CN113329392B

CN113329392B - Method for accessing home gateway to network and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN113329392B
Application number: CN202010132502.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张迪; 于游洋
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-02-29
Filing date: 2020-02-29
Publication date: 2022-09-16
Anticipated expiration: 2040-02-29
Also published as: WO2021169644A1; CN113329392A

Abstract

The application provides a method for accessing a home gateway to a network and a communication device, wherein the method can enable the home gateway to access the network under the condition that a third-party operator provides an access network. The method comprises the following steps: the home gateway determines that an access gateway supports a first Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), the access gateway supporting at least one PLMN; and the home gateway sends a registration request message to the access gateway, wherein the registration request message is used for requesting registration to the first PLMN.

Description

Method for accessing home gateway to network and communication device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method and communication apparatus for designing a home gateway access network.

Background

At present, in a scenario of fixed-mobile convergence, a wholesale operator and a retail operator cannot be distinguished in a process of accessing a home gateway to a network, that is, the home gateway, an access network, an access gateway network element and a core network element are all deployed by the same operator.

With the increase of the demand of the user for services with low time delay, large flow rate, and the like, in order to meet the demand of the user, different operators may converge to deploy the access network and the core network, so that a case may exist where the access network and the core network are deployed by different operators, or a case may exist where the access network is deployed by a third-party operator (for example, one operator is specially responsible for deploying the access network for use by another operator). That is, the access network may be a shared network, and home gateways of different operators may access the network through the access gateway. In this case, the home gateway will face the problem of how to access the core network via the shared access network.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method for accessing a home gateway to a network, so that the home gateway can be accessed to the network under the condition that a third-party operator provides an access network.

In a first aspect, a method for accessing a home gateway to a network is provided, where the method includes: the home gateway determines that an access gateway supports a first Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), the access gateway supporting at least one PLMN; and the home gateway sends a registration request message to the access gateway, wherein the registration request message is used for requesting registration to the first PLMN.

Based on the technical scheme, the home gateway requests the access network from the access gateway under the condition that the access gateway supports the PLMN to which the home gateway belongs. Therefore, the home gateway can access the core network deployed by the home operator according to the method provided by the embodiment of the application under the condition that the access network and the core network are deployed by different operators or the access network is deployed by a third-party operator.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first PLMN belongs to one of at least one PLMN supported by the access gateway.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the home gateway sends a first message, wherein the first message contains identification information of the home gateway; the home gateway receives a first response message from the access gateway, wherein the first response message comprises the identification information of the at least one PLMN; the home gateway determining that the access gateway supports a first Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), comprising: and the home gateway determines that the access gateway supports the first PLMN according to the identification information of the at least one PLMN.

The identification information of the home gateway may be a subscriber hidden identifier (SUCI) or a line identifier (line identifier) of the access network.

The identification information of the PLMN may include: mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC). The MCC is used to uniquely identify the country to which the PLMN belongs, and the MNC is used to identify the mobile network to which the PLMN belongs.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the home gateway sends a second message, wherein the second message contains the identification information of the first PLMN; the home gateway determining that the access gateway supports a first Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), comprising: and the home gateway determines that the access gateway supports the first PLMN according to the received second response message from the access gateway.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the second response message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the access gateway supports the first PLMN.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first message is one of the following messages: a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) discovery message, and a point to point protocol over internet (PPPoE) active discovery initial message.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the second message is one of the following messages: DHCP discover message, DHCP request message, PPPoE active discovery initial message, PPPoE active discovery request message, link control protocol message.

In a second aspect, a method for accessing a home gateway to a network is provided, the method including: an access gateway receives a first message from a home gateway, wherein the first message comprises identification information of the home gateway, and the access gateway supports at least one PLMN; and the access gateway sends a first response message to the home gateway, wherein the first response message comprises the identification information of the at least one PLMN.

