CN113163343A

CN113163343A - Counting method, equipment and system

Info

Publication number: CN113163343A
Application number: CN202010075754.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张艳霞; 吴昱民
Original assignee: Vivo Mobile Communication Co Ltd
Current assignee: Vivo Mobile Communication Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-01-22
Filing date: 2020-01-22
Publication date: 2021-07-23

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a counting method, equipment and a system, relates to the technical field of communication, and can solve the problem that network equipment cannot accurately count the number of UE (user equipment) receiving or needing to receive multicast services. The method comprises the following steps: and sending a control plane message to the access network equipment, wherein the control plane message comprises a counting response message which is used for indicating the UE to be the UE for receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service. The embodiment of the invention is applied to the process of determining the number of the UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

Description

Counting method, equipment and system

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a counting method, equipment and a system.

Background

Currently, in order to implement dynamic switching between multicast and unicast, a network device may perform signaling interaction with multiple User Equipments (UEs) to determine the number of UEs that receive or need to receive a multicast service. Generally, a multi-cell/Multicast Coordination Entity (MCE) may trigger a base station to send a counting request of a multicast service to UEs in a broadcast manner, so that the UEs may feed back a counting response of the multicast service to the base station, and the base station forwards the counting response of the multicast service to the MCE, so that the MCE may count the number of UEs receiving or needing to receive the multicast service, and determine whether to activate (or deactivate) sending the multicast service in a multicast/multicast single frequency network (MBSFN) manner according to a result of the counting.

However, in the above method, since only the connected UE may feed back the counting response of the multicast service to the base station after receiving the counting request of the multicast service, and the idle UE does not feed back the counting response of the multicast service to the base station after receiving the counting request of the multicast service, the MCE cannot count the number of idle UEs that need to receive the multicast service, so that the network device cannot accurately count the number of UEs that receive or need to receive the multicast service.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a counting method, device, and system, which can solve the problem that a network device cannot accurately count the number of UEs that receive or need to receive a multicast service.

In order to solve the technical problem, the embodiment of the invention adopts the following technical scheme:

in a first aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, a counting method is provided, which is applied to a UE, and the counting method includes: and sending a control plane message to the access network equipment, wherein the control plane message comprises a counting response message which is used for indicating the UE to be the UE for receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

In a second aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, a counting method is provided, where the counting method is applied to an access network device, and the counting method includes: receiving at least one control plane message, wherein one control plane message comprises a counting response message, one counting response message corresponds to one UE, and one counting response message is used for indicating that the UE sending the counting response message is the UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

In a third aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, a counting method is provided, where the counting method is applied to a core network device, and the counting method includes: receiving at least one counting response message after first security processing sent by access network equipment, wherein each counting response message corresponds to one UE, and one counting response message is used for indicating that the UE sending the counting response message is the UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service; and performing second safety processing on at least one counting response message.

In a fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, a UE is provided, where the UE includes: and a sending module. The sending module is configured to send a control plane message to the access network device, where the control plane message includes a counting response message, and the counting response message is used to indicate that the UE is a UE that receives or is to receive a multicast service.

In a fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, an access network device is provided, where the access network device includes: and a receiving module. The receiving module is configured to receive at least one control plane message, where one control plane message includes a counting response message, one counting response message corresponds to one UE, and one counting response message is used to indicate that the UE sending the counting response message is a UE receiving or waiting to receive a multicast service.

In a sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a core network device, where the core network device includes: the device comprises a receiving module and a processing module. The receiving module is configured to receive at least one counting response message after the first security processing sent by the access network device, where each counting response message corresponds to one UE, and one counting response message is used to indicate that the UE sending the counting response message is a UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service. And the processing module is used for carrying out second safety processing on at least one counting response message received by the receiving module.

In a seventh aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, a UE is provided, where the UE includes a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and being executable on the processor, and the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the counting method according to the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, an access network device is provided, which includes a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, and when executed by the processor, the computer program implements the steps of the counting method according to the second aspect.

A ninth aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a core network device, which includes a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and being executable on the processor, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the core network device implements the steps of the counting method according to the third aspect.

In a tenth aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, a communication system is provided, where the communication system includes the UE according to the fourth aspect, the access network device according to the fifth aspect, and the core network device according to the sixth aspect; alternatively, the communication system includes the UE according to the seventh aspect, the access network device according to the eighth aspect, and the core network device according to the ninth aspect.

An eleventh aspect of embodiments of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the counting method according to the first aspect, or the steps of the counting method according to the second aspect, or the steps of the counting method according to the third aspect.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE may send a control plane message to the access network device, where the control plane message includes a counting response message, and the counting response message is used to indicate that the UE is a UE that receives or is to receive a multicast service. Because the UE can feed back the counting response message of the multicast service to the access network device through the control plane message, that is, each UE (for example, a UE in a non-connected state) can feed back the counting response message to the access network device timely and accurately through the control plane message, the network side can accurately determine the number of UEs to receive the multicast service in the non-connected UEs, and thus can accurately count the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a counting method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a second schematic diagram of a counting method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a third schematic diagram of a counting method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a fourth schematic diagram illustrating a counting method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a second schematic structural diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a second schematic structural diagram of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a core network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a hardware diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a hardware schematic diagram of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a hardware schematic diagram of a core network device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

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

The terms "first" and "second," and the like, in the description and in the claims of embodiments of the present invention are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular order of the objects. For example, the first resource and the second resource, etc. are for distinguishing different resources, rather than for describing a particular order of the resources.

In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, the meaning of "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified. For example, a plurality of elements refers to two elements or more.

The term "and/or" herein is an association relationship describing an associated object, and means that there may be three relationships, for example, a display panel and/or a backlight, which may mean: there are three cases of a display panel alone, a display panel and a backlight at the same time, and a backlight alone. The symbol "/" herein denotes a relationship in which the associated object is or, for example, input/output denotes input or output.

In the embodiments of the present invention, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "e.g.," an embodiment of the present invention is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

The embodiment of the invention provides a counting method, equipment and a system, wherein UE (user equipment) can send a control plane message to access network equipment, the control plane message comprises a counting response message, and the counting response message is used for indicating that the UE is the UE for receiving or waiting to receive multicast services. Because the UE can feed back the counting response message of the multicast service to the access network device through the control plane message, that is, each UE (for example, a UE in a non-connected state) can feed back the counting response message to the access network device timely and accurately through the control plane message, the network side can accurately determine the number of UEs to receive the multicast service in the non-connected UEs, and thus can accurately count the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

The counting method, the equipment and the system provided by the embodiment of the invention can be applied to a communication system. The method and the device can be particularly applied to the process of determining the number of the UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service based on the communication system.

