CN110366204B

CN110366204B - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN110366204B
Application number: CN201810316447.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 韦安妮; 吴义壮; 熊春山
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-04-10
Filing date: 2018-04-10
Publication date: 2021-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 2038-04-10
Also published as: WO2019196680A1; CN110366204A

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, wherein the communication method comprises the following steps: the first session management network element sends a first request message to the mobility management network element, and the first request message is used for requesting to add a new session management network element; the mobility management network element determines a second session management network element and sends a second request message to the second session management network element, the second request message is used for requesting the second session management network element to establish a session context for the first session of the terminal device, and the second session management network element sends a third request message to the first session management network element, the third request message is used for requesting to establish a session or update a session; the first session management network element sends control information to the second session management network element, or the second session management network element obtains the control information locally, and the control information is used for indicating a signaling processing mode of the first session at the second session management network element. The communication method and the communication device in the embodiment of the application can reduce the signaling load of the session management network element.

Description

Communication method and communication device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a communication method and a communication apparatus in the field of communications.

Background

With the rapid development of wireless communication technology, fifth generation (5G) mobile communication technology has been developed. A Packet Data Unit (PDU) session is a connection between a terminal device and a Data Network (DN) defined in 5G, providing a PDU connectivity service. The type of connection may be Internet Protocol (IP), ethernet, or unstructured data. The PDU connection service supported by the 5G core network refers to a service providing PDU exchange between the terminal device and the DN. The terminal device may establish multiple PDU sessions for connection to the same DN or different DNs. A PDU session is managed by a Session Management Function (SMF) network element. The SMF network element may be responsible for session management including establishment, modification, release, etc. of PDU sessions.

Since 5G uses high frequency, the area covered by each base station will be small, so that there are many base stations in a certain geographical area, and the mobility of the terminal equipment will cause the connection of the terminal equipment to be frequently switched between the base stations, so that the SMF network element managing the session of the terminal equipment needs to process more signaling and has a larger load.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can reduce the signaling load of a session management network element.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, including: a first session management network element sends a first request message to a mobility management network element, wherein the first request message is used for requesting a newly-added session management network element; the first session management network element receives a third request message from a second session management network element, wherein the third request message is used for requesting to establish a first session or update the first session; and the first session management network element sends control information to the second session management network element, where the control information is used to indicate a signaling processing mode of the first session at the second session management network element.

In the communication method of the embodiment of the application, the first session management network element sends the request message for requesting the newly-added session management network element, and the second session management network element configures the related signaling processing mode for the newly-added second session management network element, so that the second session management network element shares part of signaling at the first session management network element, which is beneficial to reducing the signaling load of the first session management network element, and thus the system performance is improved.

Optionally, the control information is specifically used to indicate a signaling processing manner of the second session management network element to the N1 signaling and/or the N2 signaling of the first session, where the N1 signaling is a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, and the N2 signaling is a related signaling of a Radio Access Network (RAN).

Optionally, the first session management network element may directly send a second request message to the second session management network element without sending the first request message to the mobility management network element, where the second request message is used to request the second session management network element to create a session context for the first session of the terminal device.

In this scenario, the first session management network element may determine the second session management network element by itself, instead of adding a session management network element through the mobility management network element (that is, the first session management network element sends the first request message to the mobility management network element, and the mobility management network element determines the second session management network element for the first session management network element), and send the second request message to the second session management network element, that is, the second session management network element is triggered to be inserted, and then the first session management network element or the second session management network element notifies the mobility management network element that the session management network element is added newly, and the new session management network element is the second session management network element.

In this way, the signaling load of the mobility management network element may be reduced, and the management and control capability of the first session management network element may be strengthened, and the process may also be applied to a network architecture in which the mobility management network element and the second session management network element have no interface, but this is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the first session management network element may further send session context information of the first session to the second session management network element, where the session context information may include subscription information of the terminal device, which is obtained by the first session management network element from the UDM network element, information about the first session, which is obtained by the first session management network element from the PCF network element, and information about the first session, which is configured on the first session management network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, before the first session management network element sends the first request message to a mobility management network element, the method further includes: the first session management network element determining whether signaling at the first session management network element is overloaded; the first session management network element sending a first request message to a mobility management network element, including: and sending, by the first session management network element, the first request message to the mobility management network element when the signaling at the first session management network element is overloaded.

Since 5G uses high frequency, the area covered by each base station will be small, so that there are many base stations in a certain geographical area, and the mobility of the terminal device will cause the connection of the terminal device to be frequently switched between the base stations, so that the first session management network element managing the session of the terminal device needs to process more signaling and has a larger load. In the embodiment of the present application, once the first session management network element finds that the signaling is overloaded or the signaling is possibly overloaded, it requests to add a new session management network element to share the signaling at the first session management network element, so that the signaling load of the first session management network element can be reduced, thereby improving the system performance.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the determining, by the first session management network element, whether signaling at the first session management network element is overloaded includes: the first session management network element determines whether the signaling at the first session management network element is overloaded according to at least one of the following information: the number of signaling processed by the first session management network element in a unit of time, the mobility information of the terminal devices managed on the first session management network element, and the number of terminal devices managed on the first session management network element.

It should be understood that the first session management network element may determine the signaling overload at the first session management network element when any one of the above three conditions is satisfied, or may determine the signaling overload at the first session management network element only when all the above three conditions are satisfied, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the signaling processing manner includes at least one of: a first signaling processing mode, where the first signaling processing mode is a mode in which the second session management network element processes a handover signaling of the first session; a second signaling processing mode, where the second signaling processing mode is to process, by the second session management network element, a radio resource release signaling of the first session; and a third signaling processing mode, where the third signaling processing mode is to process, by the second session management network element, a signaling that the terminal device to which the first session belongs is switched from an idle state to a connected state or a signaling that the terminal device is switched from a radio resource control Inactive RRC Inactive state to an Inactive RRC Inactive state.

It should be understood that, the above-mentioned processing of the related signaling by the second session management network element means that the second session management network element triggers related procedures such as handover, paging, etc., that is, directly sends a request to the mobility management network element to trigger the mobility management network element to perform handover and paging, and no longer passes through the first session management network element, in other words, the second session management network element shares the processing of the signaling by the first session management network element, so that the load at the first session management network element can be reduced.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, before the first session management network element sends control information to the second session management network element, the method further includes: and the first session management network element receives the control information from a policy control function network element.

