CN106489283B

CN106489283B - Near field service communication method, related equipment and system

Info

Publication number: CN106489283B
Application number: CN201580037140.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 舒林; 朱奋勤
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-04-03
Filing date: 2015-04-03
Publication date: 2019-12-06
Anticipated expiration: 2035-04-03
Also published as: WO2016155025A1; CN106489283A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a communication method, which is used for ensuring that UE establishes PDN connection by using APN with the capability of accessing a home ProSe functional network element in any scene so as to realize the communication between the UE and the home ProSe functional network element, and comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a mobile management network element determines an access point name APN required by packet data network PDN connection; and the mobile management network element sends the determined APN to UE so that the UE establishes the PDN connection according to the APN, and the PDN connection is used for realizing communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

Description

Near field service communication method, related equipment and system

Technical Field

the present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a proximity service communication method, a related device, and a system.

background

Currently, in the third Generation Partnership Project (3 rd Generation Partnership Project, abbreviated as 3GPP), to implement a short-range communication Function, a short-range Service (ProSe) is provided between short-range User Equipments (UEs), that is, a ProSe Function (ProSe Function) Network element is introduced at a Network side to specially process related actions and processes required by ProSe, a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection is established to transfer control signaling between the UEs and the ProSe Function Network element, and the establishment of the PDN connection requires selecting an Access Point Name (APN) of the PDN, so that the selection of the APN determines which PDN is used to connect the ProSe Function Network element.

Different operators can configure different APNs for different scenes to establish PDN connections, and in consideration of support for ProSe characteristics in non-roaming and roaming scenarios, the UE needs to directly communicate with two types of ProSe function network elements, that is: and communicating with the attributive ProSe functional network element in a non-roaming scene, and communicating with the visiting ProSe functional network element in a roaming scene. In order to reduce cross-network communication, 3GPP defines that in the above two scenarios, UE can only directly communicate with its home ProSe function network element, and communication between UE and visited ProSe function network element needs to be completed through the home ProSe function network element.

In order to establish a PDN connection using an APN with a capability of accessing a home ProSe function network element to achieve direct communication between a UE and the home ProSe function network element, in the prior art, a home operator pre-configures an APN on a UE side, so that the PDN connection can be established using the APN in a non-roaming scenario, and it is ensured that the PDN connection can be routed to the home ProSe function network element through the PDN connection. However, for the roaming scenario, if the PDN connection is still established using the APN configured by the home operator on the UE side, it cannot be guaranteed that the PDN connection can be routed to the home ProSe function network element through the PDN connection, and in a worse case, the visited ProSe function network element may reject the PDN connection establishment request because the APN configured by the home operator is not supported.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a near field service communication method, related equipment and a system, which are used for ensuring that UE establishes PDN connection by using APN with the capability of accessing a home ProSe functional network element in any scene and realizing communication between the UE and the home ProSe functional network element through the PDN connection.

The first aspect of the present invention provides a near field communication method, including:

the method comprises the steps that a mobile management network element determines an access point name APN required by a user equipment UE to access a home proximity service (ProSe) functional network element of the UE;

And the mobile management network element sends the determined APN to the UE so that the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN, wherein the PDN connection is used for realizing the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner, the determining, by the mobility management network element, an access point name APN required by a UE to access a ProSe function network element of a home proximity service of the UE includes:

The mobile management network element receives APNs sent by a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), and determines at least one of the APNs sent by the HSS as the APN required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe functional network element of the UE; the APN sent by the HSS has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

The mobility management network element determines at least one of APNs configured in the mobility management network element as an APN required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe functional network element of the UE; wherein the APN configured in the mobility management network element has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element.

With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the determining, by the mobility management network element, an access point name APN required by a user equipment UE to access a home proximity service ProSe function network element of the UE includes:

when the UE is in a non-roaming state, if the mobile management network element receives the APN sent by the HSS, determining at least one of the APNs sent by the HSS as the APN required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe functional network element of the UE; if the mobile management network element does not receive the APN sent by the HSS, determining at least one of the APNs configured in the mobile management network element as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the UE is in a roaming state, if the mobile management network element does not receive the APN sent by the HSS, determining at least one of the APNs configured in the mobile management network element as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE; if the mobile management network element receives the APN sent by the HSS and the APN is not configured in the mobile management network element, determining at least one of the APNs sent by the HSS as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE; if the mobile management network element receives the APN sent by the HSS and the APN is configured in the mobile management network element, selecting at least one APN from the APNs sent by the HSS according to a local policy or a roaming protocol as the APN required by the UE to access the home ProSe functional network element of the UE, or selecting at least one APN from the APNs configured in the mobile management network element according to a local policy or a roaming protocol as the APN required by the UE to access the home ProSe functional network element of the UE;

wherein, the APN sent by the HSS and the APN configured in the mobile management network element have the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element.

the second aspect of the present invention provides a near field communication method, including:

user Equipment (UE) receives an Access Point Name (APN) sent by a mobility management network element, wherein the APN is the APN determined by the mobility management network element and required by the UE to access a home proximity service (ProSe) functional network element of the UE;

and the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN, wherein the PDN connection is used for realizing the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner, the establishing, by the UE, a packet data network PDN connection using the APN includes:

the UE sends a PDN connection establishment request to the mobile management network element, wherein the PDN connection establishment request is used for requesting the establishment of the PDN connection for the UE and comprises the APN;

The UE receives a default bearer activation request sent by the mobile management network element;

And the UE establishes the PDN connection according to the default bearer activation request sent by the mobile management network element.

with reference to the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, before the receiving, by the UE, an access point name APN sent by a mobility management network element, the method further includes:

and the UE sends the APN configured in the UE to the mobile management network element.

A third aspect of the present invention provides a mobility management network element, comprising:

The system comprises a determining module, a judging module and a judging module, wherein the determining module is used for determining an access point name APN required by a user equipment UE for accessing a home proximity service (ProSe) functional network element of the UE;

a sending module, configured to send the APN determined by the determining module to the UE, so that the UE establishes a packet data network PDN connection using the APN, where the PDN connection is used to implement communication between the UE and the home ProSe function network element.

with reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation manner,

The determining module is specifically configured to receive an APN sent by an HSS, and determine the APN sent by the HSS as an APN required by the UE to access a ProSe function network element to which the UE belongs; the APN sent by the HSS has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the determining module is specifically configured to determine the APN configured in the mobility management element as an APN required by the UE for accessing a ProSe function network element to which the UE belongs; wherein the APN configured in the mobility management network element has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element.

With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner,

The determining module is specifically configured to determine, when the UE is in a non-roaming state, if an APN sent by an HSS is received, at least one of the APNs sent by the HSS as an APN required by the UE to access a home ProSe function network element of the UE; if the APN sent by the HSS is not received, determining at least one of the APNs configured in the mobility management network element as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the determining module is specifically configured to determine, when the UE is in a roaming state, at least one of the APNs configured in the mobility management network element as an APN required by the UE to access a home ProSe function network element of the UE if the APN sent by the HSS is not received; if APN sent by HSS is received and APN is not configured in the mobile management network element, determining at least one of APN sent by HSS as APN required by UE to access the attributive ProSe functional network element of the UE; if APNs sent by an HSS are received and APNs are configured in the mobile management network element, at least one APN is selected from the APNs sent by the HSS according to a local policy or a roaming protocol to be used as the APN required by the UE for accessing the UE's home ProSe functional network element, or at least one APN is selected from the APNs configured in the mobile management network element according to a local policy or a roaming protocol to be used as the APN required by the UE for accessing the UE's home ProSe functional network element;

A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a UE, including:

A receiving module, configured to receive an access point name APN sent by a mobility management network element, where the APN is an access point name APN that is determined by the mobility management network element and is required by the UE to access a ProSe function network element to which the UE belongs;

and the establishing module is used for establishing a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN, wherein the PDN connection is used for realizing the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner,

the establishing module is specifically configured to send a PDN connection establishment request to the mobility management network element, where the PDN connection establishment request is used to request establishment of the PDN connection for the UE, and the PDN connection establishment request includes the APN; receiving a default bearer activation request sent by the mobility management network element; and establishing the PDN connection according to the default bearer activation request sent by the mobile management network element.

with reference to the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

a sending module, configured to send the APN configured in the UE to a mobility management network element before the receiving module receives the APN sent by the mobility management network element.

