CN111010733A

CN111010733A - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN111010733A
Application number: CN201911127704.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 时晓岩; 张万强; 黄正磊
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-07-06
Filing date: 2015-07-06
Publication date: 2020-04-14
Anticipated expiration: 2035-07-06
Also published as: CN106507700B; WO2017004773A1; CN111010733B; CN106507700A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method and a communication device. The communication method comprises the following steps: receiving a notification message sent by a service gateway, wherein the notification message carries indication information of a downlink data packet to be sent to user equipment by the service gateway; under the condition that the user equipment is determined to be unreachable, determining the cache duration of the downlink data packet according to the indication information; and sending a confirmation message to the service gateway, wherein the confirmation message carries the cache duration so that the service gateway caches all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment corresponding to the indication information according to the cache duration. In the embodiment of the invention, the cache duration is determined according to the indication information of the downlink data packet, and the service gateway is informed of the cache duration, so that the service gateway can cache different downlink data packets according to different cache durations, and further the cache use efficiency of the service gateway can be improved.

Description

Communication method and communication device

The present application is a divisional application of patent applications with application number 201580031902.4, date of entry into the country of china being 2016, 12 and 19, and application name "communication method and communication apparatus".

Technical Field

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

Background

In an Evolved Packet System (EPS), if there is no data transmission for a long time, a User Equipment (UE) enters an Idle state (Idle). In this state, when the EPS network receives a data packet or a signaling of a user downlink, the EPS network initiates a network-side triggered service request procedure, in which a Mobility Management Entity (MME) initiates paging in a tracking area where the current user equipment is located, and the user equipment switches to a Connected state (Connected) to receive the data or the signaling in response to the paging of the MME.

However, due to temporary interruption of the radio signal or the UE activating Power saving mode (PSM for short), long-period Discontinuous Reception (DRX for short), and other Power saving functions, the UE cannot respond to paging of the network in time. At this time, the service application will continuously retransmit the data, thereby increasing the load of the core network element and the paging overhead.

To avoid this problem, the MME may instruct a Serving Gateway (S-GW) to cache a downlink packet of the delay tolerant service, and send the cached data to the UE when the UE is reachable. The MME may determine the buffering duration T of the downlink packet based on an Access Point Name (APN), subscription information of the UE, or local configuration, and notify the S-GW. And the S-GW caches the downlink data packet of the UE within the duration T according to the instruction of the MME. When the timer T times out, the S-GW may discard the buffered packets.

Since the buffering duration T of the downlink data packet is specific to each UE, that is, all downlink data packets of the same UE use the same buffering duration T, such setting of the buffering duration T will cause the gateway to buffer unnecessary service data, thereby reducing the buffering use efficiency of the gateway.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a communication method and a communication apparatus, which can cache different downlink data packets according to different cache durations, thereby improving the cache utilization efficiency of a gateway.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, including: receiving a notification message sent by a service gateway, wherein the notification message carries indication information of a downlink data packet to be sent to user equipment by the service gateway; under the condition that the user equipment is determined to be unreachable, determining the cache duration of the downlink data packet according to the indication information; and sending a confirmation message to the service gateway, wherein the confirmation message carries the cache duration, so that the service gateway caches all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment corresponding to the indication information according to the cache duration.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the acknowledgment message further carries the indication information.

With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the indication information is used to indicate a service type of the downlink data packet.

With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the indication information is used to indicate a bearer corresponding to the downlink data packet.

With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the downlink data packet is a downlink signaling, and the indication information is used to indicate a signaling type of the downlink signaling.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, including: receiving a first downlink data packet to be sent to user equipment; sending a first notification message to a mobility management entity, wherein the first notification message carries first indication information of the first downlink data packet; receiving a confirmation message sent by the mobility management entity, wherein the confirmation message carries a cache duration; and caching all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment corresponding to the first indication information according to the caching duration.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first notification message further carries the first indication information.

With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the caching all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment, where the caching all downlink data packets correspond to the first indication information, where the caching all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment according to the caching duration includes: starting a timer; receiving a second downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment; determining that the service type of the second downlink data packet is the same as the service type of the first downlink data packet, or the signaling type of the second downlink data packet is the same as the signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or the bearer corresponding to the second downlink data packet is the same as the bearer corresponding to the first data packet; and caching the second downlink data packet under the condition that the duration of the timer does not exceed the caching duration.