Optionally, the control information may be local configuration information of the second session management network element, and the control information may be information determined by the second session management network element according to information from a user plane function network element when a local policy is used, or may be information from the first session management network element, or may be information from a policy control function network element, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the third request message carries at least one of the following information: the identifier information of the terminal device to which the first session belongs, the identifier information of the first session, the identifier information of the second session management network element, and the identifier information of the user plane function network element controlled by the second session management network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first session management network element sends a first response message to the second session management network element according to the third request message, wherein the first response message carries at least one of the following information: the identification information of the terminal device to which the first session belongs, the identification information of the first session, the tunnel information, and the identification information of the user plane function network element controlled by the first session management network element.

In a second aspect, another communication method is provided, including: a second session management network element receives a second request message from a mobility management network element or a first session management network element, wherein the second request message is used for requesting the second session management network element to establish a session context for a first session of a terminal device; the second session management network element sends a third request message to the first session management network element, where the third request message is used to request establishment of the first session or update of the first session; and the second session management network element acquires control information, wherein the control information is used for indicating a signaling processing mode of the N1/N2 signaling of the first session at the second session management network element.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the control information is local configuration information of the second session management network element; or the control information is determined by the second session management network element according to information from the user plane function network element when the local policy is used; or the control information comes from the first session management network element; or the control information comes from a policy control function network element.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the signaling processing manner includes at least one of: a first signaling processing mode, where the first signaling processing mode is a mode in which the second session management network element processes a handover signaling of the first session; a second signaling processing mode, where the second signaling processing mode is to process, by the second session management network element, a radio resource release signaling of the first session; and a third signaling processing mode, where the third signaling processing mode is that the second session management network element processes a signaling that the terminal device switches from an idle state to a connected state or a signaling that the terminal device switches from a radio resource control Inactive RRC Inactive state to an Inactive RRC Inactive state.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the third request message carries at least one of the following information: the identifier information of the terminal device, the identifier information of the first session, the identifier information of the second session management network element, and the identifier information of the user plane function network element controlled by the second session management network element.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, after the second session management network element sends the third request message to the first session management network element, the method further includes: the second session management network element receiving a first response message from the first session management network element, the first response message carrying at least one of the following information: the identification information of the terminal device, the identification information of the first session, the tunnel information, and the identification information of the user plane function network element controlled by the first session management network element.

In a third aspect, another communication method is provided, including: a mobility management network element receives a first request message from a first session management network element, wherein the first request message is used for requesting a new session management network element; the mobility management network element receives a session establishment request message from the terminal equipment, wherein the session establishment request message is used for requesting to establish connection with the first session management network element; and the mobility management network element sends a second request message to the second session management network element according to the session establishment request message, wherein the second request message is used for requesting the second session management network element to establish a session context for the first session of the terminal equipment.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided for performing the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect. In particular, the apparatus comprises means for performing the method of the first aspect described above or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided another communication apparatus for performing the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. In particular, the apparatus comprises means for performing the method of the second aspect described above or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

A sixth aspect provides another communications apparatus for performing the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect. In particular, the apparatus comprises means for performing the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

In a seventh aspect, another communication apparatus is provided, the apparatus comprising: a transceiver, a memory, and a processor. Wherein the transceiver, the memory and the processor are in communication with each other via an internal connection path, the memory is configured to store instructions, and the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored by the memory to control the receiver to receive signals and control the transmitter to transmit signals, such that the apparatus performs the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided another communication apparatus, including: a transceiver, a memory, and a processor. Wherein the transceiver, the memory and the processor are in communication with each other via an internal connection path, the memory is configured to store instructions, and the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored by the memory to control the receiver to receive signals and control the transmitter to transmit signals, such that the apparatus performs the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided another communication apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a transceiver, a memory, and a processor. Wherein the transceiver, the memory and the processor are in communication with each other via an internal connection path, the memory is configured to store instructions, and the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored by the memory to control the receiver to receive signals and control the transmitter to transmit signals, such that the apparatus performs the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: computer program code which, when run by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any possible implementation of any of the above aspects.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium for storing a computer program comprising instructions for performing the method in any possible implementation of any of the above aspects.

In a twelfth aspect, a chip system is provided, which includes a memory for storing a computer program and a processor for calling and running the computer program from the memory, so that a communication device in which the chip system is installed executes the method in any possible implementation manner of any one of the above aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a system architecture 100 to which an embodiment of the present application is applied. As shown in fig. 1, the system architecture 100 includes: a mobility management network element 110, a first session management network element 120, and a second session management network element 130. Optionally, the system architecture 100 may also include a terminal device 140.

The system architecture 100 described above can be used to implement the communication method in the embodiments of the present application.

In a possible implementation manner, the mobility management element 110 in the system architecture 100 is specifically configured to: receiving a first request message from a first session management network element, wherein the first request message is used for requesting a new session management network element to be added; receiving a session establishment request message from the terminal device, wherein the session establishment request message is used for requesting to establish connection with the first session management network element; and sending a second request message to the second session management network element according to the session establishment request message, wherein the second request message is used for requesting the second session management network element to establish a session context for the first session of the terminal device.

In another possible implementation manner, the first session managing network element 120 in the system architecture 100 is specifically configured to: sending a first request message to a mobility management network element, wherein the first request message is used for requesting a newly-added session management network element; receiving a third request message from a second session management network element, wherein the third request message is used for requesting to establish a first session or update the first session; and sending control information to the second session management network element, where the control information is used to indicate a signaling processing mode of an N1 or N2 signaling of the first session at the second session management network element.

In another possible implementation manner, the second session management network element 130 in the system architecture 100 is specifically configured to: receiving a second request message from a mobility management network element or a first session management network element, where the second request message is used to request the second session management network element to create a session context for a first session of a terminal device; sending a third request message to the first session management network element, where the third request message is used to request establishment of the first session or update of the first session; receiving control information from the first session management network element or the policy control function network element, where the control information is used to indicate a signaling processing mode of an N1/N2 signaling of the first session in the second session management network element.