A fifth aspect of the present invention provides a proximity service communication system, including:

A mobility management network element as described in the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect, and a user equipment as described in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect;

a sixth aspect of the present invention provides a mobility management element, including: a transceiver, a memory, a processor, and a bus, the transceiver, memory, and processor connected with the bus, wherein:

the transceiver is used for receiving or transmitting data;

The memory is used for storing a program, and the processor is used for calling the program to execute the following operations:

Determining an access point name APN required by User Equipment (UE) to access a ProSe functional network element of the attribution of the UE;

and sending the determined APN to the UE so that the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN, wherein the PDN connection realizes the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

a seventh aspect of the present invention provides a UE, configured to perform the following steps:

receiving an access point name APN sent by a mobility management network element, wherein the APN is the APN which is determined by the mobility management network element and is required by the UE to access a ProSe functional network element of the attribution of the UE;

And establishing a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN, wherein the PDN connection is used for realizing the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

by applying the technical scheme, the mobile management network element determines an access point name APN required by the user equipment UE to access the attributive proximity service ProSe functional network element of the UE; and sending the determined APN to the UE so that the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN. The mobile management network element sends the determined APN to the UE, the APN has the capability of accessing the home ProSe functional network element, the UE is ensured to establish PDN connection by using the APN with the capability of accessing the home ProSe functional network element in any scene, and the communication between the UE and the home ProSe functional network element is realized through the PDN connection.

drawings

FIG. 1a is a system architecture diagram illustrating a non-roaming scenario in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1b is a system architecture diagram illustrating a roaming scenario in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an embodiment of a proximity services communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a proximity service communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of another embodiment of a proximity service communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of another embodiment of a proximity service communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of another embodiment of a proximity service communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a mobility management element in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an embodiment of a user equipment in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of another embodiment of a UE according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a mobility management network element in an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

the terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," and the like in the description and in the claims, as well as in the drawings, are used for distinguishing between different objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. Furthermore, the terms "include" and "have," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements listed, but may alternatively include other steps or elements not listed, or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

It should be noted that, the mobility management element according to the embodiment of the present invention refers to an entity that can implement a mobility management logic function of a ue, and the mobility management element may have different names, locations, and product forms in different networks.

for example, the mobility management element mentioned in the embodiment of the present invention may refer to: a Mobile management Entity (hereinafter, referred to as mobility management Entity, MME) connected to an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), and a General Packet Radio Service Node (SGSN) connected to a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN, GSM EDGE Radio Access Network); AN Access Gateway (AGW) in a non-3 GPP Network, AN entity having AN Evolved Packet Data Gateway (EPDG) mobility management logic function in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), AN Access Service Network Gateway (ASN GW) in a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) Network, or AN entity having a High Rate Packet Data Access Network (HRPD-AN) Access mobility management logic function in a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) Network in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), or AN entity implementing a user equipment mobility management logic function in other networks.

the UE mentioned in the embodiments of the present invention may be a Human-to-Human (H2H, Human to Human) user equipment or may be a Machine-to-Machine (M2M), or other types of UE. Among them, the M2M user equipment may be called a Machine Type communication Device (MTC Device).

the home network and the visited network mentioned in the embodiments of the present invention are in a non-roaming state and a roaming state, which are relative to the UE. The home Network of the UE is a Network identified by a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) Identity (Identity, ID) included in an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) of the UE, and the UE is in a non-roaming state if the UE is in its home Network and in a roaming state if the UE is not in its home Network. The visited network of the UE is the network visited when the UE is in a roaming state.

two scenarios are mentioned in the embodiments of the present invention: non-roaming scenarios and roaming scenarios. Referring to fig. 1a, in a non-roaming scenario, UEs performing ProSe communication reside in the same home network, a ProSe function network element in the home network is referred to as a home ProSe function network element, and all UEs (e.g., UE a and UE B in fig. 1 a) may perform direct communication with their home ProSe function network elements through a PC3 interface. It should be noted that the PC3 interface is a peer interface between the UE and the home ProSe function Network element, communication on the PC3 interface is implemented by an Evolved Packet System (EPS) user plane, and an Evolved Node B (eNodeB) in the EPS, a Serving Gateway (Serving Gateway), a Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN GW), and all interface protocols between the Gateway and the bottom layer are omitted in fig. 1 a.

referring to fig. 1b, in a roaming scenario, a UE performing ProSe communication resides in a visited network in a roaming location, and a ProSe function network element in the visited network is called a visited ProSe function network element, for example, in fig. 1b, a home network of the UE a is a PLMN a, the UE a roams to a PLMN C, the UE a needs to communicate with the visited ProSe function network element in the PLMN C to obtain authorization to perform ProSe communication, but the communication is implemented by the home ProSe function network element of the UE, for example, in fig. 1b, the UE a first performs direct communication with the ProSe function network element in the PLMN a (i.e., the home ProSe function network element of the UE a), and then implements communication between the UE a and the ProSe function network element in the PLMN C by the ProSe function network element in the PLMN a. The communication interface between the home ProSe function network element and the visited ProSe function network element is PC 7.

the APN with the capability of accessing the home ProSe function network element of the UE mentioned in the embodiment of the present invention refers to that a mobility management network element can select a corresponding PDN gateway according to the APN to establish a PDN connection, and implement communication between the UE and the home ProSe function network element through the PDN connection, and if a PDN gateway can be selected according to the APN to establish a PDN connection to implement communication with the home ProSe function network element of the UE, the APN has the capability of accessing the home ProSe function network element of the UE, and it can also be understood that the APN is an APN required for accessing the home ProSe function network element of the UE.

in the prior art, in order to establish a PDN connection using an APN capable of accessing a home ProSe function network element to implement direct communication between a UE and the home ProSe function network element, a home operator configures an APN in advance on the UE side, and establishes a PDN connection via the APN, but in practical applications, only in a non-roaming scenario, routing to the home ProSe function network element via the PDN connection can be guaranteed, whereas in a roaming scenario, if a PDN connection is still established using an APN configured by the home operator on the UE side, routing to the home ProSe function network element via the PDN connection cannot be guaranteed (for example, the home operator may limit routing of the PDN connection to the home ProSe function network element according to a local policy or a roaming protocol), and in a worse case, a visiting ProSe function network element may reject a PDN connection establishment request because the APN configured by the home operator is not supported, and therefore, the following discussion is expanded:

the solution of the invention is described below from the point of view of a mobility management network element.

one embodiment of the near field communication method of the present invention may include: the method comprises the steps that a mobile management network element determines an access point name APN required by a user equipment UE to access a home proximity service ProSe functional network element of the UE; and the mobile management network element sends the determined APN to the UE so that the UE can establish a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN.