With reference to the second aspect or the first or second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: receiving a third downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment; determining that the service type of the third downlink data packet is different from the service type of the first downlink data packet, or the signaling type of the third downlink data packet is different from the signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or the bearer identifier corresponding to the third downlink data packet is different from the bearer identifier corresponding to the first downlink data packet; discarding the third downlink data packet; or sending a second notification message to the mobility management entity, where the second notification message carries second indication information of the third downlink data packet, so that the mobility management entity determines the cache duration of the third downlink data packet according to the second indication information.

In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a notification message sent by a service gateway, where the notification message carries indication information of a downlink data packet to be sent to a user equipment by the service gateway; a processing unit, configured to determine, according to the indication information, a buffer duration of the downlink data packet when it is determined that the user equipment is unreachable; and the sending unit is used for sending a confirmation message to the service gateway, wherein the confirmation message carries the cache duration, so that the service gateway caches all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment, which correspond to the indication information, according to the cache duration.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the acknowledgment message further carries the indication information.

With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the indication information is used to indicate a service type of the downlink data packet.

With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the indication information is used to indicate a bearer corresponding to the downlink data packet.

With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the downlink data packet is a downlink signaling, and the indication information is used to indicate a signaling type of the downlink signaling.

In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first downlink data packet to be sent to a user equipment; a sending unit, configured to send a first notification message to a mobility management entity, where the first notification message carries first indication information of the first downlink data packet; the receiving unit is further configured to receive a confirmation message sent by the mobility management entity, where the confirmation message carries a cache duration; and the caching unit is used for caching all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment corresponding to the first indication information according to the caching duration.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first notification message further carries the first indication information.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first indication information is used to indicate a service type of the first downlink data packet, a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer corresponding to the first downlink data packet, and the communication device further includes: the device comprises a timer and a first processing unit, wherein the timer is used for timing; the first processing unit is used for starting the timer after the receiving unit receives the confirmation message; the receiving unit is further configured to receive a second downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment; the first processing unit is further configured to determine that a service type of the second downlink data packet is the same as a service type of the first downlink data packet, or a signaling type of the second downlink data packet is the same as a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer corresponding to the second downlink data packet is the same as a bearer corresponding to the first data packet; the buffer unit is specifically configured to buffer the second downlink data packet when the duration of the timer does not exceed the buffer duration.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the first or second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to receive a third downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment; the communication apparatus further includes: a second processing unit, configured to determine that a service type of the third downlink data packet is different from a service type of the first downlink data packet, or a signaling type of the third downlink data packet is different from a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer identifier corresponding to the third downlink data packet is different from a bearer identifier corresponding to the first downlink data packet; the second processing unit is further configured to discard the third downlink data packet; or, the sending unit is further configured to send a second notification message to the mobility management entity, where the second notification message carries second indication information of the third downlink data packet, so that the mobility management entity determines the cache duration of the third downlink data packet according to the second indication information.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which has the function of implementing any of the method designs of the first aspect and the first aspect. These functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which has the function of implementing the method design of any one of the second and third aspects. These functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In a seventh aspect, a mobility management entity is provided that includes a transceiver and a processor. Optionally, the mobility management entity further comprises a memory. The processor is configured to control the transceiver to transceive signals, the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to retrieve and execute the computer program from the memory, so that the mobility management entity performs the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a serving gateway is provided that includes a transceiver and a processor. Optionally, the service gateway further comprises a memory. The processor is configured to control the transceiver to transmit and receive signals, the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to call and run the computer program from the memory, so that the serving gateway performs the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect.

A ninth aspect provides a communication system comprising the communication apparatus of the fifth aspect and the communication apparatus of the sixth aspect; alternatively, the system includes the mobility management entity of the seventh aspect and the serving gateway of the eighth aspect.

In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a mobility management entity in the above method design, or a chip disposed in the mobility management entity. The communication device includes: a processor, coupled to the memory, may be configured to execute the instructions in the memory to implement the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, and the method in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

When the communication device is a mobility management entity, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

When the communication device is a chip configured in a mobility management entity, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transmit-receive circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a service gateway designed in the above method, or a chip disposed in the service gateway. The communication device includes: a processor, coupled to the memory, may be configured to execute the instructions in the memory to implement the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

When the communication device is a service gateway, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

When the communication device is a chip configured in a service gateway, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the above-mentioned aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, which stores program code, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in the above-mentioned aspects.