Optionally, the mobility management network element 110, the first session management network element 120, and the second session management network element 130 in the system architecture 100 may be implemented by one device, or may be implemented by multiple devices together, or may be a functional module in one device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. It is understood that the above functions may be either network elements in a hardware device, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of an application scenario 200 of an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the application scenario 200 may specifically include the following network elements:

an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element is responsible for access and mobility management, and has functions of authenticating, switching, updating a location, and the like for a user.

A Session Management Function (SMF) network element is responsible for session management, including establishment, modification, release, and the like of Packet Data Unit (PDU) sessions. The SMF network element may be specifically divided into two types, i.e., an intermediate-SMF (I-SMF) network element and an anchor-SMF (a-SMF) network element, where the I-SMF network element controls a User Plane Function (UPF) network element (i.e., I-UPF) of an access network interface, and the a-SMF network element controls a session anchor-UPF network element (i.e., a-UPF).

It should be understood that, in the system architecture 100, the mobility management network element 110 may specifically correspond to the AMF network element in fig. 2, the first session management network element 120 may specifically correspond to the a-SMF network element in fig. 2, the second session management network element 130 may specifically correspond to the I-SMF network element in fig. 2, and the terminal device 130 may specifically correspond to the UE in fig. 2.

It should be understood that the present application separates SMFs into I-SMFs and A-SMFs simply because SMFs are different in the role they play in the system architecture 100 and application scenario 200. The I-SMF network element and the a-SMF network element may also use other names, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the application scenario 200 may further include: an authentication service function (AUSF) network element, having an authentication authorization service function, is responsible for generating a secret key and performing bidirectional authentication with the UE.

Optionally, the application scenario 200 may further include: a Unified Data Management (UDM) network element, which stores subscription data of a user.

Optionally, the application scenario 200 may further include: policy Control Function (PCF) network element: and is responsible for user policy management, including both mobility-related policies and PDU session-related policies, such as quality of service (QoS) policies, charging policies, and the like.

Optionally, the application scenario 200 may further include: user Plane Function (UPF) network element: the UPF is a user plane function and is responsible for forwarding user data. The UPF network element is specifically divided into an intermediate-UPF (I-UPF) and an Anchor-UPF (Anchor-UPF, a-UPF), where the I-UPF is connected to the access network, the a-UPF is UFP of the Session Anchor, and the a-UPF may also be referred to as PDU Session Anchor UPF (PDU Session Anchor UPF, PSA), which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the application scenario 200 may further include: data Network (DN): the destination of the user's PDU session access.

It should be understood that the application scenario 200 may also include a Radio Access Network (RAN) device and a User Equipment (UE). Wherein the UE communicates with the AMF over an N1 interface, the UE may access the 5G network through the RAN, the RAN communicates with the AMF over an N2 interface, the RAN communicates with the I-UPF over an N3 interface, the I-UPF communicates with the I-SMF over an N4 interface, the I-UPF communicates with the a-UPF (psa) over an N9 interface, the a-UPF (psa) communicates with the a-upsmf over an N4 interface, the a-f (psa) communicates with the DN over an N6 interface, the AMF communicates with the I-SMF over an N11 interface, the AMF communicates with the AUSF over an N12 interface, the AMF communicates with the UDN over an N8 interface, the AMF communicates with the PCF over an N15 interface, the I-SMF communicates with the a-SMF over an N16 interface, the a-SMF communicates with the UDM over an N10 interface, and the a-PCF communicates with the PCF over an N7 interface.

It should be noted that fig. 2 only illustrates a terminal device as a UE, an interface name between network elements in fig. 2 is only an example, and in a specific implementation, the interface name of the application scenario 200 may also be other names, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application. In addition, the RAN device may also be referred to as an access device, which refers to a device accessing a core network.

The radio access network device is an access device in which the terminal device is accessed into the mobile communication system in a wireless manner, and may be a base station (NodeB), an evolved node b (eNodeB), a base station (gNB) in the 5G mobile communication system, a base station in the future mobile communication system, an access node in the WiFi system, or the like, and may also be a radio controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario, or the access network device may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in the future 5G network, a network device in the future evolved PLMN network, or the like.

Certainly, other network elements, for example, a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) network element and the like, may also be deployed in the application scenario 200, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Alternatively, the application scenario 200 shown in fig. 2 may be applied to a 5G network and other possible networks in the future, and this is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Terminal devices (terminal) referred to in embodiments of the present application may include various handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem with wireless communication capability; a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a cellular phone (cellular phone), a smart phone (smart phone), a wireless data card, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) computer, a tablet computer, a wireless modem (modem), a handheld device (dhhand), a laptop computer (laptop computer), a cordless phone (cordless phone) or a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) terminal, a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a terminal equipment (terminal device) or a relay user equipment, etc. may also be included. The relay user equipment may be, for example, a 5G home gateway (RG). For convenience of description, the above-mentioned devices are collectively referred to as terminal devices in this application.

It should be understood that the terminal device may provide single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) and a Data Network Name (DNN) to the AMF network element when initiating the PDU session setup. The AMF network element determines the address of the session management network element based on the S-NSSAI, DNN, and other information (e.g., subscription information for the terminal device, local operator policy, etc.). The determined session management network element may establish a PDU session for the terminal device based on the S-NSSAI and the DNN.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method 300 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 300 may be applied to the system architecture 100 shown in fig. 1, and may also be applied to the application scenario 200 shown in fig. 2, which is not limited thereto.

S310, a first session management network element sends a first request message to a mobility management network element, and correspondingly, the mobility management network element receives the first request message sent by the first session management network element, where the first request message is used to request a new session management network element;

s320, if the mobility management network element sends a second request message to the second session management network element, correspondingly, the second session management network element receives the second request message sent by the mobility management network element, where the second request message is used to request the second session management network element to create a session context for the first session of the terminal device;

s330, if the second session managing network element sends a third request message to the first session managing network element, correspondingly, the first session managing network element receives the third request message sent by the second session managing network element, where the third request message is used to request to establish the first session or update the first session;

s340, the first session managing network element sends control information to the second session managing network element, and correspondingly, the second session managing network element receives the control information sent by the first session managing network element, where the control information is used to indicate a signaling processing manner of the first session at the second session managing network element.