Fig. 1 illustrates an architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system may include at least one UE 01, an access network device 02, and a core network device 03.

The UE 01 and the access network device 02 may be connected and communicate with each other, the core network device 03 may include an AMF network element 04 and other network elements 05 (e.g., Unified Data Management (UDM) network elements, etc.), the access network device 02 and the AMF network element 04 may be connected and communicate with each other, and the AMF network element 04 and the other network elements 05 may be connected and communicate with each other.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the radio connection may be between the access network device 02 and the AMF network element 04, and between the AMF network element 04 and another network element 05, as shown in fig. 1. In fig. 1, in order to more clearly illustrate the connection relationships between the access network device 02 and the AMF network element 04 and between the AMF network element 04 and the other network element 05, fig. 1 illustrates the connection relationships between the access network device 02 and the AMF network element 04 and between the AMF network element 04 and the other network element by solid lines.

A UE is a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with wired/wireless connectivity, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. A UE may communicate with one or more core network devices via a Radio Access Network (RAN). The UE may be a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone) and a computer having a mobile terminal, or a portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included, or vehicle-mounted mobile device that exchanges speech and/or data with the RAN, such as a Personal Communication Service (PCS) phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and so on. The UE may also be referred to as a user agent (user agent) or a terminal device, etc.

The access network device may be a base station. A base station is a device deployed in a RAN for providing wireless communication functions for UEs. The base stations may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, access points, and the like. In systems using different radio access technologies, the names of devices with base station functionality may differ, for example, in third generation mobile communication (3G) networks, referred to as base stations (NodeB); in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, referred to as an evolved NodeB (eNB) or eNodeB); in fifth generation mobile communication (5G) networks, referred to as a gNB, and so on. As communication technology evolves, the name "base station" may change. It is to be noted that the embodiment of the present invention is only illustrated by using a 5G network as an example, and should not be taken as a scenario limitation of the embodiment of the present invention.

The AMF network element may be used for mobility management of the UE, and may send the received relevant data of the UDM network element to the access network device. The UDM network element may be used to manage and store subscription data, authentication data, such as UE identity, security parameters, etc.

A counting method, a device and a system provided by the embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings through specific embodiments and application scenarios thereof.

Example one

In this embodiment, the counting method provided in the embodiment of the present invention is explained based on a process of interaction between the UE and the access network device and interaction between the access network device and the core network device.

Based on the communication system shown in fig. 1, an embodiment of the present invention provides a counting method. As shown in fig. 2, the counting method may include steps 201 and 202 described below.

Step 201, the UE sends a control plane message to the access network device.

Step 202, the access network device receives a control plane message sent by the UE.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the control plane message includes a counting response message, where the counting response message is used to indicate that the UE is a UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

It is understood that the counting response message is a counting response message of the multicast service. The above "UE receiving or waiting to receive multicast traffic" may be understood as: a UE that is receiving multicast traffic, or a UE that needs to receive multicast traffic.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the UE may be a non-connected UE (i.e., an idle state or an inactive state) or a connected UE.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the control plane message specifically includes a non-access stratum (NAS) container, where the NAS container includes the counting response message.

It is to be understood that the counting response message may be stored in a NAS container for being transmitted to the access network device through a control plane message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the control plane message may specifically be a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the counting response message may be a message after security processing is performed by a NAS.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the counting response message may specifically be a message encrypted by the NAS.

In the embodiment of the invention, the counting response message can be safely processed through the NAS so as to avoid the leakage of the counting response message, thereby improving the safety of the counting response message.

Optionally, in an implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the control plane message may specifically be a newly introduced RRC message, that is, an RRC message dedicated to feeding back a counting response message of a multicast service, so that after receiving the RRC message, the access network device may learn that the counting response message of the RRC message is used for feeding back the multicast service (that is, the counting response message of the multicast service is carried in the RRC message).

In the embodiment of the invention, the UE can send the counting response message of the multicast service through the newly introduced RRC message, namely the UE in the non-connection state can timely and accurately feed back the counting response message of the multicast service to the access network equipment through the newly introduced RRC message, so that the network side can accurately determine the UE for receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

Optionally, in another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, with reference to fig. 2, as shown in fig. 3, the step 201 may be specifically implemented by a step 201a described below, and the step 202 may be specifically implemented by a step 202a described below.

Step 201a, the UE sends a control plane message to the access network device on the target resource.

Step 202a, the access network device receives a control plane message sent by the UE on a target resource.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the target resource is a resource for transmitting a counting response message.

It can be understood that the target resource may be a resource dedicated to feeding back a counting response message of the multicast service, so that after the access network device receives the control plane message on the target resource, it can learn that the counting response message of the control plane message is used for feeding back the multicast service.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the target resource is configured by a network device or agreed by a protocol.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the target resource may specifically be a random access resource location, that is, the UE may initiate a random access procedure at the random access resource location, so as to send the control plane message at the random access resource location.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE may send the control plane message on the target resource to feed back the counting response message of the multicast service to the access network device, that is, the UE in the non-connected state may also send the control plane message on the target resource to feed back the counting response message to the access network device in time and accurately, so that the network side may accurately determine the UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

Optionally, in another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the control plane message further includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the control plane message is a feedback counting response message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, a manner in which the first indication information indicates that the control plane message is a feedback count response message is any of the following: indicated by a bit, indicated by a bit map, and indicated by an RRC connection establishment cause value.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the first indication information may be one bit. For example, when the first indication information takes a value of "1", the first indication information may indicate, to the access network device, a control plane message for feeding back a counting response message of the multicast service; when the first indication information takes a value of "0", the control plane message may be indicated to the access network device for a conventional purpose (e.g., RRC connection setup message).

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the first indication information may be RRC connection establishment cause information. For example, a new RRC connection establishment cause value is defined, and when the RRC connection establishment cause information is set to the newly defined value, the access network device may learn a counting response message used by the RRC message for feeding back the multicast service.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE may send the first indication information while sending the counting response message of the multicast service through the control plane message, so as to indicate the counting response message that is used for feeding back the multicast service to the access network device, so that after receiving the control plane message, the access network device may know that the control plane message is used for feeding back the counting response message, that is, the network side may accurately determine the UE that receives or is to receive the multicast service.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, after acquiring the counting response message of the multicast service, the access network device may instruct the UE not to enter the connected state.

It can be understood that, when feeding back the counting response message, the UE in the non-connected state can feed back the counting response message without entering the connected state, i.e. without performing the RRC connection establishment procedure, thereby reducing signaling overhead and saving power consumption.