Based on the technical scheme, the embodiment of the invention determines the caching duration according to the indication information of the downlink data packet and informs the service gateway of the caching duration, so that the service gateway can cache different downlink data packets according to different caching durations, and further the caching use efficiency of the service gateway can be improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments of the present invention will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow diagram of a communication device according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flow diagram of a communication device according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flow diagram of a communication device according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a communication apparatus according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of a communication device according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, not all, embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be obtained by a person skilled in the art without any inventive step based on the embodiments of the present invention, shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

It should be understood that the technical solution of the present invention may be applied to an Evolved Packet System (EPS), and may also be applied to other various communication systems, for example: a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) System, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) System, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) System, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a Long Term Evolution (LTE), a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) System, a Time Division Duplex (TDD), a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), etc.

It should also be understood that, in the embodiment of the present invention, a User Equipment (User Equipment, abbreviated as "UE") may also be referred to as a Terminal, a Mobile Terminal (Mobile Terminal), a Mobile Station (Mobile Station, abbreviated as "MS"), and the like. The UE may communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio Access Network (RAN). In particular, the user equipment UE may be, for example, a mobile telephone (or so-called "cellular" telephone), a computer with a mobile terminal, but also a portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included or vehicle-mounted mobile device, which exchanges language and/or data with the radio access network RAN. In addition, the user equipment UE may also be an MTC device such as a sensor. Or, in this embodiment of the present invention, the mobile device UE may also be a mobile relay device, such as a mobile Access Point (Access Point, abbreviated as "AP"), which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

The terms "first," "second," and "third," etc. in the description and claims of this application and the accompanying drawings are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having" are not exclusive. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed.

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication method 100 may be performed by a Mobility Management Entity (MME). It should be understood that the communication method 100 of the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to be performed by the MME, and may be performed by other functional entities having the functions of a mobility management entity. As shown in fig. 1, the communication method 100 includes the following.

110. And receiving a notification message sent by the service gateway, wherein the notification message carries indication information of a downlink data packet to be sent to the UE by the service gateway.

For example, the Notification message may be a Downlink Data Notification (DDN) message. It should be understood that the notification message may also be other notification messages, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

120. And under the condition that the UE is determined to be unreachable, determining the buffering duration of the downlink data packet according to the indication information.

For example, when the UE enables power saving functions such as PSM or long cycle DRX, or radio signals are interrupted, so that the UE cannot receive downlink data, it is called UE unreachable. Accordingly, a state in which the UE can receive downlink data is referred to as UE reachable.

For example, the MME may determine whether the UE is reachable from the stored state information of the UE.

130. And sending a confirmation message to the SGW, wherein the confirmation message carries the cache duration, so that the service gateway caches all downlink data packets to be sent to the UE corresponding to the indication information according to the cache duration.

For example, the acknowledgement message may be a Downlink Data Notification Acknowledgement (DDNA) message. It should be understood that the acknowledgement message may also be other acknowledgement messages, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

Since different services or applications have different delay requirements for the data packets, for services or applications with low delay requirements (e.g., real-time services), the service gateway does not need to buffer the data packets for a long time, and the buffer utilization efficiency of the gateway is reduced.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the service gateway can cache different downlink data packets according to different cache durations by determining the cache duration according to the indication information of the downlink data packet and informing the service gateway of the cache duration, so as to improve the cache utilization efficiency of the service gateway.

Optionally, the acknowledgement message further carries indication information.

Optionally, the indication information is used to indicate a service type of the downlink data packet.

Optionally, the indication information is used to indicate a bearer corresponding to the downlink data packet. For example, the indication information is an identifier of a bearer corresponding to the downlink data packet. The bearer corresponding to the downlink data packet may be an EPS bearer.

Correspondingly, in step 120, determining the buffering duration of the downlink data packet according to the indication information includes:

determining Quality of Service (Quality of Service, abbreviated as "QoS") of the bearer;

and determining the cache duration of the downlink data packet corresponding to the bearer according to the QoS.

Optionally, the downlink data packet is a downlink signaling, and the indication information is used to indicate a signaling type of the downlink signaling.