Specifically, the first session management network element is responsible for session management of the terminal device, the first session management network element may send a first request message for requesting to add a new session management network element to the mobility management network element, and the mobility management network element receives the first request message and selects a new session management network element (referred to as a second session management network element herein) according to the first request message. The mobility management network element may send a second request message requesting to create a session context for the first session of the terminal device to a second session management network element, where the second session management network element receives the second request message, creates a session context for the first session, and sends a third request message requesting to establish a session or update a session to the first session management network element. The first session management network element receives the third request message and sends control information to the second session management network element, where the control information is used to indicate a signaling processing mode of the first session at the second session management network element. The second session management network element receives the control information, so as to process the signaling of the first session according to the signaling processing mode indicated by the control information.

In another possible implementation manner, S310 may not be present in the method 300, and the first session managing network element directly sends a second request message to the second session managing network element, where the second request message is used to request the second session managing network element to create a session context for the first session of the terminal device.

If the method 300 includes S310, the complexity of implementing the first session management network element is relatively small; if S310 does not exist, the signaling load of the mobility management network element may be reduced, and the management and control capability of the first session management network element is strengthened, and the process may also be applied to a network architecture in which the mobility management network element and the second session management network element have no interface, but the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

It should be understood that the first session management network element may send session context information of the first session to the second session management network element, where the session context information may include subscription information of the terminal device, which is obtained by the first session management network element from the UDM network element, information about the first session, which is obtained by the first session management network element from the PCF network element, information about the first session configured on the first session management network element, or information determined by the first session management network element according to information from the UPF when the local policy is used, for example, UE global unique identifier (SUPI), PDU session ID, N2SM information (QoS flow identifier (qfi)(s), QoS file (s)), core network N3 interface Tunnel information (CN N3 Tunnel), slice selection information (single session selection information, S-NSSAI), paging policy indication (paging policy indication), etc.), N2information valid region (area of validity for N2information), Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), paging policy indication (paging policy indication), 5G QoS Identifier (5G QoS Identifier, 5QI), etc., which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

It should be further understood that the above-mentioned control information is specifically used to indicate a signaling processing manner of the second session management network element for the N1 signaling and/or a signaling processing manner of the N2 signaling of the above-mentioned first session, where the N1 signaling is a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, and the N2 signaling is a related signaling of a Radio Access Network (RAN).

As an optional embodiment, the control information is local configuration information of the second session management network element; or the control information is determined by the second session management network element according to information from the user plane function network element when the local policy is used; or the control information comes from the first session management network element; or the control information comes from a policy control function network element.

In other words, in another possible implementation manner, in the above method 300, S340 may not be present, and the second session management network element obtains the control information from the local configuration information, or when the local policy is used, the second session management network element determines the control information according to information from the user plane function network element (e.g., UPF), or obtains the control information from the policy control function network element, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

It should be understood that, for processing a paging scenario, the local policy may be a Paging Policy Differentiation (PPD), the information of the user plane function network element may be Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) information, or the information of the user plane function network element may be DSCP information of a packet header sent by the user plane management network element to the second session management network element, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

As an optional embodiment, before the first session management network element sends control information to the second session management network element, the method further includes:

and the first session management network element receives the control information from a policy control function network element.

It should be understood that the control information may be sent by the policy control function network element to the first session management network element, and then sent by the first session management network element to the second session management network element, or sent directly by the policy control function network element to the second session management network element, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

As an optional embodiment, before the first session management network element sends the first request message to the mobility management network element, the method further includes:

the first session management network element determining whether signaling at the first session management network element is overloaded;

the first session management network element sending a first request message to a mobility management network element, including:

and sending, by the first session management network element, the first request message to the mobility management network element when the signaling at the first session management network element is overloaded.

Specifically, the first session managing network element may first determine whether signaling at the first session managing network element is overloaded, and if the signaling at the first session managing network element is overloaded, the first session managing network element sends the first request message to the mobility managing network element.

As an optional embodiment, the determining, by the first session managing network element, whether signaling at the first session managing network element is overloaded includes:

the first session management network element determines whether the signaling at the first session management network element is overloaded according to at least one of the following information:

the number of signaling processed by the first session management network element per unit time, the mobility information of the terminal device, and the number of terminal devices managed on the first session management network element.

Specifically, the first session management network element may determine whether a signaling at the first session management network element is overloaded in a plurality of ways, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. One possible implementation may be to configure a first threshold value for a first session managing network element, and when the first session managing network element determines that the amount of signaling processed by the first session managing network element per unit time exceeds the first threshold value, the first session managing network element may determine that the signaling at the first session managing network element is overloaded; another possible implementation manner is that the determination may be made according to the mobility information of the terminal device to which the first session belongs, and if the terminal device frequently switches between the base stations, it may be determined that the signaling at the first session management network element is overloaded; another possible implementation manner may be to configure a second threshold value for the first session managing network element, and when the number of terminal devices managed on the first session managing network element exceeds the second threshold value, the first session managing network element determines that the signaling at the first session managing network element is overloaded.

As an optional embodiment, when the first session management network element sends the first request message to the mobility management network element, the first session is a session in a session establishment procedure; or the first session is a session in a session proceeding process; or the first session is a subsequent session to be accessed to the first session management network element.

Specifically, the first session may be a session in a session establishment procedure or a session proceeding procedure, or may be any session that needs to access the first session management network element subsequently, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. That is, the first session management network element may request the mobility management network element to be a current newly added session management network element of a specific session, or may request the mobility management network element to be a subsequently newly added session management network element of a session to be accessed to the first session management network element.

It should be understood that, if the first session is a session in a session establishment process or a session proceeding process, the first request message may carry identification information of a terminal device to which the first session belongs and identification information of the first session; if the first session is any subsequent session to be accessed to the first session management network element, the first request message may carry identification information of the first session management network element.