The embodiment of the invention provides a counting method, wherein UE (user equipment) can send a control plane message to access network equipment, the control plane message comprises a counting response message, and the counting response message is used for indicating that the UE is the UE for receiving or waiting to receive multicast service. Because the UE can feed back the counting response message of the multicast service to the access network device through the control plane message, that is, each UE (for example, a UE in a non-connected state) can feed back the counting response message to the access network device timely and accurately through the control plane message, the network side can accurately determine the number of UEs to receive the multicast service in the non-connected UE, so as to accurately count the number of UEs receiving the multicast service or UEs to receive the multicast service, thereby implementing dynamic switching between unicast and multicast.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4 with reference to fig. 2, before the step 201, the counting method provided in the embodiment of the present invention may further include the following step 301 and step 302, and the step 201 may be specifically implemented by the following step 201 b.

Step 301, the access network device sends a counting request message to the UE.

Step 302, the UE receives a counting request message sent by the access network device.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the counting request message is used to determine whether the UE is a UE that receives or is to receive a multicast service.

It is understood that the counting request message is a counting request message of a multicast service.

Optionally, in an implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the step 301 may be specifically implemented by a step 301a described below, and the step 302 may be specifically implemented by a step 302a described below.

Step 301a, the access network device broadcasts a counting request message on a first resource.

Step 302a, the UE receives a counting request message on a first resource.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first resource is a resource for transmitting a counting request message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the access network device may broadcast a system message, where the system message includes a counting request message and an indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate a resource for sending the counting request message, so that the UE may receive the counting request message on the corresponding resource according to the indication of the indication information.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the step 301a may be specifically implemented by the following step 301a1, and the step 302a may be specifically implemented by the following step 302a 1.

Step 301a1, the access network device periodically broadcasts a counting request message on the first resource.

Step 302a1, the UE periodically receives a counting request message on a first resource.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the access network device may also broadcast the counting request message on the first resource aperiodically.

Optionally, in another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the step 301 may be specifically implemented by a step 301b described below, and the step 302 may be specifically implemented by a step 302b described below.

Step 301b, the access network device broadcasts a counting request message on the second resource.

Step 302b, the UE detects the counting request message on the second resource.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the second resource is a resource for transmitting a counting request message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the access network device may send an indication information in a broadcast manner, where the indication information is used to indicate a resource for sending the counting request message, so that the UE may detect whether there is a counting request message sent on the resource.

Alternatively, in the embodiment of the present invention, the step 301b may be specifically realized by the following step 301b1, and the step 302b may be specifically realized by the following step 302b 1.

Step 301b1, the access network device periodically broadcasts a counting request message on the second resource.

Step 302b1, the UE periodically detects a counting request message on the second resource.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the access network device may also broadcast the counting request message on the second resource aperiodically.

Optionally, in another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the step 301 may be specifically implemented by a step 301c described below, and the step 302 may be specifically implemented by a step 302c described below.

Step 301c, the access network device sends a counting request message to the connected UE in a unicast manner.

Step 302c, if the UE is a connected UE, the UE receives a counting request message sent by the access network device in a unicast manner.

Step 201b, the UE sends a control plane message corresponding to the counting request message to the access network device.

In the embodiment of the invention, the access network equipment can send the counting request message of the multicast service to the UE, so that the UE can timely and accurately send the corresponding counting response message to the access network equipment through the control plane message according to the counting request message, and the network side can accurately count the number of the UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 5 in combination with fig. 2, after the step 202, the counting method provided in the embodiment of the present invention further includes the following steps 401 to 403.

Step 401, the access network device sends a counting response message to the core network device.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the counting response message in step 401 may be a counting response message after security processing (e.g., encryption processing).

Step 402, the core network device receives a counting response message sent by the access network device.

Step 403, the core network device determines that the UE is a UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service according to the counting response message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, after receiving the counting response message, the core network device may perform security processing (for example, decryption processing) on the counting response message, and determine that the UE is a UE that receives or is to receive the multicast service according to the counting response message after the security processing.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the core network device may also perform security processing (for example, decryption processing) on the counting response message, and then send the counting response message after the security processing to the access network device, so that the access network device may determine, according to the counting response message after the security processing, that the UE is a UE that receives or is to receive the multicast service.

It is to be understood that the core network device or the access network device may determine, after receiving the counting response message of the UE, that the UE is a UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service, that is, the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service is the same as the number of counting response messages.

In the embodiment of the invention, the UE can be determined to be the UE for receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service through the core network equipment or the access network equipment, so that the number of the UE for receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service can be accurately counted.

It should be noted that, in the above embodiment, a method for a station to send a counting response message to an access network device from the perspective of one UE is described, and any method for a UE to send a counting response message to an access network device can be implemented by the way of the first embodiment.

Example two

In this embodiment, the counting method provided in the embodiment of the present invention is explained based on an access network device, a plurality of UEs, and a core network device.

Based on the communication system shown in fig. 1, an embodiment of the present invention provides a counting method, which may include the following step 501.

Step 501, an access network device receives at least one control plane message.

In this embodiment of the present invention, each of the at least one control plane message includes a counting response message, each counting response message corresponds to a UE, and one counting response message is used to indicate that the UE sending the counting response message is a UE receiving or waiting to receive a multicast service.

It can be understood that the above-mentioned at least one control plane message is sent by at least one UE, that is, one control plane message is sent by one UE, and each UE may respectively feed back a counting response message of the multicast service to the access network device through one control plane message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the at least one UE may include a non-connected UE; alternatively, the at least one UE may include a connected UE; alternatively, the at least one UE may include a non-connected UE and a connected UE.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, each control plane message specifically includes one NAS container, and each NAS container includes one counting response message.

It is to be understood that each counting response message may be stored in one NAS container, respectively, to be sent to the access network device through one control plane message, respectively.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, each counting response message is a message after performing the first security processing by the NAS.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the first security process may be an encryption process.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, each control plane message may specifically be a newly introduced RRC message, that is, an RRC message dedicated to feeding back a counting response message of a multicast service, so that after receiving each RRC message, the access network device may learn that each RRC message is used for feeding back a counting response message of a multicast service.

In the embodiment of the invention, at least one UE can respectively send the counting response message of the multicast service through a newly introduced RRC message, namely the UE in the non-connection state can also timely and accurately feed back the counting response message of the multicast service to the access network equipment through the newly introduced RRC message, so that the network side can accurately count the number of the UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the step 501 may be specifically implemented by the following step 501 a.