In the embodiment of the invention, the cache duration is determined according to the indication information of the downlink data packet, and the service gateway is informed of the cache duration, so that the service gateway can cache different downlink data packets according to different cache durations, and further the cache use efficiency of the service gateway can be improved.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Method 200 may be performed by a serving gateway (S-GW). It should be understood that the communication method 200 of the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to be performed by the S-GW, and may be performed by other functional entities having a service gateway function. As shown in fig. 2, the method 200 includes the following.

210. Receiving a first downlink data packet to be sent to User Equipment (UE).

For example, the first downlink Packet may be sent by a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (Gateway).

220. And sending a first notification message to the mobility management entity, wherein the first notification message carries the first indication information of the first downlink data packet.

For example, the first notification message may be a first DDN message.

230. And receiving a confirmation message sent by the mobility management entity, wherein the confirmation message carries the cache duration.

For example, the acknowledgement message may be a DDNA message.

240. And caching all downlink data packets to be sent to the UE corresponding to the first indication information according to the caching duration.

It should be understood that all downlink data packets to be sent to the UE corresponding to the first indication information include: and the service gateway receives the downlink data packets of all the UE corresponding to the first indication information in the caching duration.

For example, the serving gateway may default that the cache duration carried in the acknowledgement message is the cache duration of all downlink data packets to be sent to the UE, corresponding to the first indication information carried in the notification message sent by the serving gateway.

In the embodiment of the invention, by receiving the cache duration sent by the mobility management entity and caching the corresponding downlink data packet according to the cache duration, different downlink data packets can be cached according to different cache durations, and further the cache use efficiency of the service gateway can be improved.

Optionally, the acknowledgement message may also carry the first indication information.

It should be understood that the embodiment of the present invention does not limit the type of the first downlink data packet, for example, the first downlink data packet may include service data and may also include downlink signaling.

The first indication information may be used to indicate a service type of the first downlink data packet, a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer corresponding to the first downlink data packet.

The signaling type may include a create bearer request, a modify bearer request, or a delete bearer request, among others. The bearer corresponding to the downlink data packet may be an EPS bearer.

When the indication information is used to indicate a bearer corresponding to the downlink data packet, the indication information may be an identifier of the bearer corresponding to the downlink data packet.

Optionally, step 240 comprises:

starting a timer;

receiving a second downlink data packet to be sent to the UE;

determining that the service type of the second downlink data packet is the same as the service type of the first downlink data packet, or the signaling type of the second downlink data packet is the same as the signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or the bearer corresponding to the second downlink data packet is the same as the bearer corresponding to the first data packet;

and caching the second downlink data packet under the condition that the duration of the timer does not exceed the caching duration.

Accordingly, in case the duration of the timer exceeds the buffering duration, the second downlink data packet may be discarded.

Optionally, the method 200 may further include: and under the condition that the duration of the timer exceeds the buffer duration, discarding all downlink data packets to be sent to the UE corresponding to the buffered first indication information.

Optionally, the method 200 may further include:

receiving a third downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment;

determining that the service type of the third downlink data packet is different from the service type of the first downlink data packet, or the signaling type of the third downlink data packet is different from the signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or the bearer identifier corresponding to the third downlink data packet is different from the bearer identifier corresponding to the first downlink data packet;

discarding the third downlink packet; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and sending a second notification message to the mobility management entity, wherein the second notification message carries second indication information of the third downlink data packet, so that the mobility management entity determines the cache duration of the third downlink data packet according to the second indication information.

After sending the second notification message to the mobility management entity, the mobility management entity may further determine the buffer duration of all downlink data packets to be sent to the UE corresponding to the second indication message when determining that the UE is unreachable. Reference may be made to the method 100, which is not described herein again.

For example, when the third downlink data packet is real-time traffic, the third downlink data packet may be directly discarded. When the third downlink data packet is a delay tolerant service, a third downlink notification message may be sent to the mobility management entity.

The communication method 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention and the communication method 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to fig. 3 and 4.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method 300 according to another embodiment of the present invention. The method 300 includes the following.

301. When the UE is in an idle state and the S-GW receives a downlink data packet of the UE sent by the PDN gateway, the S-GW sends a DDN message to the MME, wherein the DDN message carries indication information of the service type of the downlink data packet.

302. And when the MME determines that the UE is not reachable (for example, the UE starts PSM and long-period DRX), determining to cache the downlink data packet of the UE, and determining the caching duration T according to the service type.