Referring to fig. 2, the method specifically includes:

201. The method comprises the steps that a mobile management network element determines an access point name APN required by a user equipment UE to access a home proximity service ProSe functional network element of the UE;

Different from the prior art, in the embodiment of the present invention, for a UE supporting ProSe, an operator negotiates to determine an APN required for accessing a Home ProSe function network element of the UE, and configures the determined APN on a network side, for example, in a Subscriber Server (abbreviated as HSS) or a mobility management network element. The mobility management element may directly determine an APN configured on the network side as an APN required to access a home Prose function network element of the UE, where the APN has a capability of accessing the home Prose function network element of the UE, that is, a Prose APN, and it should be noted that the mobility management element may determine one Prose APN for the UE, and may also determine at least two Prose APNs. Or the mobile management network element receives the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE, and when the APN configured in the UE is determined to have the capability of accessing the home Prose function network element, the APN configured in the UE is further determined to be the APN required by accessing the home Prose function network element of the UE, namely the Prose APN, so that the UE is ensured to establish PDN connection by using the APN with the capability of accessing the home Prose function network element in any scene, and the communication between the UE and the home Prose function network element is realized through the PDN connection.

different operators may configure different APNs for different scenarios and UEs in different states: when the UE is in a non-roaming state, the home operator may configure a ProSe APN on the HSS or the mobility management element according to a local configured operator's policies, for example, configure a default APN as the ProSe APN; when the UE is in the roaming state, the home operator may configure, in the HSS, the ProSe APN used by the home UE in each roaming scenario according to a local policy or a roaming agreement, and the visited operator may configure, on the mobility management network element, the ProSe APN used by the UE in the roaming state according to a local policy or a roaming agreement (roaming aggregation), for example, configure and use a dedicated ProSe APN.

it is to be understood that a UE may be considered to be in a non-roaming state when the UE is in its home network and in a roaming state when the UE is not in its home network.

202. and the mobile management network element sends the determined APN to the UE so that the UE can establish a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN.

in step 201, the mobility management element determines a ProSe APN in advance, and then sends the determined ProSe APN to the UE, and the subsequent UE initiates a PDN connection establishment request using the determined ProSe APN, that is, the determined ProSe APN is carried in the PDN connection establishment request, and in the PDN connection establishment procedure triggered by the PDN connection establishment request, the mobility management element may select a PDN gateway through the ProSe APN and send a default (default) bearer activation request to the UE, and the UE receives the default bearer activation request and sends a default bearer activation acceptance message to the mobility management element, thereby successfully establishing the PDN connection, and implementing communication between the UE and the home ProSe functional network element through the PDN connection.

it should be noted that, the ProSe APN sent by the mobility management element to the UE may be one or at least two, and when the ProSe APN is at least two, the mobility management element may send to the UE in a list form, such as a ProSe APN list (ProSe APN list), which is not limited herein. It can be understood that the network side may issue the determined APN through a new cell, such as a cell "ProSe APN" or "ProSe capable APN" or "ProSe APN list".

In the embodiment of the present invention, an operator negotiates in advance to determine a ProSe APN, and configures the determined ProSe APN on a network side, for example: the method is configured in HSS or mobile management network element, and the subsequent mobile management network element can directly obtain ProSe APN from the network side, and the ProSe APN has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe function network element; the mobile management network element can select a corresponding PDN gateway to establish PDN connection through the ProSe APN, and communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element is realized through the PDN connection. Or when the mobile management network element receives the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE and determines that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the home Prose function network element, further determining that the APN configured in the UE is determined to be the APN required by accessing the Prose function network element of the UE, thereby ensuring that the UE establishes PDN connection by using the APN having the home Prose function network element of the UE under any scene and realizing communication between the UE and the home Prose function network element through the PDN connection.

Referring to fig. 3, another embodiment of the near field communication method of the present invention may include: the method comprises the steps that a mobile management network element determines an access point name APN required by a user equipment UE to access a home proximity service (ProSe) functional network element of the UE; the method comprises the steps that a mobile management network element receives APNs sent by a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), and at least one of the APNs sent by the HSS is determined to be an APN required by UE for accessing a home ProSe functional network element of the UE, wherein the APNs sent by the HSS have the capability of accessing the home ProSe functional network element; or, the mobility management network element determines at least one of the APNs configured in the mobility management network element as an APN required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe function network element of the UE; wherein, the APN configured in the mobile management network element has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element; and the mobile management network element sends the determined APN to the UE so that the UE can establish a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN.

301. An operator configures APN required by a home ProSe functional network element of the access UE for the UE on a network side;

an operator pre-configures a ProSe APN on a network side, for example, in an HSS or a mobility management network element, where the ProSe APN is used for a UE in different scenarios to access a home ProSe function network element.

302. UE initiates an attachment request to a mobile management network element;

The UE initiates an attach flow in the resident network to realize the registration to the network, and the attach request initiated by the UE piggybacks a (piggyback) PDN connection request message and carries indication information of ProSe supporting capability of the UE, aiming at telling the network that the UE supports ProSe.

303. the mobile management network element initiates a position updating request to the HSS;

The mobile management network element initiates a location updating request in the attachment flow to realize registration to the HSS and requests subscription data of the UE, if the UE indicates support of ProSe in step 302 and the mobile management network element also supports ProSe, ProSe support information is carried in the location updating request to the HSS; if the UE supports ProSe, the operator configures, in the HSS, subscription data related to ProSe, including a ProSe permission (permission) parameter and the like, which is not specifically limited herein.

304. HSS sends update position response message to mobile management network element;

In the location update response message, the HSS sends, in addition to sending the ProSe-related subscription data of the UE to the mobility management element, optionally, the HSS also sends the information of the ProSe APN configured in step 301 to the mobility management element. It should be noted that the ProSe APN configured in the HSS by the operator is optional, so if the ProSe APN is not configured in the HSS, the ProSe APN is not sent to the mobility management element in this step.

305. the mobility management network element determines APN required by UE to access a home ProSe functional network element of the UE;

the method comprises the following steps that a mobile management network element determines an APN required by UE for accessing a home ProSe functional network element of the UE, namely the ProSe APN of the UE, and specifically comprises the following steps: the mobility management network element receives APNs sent by an HSS, and at least one of the APNs sent by the HSS is determined to be the APN required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe functional network element of the UE; the APN sent by the HSS has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

It should be noted that the mobility management network element may also obtain an APN from another entity on the network side, and determine the obtained APN as an APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe function network element of the UE, which is not specifically limited herein.

Further, when the UE is in a non-roaming state, if the mobility management element receives an APN sent by an HSS, determining at least one of the APNs sent by the HSS as an APN required by the UE to access a home ProSe function network element of the UE; if the mobile management network element does not receive the APN sent by the HSS, determining at least one of the APNs configured in the mobile management network element as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

for example: when the UE is in a non-roaming state, the mobility management element may directly determine the APN to be the required APN using the APN sent by the HSS, and if the HSS does not send the APN to the mobility management element, the mobility management element may determine the APN to be the required APN using the APN configured in the mobility management element. When the UE is in a roaming state, if the HSS does not send an APN to the mobility management element, the mobility management element may determine that the APN is a required APN using an APN configured in the mobility management element; or if the HSS sends the APN information to the mobility management element and the mobility management element is not configured with an APN, the mobility management element may determine the APN to be the required APN by using the APN sent by the HSS; or if the HSS sends an APN to the mobility management element and the mobility management element is also configured with an APN, the mobility management element needs to determine which APN is used as a required APN, preferentially use an APN sent by the HSS, or preferentially use an APN sent by the mobility management element according to a local policy and a roaming protocol, which is not specifically limited herein.