Based on the above technical solution, the home gateway may determine that the access gateway supports the first PLMN according to that a first response message, which is sent by the access gateway to the home gateway and responds to the first message, includes identification information of the first PLMN. Further, the home gateway requests the access network from the access gateway when the access gateway supports the PLMN to which the home gateway belongs. Therefore, the home gateway can access the core network deployed by the home operator according to the method provided by the embodiment of the application under the condition that the access network and the core network are deployed by different operators or the access network is deployed by a third-party operator.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first message is one of the following messages: DHCP discover message, PPPoE active discovery initial message.

In a third aspect, a method for accessing a home gateway to a network is provided, where the method includes: an access gateway receives a second message from a home gateway, wherein the second message comprises identification information of a first PLMN, the first PLMN is a PLMN to which the home gateway belongs, and the access gateway supports at least one PLMN; the access gateway determines to support the first PLMN; and the access gateway sends a second response message to the home gateway.

Based on the above technical solution, after the home gateway sends the second message including the identification information of the first PLMN, the home gateway may determine that the access gateway supports the first PLMN according to receiving a second response message sent by the access gateway and responding to the second message. Further, the home gateway requests the access network from the access gateway when the access gateway supports the PLMN to which the home gateway belongs. Therefore, the home gateway can access the core network deployed by the home operator according to the method provided by the embodiment of the application under the condition that the access network and the core network are deployed by different operators or the access network is deployed by a third-party operator.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementation manners of the third aspect, the second response message includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the access gateway supports the first PLMN.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the second message is one of the following messages: DHCP discover message, DHCP request message, PPPoE active discovery initial message, PPPoE active discovery request message, link control protocol message.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in some possible implementations, the method further includes: the access gateway receives a registration request message from the home gateway, wherein the registration request message is used for requesting registration to a first PLMN, and the first PLMN is a PLMN to which the home gateway belongs; the access gateway selects an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element according to the first PLMN; and the access gateway sends the registration request message to the AMF network element.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in some possible implementations, the method further includes: the access gateway establishes a corresponding relation of the following information: the identification information of the home gateway, the identification allocated to the home gateway by the access gateway, the identification of an N2 interface connected between the access gateway and the AMF network element, and the identification information of the first PLMN.

The identification information of the home gateway may be sui, or access network insertion line identification information, or may also be a Global Unique Temporary Identity (GUTI) allocated by the core network for the home gateway.

The identifier assigned by the access gateway to the home gateway may be one of the following identifiers: an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, a session identifier (session identifier). If the home gateway accesses the access gateway through an internet protocol over internet (IPoE) flow, the identifier allocated to the home gateway by the access gateway is an IP address; if the home gateway accesses the access gateway through the PPPoE process, the identifier allocated by the access gateway for the home gateway is an MAC address or a session identifier.

The N2 interface identifier may be a next generation application protocol identifier (NGAP ID). The NGAP ID may be an access gateway home gateway next generation application protocol identifier (AGF RG NGAP ID) allocated by the access gateway to the home gateway, and has the same function as a radio access network user equipment next generation application protocol identifier (RAN UE NGAP ID) defined in the current communication industry standard.

Based on the technical scheme, after the access gateway establishes the corresponding relation of the following information: the identification information of the first PLMN, the identification information of the home gateway, the identification allocated by the access gateway to the home gateway and the N2 interface identification, under the condition that the home gateway is disconnected, the access gateway can quickly find the AMF serving the home gateway according to the identification information of the home gateway, so that the home gateway can be quickly restored to be connected.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in some possible implementations, the method further includes: the access gateway receiving a first non-access stratum (NAS) message from the home gateway, the first NAS message being used to request a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session; the access gateway generates a second NAS message according to the first NAS message, wherein the second NAS message is used for requesting a PDU session, the second NAS message comprises the position information of the access gateway and the identification information of a first operator, and the first operator is an operator to which the access gateway belongs; and the access gateway sends the second NAS message to a Session Management Function (SMF) network element through an AMF network element.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in some possible implementations, the method further includes: the access gateway receives a first NAS message from the home gateway, wherein the first NAS message is used for requesting a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session; generating, by the access gateway, an Access Stratum (AS) message including location information of the access gateway and identification information of a first operator when the access gateway recognizes that the first NAS message is for requesting a PDU session, where the first operator is an operator to which the access gateway belongs; and the access gateway sends the first NAS message and the AS message to an SMF network element through an AMF network element.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in some possible implementations, the method further includes: and the access gateway identifies that the first NAS message is used for requesting a PDU session according to an access layer identifier between the access gateway and the home gateway.