As an optional embodiment, the signaling processing manner includes at least one of the following:

a first signaling processing mode, where the first signaling processing mode is a mode in which the second session management network element processes a handover signaling of the first session;

a second signaling processing mode, where the second signaling processing mode is to process, by the second session management network element, a radio resource release signaling of the first session; and

and a third signaling processing mode, where the third signaling processing mode is that the second session management network element processes a signaling that the terminal device to which the first session belongs changes from an idle state to a connected state or a signaling that the terminal device changes from a radio resource control Inactive RRC Inactive state to an Inactive RRC Inactive state.

Specifically, the signaling processing manner may include a handover signaling of the first session, a radio resource release signaling, and a processing manner of a signaling that the terminal device to which the first session belongs is switched from an idle state to a connected state. The terminal device switching from the idle state to the connected state may include two scenarios, namely, active connection of the terminal device and paging by the network.

It should be understood that there is also a connection management-CONNECTED (CM-CONNECTED) sub-state called Radio Resource Control (RRC) Inactive state. Specifically, the connection state is that the terminal equipment is connected with an access network RAN and a user plane function network element UPF, and the RRC Inactive state is that the terminal equipment is not connected with the RAN but the RAN is connected with the UPF; the idle state is that the terminal equipment is not connected with the RAN and the UPF. In an RRC Inactive state, if a network side has a downlink data packet to be sent, a paging (paging) process needs to be initiated through an RAN (radio access network) to page a terminal device; in an IDLE (CM-IDLE) state, if a downlink data packet is to be sent on a network side, a paging procedure needs to be initiated through a mobility management network element to page a terminal device.

It should be further understood that, the above-mentioned processing of the related signaling by the second session management network element means that the second session management network element triggers related procedures such as handover, paging, etc., that is, directly sends a request to the mobility management network element to trigger the mobility management network element to perform handover and paging, instead of passing through the first session management network element, in other words, the second session management network element shares the processing of the signaling by the first session management network element, so that the load at the first session management network element can be reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, in a case that the signaling processing manner includes the first signaling processing manner, the method further includes:

the second session management network element receives a first update context request message from the mobility management network element, where the first update context request message is used to request to switch the connection of the terminal device from a source network device to a target network device;

the second session management network element updates the context information of the first session of the terminal equipment;

and the second session management network element sends a first context updating response message to the mobility management network element.

Specifically, after the second session management network element receives the first update context request message, the second session management network element may update the context information of the first session of the terminal device, and send a first update context response message to the mobility management network element according to the existing control information, thereby completing the handover procedure of the terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, in a case that the signaling processing manner includes the second signaling processing manner, the method further includes:

the second session management network element receives a second update context request message from the mobility management network element, where the second update context request message is used to request to release the connection of the terminal device;

the second session management network element updates the session context information of the terminal equipment;

and the second session management network element sends a second context updating response message to the mobility management network element.

Specifically, after the second session management network element receives the second update context request message, the second session management network element may update the session context information of the terminal device, and send a second update context response message to the mobility management network element according to the existing control information, thereby completing the radio resource release procedure of the terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, in a case that the signaling processing manner includes the third signaling processing manner, the method further includes:

and the second session management network element sends a fourth request message to the mobility management network element, wherein the fourth request message is used for requesting paging of the terminal equipment.

Specifically, after the second session management network element receives the control information, once the UPF network element (i.e., I-UPF in fig. 2) corresponding to the second session management network element receives the downlink data and finds that there is no N3 connection, the notification message or the downlink data is sent to the second session management network element, and after the second session management network element receives the notification message or the downlink data, the fourth request message may be sent to the mobility management network element according to the existing control information, so as to trigger the mobility management network element to execute the paging procedure.

It should be understood that the second session management network element merely requests the mobility management network element to perform paging on the terminal device, and the mobility management network element may accept the request, that is, perform a paging procedure on the terminal device, or may not accept the request, that is, send a reject message to the second session management network element or do no processing, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

As an alternative embodiment, the third request message carries at least one of the following information:

the identifier information of the terminal device to which the first session belongs, the identifier information of the first session, the identifier information of the second session management network element, and the identifier information of the user plane function network element controlled by the second session management network element.

As an optional embodiment, the method further comprises:

the first session management network element sends a first response message to the second session management network element according to the third request message, wherein the first response message carries at least one of the following information:

the identification information of the terminal equipment to which the first session belongs, the identification information of the first session, the tunnel information and the identification information of the user plane function network element controlled by the first session management network element;

correspondingly, the second session management network element receives the first response message sent by the first session management network element.

For convenience of understanding, the following takes the mobility management network element as an AMF, the first session management network element as an a-SMF, the second session management network element as an I-SMF, and the terminal device as a UE as an example, and details of the embodiment of the present application are described with reference to fig. 4 to 6.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method 400 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 400 may be applied to the system architecture 100 shown in fig. 1, and may also be applied to the application scenario 200 shown in fig. 2, which is not limited thereto. The embodiment of the application is a scenario in which signaling offload is performed on a current session (taking a first session as an example) in a session establishment process or a session proceeding process.

S401, the A-SMF detects that the signaling at the A-SMF is overloaded;

the detection method may specifically be based on the number of signaling processed in a unit time on the a-SMF (signaling overload is determined if a certain threshold is exceeded), may be based on the mobility information of the UE managed on the a-SMF (for example, signaling overload is determined if the frequency of moving into and out of a certain area subscribed by the a-SMF exceeds a certain threshold), may also be the number of UEs managed on the a-SMF (signaling overload is determined if a certain threshold is exceeded), and the like, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S402, the A-SMF sends a first request message to AMF, and the request is the first session new I-SMF.

The first request message may carry information such as SUPI, PDU session ID, S-NSSAI, reason for adding SMF, etc.

S403, the AMF receives the first request message and selects I-SMF according to the information of SUPI, PDU session ID, S-NSSAI, etc. carried in the first request message.

Specifically, the AMF may select an I-SMF capable of providing a service according to the location of the UE, the service domain of the A-SMF, the load information of the candidate I-SMF, and the like. It should be understood that the selection of the I-SMF may be selected by the AMF according to information maintained by the AMF, or may be selected by interacting with the NRF, or may be selected from an alternative I-SMF list, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S404, the AMF sends a second request message to the selected I-SMF, requesting to establish N11 connection with the I-SMF, where the second request message may specifically be a create session context request message.