It can be understood that, since the HSS is easier to update the configuration compared with the mobility management element, and further stores the relevant subscription data negotiated and determined by the operator, the APN sent in the HSS may be preferentially used.

306. the mobile management network element sends an attachment acceptance message to the UE;

and if the attachment request is accepted by the network, the mobile management network element sends an attachment acceptance message to the UE. In the attach accept message, a default bearer activation request message is piggybacked, where the default bearer activation request message includes the ProSe APN determined by the mobility management element in step 305. If the mobility management element determines to use multiple ProSe APNs in step 305, the multiple ProSe APNs are sent to the UE in a list form, which is not specifically limited herein.

307. the UE sends an attachment confirmation message to a mobile management network element;

and the UE sends an attachment confirmation message to the mobile management network element, and the attachment confirmation message carries a default bearer activation receiving message incidentally. This step aims to complete the current attach procedure and establish a default PDN connection request to enable registration of the UE on the network. It should be noted that the default PDN connection request uses a default APN, which may be a ProSe APN determined by the mobility management element or not.

it should be noted that the UE registers on the network, which is intended to tell the mobility management element that the UE supports ProSe, where the UE may initiate any one of the processes to register on the network: the attach procedure (as described in steps 302-307) or the location update procedure (as described in steps 308-312) can be performed, but at the same time, the UE can only initiate one procedure to perform network registration, so that steps 302-307 and steps 308-312 cannot occur at the same time.

308. the UE sends a position updating request to a mobile management network element;

And the UE initiates a location updating process in the resident network to realize the registration to the network. The location update request initiated by the UE carries indication information of the capability of supporting ProSe of the UE, and aims to tell the network that the UE supports ProSe. If the UE resides in the E-UTRAN, the location update procedure may be a Tracking Area Update (TAU) procedure.

309. the mobile management network element sends a position updating request to the HSS;

The mobile management network element initiates a location updating request in a location updating process to realize the registration to the HSS and requests the subscription data of the UE. If the UE indicates that ProSe is supported in step 308 and the mobility management element also supports ProSe, the ProSe support information is carried to the HSS in the update location request. If the UE supports ProSe, the operator configures, in the HSS, ProSe-related subscription data, including ProSe permission parameters and the like, which is not specifically limited herein.

310. HSS sends update position response message to mobile management network element;

311. The mobility management network element determines APN required by UE to access a home ProSe functional network element of the UE;

steps 310 to 311 are similar to steps 304 to 305, and refer to steps 304 to 305 specifically, which are not described herein again.

312. the mobile management network element sends a location update acceptance message to the UE;

If the location update request is accepted by the network, the mobile management network element sends a location update acceptance message to the UE, so that the registration of the UE on the network is realized.

313. the mobile management network element sends the determined APN to the UE;

after the current location updating process is completed, the mobility management network element keeps the bottom layer signaling connection not released, and initiates an independent session management process to issue the determined ProSe APN to the UE. And if the plurality of ProSe APNs are determined to be used, transmitting the plurality of ProSe APNs to the UE in a list form. It should be noted that, the session management procedure initiated by the mobility management element here may reuse an existing session management procedure, such as an EPS session management information request (ESM information request) procedure, or may be a newly defined session management procedure, which is not specifically limited herein.

314. UE initiates a PDN connection establishment request;

and the UE initiates a PDN connection establishment request by using the ProSe APN sent by the mobile management network element. If the mobile management network element sends a plurality of ProSe APNs, for example, to the UE in a list form, the UE selects one ProSe APN to initiate a PDN connection establishment request. It should be noted that, in the attach procedure, if the mobility management element issues only the default APN as the ProSe APN in step 306, this step may be omitted, because the default PDN connection established in the attach procedure is the required PDN connection.

315. and the UE realizes the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element through PDN connection.

And the UE establishes PDN connection by using the ProSe APN sent by the mobile management network element, and realizes direct communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element through the PDN connection.

referring to fig. 4, based on the embodiment shown in fig. 3, another embodiment of the near field communication method in the embodiment of the present invention includes: the method comprises the steps that a mobile management network element determines an access point name APN required by a user equipment UE to access a home proximity service (ProSe) functional network element of the UE; wherein, include: a mobile management network element receives an APN configured in UE sent by the UE; the mobility management network element determines that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element; the mobile management network element determines the APN configured in the UE as the APN required by the UE to access the attributive ProSe functional network element of the UE; and the mobile management network element sends the determined APN to the UE so that the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN.

401. An operator configures APN for accessing a network element of an attributive ProSe function at a network side;

402. UE initiates an attachment request to a mobile management network element;

UE initiates an attachment flow in a resident network to realize the registration to the network, the UE initiates an attachment request to piggyback a PDN connection request message and carries indication information of ProSe supporting capability of the UE, the indication information is used for telling the network UE to support ProSe, if the UE side is configured with ProSe APN, APN request indication is also carried in the attachment request message to trigger the network to request the UE to report the ProSe APN configured at the UE side.

403. the mobile management network element initiates a position updating request to the HSS;

404. HSS sends update position response message to mobile management network element;

steps 401 to 404 are similar to steps 301 to 304 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and refer to steps 301 to 304 specifically, which are not described herein again.

405. The mobile management network element initiates a session management flow;

the mobility management element receives an APN request indication sent by the UE in an attach procedure in step 402, and the mobility management element initiates the session management procedure in the attach procedure according to the APN request indication information, where the APN request indication information is used to request the mobility management element to request the UE for a ProSe APN configured in the UE;

the mobility management network element initiates an individual session management procedure to request the UE to send the APN configured on the UE side to the mobility management network element according to the APN request indication in step 402, and the UE reports the configured APN to the mobility management network element after receiving the request. It should be noted that, the session management procedure initiated by the mobility management element here may reuse an existing session management procedure, such as an EPS session management information request procedure, or may be a newly defined session management procedure, which is not specifically limited here.

406. The mobility management network element detects whether the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element;

The mobility management network element detects whether the APN sent by the UE can access the home ProSe function network element, specifically, if the HSS sends the ProSe APN to the mobility management network element, the mobility management network element may further determine whether the ProSe APN sent by the HSS or the ProSe APN configured in the mobility management network element includes the APN sent by the UE, and if so, determine that the APN sent by the UE can access the home ProSe function network element. If the APN sent by the HSS and the APN configured by the mobility management element do not include an APN sent by the UE, it is considered that the APN sent by the UE cannot access the ProSe function element, and the mobility management element determines the ProSe APN configured by the network side as the ProSe APN required by the UE, which may specifically refer to step 305 in the embodiment shown in fig. 3 and is not described herein again.

407. the mobility management network element determines APN required by UE to access a home ProSe functional network element of the UE;

Optionally, the mobility management network element receives an APN configured in the UE sent by the UE;

It can be understood that the mobility management network element receives, in the session management procedure, the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE or receives, in the PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE, the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE.

The mobility management network element determines that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element; and the mobile management network element determines the APN configured in the UE as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE.

Optionally, when the APN sent by the HSS or the APN configured in the mobility management element includes an APN configured in the UE, the mobility management element determines that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the home ProSe function network element, where the APN sent by the HSS or the APN configured in the mobility management element has the capability of accessing the home ProSe function network element.