The access layer identifier between the access gateway and the home gateway may be one of the following identifiers: the PPPoE gateway comprises a PPPoE tunnel identifier, an IP address allocated to the home gateway by the access gateway, a session identifier allocated to the home gateway by the access gateway and an MAC address allocated to the home gateway by the access gateway.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in some possible implementations, the method further includes: the access gateway generates a second charging identifier, where the second charging identifier includes the following information: and the identification information of the first PLMN and the fixed network resources established by the access gateway for the PDU session.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in some possible implementations, the location information of the access gateway is one or more of the following information: an internet protocol, IP, address of the access gateway, a geographic location of the access gateway.

The geographic location of the access gateway may be, among other things, the latitude and longitude of the access gateway location or may be the area code (ZIP code) of the access gateway location.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in some possible implementation manners, the second charging identifier further includes identification information of the home gateway.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in some possible implementations, the second charging identifier further includes an identifier of the PDU session.

In a fourth aspect, a method of processing a protocol data unit session is provided, the method comprising: the method comprises the steps that an SMF network element determines that a PDU session requested by a home gateway is established through an access gateway, the access gateway supports at least one PLMN, and the access gateway supports a first PLMN to which the home gateway belongs; and the SMF network element selects a User Plane Function (UPF) network element supporting the service provided for the home gateway according to the position information of the access gateway.

Based on the technical scheme, under the condition that the home gateway is accessed to the network through the access network deployed by the third-party operator, the SMF can select a proper UPF to provide services for the home gateway according to the received position information of the access gateway.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: and the SMF network element receives the position information of the access gateway and the identification information of a first operator from the access gateway, wherein the first operator is an operator to which the access gateway belongs.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: and the SMF network element receives an AS message from the access gateway, wherein the AS message comprises the position information of the access gateway and the identification information of a first operator, and the first operator is an operator to which the access gateway belongs.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the location information of the access gateway may be one or more of the following information: an IP address of the access gateway, a geographic location of the access gateway.

Where the geographic location of the access gateway may be the latitude and longitude of the access gateway location or may be the area code of the access gateway location.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: and the SMF network element sends second indication information to the UPF network element, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating a rule of reporting the usage value by the UPF network element, and the usage value is used for charging the access gateway.

The usage value may be a flow value used or a duration of using the flow.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: the SMF sends identification information of a first operator to a Policy Control Function (PCF) network element; the SMF network element receives a charging rule from the PCF network element, wherein the charging rule comprises charging information of the first operator and a second operator, and the second operator is an operator to which the home gateway belongs; and the SMF network element determines the indication information according to the charging model.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: the SMF network element receives a usage value from the UPF network element, and the usage value is used for charging; the SMF network element generates charging information according to the usage value and a first charging identifier, wherein the first charging identifier comprises identifier information of the first operator and identifier information of the UPF network element; and the SMF network element sends the charging information to a charging function (CHF) network element.