S405, the I-SMF sends a second response message to the AMF.

S406, the I-SMF selects the I-UPF according to the second request message sent by the AMF.

Specifically, factors considered in selecting an I-UPF may include: dynamic load of UPF (UPF 'S dynamic load), relatively static capability of UPF supporting the same DNN (UPF' S relative static capacity amplitude UPFs supporting the same Same DNN), location information of the UE (UE location information), DNN, PDU session Type (e.g., IPv4, IPv6, Ethernet Type or Unstructured Type), selected SSC mode of PDU session, S-NSSAI, and so on. The I-SMF may select the I-UPF through the information maintained by the I-SMF, or may request a network storage function (NRF) to request the NRF to select one I-UPF, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

S407, the I-SMF establishes an N4 connection with the selected I-UPF.

S408, the I-SMF sends a third request message to the a-SMF, where the third request message may specifically be a session setup or session update request, and the third request message may carry information such as SUPI, PDU session ID, S-NSSAI, DNN, I-SMF ID, and I-UPF information (e.g., ID, tunnel information).

S409, the a-SMF sends a first response message to the I-SMF, where the first response message may specifically be a session setup or session update request response, and the first response message may carry information such as SUPI, PDU session ID, S-NSSAI, and a-UPF information (e.g., ID, tunnel information).

S410, the A-SMF sends control information to the I-SMF for configuring the signaling processing mode of the N1/N2 signaling.

Optionally, the a-SMF may also send session context information to the I-SMF, the session context information including subscription information acquired by the a-SMF from the UDM, information acquired from the PCF, or information configured on the a-SMF, for example, UE global unique Identifier (SUPI), PDU session ID, N2SMinformation (QoS flow Identifier, qfi (S)), QoS profile (S)), core network N3 interface Tunnel information (CN N3Tunnel Info), slice selection information (S-nsi), paging policy indication (paging policy indication), etc.), N2information valid area policy (area of value for N2information), allocation and retention priority (registration, priority indication, paging policy indication (QoS) and paging Identifier (QoS 5) and paging Identifier (QoS, QoS Identifier G5), 5QI), and the like.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method 500 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 500 may be applied to the system architecture 100 shown in fig. 1, and may also be applied to the application scenario 200 shown in fig. 2, which is not limited thereto. The embodiment of the application is not directed to the current session, but is directed to a scenario in which signaling offload is performed on a subsequent session (taking a first session as an example) to be accessed to the a-SMF.

S501, the A-SMF detects that the signaling at the A-SMF is overloaded;

S502, the a-SMF sends a first request message to the AMF requesting the AMF to insert an I-SMF for a subsequent session that needs to be connected to the a-SMF.

The first request message may carry information such as an identifier of the a-SMF (e.g., SMF ID, SMF address (IP addresses, FQDN, etc.)), a reason for the I-SMF insertion, and the like.

S503, the AMF receives an NAS message sent by the UE, where the NAS message carries a new session establishment request, and the session establishment request is used to request to connect to the a-SMF.

S504, after the AMF determines that the UE needs to be connected to the A-SMF according to the received NAS message, the AMF selects the I-SMF according to the first request message sent by the A-SMF in S502.

S505, the AMF sends a second request message to the selected I-SMF, requesting to establish an N11 connection with the I-SMF, where the second request message may specifically be a create session context request message.

S506, the I-SMF sends a second response message to the AMF.

S507, the I-SMF selects the I-UPF according to the second request message sent by the AMF.

S508, the I-SMF establishes an N4 connection with the selected I-UPF.

S509, the I-SMF sends a third request message to the a-SMF, where the third request message may specifically be a session setup or session update request, and the third request message may carry information such as SUPI, PDU session ID, S-NSSAI, DNN, I-SMF ID, and I-UPF information (e.g., ID and tunnel information).

S510, the a-SMF sends a first response message to the I-SMF, where the first response message may specifically be a session setup or session update request response, and the first response message may carry information such as SUPI, PDU session ID, S-NSSAI, and a-UPF information (e.g., ID, tunnel information).

S511, the A-SMF sends control information to the I-SMF, which is used for configuring the signaling processing mode of the N1/N2 signaling.

It should be understood that the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

The communication method according to the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 1 to 5, and the communication apparatus according to the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 6 to 9.

Fig. 6 shows a communication apparatus 600 provided in this embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus 600 may be the foregoing first session management network element, and the apparatus 600 includes:

a sending unit 610, configured to send a first request message to a mobility management network element, where the first request message is used to request a new session management network element to be added;

a receiving unit 620, configured to receive a third request message from a second session management network element, where the third request message is used to request to establish a first session or update the first session;

the sending unit 610 is further configured to:

and sending control information to the second session management network element, where the control information is used to indicate a signaling processing mode of the first session at the second session management network element.

In the communication device in the embodiment of the application, the first session management network element sends the request message for requesting the newly added session management network element, and configures the related signaling processing mode for the newly added second session management network element, so that the second session management network element shares part of signaling at the first session management network element, which is beneficial to reducing signaling load of the first session management network element, thereby improving system performance.

Optionally, the communication device further comprises: a processing unit for determining whether signalling at the communication device is overloaded before sending the first request message to a mobility management network element; the sending unit 610 is specifically configured to: sending the first request message to the mobility management network element in case of signaling overload at the communication device.

Optionally, the signaling processing manner includes at least one of the following: a first signaling processing mode, where the first signaling processing mode is a mode in which the second session management network element processes a handover signaling of the first session; a second signaling processing mode, where the second signaling processing mode is to process, by the second session management network element, a radio resource release signaling of the first session; and a third signaling processing mode, where the third signaling processing mode is to process, by the second session management network element, a signaling that the terminal device to which the first session belongs is switched from an idle state to a connected state or a signaling that the terminal device is switched from a radio resource control Inactive RRC Inactive state to an Inactive RRC Inactive state.

Optionally, the receiving unit 620 is further configured to: receiving control information from a policy control function network element before sending the control information to the second session management network element.