408. the mobile management network element sends an attachment acceptance message to the UE;

and if the attachment request is accepted by the network, the mobile management network element sends an attachment acceptance message to the UE. And piggybacking a default bearer activation request message in the attach accept message, wherein the default bearer activation request message comprises the ProSe APN determined by the mobile management network element. If the mobility management element determines to use multiple ProSe APNs, the multiple ProSe APNs are sent to the UE together, for example, in a list form. It should be noted that, if it is determined in step 407 that the APN sent by the UE is used, in this step, the ProSe APN may not be carried to the UE, and the subsequent UE uses the ProSe APN configured in the UE to establish the PDN connection.

409. the UE sends an attachment confirmation message to a mobile management network element;

It should be noted that the UE registers on the network, which is intended to tell the mobility management element that the UE supports ProSe, where the UE may initiate any one of the processes to register on the network: the attach procedure (as described above in steps 402-409) or the location update procedure (as described below in steps 410-416), but at the same time, the UE can only initiate one procedure to perform network registration, so that steps 402-409 and steps 410-416 cannot occur simultaneously.

410. the UE sends a position updating request to a mobile management network element;

And the UE initiates a location updating process in the resident network to realize the registration to the network. The location update request initiated by the UE carries indication information of the capability of supporting ProSe of the UE, and aims to tell the network that the UE supports ProSe. If the UE configures the ProSe APN, the location update request message also carries an APN request indication which is used for triggering the network to request the UE to report the ProSe APN configured on the UE side. If the UE resides in the E-UTRAN, the location update procedure may be a Tracking Area Update (TAU) procedure.

411. the mobile management network element sends a position updating request to the HSS;

412. HSS sends position update response message to mobile management network element;

steps 411 to 412 are similar to steps 309 to 310 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and reference may be made to steps 309 to 310, which are not described herein again.

413. The mobile management network element sends a location update acceptance message to the UE;

414. the mobile management network element initiates a session management flow;

the mobility management element receives an APN request indication sent by the UE in the location update procedure in step 410, and after the location update procedure is completed according to the APN request indication information, the mobility management element keeps a bottom layer signaling connection from being released and initiates the session management procedure, where the APN request indication information is used to request the mobility management element to request for an APN configured in the UE from the UE. And after receiving the request, the UE reports the configured APN to the mobile management network element. It should be noted that, the session management procedure initiated by the mobility management element here may reuse an existing session management procedure, such as an EPS session management information request procedure, or may be a newly defined session management procedure, which is not specifically limited here.

415. The mobility management network element detects whether the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element;

416. the mobility management network element determines APN required by UE to access a home ProSe functional network element of the UE;

417. the mobile management network element sends the determined APN to the UE;

Optionally, the mobility management network element sends the determined APN to the UE in an attach procedure initiated by the UE; or, after the location updating process initiated by the UE is completed, the mobility management network element sends the determined APN to the UE in the initiated session management process; or, the mobility management network element sends the determined APN to the UE in a PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE.

Further, when the mobility management network element sends the determined APN to the UE in a PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE, the method further includes:

and the mobility management network element sends a reason value to the UE, wherein the reason value is used for indicating the UE to establish the PDN connection by using the APN sent by the mobility management network element so as to realize the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

and the mobile management network element sends a reason value to the UE, wherein the reason value is used for indicating the UE to establish the PDN connection by using the APN sent by the mobile management network element so as to realize the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element, and if the UE does not carry the reason value, the UE possibly rejects a default bearer activation request sent by the mobile management network element, so that the PDN connection is failed to be established.

418. UE initiates a PDN connection establishment request;

And the UE receives the ProSe APN sent by the mobile management network element, and initiates a PDN connection establishment request by using the ProSe APN sent by the mobile management network element. If the mobile management network element sends a plurality of ProSe APNs, for example, in a list form, the UE selects one of the ProSe APNs to initiate a PDN connection establishment request. And if the UE does not receive the ProSe APN sent by the mobile management network element, the UE initiates a PDN connection establishment request by using the ProSe APN configured by the UE. It should be noted that, in the attach procedure, if the mobility management element issues only the default APN as the required APN in step 408, this step may be omitted because the default PDN connection established in the attach procedure is the required PDN connection.

419. And the UE realizes the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element through the PDN connection established by the ProSe APN.

in the embodiment of the invention, if the UE side is configured with the APN, the mobile management network element receives the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE and checks whether the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the home Prose function network element, if the mobile management network element determines that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the home Prose function network element, the APN configured in the UE is determined as the APN required for accessing the Prose function network element of the UE, if the mobile management network element determines that the APN sent by the UE does not have the capability of accessing the home Prose function network element, the APN configured on the network side is determined as the required APN, and the APN configured on the network side has the capability of accessing the home Prose function network element, so that the UE is ensured to establish PDN connection by using the APN with the home Prose function network element for accessing the UE in any scene, and the communication between the UE and the home Prose function network.

The following describes the scheme of the present invention from the perspective of the UE.

Another embodiment of the near field communication method in the embodiment of the present invention includes: user Equipment (UE) receives an Access Point Name (APN) sent by a mobility management network element, wherein the APN is the APN determined by the mobility management network element and required by the UE to access a home proximity service (ProSe) functional network element of the UE; and the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN.

referring to fig. 5, the method specifically includes:

501. User Equipment (UE) receives an Access Point Name (APN) sent by a mobility management network element;

different from the prior art, the UE receives an APN sent by a mobility management network element, where the APN has a capability of accessing a home Prose function network element of the UE, that is, a Prose APN, and establishes a packet data network PDN connection using the Prose APN, and when an operator negotiates in advance to determine the Prose APN, the determined Prose APN is configured on a network side, for example: the method comprises the steps that the method is configured in an HSS or a mobile management network element, a subsequent mobile management network element can directly obtain a ProSe APN from a network side or receive the APN configured in UE sent by the UE, when the APN configured in the UE is determined to have the capability of accessing a home Prose functional network element, the APN configured in the UE is further determined to be the ProSe APN, the mobile management network element can select a corresponding PDN gateway through the ProSe APN to establish PDN connection, and the communication between the UE and the home ProSe functional network element is realized through the PDN connection, so that the UE is ensured to establish the PDN connection through the ProSe APN in any scene, and the communication between the UE and the home ProSe functional network element is realized through the PDN connection.

502. And the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN.

the UE uses the ProSe APN to send a PDN connection establishment request to a mobile management network element, namely the PDN connection establishment request carries the ProSe APN, and the mobile management network element selects a corresponding PDN gateway according to the ProSe APN and sends a default bearer activation request to the UE; and the UE receives the default bearer activation request sent by the mobile management network element and sends a default bearer activation acceptance message to the mobile management network element, so that PDN connection is established, and communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element is realized through the PDN connection.

in the embodiment of the invention, the UE receives the APN sent by the mobile management network element and establishes PDN connection with the APN, the APN sent by the mobile management network element has the capability of accessing the home Prose functional network element, the UE is ensured to establish PDN connection by using the ProSe APN in any scene, and the communication between the UE and the home ProSe functional network element is realized through the PDN connection.

referring to fig. 6, another embodiment of the method for near field communication according to the embodiment of the present invention includes: the UE sends the APN configured in the UE to a mobile management network element; the method comprises the steps that UE receives an APN sent by a mobility management network element, wherein the APN is an APN which is determined by the mobility management network element and is required by the UE to access a ProSe functional network element of the attribution of the UE; and the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN.

601. An operator configures APN for accessing a network element of an attributive ProSe function at a network side;

602. UE sends PDN connection establishment request to mobile management network element;

And the PDN connection establishment request comprises the ProSe APN, and is used for requesting the mobile management network element to select a corresponding PDN gateway according to the ProSe APN.