303. And the MME sends a DDNA message to the S-GW, wherein the DDNA message carries the cache duration T. Optionally, the DDNA message may also carry indication information for indicating the service type of the downlink data packet.

304. And the S-GW starts a timer according to the received DDNA message. Before the timer is not overtime, if the S-GW receives a downlink data packet corresponding to the service type of the UE, caching the downlink data packet; if the S-GW receives the downlink data packets of other service types of the UE, the downlink data packets of other service types are discarded or a new DDN message is triggered. If the timer is overtime, the S-GW does not cache the downlink data packet of the service type of the UE any more.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention. The method 400 includes the following.

401. When the UE is in an idle state and the S-GW receives a downlink data packet of the UE sent by the P-GW, the S-GW sends a DDN message to the MME, wherein the DDN message carries an EPS bearing identifier (such as an EPS bearing ID).

402. And when the MME determines that the UE is not reachable (such as the UE starts PSM and long-period DRX), determining to cache a downlink data packet of the UE, determining the QoS of the EPS bearer according to the EPS bearer identifier, and determining the caching duration T according to the QoS.

403. And the MME sends a DDNA message to the S-GW, wherein the DDNA message carries the cache duration T. Optionally, the DDNA message may also carry the EPS bearer identifier.

404. And the S-GW starts a timer according to the received DDNA message. Before the timer is not overtime, if the S-GW receives a downlink data packet corresponding to the EPS bearing identification of the UE, caching the downlink data packet; and if the S-GW receives downlink data packets corresponding to other EPS bearers of the UE, discarding the downlink data packets of the other EPS bearers or triggering a new DDN message. And if the timer is overtime, the S-GW does not cache the downlink data packet corresponding to the EPS bearing identification of the UE any more.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method 500 according to another embodiment of the present invention. The method 500 includes the following.

501. When UE is in idle state and S-GW receives downlink signaling such as 'create/modify/delete bearer request' of UE sent by P-GW, S-GW sends DDN message to MME, the DDN message carries signaling indication for indicating signaling type of the downlink signaling.

502. And when the MME determines that the UE is not reachable (for example, the UE starts PSM and long-period DRX), determining to cache the downlink signaling of the UE, and determining the caching duration T according to the signaling indication.

503. And the MME sends a DDNA message to the S-GW, wherein the DDNA message carries the cache duration T. Optionally, the DDNA message may also carry a signaling indication for indicating the signaling type.

504. And the S-GW starts a timer according to the received DDNA message. Before the timer is not overtime, if the S-GW receives the downlink signaling corresponding to the signaling type of the UE, caching the downlink signaling; if the S-GW receives the downlink signaling corresponding to the other signaling type of the UE, the S-GW discards the downlink signaling corresponding to the other signaling type or triggers a new DDN message. If the timer is overtime, the S-GW does not cache the downlink signaling of the UE any more.

The communication method according to the embodiment of the present invention is described in detail above with reference to fig. 1 to 5, and the communication apparatus and the communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to fig. 6 to 11.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 6, the communication apparatus 600 includes: a receiving unit 610, a processing unit 620 and a transmitting unit 630.

The receiving unit 610 is configured to receive a notification message sent by a service gateway, where the notification message carries indication information of a downlink data packet to be sent to a user equipment by the service gateway.

A processing unit 620, configured to determine, according to the indication information, a buffering duration of the downlink data packet when it is determined that the ue is unreachable.

A sending unit 630, configured to send a confirmation message to the service gateway, where the confirmation message carries the cache duration, so that the service gateway caches all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment according to the cache duration, where the downlink data packets correspond to the indication information.

Optionally, the acknowledgement message further carries indication information.

Optionally, the indication information is used to indicate a bearer corresponding to the downlink data packet.

Accordingly, the processing unit 620 is specifically configured to:

determining the QoS of the load;

and determining the cache duration for bearing the corresponding downlink data packet according to the QoS.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 600 is an MME.

It should be understood that the communication apparatus 600 according to the embodiment of the present invention may correspond to an executing entity (e.g., a mobility management entity) of the communication method 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the above and other operations and/or functions of the respective modules/units of the communication apparatus 600 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows of the method 100 shown in fig. 1, and are not described herein again for brevity.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 700 according to another embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 7, the communication apparatus 700 includes: a receiving unit 710, a transmitting unit 720 and a buffering unit 730.

A receiving unit 710, configured to receive a first downlink data packet to be sent to a user equipment.