Based on the above technical solution, in the case that the first operator trusts the second operator, the CHF may perform charging calculation based on the charging information from the SMF. Thereby solving the problem of how to charge in case that a third party operator provides an access network.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first charging identifier further includes identification information of the home gateway.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first charging identification further includes an identifier of the PDU session.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit:

the processing unit is configured to determine that an access gateway supports a first PLMN, the access gateway supporting at least one PLMN; the transceiver unit is configured to send a registration request message to the access gateway, where the registration request message is used to request registration to the first PLMN.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the first PLMN belongs to one of at least one PLMN supported by the access gateway.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the transceiving unit is further configured to transmit a first message, where the first message includes identification information of the communication device; the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a first response message from the access gateway, where the first response message includes identification information of the at least one PLMN; the processing unit is specifically configured to determine that the access gateway supports the first PLMN according to the identifier information of the at least one PLMN.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is configured to send a second message, where the second message includes identification information of the first PLMN; the processing unit is specifically configured to determine that the access gateway supports the first PLMN according to receiving a second response message from the access gateway.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the second response message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the access gateway supports the first PLMN.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the first message is one of the following messages: DHCP discover message, PPPoE active discovery initial message.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the second message is one of the following messages: DHCP discover message, DHCP request message, PPPoE active discovery initial message, PPPoE active discovery request message, link control protocol message.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiving unit and a processing unit:

the transceiver unit is configured to receive a first message from a home gateway, where the first message includes identification information of the home gateway, and the communication device supports at least one PLMN; the transceiver unit is further configured to send a first response message to the home gateway, where the first response message includes the identification information of the at least one PLMN.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first message is one of the following messages: DHCP discover message, PPPoE active discovery initial message.

In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, where the communication device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit:

the transceiver unit is configured to receive a second message from a home gateway, where the second message includes identification information of a first PLMN, the first PLMN is a PLMN to which the home gateway belongs, and the communication device supports at least one PLMN; the transceiver component is further configured to send a second response message to the home gateway if the communication device determines that the first PLMN is supported.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the second response message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the communication apparatus supports the first PLMN.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the second message is one of the following messages: DHCP discover message, DHCP request message, PPPoE active discovery initial message, PPPoE active discovery request message, link control protocol message.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in some possible implementations, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a registration request message from the home gateway, where the registration request message is used to request registration to a first PLMN, and the first PLMN is a PLMN to which the home gateway belongs; the processing unit is used for selecting an AMF network element according to the first PLMN; the transceiver unit is further configured to send the registration request message to the AMF network element.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in some possible implementations, the processing unit is further configured to establish a correspondence relationship between the following information: the identification information of the home gateway, the identification allocated to the home gateway by the communication device, the identification of an N2 interface connected between the communication device and the AMF network element, and the identification information of the first PLMN.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in some possible implementation manners, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a first NAS message from the home gateway, where the first NAS message is used to request a PDU session; the processing unit is further configured to generate a second NAS message according to the first NAS message, where the second NAS message is used to request a PDU session, and the second NAS message includes location information of the communication apparatus and identification information of a first operator, where the first operator is an operator to which the communication apparatus belongs; the transceiver unit is further configured to send the second NAS message to a session management SMF network element through an AMF network element.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in some possible implementations, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a first NAS message from the home gateway, where the first NAS message is used to request a PDU session; the processing unit is configured to generate an AS message in a case where the communication apparatus recognizes that the first NAS message is for requesting a PDU session, where the AS message includes location information of the communication apparatus and identification information of a first operator, and the first operator is an operator to which the communication apparatus belongs; the transceiver unit is further configured to send the first NAS message and the AS message to an SMF network element through an AMF network element.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in some possible implementation manners, the processing unit is further configured to identify, according to an access stratum identifier between the home gateway and the processing unit, that the first NAS message is used to request a PDU session.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in some possible implementations, the location information of the communication device may be one or more of the following information: an IP address of the communication device, a geographic location of the communication device.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in some possible implementation manners, the processing unit is further configured to generate a second charging identifier, where the second charging identifier includes the following information: the identification information of the first PLMN, and the fixed network resources established by the communication device for the PDU session.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in some possible implementation manners, the second charging identifier further includes identification information of the home gateway.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, in some possible implementations, the second charging identifier further includes an identifier of the PDU session.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a processing unit and a transceiving unit:

the processing unit is configured to determine that a PDU session requested by a home gateway is established through an access gateway, where the access gateway supports at least one PLMN, and the access gateway supports a first PLMN to which the home gateway belongs; and the processing unit is further configured to select a UPF network element that supports providing services for the home gateway according to the location information of the access gateway.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the transceiver unit is configured to receive location information of the access gateway and identification information of a first operator from the access gateway, where the first operator is an operator to which the access gateway belongs.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some implementation manners of the eighth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive an AS message from the access gateway, where the AS message includes location information of the access gateway and identification information of a first operator, and the first operator is an operator to which the access gateway belongs.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the location information of the access gateway may be one or more of the following information: an IP address of the access gateway, a geographic location of the access gateway.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some implementation manners of the eighth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send second indication information to the UPF network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate a rule of a usage value reported by the UPF network element, and the usage value is used for charging by the access gateway.

The usage value may be a flow value used or a duration of using the flow.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some implementation manners of the eighth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send identification information of the first operator to the PCF network element; the receiving and sending unit is further configured to receive a charging rule from the PCF network element, where the charging rule includes charging information of the first operator and a second operator, and the second operator is an operator to which the home gateway belongs; the processing unit is further configured to determine the indication information according to the charging model.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a usage value from the UPF network element, where the usage value is used for charging; the processing unit is further configured to generate charging information according to the usage value and a first charging identifier, where the first charging identifier includes identifier information of the first operator and identifier information of the UPF network element; the transceiving unit is further configured to send the charging information to a CHF network element.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the first charging identifier further includes identification information of the home gateway.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the first charging identification further includes an identifier of the PDU session.

In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement any of the possible implementations of the first aspect and the first aspect described above. Wherein the communication device further comprises a memory. Wherein the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the communication device is a home gateway. When the communication device is a home gateway, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip or a system of chips configured in the home gateway. When the communication device is a chip or a system of chips configured in a home gateway, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

Wherein the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Wherein the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement any of the second aspect and any of the possible implementations of the second aspect, and any of the third aspect and the third aspect described above. Wherein the communication device further comprises a memory. Wherein the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the communication device is an access gateway. When the communication device is an access gateway, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip or system of chips configured in the access gateway. When the communication device is a chip or a system of chips configured in an access gateway, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement the method of any one of the possible implementations of the fourth aspect and the fourth aspect. Wherein the communication device further comprises a memory. Wherein the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the communication device is an SMF network element. When the communication device is an SMF network element, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip or a system of chips configured in the SMF network element. When the communication device is a chip or a system of chips configured in the SMF network element, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

In a twelfth aspect, a processor is provided, comprising: input circuit, output circuit and processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal through the input circuit and send a signal through the output circuit, so that an apparatus including the processor performs the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects.

In a specific implementation process, the processor may be one or more chips, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, various logic circuits, and the like. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example and without limitation, a receiver, the signal output by the output circuit may be output to and transmitted by a transmitter, for example and without limitation, and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit that functions as the input circuit and the output circuit, respectively, at different times. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner of the processor and various circuits.

In a thirteenth aspect, a processing apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory, and may receive a signal via the receiver and transmit a signal via the transmitter to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects.

The number of the processors is one or more, and the number of the memories is one or more.

Wherein the memory may be integrated with the processor or provided separately from the processor.

In a specific implementation process, the memory may be a non-transitory (non-transitory) memory, such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately disposed on different chips, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the memory and the arrangement manner of the memory and the processor.

It will be appreciated that the associated data interaction process, for example, sending the indication information, may be a process of outputting the indication information from the processor, and receiving the capability information may be a process of receiving the input capability information from the processor. In particular, data output by the processor may be output to a transmitter and input data received by the processor may be from a receiver. The transmitter and receiver may be collectively referred to as a transceiver, among others.

The processing means in the thirteenth aspect may be one or more chips, or may be a chip system. The processor in the processing device may be implemented by hardware or may be implemented by software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like; when implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory, which may be integrated with the processor, located external to the processor, or stand-alone.