Step 501a, an access network device receives at least one control plane message on at least one target resource.

In this embodiment of the present invention, each of the at least one target resource is a resource for transmitting a counting response message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the at least one target resource is configured by the network device or agreed by a protocol.

In the embodiment of the present invention, at least one UE may send a control plane message on one target resource respectively to feed back a counting response message of a multicast service to an access network device, that is, the UE in a non-connected state may also send a control plane message on the target resource to feed back the counting response message to the access network device in time and accurately, so that a network side may accurately count the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, each control plane message further includes a first indication information, and each first indication information is used to indicate that one control plane message is a message for feeding back a counting response message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, a manner that each piece of first indication information in the at least one piece of first indication information indicates that one control plane message is a message for feeding back one counting response message is any one of the following: indicated by a bit, indicated by a bit map, and indicated by an RRC connection establishment cause value.

In the embodiment of the present invention, each UE may send a first indication message while sending a counting response message of a multicast service through a control plane message, so as to indicate, to the access network device, that the control plane message is used for feeding back the counting response message of the multicast service, so that after the access network device receives each control plane message, it can be known that the control plane messages are used for feeding back the counting response message, that is, the network side may accurately count the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

The embodiment of the invention provides a counting method, wherein access network equipment can receive at least one control plane message, each control plane message comprises a counting response message, each counting response message corresponds to a UE, and one counting response message is used for indicating that the UE sending the counting response message is the UE receiving or waiting to receive multicast service. The access network equipment can acquire the counting response messages of the multicast service according to at least one control plane message sent by at least one UE, so that the number of the UEs to receive the multicast service in the non-connected UEs can be accurately determined according to the counting response messages, and the number of the UEs to receive the multicast service or the number of the UEs to receive the multicast service can be accurately counted.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, before the step 501, the counting method provided in the embodiment of the present invention further includes a step 601 described below.

Step 601, the access network equipment sends a counting request message to a plurality of UEs.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the counting request message is used to determine a UE that receives or is to receive a multicast service among a plurality of UEs.

It is to be understood that the plurality of UEs may be UEs in a serving cell of the access network device, the at least one UE (i.e., the UE that sends the counting response message) is a UE in the plurality of UEs, and after receiving the counting request message, each UE in the plurality of UEs may determine whether to send the counting response message to the access network device according to the actual situation (i.e., whether to receive multicast traffic or to receive multicast traffic).

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the step 601 may be specifically implemented by a step 601a or a step 601b described below.

Step 601a, the access network device broadcasts a counting request message on the first resource.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the step 601a may be specifically implemented by the following step 601a 1.

Step 601a1, the access network device periodically broadcasts a counting request message on the first resource.

Step 601b, the access network device broadcasts the counting request message on the second resource.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the step 601b may be specifically implemented by the following step 601b 1.

Step 601b1, the access network device periodically broadcasts a counting request message on the second resource.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the step 601 may be specifically implemented by a step 601c described below.

Step 601c, the access network device sends a counting request message to a connected UE of the plurality of UEs in a unicast manner.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, after the step 501, the counting method provided in the embodiment of the present invention further includes the following steps 701 to 703.

Step 701, the access network device sends at least one counting response message after the first security processing to the core network device.

Step 702, the core network device receives at least one counting response message after the first security processing sent by the access network device.

Step 703, the core network device performs a second security process on the at least one counting response message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the second security processing may be decryption processing.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, after the step 703, the counting method provided in the embodiment of the present invention further includes the following step 801.

Step 801, the core network device determines the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service according to the at least one counting response message after the second security processing.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the step 801 may be specifically implemented by the following step 801 a.

Step 801a, the core network device determines the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service according to the number of the at least one counting response message after the second security processing.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service may be the same as the number of the at least one counting response message.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, after the step 703, the counting method provided in the embodiment of the present invention further includes the following steps 901 to 903.

Step 901, the core network device sends at least one counting response message after the second security processing to the access network device.

Step 902, the access network device receives at least one counting response message after the second security processing sent by the core network device.

Step 903, the access network device determines the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service according to the at least one counting response message after the second security processing.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the step 903 may be specifically implemented by the following step 903 a.

Step 903a, the access network device determines the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service according to the number of the at least one counting response message after the second security processing.

In the embodiment of the invention, the number of the UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service can be accurately counted through the core network equipment or the access network equipment.

It should be noted that, for some contents (for example, a control plane message, a target resource, a counting request message, and the like) in the second embodiment, reference may be made to the relevant description in the first embodiment, and details are not repeated here.

The counting method provided by the embodiment of the present invention is described below by way of specific examples (i.e., step 1 to step 5 described below).

Step 1, an access network device (RAN) sends a counting request of a multicast service to a UE, where the sending mode of the counting request may be at least one of the following:

the counting request message is periodically provided in a broadcast mode, for example, the network side indicates the sending opportunity of the counting request of the multicast service, and the UE periodically receives the counting request message of the multicast service at a specific position;

the method is provided in a broadcast manner in an aperiodic manner, for example, a network side indicates the UE before sending a counting request message of the multicast service, and the UE receives the counting request message of the multicast service at a specific position; or UE detects whether there is a counting request message of the multicast service at a specific position;

the method is provided in a unicast mode, for example, for a connected UE, the network side sends a counting request of multicast service to the UE in a unicast mode.

Step 2, the UE receives the counting request of the multicast service, and sends a counting response of the multicast service to the network side, where the counting response of the multicast service is sent to the network side through an RRC message, where the RRC message may be any one of the following:

a newly introduced RRC message, for example, when the network side receives the newly introduced RRC message, it may know that the message carries a counting response of the multicast service of the UE;

the general RRC message carries indication information at the same time, and the indication information is used to inform the network that the RRC message carrying the indication information is used to feed back a counting response of the multicast service.

The indication information may be implicitly carried or explicitly carried, and specifically may be:

when UE needs to send an RRC message, a random access process is initiated at a special random access resource position, the special random access resource is a resource which is configured or agreed by a protocol at a network side and is used for sending counting response of multicast service, for example, when the network side receives the RRC message at the special random access resource position, the counting response of the message for feeding back the multicast service can be obtained;

and displaying carrying indication information in the UERRC message, wherein the carrying indication information is used for indicating that the RRC message at the network side is used for carrying counting response of the multicast service. The indication information may be a one-bit indication, for example, when a value is "1", the indication information indicates that the RRC message on the network side is used for feeding back a counting response of the multicast service, and when the value is "0", the indication information indicates that the RRC message on the network side is used for a conventional (legacy) purpose. The indication information may also be an extended RRC connection establishment cause Information Element (IE), for example, a new RRC connection establishment cause value is defined, and when the RRC connection establishment cause IE is set to the new defined value, the network side may know that the RRC message is used for feeding back a counting response of the multicast service.