A sending unit 720, configured to send a first notification message to the mobility management entity, where the first notification message carries first indication information of the first downlink data packet.

The receiving unit 710 is further configured to receive an acknowledgement message sent by the mobility management entity, where the acknowledgement message carries the cache duration.

The buffer unit 730 is configured to buffer all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment, which correspond to the first indication information, according to the buffer duration.

Optionally, the first notification message further carries the first indication information.

Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate a service type of the first downlink data packet, a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer corresponding to the first downlink data packet, as shown in fig. 8, the communication device 700 further includes: a timer 740 and a first processing unit 750.

The timer 740 is used for timing;

the first processing unit 750 is configured to start the timer 740 after the receiving unit 710 receives the confirmation message;

the receiving unit 710 is further configured to receive a second downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment;

the first processing unit 750 is further configured to determine that a service type of the second downlink data packet is the same as a service type of the first downlink data packet, or a signaling type of the second downlink data packet is the same as a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer corresponding to the second downlink data packet is the same as a bearer corresponding to the first data packet;

the buffer unit 730 is specifically configured to buffer the second downlink data packet when the duration of the timer 740 does not exceed the buffer duration.

Optionally, the first processing unit 750 is further configured to discard the second downlink data packet if the duration of the timer 740 exceeds the buffer duration.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 9, the communication apparatus 700 further includes: a second processing unit 760.

The receiving unit 710 is further configured to receive a third downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment;

the processing unit 760 is configured to determine that a service type of the third downlink data packet is different from a service type of the first downlink data packet, or a signaling type of the third downlink data packet is different from a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer identifier corresponding to the third downlink data packet is different from a bearer identifier corresponding to the first downlink data packet;

the second processing unit 760 is further configured to discard the third downlink data packet; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the sending unit 720 is further configured to send a second notification message to the mobility management entity, where the second notification message carries second indication information of the third downlink data packet, so that the mobility management entity determines the buffer duration of the third downlink data packet according to the second indication information.

Optionally, the communication device 700 is an S-GW.

It should be understood that the communication apparatus 700 according to the embodiment of the present invention may correspond to an execution entity (e.g., a serving gateway) of the communication method 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the above and other operations and/or functions of the respective modules/units of the communication apparatus 700 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flow of the method 200 shown in fig. 2, and are not described herein again for brevity.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 10, the communications device 1000 includes a processor 1010, a memory 1020, a bus system 1030, and a transceiver 1040. The processor 1010, the memory 1020, and the transceiver 1040 are coupled via a bus system 1030, the memory 1020 is configured to store instructions, and the processor 1010 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1020.

The transceiver 1040 is configured to receive a notification message sent by a service gateway, where the notification message carries indication information of a downlink data packet to be sent to a user equipment by the service gateway;

the processor 1010 is configured to determine a buffering duration of the downlink data packet according to the indication information when it is determined that the ue is unreachable;

the transceiver 1040 is further configured to send a confirmation message to the service gateway, where the confirmation message carries the cache duration, so that the service gateway caches all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment, which correspond to the indication information according to the cache duration.

It should be appreciated that, in embodiments of the present invention, the processor 1010 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), the processor 1010 may also be other general purpose processors, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), other Programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The memory 1020 may include both read-only memory and random access memory, and provides instructions and data to the processor 1010. A portion of memory 1020 may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, memory 1020 may also store device type information.

The bus system 1030 may include a power bus, a control bus, a status signal bus, and the like, in addition to a data bus. For clarity of illustration, however, the various buses are designated in the figure as the bus system 1030.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware or instructions in the form of software in the processor 1010. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present invention may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software modules may be located in ram, flash, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, among other storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory 1020, and the processor 1010 reads the information in the memory 1020 and performs the steps of the above method in combination with the hardware thereof. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

Optionally, the acknowledgement message further carries indication information.

Accordingly, the processor 1010 is specifically configured to:

determining the quality of service (QoS) of the load;

Optionally, the communication apparatus 1000 is an MME.

It should be understood that the communication apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention may correspond to an execution main body (e.g., a mobility management entity) of the communication method 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention and the communication apparatus 600 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the above and other operations and/or functions of each module/unit of the communication apparatus 1000 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flow of the method 100 shown in fig. 1, and are not repeated herein for brevity.

Fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1100 according to another embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 11, the communication device 1100 includes a processor 1110, a memory 1120, a bus system 1130, and a transceiver 1140. The processor 1110, the memory 1120, and the transceiver 1140 are connected by a bus system 1130, the memory 1120 is used for storing instructions, and the processor 1110 is used for executing the instructions stored in the memory 1120.

The transceiver 1140 is used to: receiving a first downlink data packet to be sent to user equipment; sending a first notification message to a mobility management entity, wherein the first notification message carries first indication information of a first downlink data packet; and receiving a confirmation message sent by the mobility management entity, wherein the confirmation message carries the cache duration.

The memory 1120 is further configured to cache all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment corresponding to the first indication information according to the cache duration.

It should be appreciated that, in embodiments of the present invention, the processor 1110 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and the processor 1110 may also be other general purpose processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSP), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), other Programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The memory 1120 may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provides instructions and data to the processor 1110. A portion of the memory 1120 may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory 1120 may also store device type information.

The bus system 1130 may include a power bus, a control bus, a status signal bus, and the like, in addition to a data bus. For clarity of illustration, however, the various buses are designated in the figure as the bus system 1130.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware or instructions in the form of software in the processor 1110. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present invention may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software modules may be located in ram, flash, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, among other storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory 1120, and the processor 1110 reads the information in the memory 1120 and performs the steps of the method in combination with the hardware thereof. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate a service type of the first downlink data packet, a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer corresponding to the first downlink data packet.

Optionally, the communication device 1100 further comprises: a timer 1150 for timing;

processor 1110 is further configured to start timer 1150 upon receipt of the acknowledgement message by transceiver 1140;

the transceiver 1140 is further configured to receive a second downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment;

the processor 1110 is further configured to determine that a service type of the second downlink data packet is the same as a service type of the first downlink data packet, or a signaling type of the second downlink data packet is the same as a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer corresponding to the second downlink data packet is the same as a bearer corresponding to the first data packet;

the memory 1120 is specifically configured to buffer the second downlink data packet when the duration of the timer 1150 does not exceed the buffer duration.

Optionally, the processor 1110 is further configured to discard the second downlink data packet if the duration of the timer 1150 exceeds the buffer duration.

Optionally, the transceiver 1140 is further configured to receive a third downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment;

the processor 1110 is further configured to determine that a service type of the third downlink data packet is different from a service type of the first downlink data packet, or a signaling type of the third downlink data packet is different from a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer identifier corresponding to the third downlink data packet is different from a bearer identifier corresponding to the first downlink data packet;

processor 1110 is further configured to discard the third downlink packet; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the transceiver 1140 is further configured to send a second notification message to the mobility management entity, where the second notification message carries second indication information of the third downlink data packet, so that the mobility management entity determines the buffer duration of the third downlink data packet according to the second indication information.

Optionally, the communication device 1100 is an S-GW.

It should be understood that the communication apparatus 1100 according to the embodiment of the present invention may correspond to an execution main body (e.g. a service gateway) of the communication method 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention and the communication apparatus 700 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the above and other operations and/or functions of the respective modules/units of the communication apparatus 1100 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows of the method 200 shown in fig. 2, and are not repeated herein for brevity.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the elements and algorithm steps of the examples described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied in electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both, and that the components and steps of the examples have been described in a functional general in the foregoing description for the purpose of illustrating clearly the interchangeability of hardware and software. 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 invention.

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, a division of a unit is merely a logical division, and an actual implementation may have another division, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may also be an electric, mechanical or other form of connection.

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 of the present invention.

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

From the above description of the embodiments, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be implemented by hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions described above may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. Taking this as an example but not limiting: computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Furthermore, the method is simple. Any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, a server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, a fiber optic cable, a twisted pair, a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, the fiber optic cable, the twisted pair, the DSL, or the wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the fixation of the medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy Disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

In short, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving a notification message sent by a service gateway, wherein the notification message carries indication information of a downlink data packet to be sent to user equipment by the service gateway;

under the condition that the user equipment is determined to be unreachable, determining the cache duration of the downlink data packet according to the indication information;

and sending a confirmation message to the service gateway, wherein the confirmation message carries the cache duration, so that the service gateway caches all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment corresponding to the indication information according to the cache duration.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the acknowledgement message further carries the indication information.

3. The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the indication information is used for indicating a service type of the downlink data packet.