In a fourteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions), which when executed, causes the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects described above to be performed.

In a fifteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects described above.

In a sixteenth aspect, there is provided a communication system comprising: an access gateway and the aforementioned SMF network element. The communication system may further comprise the aforementioned home gateway.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario applicable to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a method for accessing a network by a home gateway provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a DHCP Option43 field provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is an exemplary diagram of a DHCP Option 60 field provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a TAG field provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a DHCP Option 61 field provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating a specific vendor configuration option message provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a method for processing a PDU session according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a method for accessing a network by a home gateway according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a method for accessing a network by a home gateway provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a Long Term Evolution (LTE) System, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) System, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) System, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication System, a fifth Generation (5G) System, a New Radio (NR) System, a future communication System, or the like.

For the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, an application scenario of the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture suitable for the method provided by the embodiment of the present application. As shown in the figure, the network architecture has AN N3 interface roaming scenario, that is, a wholesale operator (wholesale operator) provides AN Access Network (AN) and AN Access Gateway Function (AGF) to a retail operator (retailer operator), and then a 5G home gateway (5G residential gateway, 5G-RG) can access AN operator-deployed network to which the 5G-RG belongs through the AN and the AGF provided by the wholesale operator. The network architecture may specifically include the following network elements:

1. home gateway (residential gateway): the home network interface unit is used for realizing the exchange of home internal information and home external information, and is a simple, intelligent, standardized and flexible whole home network interface unit. The home gateway can receive communication signals from different external networks and transmit the signals to certain intelligent equipment through the home network. As shown in FIG. 1, the 5G-RG is shown.

2. Access Network (AN): the method provides a network access function for authorized users in a preset area, and can use transmission tunnels with different qualities according to the grade of the users, the service requirements and the like. The access networks may be access networks employing different access technologies. There are two types of current radio access technologies: third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) access technologies such as the radio access technologies employed in 3G, 4G, 5G or 6G systems and non-third Generation Partnership Project (non-3GPP) access technologies. The 3GPP Access technology refers to an Access technology meeting 3GPP standard specifications, and an Access Network adopting the 3GPP Access technology is referred to as a Radio Access Network (RAN), where an Access Network device in a 5G system is referred to as a next generation Base station (gNB). The non-3GPP access technology refers to an access technology that does not conform to the 3GPP standard specification, for example, an air interface technology represented by an Access Point (AP) in wifi.

An access network that implements an access network function based on a wireless communication technology may be referred to as a Radio Access Network (RAN). The radio access network can manage radio resources, provide access service for the terminal, and further complete the forwarding of control signals and user data between the terminal and the core network.

The Radio Access Network may be, for example, a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) System or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) System, a Base Station (NodeB, NB) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) System, an evolved Base Station (eNB, eNodeB) in an LTE System, a Radio controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario, or the Network device may be a relay Station, an Access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a Network device in a future 5G Network, or a Network device in a future evolved PLMN Network, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited.

3. Access Gateway Function (AGF) entity: in the embodiment of the present application, the method is used for implementing the function of the access gateway. The access gateway is located at the edge access layer in the soft switch architecture and provides an analog subscriber line interface for directly accessing the ordinary telephone subscriber to the soft switch network.

4. An AMF entity: the present invention is mainly used for mobility management, access management, and the like, and may be used to implement other functions, such as functions of lawful interception, or access authorization (or authentication), and the like, in addition to session management in Mobility Management Entity (MME) functions. In the embodiment of the present application, the method and the device can be used for implementing the functions of the access and mobility management network element.

5. SMF entity: the method is mainly used for session management, IP address allocation and management of terminal equipment, selection and management of a user plane function, policy control or a terminal point of a charging function interface, downlink data notification and the like. In the embodiment of the present application, the method and the device can be used for implementing the function of the session management network element.