603. the mobility management network element detects whether the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element;

first, the UE sends the APN configured in the UE to the mobility management element, and optionally, the UE can send the APN configured in the UE to the mobility management element in any one of the following flows, specifically: the UE sends an APN request indication to the mobility management network element in an attach process initiated by the UE, the APN request indication is used for requesting the mobility management network element to request APN configured in the UE from the UE, and the UE sends the APN configured in the UE to the mobility management network element in a session management process initiated by the mobility management network element according to the APN request indication; or, the UE sends an APN request indication to the mobility management element in a location update procedure initiated by the UE, where the APN request indication is used to request the mobility management element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE, and the UE sends an APN configured in the UE to the mobility management element in a session management procedure initiated by the mobility management element according to the APN request indication; or, the UE sends the APN configured in the UE to the mobility management network element in the PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE.

It should be noted that the mobility management element initiates the session management procedure in the attach procedure or initiates the session management procedure after the location update procedure is completed.

Further, when the UE receives the APN sent by the mobility management network element in the PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE, the method further includes:

and the UE receives a reason value sent by the mobility management network element, wherein the reason value is used for indicating the UE to establish the PDN connection by using the APN sent by the mobility management network element so as to realize the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

further, the mobility management element detects whether the APN sent by the UE can access the home ProSe function network element, specifically, if the HSS sends the ProSe APN to the mobility management element, the mobility management element may further determine whether the APN sent by the UE is included in the ProSe APN sent by the HSS or in the ProSe APN configured in the mobility management element, and if so, determine that the APN sent by the UE can access the home ProSe function network element. If the APN sent by the UE is not in the ProSe APN sent by the HSS and the ProSe APN configured by the mobile management network element, the APN sent by the UE is considered not to access the attributive ProSe functional network element, and the mobile management network element determines the ProSe APN configured by the network side as the required ProSe APN.

604. determining APN required by UE to access to a home ProSe functional network element of the UE;

605. the mobile management network element sends a default bearer activation request to the UE;

the mobile management network element can select a PDN gateway through the ProSe APN and sends a default bearer activation request to the UE, wherein the default bearer activation request carries the ProSe APN, and if the ProSe APN determined by the mobile management network element is different from the APN sent by the UE, the mobile management network element contains a new reason value in the default bearer activation request to indicate that the UE needs to use the new ProSe APN to establish PDN connection. It should be noted that, in the prior art, the APN sent by the mobility management network element to the UE in the default bearer activation request is the APN carried by the UE in the PDN connection request, and if the APN does not carry the new cause value, the UE may reject the default bearer activation request sent by the mobility management network element, which results in failure in establishing the PDN connection.

606. the UE receives a default bearing request sent by a mobile management network element;

and the UE receives the default bearer activation request sent by the mobile management network element and sends a default bearer activation acceptance message to the mobile management network element, thereby establishing the PDN connection.

607. And the UE establishes PDN connection by using the APN to realize the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a UE sends an APN configured in the UE to a mobility management element, so that when the mobility management element determines that the APN configured in the UE has a capability of accessing a home ProSe function network element, the APN configured in the UE is determined to be an APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe function network element of the UE; the UE receives a ProSe APN sent by a mobile management network element; and when the APN configured in the UE is determined to have the capability of accessing the home ProSe function network element, the APN configured in the UE is further determined to be the APN required for accessing the ProSe function network element of the UE, so that the UE is ensured to establish the PDN connection by using the ProSe APN in any scene.

to facilitate a better understanding of the above-described related methods of embodiments of the present invention, the following also provides related apparatus for cooperating with the above-described methods.

referring to fig. 7, an embodiment of a mobility management element 700 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a determining module 701 and a sending module 702.

A determining module 701, configured to determine an access point name APN required by a UE to access a ProSe function network element to which the UE belongs;

A sending module 702, configured to send the APN determined by the determining module 701 to the UE, so that the UE establishes a packet data network PDN connection using the APN, where the PDN connection is used to implement communication between the UE and the home ProSe function network element.

in the embodiment of the invention, a determining module determines an access point name APN required by a user equipment UE to access a ProSe functional network element of a home proximity service of the UE; the sending module sends the APN determined by the determining module to the UE so that the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN to realize the communication between the UE and the home ProSe functional network element.

an embodiment of the invention is further illustrated on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 7, comprising: the device comprises a determining module and a sending module.

The determining module is specifically configured to receive APNs sent by a home subscriber server HSS, and determine at least one of the APNs sent by the HSS as an APN required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe function network element of the UE; the APN sent by the HSS has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the determining module is specifically configured to determine at least one of the APNs configured in the mobility management element as an APN required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe function network element of the UE; wherein, the APN configured in the mobile management network element has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element;

further, the determining module is specifically configured to determine, when the UE is in a non-roaming state, if an APN sent by an HSS is received, at least one of the APNs sent by the HSS as an APN required by the UE to access a home ProSe function network element of the UE; if the APN sent by the HSS is not received, determining at least one of the APNs configured in the mobility management network element as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

further, the sending module is specifically configured to send the determined APN to the UE in an attach procedure initiated by the UE;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

The sending module is specifically configured to send the determined APN to the UE in the session management procedure initiated after the location update procedure initiated by the UE is completed.

another embodiment of the present invention is further illustrated on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 7, comprising: the device comprises a determining module and a sending module.

the determining module is specifically configured to receive an APN configured in the UE sent by the UE; and determining that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the home ProSe functional network element, and determining the APN configured in the UE as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE.

further, the determining module is specifically configured to determine that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the home ProSe function network element when the APN sent by the HSS or the APN configured in the mobility management network element includes the APN configured in the UE;

wherein the APN sent by the HSS or the APN configured in the mobility management element has a capability of accessing the home ProSe function element.

Further, the determining module is specifically configured to receive an APN request indication sent by the UE in an attach procedure initiated by the UE, where the APN request indication information is used to request the mobility management element to request the UE for an APN configured in the UE; indicating the initiated session management process according to the APN request; receiving an APN configured in the UE sent by the UE in the session management process;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

The determining module is specifically configured to receive an APN request indication sent by the UE in a location update procedure initiated by the UE, where the APN request indication is used to request the mobility management element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE; indicating the initiated session management process according to the APN request; receiving an APN configured in the UE sent by the UE in the session management process;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the determining module is specifically configured to receive, in a PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE, an APN configured in the UE sent by the UE.

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

The sending module is specifically configured to send the determined APN to the UE in the session management procedure initiated after the location update procedure initiated by the UE is completed;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the sending module is specifically configured to send the determined APN to the UE in a PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE.

further, when the sending module sends the determined APN to the UE in the PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE, the method further includes:

The sending module is further specifically configured to send a cause value to the UE, where the cause value is used to instruct the UE to establish the PDN connection using the APN sent by the mobility management network element.

in the embodiment of the invention, when the determining module determines that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the home ProSe functional network element, the determining module determines the APN configured in the UE as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE; the sending module sends the determined APN to the UE so that the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN to realize the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

Referring to fig. 8, an embodiment of a UE800 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a receiving module 801 and a building module 802;

the receiving module 801 is configured to receive an access point name APN sent by a mobility management element, where the APN is an access point name APN that is determined by the mobility management element and is required by the UE to access a ProSe function network element of a home proximity service of the UE;

The establishing module 802 is configured to establish a packet data network PDN connection using the APN to implement communication between the UE and the home ProSe function network element.