4. The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the indication information is used for indicating a bearer to which the downlink data packet corresponds.

5. The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the downlink data packet is downlink signaling, and the indication information is used to indicate a signaling type of the downlink signaling.

6. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving a first downlink data packet to be sent to user equipment;

sending a first notification message to a mobility management entity, wherein the first notification message carries first indication information of the first downlink data packet;

receiving a confirmation message sent by the mobility management entity, wherein the confirmation message carries a cache duration;

and caching all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment corresponding to the first indication information according to the caching duration.

7. The communication method according to claim 6, wherein the acknowledgement message further carries the first indication information.

8. The communication method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate a service type of the first downlink data packet, a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer corresponding to the first downlink data packet, and the caching all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment corresponding to the first indication information according to the caching duration includes:

starting a timer;

receiving a second downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment;

determining that the service type of the second downlink data packet is the same as the service type of the first downlink data packet, or the signaling type of the second downlink data packet is the same as the signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or the bearer corresponding to the second downlink data packet is the same as the bearer corresponding to the first downlink data packet;

9. The communication method according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising:

receiving a third downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment;

discarding the third downlink data packet; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and sending a second notification message to the mobility management entity, where the second notification message carries second indication information of the third downlink data packet, so that the mobility management entity determines the cache duration of the third downlink data packet according to the second indication information.

10. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a notification message sent by a service gateway, where the notification message carries indication information of a downlink data packet to be sent to a user equipment by the service gateway;

a processing unit, configured to determine, according to the indication information, a buffer duration of the downlink data packet when it is determined that the user equipment is unreachable;

a sending unit, configured to send a notification acknowledgement message to the service gateway, where the notification acknowledgement message carries the cache duration, so that the service gateway caches, according to the cache duration, all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment, corresponding to the indication information.

11. The communications apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the notification acknowledgement message further carries the indication information.

12. The communication apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the indication information is used to indicate a traffic type of the downlink data packet.

13. The communications apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the indication information is used to indicate a bearer to which the downlink data packet corresponds.

14. The communications apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the downlink data packet is downlink signaling, and the indication information is used to indicate a signaling type of the downlink signaling.

15. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a first downlink data packet to be sent to a user equipment;

a sending unit, configured to send a first notification message to a mobility management entity, where the first notification message carries first indication information of the first downlink data packet;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a confirmation message sent by the mobility management entity, where the confirmation message carries a cache duration;

and the caching unit is used for caching all downlink data packets to be sent to the user equipment corresponding to the first indication information according to the caching duration.

16. The communications apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first notification message further carries the first indication information.

17. The communications apparatus according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate a service type of the first downlink data packet, a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer corresponding to the first downlink data packet, and the communications apparatus further includes: a timer and a first processing unit, wherein the first processing unit is used for processing the first data,

the timer is used for timing;

the first processing unit is used for starting the timer after the receiving unit receives the confirmation message;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a second downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment;

the first processing unit is further configured to determine that a service type of the second downlink data packet is the same as a service type of the first downlink data packet, or a signaling type of the second downlink data packet is the same as a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer corresponding to the second downlink data packet is the same as a bearer corresponding to the first downlink data packet;

the buffer unit is specifically configured to buffer the second downlink data packet when the duration of the timer does not exceed the buffer duration.

18. The communications apparatus according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to receive a third downlink data packet to be sent to the user equipment;

the communication apparatus further includes:

a second processing unit, configured to determine that a service type of the third downlink data packet is different from a service type of the first downlink data packet, or a signaling type of the third downlink data packet is different from a signaling type of the first downlink data packet, or a bearer identifier corresponding to the third downlink data packet is different from a bearer identifier corresponding to the first downlink data packet;

the second processing unit is further configured to discard the third downlink data packet; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the sending unit is further configured to send a second notification message to the mobility management entity, where the second notification message carries second indication information of the third downlink data packet, so that the mobility management entity determines the cache duration of the third downlink data packet according to the second indication information.

19. A communication apparatus, characterized in that the communication apparatus comprises:

a memory to store instructions;

a processor configured to retrieve and execute the instructions from the memory, so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

20. A communication system, the communication system comprising:

the communication device of any one of claims 10 to 14;

a communications device as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 18.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that it stores a computer program which, when executed, implements the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.

22. A computer program product comprising computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.