The counting response of the multicast service may be stored in a NAS container and sent to the network side through an RRC message. In addition, the counting response of the multicast service is processed through the NAS layer in a security mode, such as encryption.

And 3, the RAN forwards the received counting response of the multicast service to a core network node (such as an AMF network element).

And 4, in one mode, the core network receives the counting response of the multicast service forwarded by the RAN and carries out safety processing, such as decryption, on the counting response of the multicast service. In this way, the core network node serves as an anchor node of counting, and counts counting responses of the multicast services fed back by the UEs to determine the number of UEs desiring to receive (i.e. to receive) a certain multicast service.

And 5, in another mode, the core network forwards the multicast service counting response processed by the NAS security to the RAN. For example, the core network receives a multicast service counting response fed back by a certain UE from the base station 1, and forwards the message to the base station 1 after performing security processing (e.g., decryption). In this way, the RAN node serves as an anchor node of counting, and counts counting responses of the multicast services fed back by the UEs to determine the number of UEs desiring to receive a certain multicast service.

It should be noted that, for relevant contents related in the implementation, reference may be made to relevant descriptions in the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not described here again.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a UE involved in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 6, a UE 60 provided in an embodiment of the present invention may include: a sending module 61.

The sending module 61 is configured to send a control plane message to the access network device, where the control plane message includes a counting response message, and the counting response message is used to indicate that the UE is a UE that receives or is to receive a multicast service.

In a possible implementation manner, the control plane message specifically includes a NAS container, and the NAS container includes a counting response message.

In a possible implementation manner, the counting response message is a message after security processing is performed by the NAS.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending module 61 is specifically configured to send the control plane message to the access network device on a target resource, where the target resource is a resource for transmitting the counting response message.

In a possible implementation manner, the target resource is configured or agreed by a protocol of the network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the control plane message further includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the control plane message is a feedback counting response message.

In a possible implementation manner, the manner of indicating that the control plane message is a feedback count response message by the first indication information is any of the following: indicated by a bit, indicated by a bit map, and indicated by an RRC connection establishment cause value.

In a possible implementation manner, with reference to fig. 6, as shown in fig. 7, a UE 60 provided in an embodiment of the present invention may further include: a receiving module 62. The receiving module 62 is configured to receive a counting request message sent by the access network device before the sending module 61 sends the control plane message to the access network device, where the counting request message is used to determine whether the UE is a UE that receives or is to receive the multicast service. The sending module 61 is specifically configured to send a control plane message corresponding to the counting request message to the access network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module 62 is specifically configured to receive a counting request message on a first resource, where the first resource is a resource for transmitting the counting request message; alternatively, the counting request message is detected on a second resource, which is a resource for transmitting the counting request message.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module 62 is specifically configured to periodically receive a counting request message on the first resource; alternatively, the counting request message is detected on the second resource periodically.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module 62 is specifically configured to receive, if the UE is a connected UE, a counting request message sent by the access network device in a unicast manner.

The UE provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement each process implemented by the UE in the foregoing method embodiments, and for avoiding repetition, detailed descriptions are not repeated here.

The embodiment of the present invention provides a UE, where the UE may feed back a counting response message of a multicast service to an access network device through a control plane message, that is, each UE (for example, a UE in a non-connected state) may feed back the counting response message to the access network device timely and accurately through the control plane message, so that a network side may accurately determine the number of UEs to receive the multicast service in the non-connected UE, and may accurately count the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of an access network device involved in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 8, an access network device 70 provided in an embodiment of the present invention may include: a receiving module 71.

The receiving module 71 is configured to receive at least one control plane message, where one control plane message includes a counting response message, one counting response message corresponds to one UE, and one counting response message is used to indicate that the UE sending the counting response message is a UE receiving or waiting to receive a multicast service.

In a possible implementation manner, each control plane message specifically includes one NAS container, and each NAS container includes one counting response message.

In a possible implementation manner, each counting response message is a message after the first security processing is performed by the NAS.

In a possible implementation manner, referring to fig. 8, as shown in fig. 9, an access network device 70 provided in an embodiment of the present invention may further include: a sending module 72. The sending module 72 is configured to send the at least one counting response message after the first security processing to the core network device after the receiving module 71 receives the at least one control plane message.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module 71 is further configured to receive at least one counting response message after the second security processing sent by the core network device after the sending module 72 sends the at least one counting response message after the first security processing to the core network device. The access network device 70 provided in this embodiment of the present invention may further include: and determining a module. The determining module is configured to determine, according to the at least one counting response message after the second security processing received by the receiving module 71, the number of UEs that receive or are to receive the multicast service.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining module is specifically configured to determine, according to the number of the at least one counting response message after the second security processing, the number of UEs that receive or are to receive the multicast service.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module 71 is specifically configured to receive at least one control plane message on at least one target resource, where each target resource is a resource for transmitting one counting response message.

In a possible implementation manner, the at least one target resource is configured or agreed by a protocol of the network device.

In a possible implementation manner, each of the control plane messages further includes a first indication message, and each of the first indication messages is used to indicate that one of the control plane messages is a message for feeding back a counting response message.

In a possible implementation manner, a manner that each of the first indication information respectively indicates that one control plane message is a message for feeding back one counting response message is any one of the following: indicated by a bit, indicated by a bit map, and indicated by an RRC connection establishment cause value.

In a possible implementation manner, referring to fig. 8, as shown in fig. 9, an access network device 70 provided in an embodiment of the present invention may further include: a sending module 72. Wherein, the sending module 72 is configured to send, to the multiple UEs, a counting request message before the receiving module 71 receives the at least one control plane message, where the counting request message is used to determine a UE of the multiple UEs that receives or is to receive the multicast service.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending module 72 is specifically configured to broadcast the counting request message on a first resource, where the first resource is a resource for transmitting the counting request message; alternatively, the counting request message is broadcast on a second resource, which is a resource for transmitting the counting request message.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending module 72 is specifically configured to periodically broadcast a counting request message on the first resource; alternatively, the counting request message is broadcast periodically on the second resource.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending module 72 is specifically configured to send the counting request message to connected UEs in the multiple UEs in a unicast manner, respectively.

The access network device provided by the embodiment of the present invention can implement each process implemented by the access network device in the above method embodiments, and for avoiding repetition, detailed descriptions are not repeated here.

