote configuration phase.
A method for communication, characterized in that the method comprises:

The access network device sends a first message to the core network device, where the first message includes the cell identifier of the first cell of the access network device to be accessed by the terminal device;

receiving, by the access network device, first indication information about access to the first cell from the core network device;

The access network device determines that the first cell does not support online subscription; and

The access network device controls the terminal device's access to the first cell based on the first indication information.
The method according to claim 13, wherein the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is restricted from accessing the first cell, and controlling access to the first cell includes:

The access network device restricts the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The method according to claim 13, wherein the access network device restricting the terminal device from accessing the first cell comprises:

The access network device sends a third message to the terminal device, where the third message includes at least one of the following: a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication for the terminal device.
The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the method further comprises:

The access network device receives second indication information from the core network device, where the second indication information indicates to cancel the restriction on access to the first cell.
A method for communication, characterized in that the method comprises:

The terminal device receives an online subscription capability indication from the access network device, where the online subscription capability indication includes online subscription capability information of at least one cell of the access network device, where the online subscription capability information of the at least one cell includes The cell identity of at least one cell of the access network device and the corresponding online subscription capability;

The terminal device selects a second cell from the at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information of the at least one cell, and the second cell supports online subscription; and

The terminal device sends an online subscription request for the second cell to the access network device.
The method according to claim 17, wherein selecting the second cell comprises:

The terminal device determines a candidate cell supporting online subscription in the at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information of the at least one cell; and

the terminal device selects the second cell for camping on from among the candidate cells,

The determination of the candidate cell is implemented at the access layer of the terminal device.
The method according to claim 17, further comprising:

The terminal device receives a fourth message from the core network device, the fourth message indicating that the online subscription is completed; and

The terminal device performs cell reselection or cell switching for the at least one cell, and the cell reselection or cell switching does not need to be based on online subscription capability information of the at least one cell.
The method according to claim 17, further comprising:

The terminal device performs cell reselection or cell switching for the at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information of the at least one cell.
A communication device, characterized in that the device includes:

a transceiver unit configured to receive a first message from an access network device, where the first message includes a cell identifier of a first cell of the access network device to be accessed by a terminal device;

a processing unit configured to determine based on the cell identity of the first cell that the first cell does not support online subscription; and

The processing unit is further configured to control the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The device according to claim 21, characterized in that,

The transceiving unit is further configured to receive cell capability information from the access network device, the cell capability information includes a cell identity and corresponding online subscription capability for at least one cell of the access network device, the at least one cell includes said first cell; and

The processing unit is further configured to determine that the first cell does not support the online subscription based on the cell capability information and the cell identity of the first cell.
The device according to claim 22, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured as:

An update message is received from the access network device, the update message indicating an update to the cell capability information.
The device according to claim 21, wherein the first message also indicates the online subscription capability of the first cell, and the processing unit is further configured to:

Based on the cell identifier of the first cell and the online subscription capability of the first cell, determine that the first cell does not support the online subscription.
The device according to claim 21, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

Restricting the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine to restrict the terminal device's access to the first cell based on at least one of the following:

The first message includes an online subscription indication;

the credential server fails to authorize said terminal device; or

There is no user plane context for the terminal device.
The device according to claim 25, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

determining that the terminal device's access to the first cell is in an online subscription phase;

Restricting the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The device according to claim 25 or 27, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

Sending a second message to the terminal device, where the second message includes at least one of the following: a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication.
The device according to claim 21, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

determining that the terminal device's access to the first cell is in a remote configuration phase;

It is determined not to restrict the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The device according to claim 21, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

determining that the terminal device's access to the first cell is in a remote configuration phase;

Restricting the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 27 to 30, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine that the access is in the online subscription phase based on at least one of the following:

If the first message includes an online subscription indication, the access is in the online subscription phase;

said access is in said online subscription phase if said credential server fails to authorize said terminal device; or

If there is no user plane context for the terminal device, the access is in the online subscription phase.
The device according to any one of claims 27 to 30, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine that the access is in the remote configuration stage based on at least one of the following:

If the online subscription indication is not included in the first message, the access is in the remote configuration stage;

If the credential server successfully authorizes the terminal device, the access is in the remote configuration phase; or

If the user plane context exists, the access is in the remote configuration phase.
A communication device, characterized in that the device includes:

a transceiver unit configured to send a first message to a core network device, where the first message includes a cell identifier of a first cell of the communication device to be accessed by a terminal device;

The transceiving unit is configured to receive first indication information about the access of the first cell from the core network device;

a processing unit configured to determine that the first cell does not support online subscription; and

The processing unit is further configured to control access of the terminal device to the first cell based on the first indication information.
The apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is restricted from accessing the first cell, and the processing unit is further configured to:

Restricting the terminal device's access to the first cell.
The device according to claim 33, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

Sending a third message to the terminal device, where the third message includes at least one of the following: a rejection indication, a rejection reason value, or a redirection indication for the terminal device.
The device according to claim 34, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured as:

Receive second indication information from the core network device, where the second indication information indicates to cancel the restriction on access to the first cell.
A communication device, characterized in that the device includes:

A transceiver unit configured to receive an online subscription capability indication from an access network device, where the online subscription capability indication includes online subscription capability information of at least one cell of the access network device, wherein the online subscription capability of the at least one cell The information includes a cell identity and a corresponding online subscription capability for at least one cell of the access network device;

A processing unit configured to select a second cell from the at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information of the at least one cell, and the second cell supports online subscription; and

The transceiving unit is further configured to send an online subscription request for the second cell to the access network device.
The device according to claim 37, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

Based on the online subscription capability information of the at least one cell, determine a candidate cell supporting online subscription in the at least one cell; and

selecting said second cell for camping on from among said candidate cells,

The determination of the candidate cell is implemented at the access layer of the communication device.
Apparatus according to claim 37, characterized in that

The transceiving unit is further configured to: receive a fourth message from the core network device, the fourth message indicating that the online subscription is completed; and

The processing unit is further configured to: perform cell reselection or cell switching for the at least one cell, and the cell reselection or cell switching does not need to be based on online subscription capability information of the at least one cell.
The device according to claim 37, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

Performing cell reselection or cell switching for the at least one cell based on the online subscription capability information of the at least one cell.
The device according to any one of claims 37 to 40, wherein the device is a terminal device.
A communication device, configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, or to perform the method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, or to perform the method according to any one of claims 17 to 20 one of the methods described.
A communication device, characterized in that it includes a communication interface and at least one processor, the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line,

The communication interface is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, and the operation of receiving and sending messages is performed on the device side;

The at least one processor invokes an instruction to execute the message processing or control operation performed on the device in the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.
A communication device, characterized in that it includes a communication interface and at least one processor, the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line,

The communication interface is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, and the operation of receiving and sending messages is performed on the device side;

The at least one processor invokes an instruction to execute the message processing or control operation performed on the device in the method according to any one of claims 13 to 16.
A communication device, characterized in that it includes a communication interface and at least one processor, the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line,

The communication interface is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 17 to 20, and the operation of receiving and sending messages is performed on the device side;

The at least one processor invokes an instruction to execute the message processing or control operation performed on the device in the method according to any one of claims 17 to 20.
The device according to claim 45, wherein the device is a terminal device.
A communication system comprising:

A communication device as claimed in any one of claims 21 to 32 or claim 43;

A communication device as claimed in any one of claims 33 to 36 or as claimed in claim 44; and/or

A communication device as claimed in any one of claims 37 to 41 or as claimed in claim 45 or 46.
A computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program according to any one of claims 1 to 12 and any one of claims 13 to 16 is implemented. item, or the operation described in any one of claims 17 to 20.
A chip configured to perform the operations recited in the method of any one of claims 1-12, any one of claims 13-16, or any one of claims 17-20.
A computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to execute any of claims 1 to 12, 13 to 16, or 14 to 27 Item's described method.