Optionally, the third request message carries at least one of the following information: the identifier information of the terminal device to which the first session belongs, the identifier information of the first session, the identifier information of the second session management network element, and the identifier information of the user plane function network element controlled by the second session management network element.

Optionally, the sending unit 610 is further configured to: sending a first response message to the second session management network element according to the third request message, wherein the first response message carries at least one of the following information: the identification information of the terminal device to which the first session belongs, the identification information of the first session, the tunnel information, and the identification information of the user plane function network element controlled by the first session management network element.

It should be appreciated that the apparatus 600 herein is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" herein may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared, dedicated, or group processor) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that support the described functionality. In an optional example, as can be understood by those skilled in the art, the apparatus 600 may be embodied as the first session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and the apparatus 600 may be configured to perform each procedure and/or step corresponding to the first session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again to avoid repetition.

Fig. 7 shows a communication apparatus 700 provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus 700 may be the foregoing second session management network element, and the apparatus 700 includes:

a receiving unit 710, configured to receive a second request message from a mobility management network element or a first session management network element, where the second request message is used to request the communication device to create a session context for a first session of a terminal device;

a sending unit 720, configured to send a third request message to the first session managing network element, where the third request message is used to request to establish the first session or update the first session;

an obtaining unit 730, configured to obtain control information, where the control information is used to indicate a signaling processing manner of the first session at the communication apparatus.

Optionally, the control information is local configuration information of the communication device; or the control information is determined by the second session management network element according to information from the user plane function network element when the local policy is used; or the control information comes from the first session management network element; or the control information comes from a policy control function network element.

Optionally, the signaling processing manner includes at least one of the following: a first signaling processing mode, wherein the first signaling processing mode is that the communication device processes the switching signaling of the first session; a second signaling processing mode, wherein the second signaling processing mode is that the communication device processes a radio resource release signaling of the first session; and a third signaling processing mode, where the communication device processes a signaling for switching the terminal device from an idle state to a connected state or a signaling for switching the terminal device from a radio resource control Inactive RRC Inactive state to an Inactive RRC Inactive state.

Optionally, the third request message carries at least one of the following information: the identification information of the terminal device, the identification information of the first session, the identification information of the communication device, and the identification information of the user plane function network element controlled by the communication device.

Optionally, the receiving unit 710 is further configured to: after sending the third request message to the first session managing network element, receiving a first response message from the first session managing network element, the first response message carrying at least one of the following information: the identification information of the terminal device, the identification information of the first session, the tunnel information, and the identification information of the user plane function network element controlled by the first session management network element.

It should be appreciated that the apparatus 700 herein is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" herein may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared, dedicated, or group processor) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that support the described functionality. In an optional example, as can be understood by those skilled in the art, the apparatus 700 may be specifically a second session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and the apparatus 700 may be configured to execute each procedure and/or step corresponding to the second session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and details are not described here again to avoid repetition.

Fig. 8 shows a communication apparatus 800 provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus 800 may be the foregoing mobility management network element, and the apparatus 800 includes:

a receiving unit 810, configured to receive a first request message from a first session management network element, where the first request message is used to request a new session management network element;

the receiving unit 810 is further configured to:

receiving a session establishment request message from the terminal device, wherein the session establishment request message is used for requesting to establish connection with the first session management network element;

a sending unit 820, configured to send a second request message to the second session managing network element according to the session establishment request message, where the second request message is used to request the second session managing network element to create a session context for the first session of the terminal device.

It should be appreciated that the apparatus 800 herein is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" herein may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared, dedicated, or group processor) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that support the described functionality. In an optional example, as can be understood by those skilled in the art, the apparatus 800 may be specifically a mobility management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and the apparatus 800 may be configured to execute each procedure and/or step corresponding to the mobility management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and in order to avoid repetition, details are not described here again.

The apparatuses 600, 700, and 800 in the above solutions have functions of implementing corresponding steps executed by the first session management network element, the second session management network element, and the mobility management network element in the above methods; the functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions; for example, the transmitting unit may be replaced by a transmitter, the receiving unit may be replaced by a receiver, other units, such as the determining unit, may be replaced by a processor, and the transceiving operation and the related processing operation in the respective method embodiments are respectively performed.

In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatuses in fig. 6 to 8 may also be a chip or a chip system, for example: system on chip (SoC). Correspondingly, the receiving unit and the transmitting unit may be a transceiver circuit of the chip, and are not limited herein.

Fig. 9 illustrates yet another communication apparatus 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 900 includes a processor 910, a transceiver 920, and a memory 930. Wherein, the processor 910, the transceiver 920 and the memory 930 are in communication with each other through an internal connection path, the memory 930 is used for storing instructions, and the processor 910 is used for executing the instructions stored in the memory 930 to control the transceiver 920 to transmit and/or receive signals.

Wherein, if the communication device 900 is a first session management network element, the processor 910 is configured to send a first request message to a mobility management network element through the transceiver 920, where the first request message is used to request an additional session management network element; receiving, by the transceiver 920, a third request message from a second session management network element, the third request message requesting establishment of a first session or update of the first session; sending control information to the second session management network element through the transceiver 920, where the control information is used to indicate a signaling processing manner of the first session at the second session management network element.

If the communication apparatus 900 is a second session management network element, the processor 910 is configured to receive a second request message from the mobility management network element or the first session management network element through the transceiver 920, where the second request message is used to request the second session management network element to create a session context for the first session of the terminal device; sending a third request message to the first session managing network element through the transceiver 920, the third request message being for requesting establishment of the first session or updating of the first session; and acquiring control information, wherein the control information is used for indicating a signaling processing mode of the first session at the second session management network element.

Alternatively, the memory 930 may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provides instructions and data to the processor. The portion of memory may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory may also store device type information. The processor 910 may be configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory, and when the processor 910 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 910 is configured to perform the various steps and/or procedures of the above-mentioned method embodiments corresponding to the first session management network element, the second session management network element, or the mobility management network element.

It should be understood that the transceivers described above may include both transmitters and receivers. The transceiver may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more. The memory may be a separate device or may be integrated into the processor. The above-mentioned devices or parts of the devices may be implemented by being integrated into a chip, such as a baseband chip.