The embodiment of the invention provides an access network device, which can acquire counting response messages of multicast services according to at least one control plane message sent by at least one UE, so that the number of UEs to receive the multicast services in non-connected UEs can be accurately determined according to the counting response messages, and the number of UEs to receive the multicast services can be accurately counted.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a core network device involved in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 10, the core network device 80 provided in the embodiment of the present invention may include: a receiving module 81 and a processing module 82.

The receiving module 81 is configured to receive at least one counting response message after the first security processing, where each counting response message corresponds to one UE, and one counting response message is used to indicate that the UE sending the counting response message is a UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service. And a processing module 82, configured to perform a second security process on the at least one counting response message received by the receiving module 81.

In a possible implementation manner, the core network device 80 provided in the embodiment of the present invention may further include: and determining a module. The determining module is configured to determine, after the processing module 82 performs the second security processing on the at least one counting response message, the number of UEs that receive or are to receive the multicast service according to the at least one counting response message after the second security processing.

In a possible implementation manner, the core network device 80 provided in the embodiment of the present invention may further include: and a sending module. The sending module is configured to send the at least one counting response message after the second security processing to the access network device after the processing module 82 performs the second security processing on the at least one counting response message.

The core network device provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement each process implemented by the core network device in the above method embodiments, and for avoiding repetition, detailed descriptions are not repeated here.

The embodiment of the invention provides core network equipment, which can perform safety processing on at least one counting response message to obtain at least one counting response message after the safety processing, so that the number of UE (user equipment) receiving or waiting to receive multicast service is accurately counted according to the at least one counting response message.

Fig. 11 shows a hardware schematic diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 11, the UE 110 includes but is not limited to: a radio frequency unit 111, a network module 112, an audio output unit 113, an input unit 114, a sensor 115, a display unit 116, a user input unit 117, an interface unit 118, a memory 119, a processor 120, and a power supply 121.

It should be noted that, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, the UE structure shown in fig. 11 does not constitute a limitation of the UE, and the UE may include more or less components than those shown in fig. 11, or combine some components, or arrange different components. For example, in the embodiment of the present invention, the UE includes, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palm computer, a vehicle-mounted terminal, a wearable device, a pedometer, and the like.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the radio frequency unit 111 is configured to send a control plane message to the access network device, where the control plane message includes a counting response message, and the counting response message is used to indicate that the UE is a UE that receives or is to receive a multicast service.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the radio frequency unit 111 may be used for receiving and sending signals during a message sending and receiving process or a call process, and specifically, receives downlink data from a base station and then processes the received downlink data to the processor 120; in addition, the uplink data is transmitted to the base station. In general, radio frequency unit 111 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, and the like. In addition, the radio frequency unit 111 may also communicate with a network and other devices through a wireless communication system.

The UE provides the user with wireless broadband internet access through the network module 112, such as helping the user send and receive e-mails, browse webpages, access streaming media, and the like.

The audio output unit 113 may convert audio data received by the radio frequency unit 111 or the network module 112 or stored in the memory 119 into an audio signal and output as sound. Also, the audio output unit 113 may also provide audio output related to a specific function performed by the UE 110 (e.g., a call signal reception sound, a message reception sound, etc.). The audio output unit 113 includes a speaker, a buzzer, a receiver, and the like.

The input unit 114 is used to receive an audio or video signal. The input unit 114 may include a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) 1141 and a microphone 1142, and the graphics processor 1141 processes image data of a still picture or a video obtained by an image capturing device (e.g., a camera) in a video capturing mode or an image capturing mode. The processed image frames may be displayed on the display unit 116. The image frames processed by the graphic processor 1141 may be stored in the memory 119 (or other storage medium) or transmitted via the radio frequency unit 111 or the network module 112. The microphone 1142 may receive sound and may be capable of processing such sound into audio data. The processed audio data may be converted into a format output transmittable to a mobile communication base station via the radio frequency unit 111 in case of the phone call mode.

The UE 110 also includes at least one sensor 115, such as light sensors, motion sensors, and other sensors. Specifically, the light sensor includes an ambient light sensor that adjusts the brightness of the display panel 1161 according to the brightness of ambient light, and a proximity sensor that turns off the display panel 1161 and/or the backlight when the UE 110 moves to the ear. As one of the motion sensors, the accelerometer sensor can detect the magnitude of acceleration in each direction (generally three axes), detect the magnitude and direction of gravity when stationary, and can be used to identify the UE attitude (such as horizontal and vertical screen switching, related games, magnetometer attitude calibration), vibration identification related functions (such as pedometer, tapping), and the like; the sensors 115 may also include fingerprint sensors, pressure sensors, iris sensors, molecular sensors, gyroscopes, barometers, hygrometers, thermometers, infrared sensors, etc., which are not described in detail herein.

The display unit 116 is used to display information input by the user or information provided to the user. The display unit 116 may include a display panel 1161, and the display panel 1161 may be configured in the form of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), or the like.

The user input unit 117 may be used to receive input numeric or character information and generate key signal inputs related to user settings and function control of the UE. Specifically, the user input unit 117 includes a touch panel 1171 and other input devices 1172. Touch panel 1171, also referred to as a touch screen, may collect touch operations by a user on or near it (e.g., user operations on or near touch panel 1171 using a finger, stylus, or any suitable object or accessory). Touch panel 1171 can include two portions, a touch detection device and a touch controller. The touch detection device detects the touch direction of a user, detects a signal brought by touch operation and transmits the signal to the touch controller; the touch controller receives touch information from the touch sensing device, converts the touch information into touch point coordinates, sends the touch point coordinates to the processor 120, receives a command from the processor 120, and executes the command. In addition, the touch panel 1171 can be implemented by various types such as resistive, capacitive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave. In addition to the touch panel 1171, the user input unit 117 may also include other input devices 1172. Specifically, the other input devices 1172 may include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (such as volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a track ball, a mouse, and a joystick, which are not described herein.

Further, touch panel 1171 can be overlaid on display panel 1161, and when touch panel 1171 detects a touch operation thereon or nearby, the touch operation can be transmitted to processor 120 to determine the type of touch event, and then processor 120 can provide a corresponding visual output on display panel 1161 according to the type of touch event. Although in fig. 11, the touch panel 1171 and the display panel 1161 are two independent components to implement the input and output functions of the UE, in some embodiments, the touch panel 1171 and the display panel 1161 may be integrated to implement the input and output functions of the UE, and the implementation is not limited herein.