In the embodiment of the invention, a receiving module receives an access point name APN sent by a mobile management network element; and the establishing module establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN to realize the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element. And ensuring that the UE establishes PDN connection by using the specific APN with the capability of accessing the home Prose functional network element under any scene so as to realize the communication between the UE and the home ProSe functional network element.

referring to fig. 9, an embodiment of the present invention is further illustrated on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 8, and includes: a sending module 901, a receiving module 902 and an establishing module 903;

A sending module 901, configured to send, to a mobility management element, an APN configured in the UE before the receiving module 902 receives an access point name APN sent by the mobility management element;

The establishing module 903 is specifically configured to send a PDN connection establishment request to the mobility management element, where the PDN connection establishment request is used to request establishment of the PDN connection for the UE, and the PDN connection establishment request includes the APN; receiving a default bearer activation request sent by the mobility management network element; and establishing the PDN connection according to the default bearer activation request sent by the mobile management network element.

the sending module 901 is specifically configured to send an APN request indication to the mobility management element in an attach procedure initiated by the UE, where the APN request indication is used to request the mobility management element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE, and send, in a session management procedure initiated by the mobility management element according to the APN request indication, an APN configured in the UE to the mobility management element;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

The sending module 901 is specifically configured to send an APN request indication to the mobility management element in a location update procedure initiated by the UE, where the APN request indication is used to request the mobility management element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE, and send an APN configured in the UE to the mobility management element in a session management procedure initiated by the mobility management element according to the APN request indication;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the sending module 901 is specifically configured to send the APN configured in the UE to the mobility management network element in the PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE.

the receiving module 902 is specifically configured to receive the APN sent by the mobility management element in an attach procedure initiated by the UE;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the receiving module 902 is specifically configured to receive the APN sent by the mobility management network element in a session management procedure initiated after the location update procedure initiated by the UE is completed;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the receiving module 902 is specifically configured to receive the APN sent by the mobility management network element in a PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE.

When the receiving module 902 receives the APN sent by the mobility management network element in the PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE, the method further includes:

The receiving module 902 is further specifically configured to receive a cause value sent by the mobility management element, where the cause value is used to instruct the UE to establish the PDN connection using the APN sent by the mobility management element.

The embodiments shown in fig. 7 to 9 explain the specific structure of the related devices for near field communication from the perspective of functional modules, and the following describes the specific structure of the near field communication device from the perspective of hardware in conjunction with the embodiment of fig. 10:

referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a mobility management element 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention, including a transceiver 1001, a memory 1002, a processor 1003 and a bus 1004, where the transceiver 1001, the memory 1002 and the processor 1003 are connected to the bus 1004, where:

The transceiver 1001 is used for receiving or transmitting data;

the memory 1002 is used for storing a program, and the processor 1001 is used for calling the program to execute the following operations:

and sending the determined APN to the UE so that the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN, wherein the PDN connection is used for realizing the communication between the UE and the home ProSe functional network element.

optionally, determining an access point name APN required by the UE to access the ProSe function network element of the home proximity service of the UE includes:

the processor receives APNs sent by a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), and determines at least one of the APNs sent by the HSS as the APN required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe functional network element of the UE; the APN sent by the HSS has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

The processor determines at least one of the APNs configured in the mobility management network element as an APN required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe function network element of the UE; wherein the APN configured in the mobility management network element has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element.

Optionally, when the UE is in a non-roaming state, if receiving an APN sent by an HSS, determining at least one of the APNs sent by the HSS as an APN required by the UE to access a home ProSe function network element of the UE; if the APN sent by the HSS is not received, determining at least one of the APNs configured in the mobility management network element as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the UE is in a roaming state, if the APN sent by HSS is not received, determining at least one of APNs configured in the mobility management network element as the APN required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe function network element of the UE; if APN sent by HSS is received and APN is not configured in the mobile management network element, determining at least one of APN sent by HSS as APN required by UE to access the attributive ProSe functional network element of the UE; if APNs sent by an HSS are received and APNs are configured in the mobile management network element, at least one APN is selected from the APNs sent by the HSS according to a local policy or a roaming protocol to be used as the APN required by the UE for accessing the UE's home ProSe functional network element, or at least one APN is selected from the APNs configured in the mobile management network element according to a local policy or a roaming protocol to be used as the APN required by the UE for accessing the UE's home ProSe functional network element;

optionally, the determining, by the processor, an access point name APN required by a user equipment UE to access a home proximity service ProSe function network element of the UE includes:

the processor receives an APN configured in the UE and sent by the UE;

When the mobility management network element determines that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the home ProSe functional network element, the processor determines the APN configured in the UE as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE.

Optionally, when the APN sent by the HSS or the APN configured in the mobility management element includes the APN configured in the UE, determining that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the home ProSe function element;

Optionally, the receiving, by the processor, the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE includes:

The processor receives an APN request indication sent by the UE in an attach flow initiated by the UE, wherein the APN request indication is used for requesting the mobility management network element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE; the processor indicates the initiated session management process according to the APN request; the processor receives an APN configured in the UE sent by the UE in the session management process; or the processor receives an APN request indication sent by the UE in a location update procedure initiated by the UE, where the APN request indication is used to request the mobility management element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE; the processor indicates the initiated session management process according to the APN request; the processor receives an APN configured in the UE sent by the UE in the session management process; or, the processor receives the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE in the PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE.

Optionally, the sending, by the processor, the determined APN to the UE includes:

the processor sends the determined APN to the UE in an attach procedure initiated by the UE; or, after the location update procedure initiated by the UE is completed, the processor sends the determined APN to the UE in the initiated session management procedure; or the processor sends the determined APN to the UE in a PDN connection establishment process initiated by the UE.

optionally, when sending the determined APN to the UE in the PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE, the method further includes:

and the processor sends a reason value to the UE, wherein the reason value is used for indicating the UE to establish the PDN connection by using the APN sent by the mobile management network element so as to realize the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

when the processor determines that at least two APNs are APNs required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe function network element of the UE, the processor sends the determined at least two APNs to the UE in a list.

an embodiment of the present invention further provides a near field communication system, including: a mobility management network element, a user equipment;

the mobility management element is the mobility management element in the embodiment shown in fig. 7;

The user equipment is the user equipment in the embodiment shown in fig. 8 or fig. 9.

in summary, the mobility management network element determines an access point name APN required by a user equipment UE to access a ProSe function network element to which the UE belongs; and sending the determined APN to the UE so that the UE establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection by using the APN to realize the communication between the UE and the attributive ProSe functional network element.

in the foregoing embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have respective emphasis, and for parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference may be made to related descriptions of other embodiments.

it is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, a division of a unit is merely a logical division, and an actual implementation may have another division, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

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

in addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

the above detailed description is provided for the apparatus and method for resource allocation provided by the present invention, and the principle and the implementation of the present invention are explained by applying specific examples, and the description of the above embodiments is only used to help understanding the method and the core idea of the present invention; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

Claims

1. A proximity services communication method, wherein the method is applied to a roaming scenario or a non-roaming scenario, the method comprising:

2. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by the mobility management element, the access point name APN required for a user equipment UE to access a home proximity services ProSe function element of the UE comprises:

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

3. The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determining, by the mobility management element, the access point name APN required for the UE to access the home proximity services ProSe function element of the UE comprises:

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

4. the communication method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by the mobility management element, the access point name APN required for a user equipment UE to access a home proximity services ProSe function element of the UE comprises:

the mobile management network element receives the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE;

the mobility management network element determines that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element;

And the mobile management network element determines the APN configured in the UE as the APN required by the UE for accessing the home ProSe functional network element of the UE.