In the embodiment of the present application, the transceiver in fig. 9 may also be a communication interface, which is not limited herein.

In the embodiments of the present application, various illustrations are made for the sake of an understanding of aspects. However, these examples are merely examples and are not meant to be the best mode of carrying out the present application.

In the embodiments of the present application, names of a request message, a response message, and other various messages are used for convenience of description. However, these messages are only used to illustrate the content to be carried or the functions to be implemented, and the specific names of the messages do not limit the application, for example: but also a first message, a second message, a third message, etc. These messages may be specific ones, and may be some fields in the messages. These messages may also represent various servicing operations.

It should also be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, the processor of the above apparatus may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software elements in a processor. The software elements may be located in ram, flash, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, among other storage media that are well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor executes instructions in the memory, in combination with hardware thereof, to perform the steps of the above-described method. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from a computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, e.g., from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) Or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), etc.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It 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 ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, 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.

The 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 application 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 functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units 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 application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including 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 application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

a first session management network element determines whether signaling at the first session management network element is overloaded;

under the condition that the signaling at the first session management network element is overloaded, the first session management network element sends a first request message to a mobility management network element, wherein the first request message is used for requesting to newly add a second session management network element, and the second session management network element is used for sharing part of the signaling at the first session management network element;

the first session management network element receives a third request message from the second session management network element, where the third request message is used to request establishment of a first session or update of the first session;

and the first session management network element sends control information to the second session management network element, where the control information is used to indicate a signaling processing mode of the first session at the second session management network element.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling processing manner comprises at least one of the following:

3. The method of claim 1, wherein before the first session management network element sends control information to the second session management network element, the method further comprises:

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the identification information of the terminal device to which the first session belongs, the identification information of the first session, the tunnel information, and the identification information of the user plane function network element controlled by the first session management network element.

5. A method of communication, comprising:

a second session management network element receives a second request message from a mobility management network element or a first session management network element, where the second request message is used to request the second session management network element to create a session context for a first session of a terminal device, and the second session management network element is used to share part of signaling at the first session management network element;

the second session management network element sends a third request message to the first session management network element, where the third request message is used to request establishment of the first session or update of the first session;

and the second session management network element acquires control information, wherein the control information is used for indicating a signaling processing mode of the first session at the second session management network element.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the control information is local configuration information of the second session management network element; or

The control information is determined by the second session management network element according to information from the user plane function network element when the local policy is used; or

The control information is from the first session management network element; or

The control information comes from a policy control function network element.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the signaling processing manner comprises at least one of the following:

a second signaling processing mode, where the second signaling processing mode is to process, by the second session management network element, a radio resource release signaling of the first session;

and a third signaling processing mode, where the third signaling processing mode is that the second session management network element processes a signaling that the terminal device switches from an idle state to a connected state or a signaling that the terminal device switches from a radio resource control Inactive RRC Inactive state to an Inactive RRC Inactive state.

8. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that after the second session managing network element sends a third request message to the first session managing network element, the method further comprises:

the second session management network element receiving a first response message from the first session management network element, the first response message carrying at least one of the following information:

the identification information of the terminal device, the identification information of the first session, the tunnel information, and the identification information of the user plane function network element controlled by the first session management network element.

9. A method of communication, comprising:

a mobility management network element receives a first request message from a first session management network element, wherein the first request message is used for requesting to newly add a second session management network element, and the second session management network element is used for sharing part of signaling at the first session management network element;

the mobility management network element receives a session establishment request message from terminal equipment, wherein the session establishment request message is used for requesting to establish connection with the first session management network element;

and the mobility management network element sends a second request message to the second session management network element according to the session establishment request message, wherein the second request message is used for requesting the second session management network element to establish a session context for the first session of the terminal equipment.

10. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a processing unit to determine whether signaling at a communication device is overloaded;

a sending unit, configured to send a first request message to a mobility management network element when a signaling at the communication apparatus is overloaded, where the first request message is used to request a second session management network element to be newly added, and the second session management network element is used to share a part of the signaling at the first session management network element;

a receiving unit, configured to receive a third request message from the second session management network element, where the third request message is used to request establishment of a first session or update of the first session;

the sending unit is further configured to:

11. The communications apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the signaling processing manner includes at least one of the following:

12. The communications apparatus of claim 10, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to:

receiving control information from a policy control function network element before sending the control information to the second session management network element.

13. The communications apparatus of claim 10, wherein the sending unit is further configured to:

sending a first response message to the second session management network element according to the third request message, wherein the first response message carries at least one of the following information:

14. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a second request message from a mobility management network element or a first session management network element, where the second request message is used to request the communication device to create a session context for a first session of a terminal device, and the second session management network element is used to share a part of signaling at the first session management network element;

a sending unit, configured to send a third request message to the first session management network element, where the third request message is used to request to establish the first session or update the first session;

an obtaining unit, configured to obtain control information, where the control information is used to indicate a signaling processing manner of the first session at the communication apparatus.

15. The communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control information is local configuration information of the communications apparatus; or

The control information comes from a policy control function network element.

16. The communication device according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the signaling processing manner includes at least one of the following:

a first signaling processing mode, wherein the first signaling processing mode is that the communication device processes the switching signaling of the first session;

a second signaling processing mode, wherein the second signaling processing mode is that the communication device processes a radio resource release signaling of the first session;

and a third signaling processing mode, where the communication device processes a signaling for switching the terminal device from an idle state to a connected state or a signaling for switching the terminal device from a radio resource control Inactive RRC Inactive state to an Inactive RRC Inactive state.

17. The communication apparatus according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to:

after sending the third request message to the first session managing network element, receiving a first response message from the first session managing network element, the first response message carrying at least one of the following information:

18. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message from a first session management network element, where the first request message is used to request a second session management network element to be newly added, and the second session management network element is used to share a part of signaling at the first session management network element;

the receiving unit is further configured to:

receiving a session establishment request message from a terminal device, wherein the session establishment request message is used for requesting to establish connection with the first session management network element;

a sending unit, configured to send a second request message to the second session management network element according to the session establishment request message, where the second request message is used to request the second session management network element to create a session context for the first session of the terminal device.