The interface unit 118 is an interface for connecting an external device to the UE 110. For example, the external device may include a wired or wireless headset port, an external power supply (or battery charger) port, a wired or wireless data port, a memory card port, a port for connecting a device having an identification module, an audio input/output (I/O) port, a video I/O port, an earphone port, and the like. The interface unit 118 may be used to receive input from external devices (e.g., data information, power, etc.) and transmit the received input to one or more elements within the UE 110 or may be used to transmit data between the UE 110 and external devices.

The memory 119 may be used to store software programs as well as various data. The memory 119 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required by at least one function (such as a sound playing function, an image playing function, etc.), and the like; the storage data area may store data (such as audio data, a phonebook, etc.) created according to the use of the cellular phone, and the like. Further, the memory 119 may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid state storage device.

The processor 120 is a control center of the UE, connects various parts of the entire UE using various interfaces and lines, performs various functions of the UE and processes data by operating or executing software programs and/or modules stored in the memory 119, and calling data stored in the memory 119, thereby performing overall monitoring of the UE. Processor 120 may include one or more processing units; optionally, the processor 120 may integrate an application processor and a modem processor, wherein the application processor mainly handles operating systems, user interfaces, application programs, and the like, and the modem processor mainly handles wireless communications. It will be appreciated that the modem processor described above may not be integrated into the processor 120.

UE 110 may further include a power supply 121 (e.g., a battery) for supplying power to various components, and optionally, power supply 121 may be logically connected to processor 120 via a power management system, so as to implement functions of managing charging, discharging, and power consumption via the power management system.

In addition, the UE 110 includes some functional modules that are not shown, and are not described herein again.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a UE, including a processor 120 as shown in fig. 11, a memory 119, and a computer program stored in the memory 119 and capable of running on the processor 120, where the computer program is executed by the processor 120 to implement the processes of the foregoing method embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effects, and details are not repeated here to avoid repetition.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by the processor 120 shown in fig. 11, the computer program implements the processes of the method embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effects, and in order to avoid repetition, the computer program is not described herein again. The computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

Fig. 12 shows a hardware schematic diagram of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 12, the access network device 130 includes: a processor 131, a transceiver 132, a memory 133, a user interface 134, and a bus interface 135.

The transceiver 132 is configured to receive at least one control plane message, where one control plane message includes a counting response message, one counting response message corresponds to one UE, and one counting response message is used to indicate that the UE sending the counting response message is a UE receiving or waiting to receive a multicast service.

Where the processor 131 may be responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, the processor 131 may be used to read and execute programs in the memory 133 to implement processing functions and control of the access network device 130. The memory 133 may store data used by the processor 131 in performing operations. The processor 131 and the memory 133 may be integrated or may be provided separately.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the access network device 130 may further include: a computer program stored on the memory 133 and executable on the processor 131, which computer program, when executed by the processor 131, performs the steps of the method provided by the embodiments of the present invention.

In fig. 12, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors represented by processor 131 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 133 being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further in connection with embodiments of the present invention. The bus interface 135 provides an interface. The transceiver 132 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. For different UEs, the user interface 134 may also be an interface capable of interfacing externally to a desired device, including but not limited to a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by the processor 131 shown in fig. 12, the computer program implements the processes of the method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect, and is not described herein again to avoid repetition. The computer readable storage medium is, for example, ROM, RAM, magnetic disk or optical disk.

Fig. 13 shows a hardware schematic diagram of a core network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 13, the core network device 130 includes but is not limited to: at least one processor 131, memory 132, a user interface 133, and at least one network interface 134. The various components in the core network device 130 are coupled together by a bus system 135.

It should be noted that, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, the structure of the core network device shown in fig. 13 does not constitute a limitation to the core network device, and the core network device may include more or less components than those shown in fig. 13, or may combine some components, or may have different component arrangements.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the at least one network interface 134 is configured to receive at least one counting response message after the first security processing sent by the access network device, where each counting response message corresponds to one UE, and one counting response message is used to indicate that the UE sending the counting response message is a UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

At least one processor 131 for performing a second security process on the at least one counting response message.

It will be appreciated that the bus system 135 is used to enable communications among the components. The bus system 135 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus. For clarity of illustration, however, the various buses are labeled as the bus system 135 in FIG. 13.

The user interface 133 may include, among other things, a display, a keyboard or a pointing device (e.g., a mouse, a trackball, a touch pad, or a touch screen).

It will be appreciated that memory 132 in embodiments of the invention may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a ROM, a Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be RAM, which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static random access memory (Static RAM, SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (Synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (ddr Data Rate SDRAM, ddr SDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous DRAM (ESDRAM), Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). The memory 132 described in connection with the embodiments of the invention is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

In some embodiments, memory 132 stores the following elements, executable modules or data structures, or a subset thereof, or an expanded set thereof: an operating system 1321 and application programs 1322.

The operating system 1321 includes various system programs, such as a framework layer, a core library layer, a driver layer, and the like, and is configured to implement various basic services and process hardware-based tasks. The application programs 1322, including various application programs such as a media player, a browser, and the like, are used for implementing various application services. The programs that implement the methods of embodiments of the present invention may be embodied in application programs 1322.

In this embodiment, the core network device 130 may further include a computer program stored in the memory 132 and executable on the processor 131, and when the computer program is executed by the processor 131, the computer program implements the steps of the method provided in this embodiment of the present invention.

The method disclosed by the above embodiment of the present invention can be applied to the processor 131, or implemented by the processor 131. The processor 131 may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. 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 131. The Processor 131 may be a general-purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, discrete Gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present invention may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules may reside in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, among other computer-readable storage media known in the art. The computer readable storage medium is located in the memory 132, and the processor 131 reads the information in the memory 132 and performs the steps of the above method in combination with the hardware thereof. In particular, the computer readable storage medium has stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by the processor 131, implements the steps of the method embodiments as provided by the embodiments of the invention.