5. The communication method according to claim 4, wherein the determining, by the mobility management element, that the APN configured in the UE is capable of accessing the home ProSe function network element comprises:

When the APN sent by the HSS or the APN configured in the mobility management network element contains the APN configured in the UE, the mobility management network element determines that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element;

6. the communication method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the receiving, by the mobility management element, the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE comprises:

the mobility management network element receives an APN request indication sent by the UE in an attach process initiated by the UE, wherein the APN request indication is used for requesting the mobility management network element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE; the mobile management network element initiates a session management process according to the APN request instruction; the mobility management network element receives the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE in the session management process;

or, the mobility management element receives an APN request indication sent by the UE in a location update procedure initiated by the UE, where the APN request indication is used to request the mobility management element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE; the mobile management network element initiates a session management process according to the APN request instruction; the mobility management network element receives the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE in the session management process;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and the mobile management network element receives the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE in a PDN connection establishment flow initiated by the UE.

7. the communication method according to claim 1, 2, 4 or 5, wherein the sending, by the mobility management element, the determined APN to the UE comprises:

The mobile management network element sends the determined APN to the UE in an attachment process initiated by the UE;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

after the location updating process initiated by the UE is completed, the mobile management network element sends the determined APN to the UE in the initiated session management process;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and the mobile management network element sends the determined APN to the UE in a PDN connection establishment process initiated by the UE.

8. the communication method according to claim 7, wherein when the mobility management element sends the determined APN to the UE in the PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE, further comprising:

and the mobile management network element sends a reason value to the UE in a PDN connection establishment process initiated by the UE, wherein the reason value is used for indicating the UE to establish the PDN connection by using the APN sent by the mobile management network element.

9. a proximity services communication method, wherein the method is applied to a roaming scenario or a non-roaming scenario, the method comprising:

10. The communication method of claim 9, wherein the UE establishing a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection using the APN comprises:

11. The communication method according to claim 9, wherein before the UE receives the APN sent by the mobility management network element, the method further comprises:

12. the communication method according to claim 11, wherein the UE sends the APN configured in the UE to the mobility management element, including:

the UE sends an APN request indication to the mobile management network element in an attach process initiated by the UE, the APN request indication is used for requesting the mobile management network element to request APN configured in the UE from the UE, and the UE sends the APN configured in the UE to the mobile management network element in a session management process initiated by the mobile management network element according to the APN request indication;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

The UE sends an APN request indication to the mobility management network element in a location updating process initiated by the UE, the APN request indication is used for requesting the mobility management network element to request APN configured in the UE from the UE, and the UE sends the APN configured in the UE to the mobility management network element in a session management process initiated by the mobility management network element according to the APN request indication;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and the UE sends the APN configured in the UE to the mobile management network element in a PDN connection establishment flow initiated by the UE.

13. The communication method according to claim 12, wherein the receiving, by the UE, the APN sent by the mobility management network element comprises:

The UE receives the APN sent by the mobile management network element in an attachment process initiated by the UE;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

after the location updating process initiated by the UE is completed, the UE receives the APN sent by the mobility management network element in a session management process initiated by the mobility management network element;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and the UE receives the APN sent by the mobile management network element in a PDN connection establishment flow initiated by the UE.

14. The communication method according to claim 13, wherein when the UE receives the APN sent by the mobility management element in the PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE, the method further comprises:

And the UE receives a reason value sent by the mobility management network element, wherein the reason value is used for indicating the UE to establish the PDN connection by using the APN sent by the mobility management network element.

15. a mobility management element for use in roaming scenarios or non-roaming scenarios, the mobility management element comprising:

16. The mobility management network element according to claim 15,

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the determining module is specifically configured to determine at least one of the APNs configured in the mobility management element as an APN required by the UE for accessing a home ProSe function network element of the UE; wherein the APN configured in the mobility management network element has the capability of accessing the attributive ProSe functional network element.

17. mobility management network element according to claim 15 or 16,

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

18. the mobility management network element according to claim 15,

19. The mobility management element of claim 18, wherein the determining module determining that the APN configured in the UE is capable of accessing the home ProSe function network element comprises: when the APN sent by the HSS or the APN configured in the mobile management network element contains the APN configured in the UE, determining that the APN configured in the UE has the capability of accessing the home ProSe functional network element;

20. The mobility management element according to claim 18 or 19, wherein the determining module receiving the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE comprises:

the determining module receives an APN request indication sent by the UE in an attach procedure initiated by the UE, where the APN request indication information is used to request the mobility management network element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE; initiating a session management process according to the APN request instruction; receiving an APN configured in the UE sent by the UE in the session management process;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

The determining module receives an APN request indication sent by the UE in a location update procedure initiated by the UE, where the APN request indication is used to request the mobility management network element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE; initiating a session management process according to the APN request instruction; receiving an APN configured in the UE sent by the UE in the session management process;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

And the determining module receives the APN configured in the UE sent by the UE in a PDN connection establishment flow initiated by the UE.

21. The mobility management element according to claim 15, 16, 18 or 19,

The sending module is specifically configured to send the determined APN to the UE in an attach procedure initiated by the UE;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the sending module is specifically configured to send the determined APN to the UE in a session management procedure initiated after a location update procedure initiated by the UE is completed;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

22. the element of claim 21, wherein when the sending module sends the determined APN to the UE in a PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE, the sending module is further configured to send a cause value to the UE, where the cause value is used to instruct the UE to establish the PDN connection using the APN sent by the element of mobility management.

23. A User Equipment (UE), wherein the UE is applied to a roaming scenario or a non-roaming scenario, and wherein the UE comprises:

24. The user equipment of claim 23,

the establishing module is specifically configured to send a PDN connection establishment request to the mobility management network element, where the PDN connection establishment request is used to request establishment of the PDN connection for the UE, and the PDN connection establishment request includes the APN;

Receiving a default bearer activation request sent by the mobility management network element;

And establishing the PDN connection according to the default bearer activation request sent by the mobile management network element.

25. the user equipment of claim 23, further comprising:

26. the UE of claim 25, wherein the sending module sending the APN configured in the UE to the mobility management element comprises:

the sending module sends an APN request indication to the mobility management element in an attach process initiated by the UE, wherein the APN request indication is used for requesting the mobility management element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE, and the APN configured in the UE is sent to the mobility management element in a session management process initiated by the mobility management element according to the APN request indication;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the sending module sends an APN request indication to the mobility management element in a location updating process initiated by the UE, wherein the APN request indication is used for requesting the mobility management element to request an APN configured in the UE from the UE, and the APN configured in the UE is sent to the mobility management element in a session management process initiated by the mobility management element according to the APN request indication;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and the sending module sends the APN configured in the UE to the mobile management network element in a PDN connection establishment flow initiated by the UE.

27. The user equipment of claim 26,

The receiving module is specifically configured to receive the APN sent by the mobility management network element in an attach procedure initiated by the UE;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the receiving module is specifically configured to receive the APN sent by the mobility management element in a session management procedure initiated by the mobility management element after a location update procedure initiated by the UE is completed;

Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the receiving module is specifically configured to receive the APN sent by the mobility management network element in a PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE.

28. The UE of claim 27, wherein when the receiving module receives the APN sent by the MME in a PDN connection establishment procedure initiated by the UE,

The receiving module is further configured to receive a cause value sent by the mobility management network element, where the cause value is used to instruct the UE to establish the PDN connection using the APN sent by the mobility management network element.

29. a proximity services communication system, the system being applicable to roaming scenarios or non-roaming scenarios, the system comprising:

a mobility management network element, a user equipment;

the mobility management element as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 22;

the user equipment according to any of claims 23 to 28.