It is to be understood that the embodiments described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or any combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing units may be implemented within one or more ASICs, DSPs, Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), FPGAs, general purpose processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a software implementation, the techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described in this disclosure. The software codes may be stored in a memory and executed by a processor. The memory may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a core network device, which includes the processor 131 shown in fig. 13, a memory 132, and a computer program stored in the memory 132 and capable of running on the processor 131, where the computer program is executed by the processor 131 to implement each process of the foregoing method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect, and details are not described here to avoid repetition.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by the processor 131 shown in fig. 13, the computer program implements the processes of the method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect, and is not described herein again to avoid repetition. The computer readable storage medium is, for example, ROM, RAM, magnetic disk or optical disk.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that the method of the above embodiments can be implemented by software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases, the former is a better implementation manner. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes instructions for enabling a terminal device (such as a mobile phone, a computer, a server, an air conditioner, or a network device) to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present invention.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, which are illustrative and not restrictive, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A counting method is applied to User Equipment (UE), and is characterized in that the method comprises the following steps:

and sending a control plane message to access network equipment, wherein the control plane message comprises a counting response message, and the counting response message is used for indicating that the UE is the UE for receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control plane message specifically includes a non-access stratum NAS container, and the NAS container includes the counting response message.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the counting response message is a message that is securely processed by a NAS.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein sending a control plane message to an access network device comprises:

and sending the control plane message to the access network equipment on a target resource, wherein the target resource is a resource for transmitting the counting response message.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the target resource is configured or agreed upon by the network device.

6. The method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control plane message further includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the control plane message is a message for feeding back the counting response message.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the first indication information indicates that the control plane message is a message feeding back the counting response message by any one of: indication by a bit, indication by a bit map, and indication by a radio resource control, RRC, connection establishment cause value.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to sending the control plane message to the access network device, the method further comprises:

receiving a counting request message sent by the access network equipment, wherein the counting request message is used for determining whether the UE is the UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service;

the sending of the control plane message to the access network device includes:

and sending the control plane message corresponding to the counting request message to the access network equipment.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the receiving the counting request message sent by the access network device comprises:

receiving the counting request message on a first resource, wherein the first resource is a resource for transmitting the counting request message;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

detecting the counting request message on a second resource, wherein the second resource is a resource for transmitting the counting request message.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the counting request message on the first resource comprises:

periodically receiving the counting request message on the first resource;

the detecting the counting request message on the second resource comprises:

periodically detecting the counting request message on the second resource.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the receiving the counting request message sent by the access network device comprises:

and if the UE is in a connected state, receiving the counting request message sent by the access network equipment in a unicast mode.

12. A counting method is applied to access network equipment, and is characterized in that the method comprises the following steps:

receiving at least one control plane message, wherein one control plane message comprises a counting response message, the counting response message corresponds to one User Equipment (UE), and the counting response message is used for indicating that the UE sending the counting response message is the UE receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein each control plane message specifically includes a non-access stratum NAS container, and each NAS container includes a counting response message.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein each counting response message is a message after a first security process performed by the NAS.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein after receiving the at least one control plane message, the method further comprises:

and sending the at least one counting response message after the first safety processing to core network equipment.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein after sending the at least one counting response message after the first security processing to a core network device, the method further comprises:

receiving the at least one counting response message after the second security processing sent by the core network equipment;

and determining the number of the UE which receives or is to receive the multicast service according to the at least one counting response message after the second safety processing.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service according to the at least one counting response message after the second security process comprises:

and determining the number of the UE which receives or is to receive the multicast service according to the number of the at least one counting response message after the second safety processing.

18. The method according to any of claims 12 to 17, wherein the receiving at least one control plane message comprises:

and receiving at least one control plane message on at least one target resource, wherein each target resource is a resource for transmitting one counting response message.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one target resource is configured or agreed upon by a network device.

20. The method according to any of claims 12 to 17, wherein each control plane message further comprises a first indication information, and each first indication information is used to indicate that one control plane message is a message for feeding back a counting response message.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein each of the first indication information indicates that one control plane message is a message feeding back one counting response message respectively, and the method is any one of the following: indication by a bit, indication by a bit map, and indication by a radio resource control, RRC, connection establishment cause value.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein prior to the receiving at least one control plane message, the method further comprises:

sending a counting request message to a plurality of UEs, wherein the counting request message is used for determining the UEs which receive or wait to receive the multicast service in the plurality of UEs.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein sending a counting request message to a plurality of UEs comprises:

broadcasting the counting request message on a first resource, wherein the first resource is a resource for transmitting the counting request message;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

broadcasting the counting request message on a second resource, wherein the second resource is a resource for transmitting the counting request message.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein broadcasting the counting request message on the first resource comprises:

periodically broadcasting the counting request message on the first resource;

the broadcasting the counting request message on the second resource comprises:

periodically broadcasting the counting request message on the second resource.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein sending a counting request message to a plurality of UEs comprises:

and respectively sending the counting request message to the connected UE in the plurality of UEs in a unicast mode.

26. A counting method is applied to core network equipment, and is characterized in that the method comprises the following steps:

receiving at least one counting response message after first security processing sent by access network equipment, wherein each counting response message corresponds to User Equipment (UE), and one counting response message is used for indicating that the UE sending the counting response message is the UE receiving or waiting to receive multicast service;

and performing second safety processing on the at least one counting response message.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein after the second security processing of the at least one counting response message, the method further comprises:

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the determining the number of UEs receiving or waiting to receive the multicast service according to the at least one counting response message after the second security process comprises:

29. The method of claim 26, wherein after the second security processing of the at least one counting response message, the method further comprises:

and sending the at least one counting response message after the second security processing to the access network equipment.

30. A User Equipment (UE), the UE comprising: a sending module;

the sending module is configured to send a control plane message to an access network device, where the control plane message includes a counting response message, and the counting response message is used to indicate that the UE is a UE that receives or is to receive a multicast service.

31. An access network device, characterized in that the access network device comprises: a receiving module;

the receiving module is configured to receive at least one control plane message, where one control plane message includes a counting response message, where the counting response message corresponds to one UE, and the counting response message is used to indicate that the UE sending the counting response message is a UE receiving or waiting to receive a multicast service.

32. A core network device, characterized in that the core network device comprises: the device comprises a receiving module and a processing module;

the receiving module is configured to receive at least one counting response message after the first security processing sent by the access network device, where each counting response message corresponds to one user equipment UE, and one counting response message is used to indicate that the UE sending the counting response message is a UE receiving or waiting to receive a multicast service;

the processing module is configured to perform a second security process on the at least one counting response message received by the receiving module.

33. A user equipment, UE, comprising a processor, a memory and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the computer program, when executed by the processor, implementing the steps of the counting method according to any of claims 1 to 11.

34. An access network device, characterized in that it comprises a processor, a memory and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, which computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the counting method according to any one of claims 12 to 25.

35. A core network device comprising a processor, a memory and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the computer program, when executed by the processor, implementing the steps of the counting method of any one of claims 26 to 29.

36. A communication system, characterized in that the communication system comprises a user equipment, UE, according to claim 30, an access network device according to claim 31, and a core network device according to claim 32; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the communication system comprises the UE of claim 33, the access network device of claim 34, and the core network device of claim 35.