6. UPF entity: i.e. a data plane gateway. The method can be used for packet routing and forwarding, or quality of service (QoS) processing of user plane data, and the like. The user data can be accessed to a Data Network (DN) through the network element. In the embodiment of the application, the method can be used for realizing the function of the user plane gateway.

7. Data Network (DN): for providing a network for transmitting data. Such as a network of carrier services, an Internet network, a third party's service network, etc.

8. Authentication service function (AUSF) entity: the method is mainly used for user authentication and the like.

9. Network open function (NEF) entity: for securely opening services and capabilities, etc. provided by the 3GPP network functions to the outside.

10. The network storage function (NF) entity is used to store the network function entity and the description information of the service provided by the network function entity, and support service discovery, network element entity discovery, etc.

11. The PCF entity: the unified policy framework is used for guiding network behaviors, providing policy rule information for control plane function network elements (such as AMF and SMF network elements) and the like.

12. Unified Data Management (UDM) entity: the method is used for unified data management, 5G user data management, user identification processing, access authentication, registration, mobility management and the like.

13. Application Function (AF) entity: the method is used for carrying out data routing of application influence, accessing network open function network elements, or carrying out strategy control by interacting with a strategy framework and the like.

14. Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) entity: for managing network slice related information.

In the network architecture, an N1 interface is a reference point between a terminal and an AMF entity; the N2 interface is a reference point of AN and AMF entities, and is used for sending NAS messages and the like; the N3 interface is a reference point between (R) AN and UPF entities, for transmitting user plane data, etc.; the N4 interface is a reference point between the SMF entity and the UPF entity, and is used to transmit information such as tunnel identification information, data cache indication information, and downlink data notification message connected to N3; the N6 interface is a reference point between the UPF entity and the DN for transmitting user plane data, etc.

It should be understood that the network architecture applied to the embodiments of the present application is only an exemplary network architecture described in terms of a conventional point-to-point architecture and a service architecture, and the network architecture to which the embodiments of the present application are applied is not limited thereto, and any network architecture capable of implementing the functions of the network elements described above is applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

It should also be understood that the AGF entity, AMF entity, SMF entity, UPF entity, NSSF entity, NEF entity, AUSF entity, NRF entity, PCF entity, UDM entity, AF entity shown in fig. 1 may be understood as network elements in the core network for implementing different functions, e.g. may be combined into a network slice as needed. The core network elements may be independent devices, or may be integrated in the same device to implement different functions, which is not limited in this application.

It should be understood that the name of the interface between each network element in fig. 1 is only an example, and the name of the interface in the specific implementation may be other names, which is not specifically limited in this application. In addition, the name of the transmitted message (or signaling) between the network elements is only an example, and the function of the message itself is not limited in any way.

At present, in a scenario of fixed-mobile convergence, wholesale operators and retail operators cannot be distinguished, that is, home gateways, access networks, access gateway network elements, and core network elements are all deployed by the same operator.

Therefore, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for accessing a home gateway to a network, where an operator to which the home gateway belongs and an operator of an access network do not belong to the same operator, or the home gateway may access a core network deployed by the operator to which the home gateway belongs through the access network when the access network supports providing services for home gateways of different operators.

The method provided by the embodiment of the application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be noted that, in the following description of the embodiments with reference to the drawings, the drawings are only illustrated for the convenience of understanding, and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way. Furthermore, it is shown that the AGF may correspond to an access gateway network element, the AMF may correspond to an access and mobility management network element, the SMF may correspond to a session management network element, and the PCF may correspond to a policy management network element. The network element names are only defined to distinguish different functions, and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way. This application does not exclude the possibility of defining other network elements to perform the same or similar functions.

It should be further noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the first operator is an operator belonging to 5G-RG, and the second operator is an operator belonging to AGF. The first operator and the second operator may be the same operator or different operators, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a method for establishing a connection according to an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in fig. 2 may be performed by the 5G-RG, AGF, and AMF in the system shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 2, the method includes S210 to S250, each of which is described in detail below.

S210, 5G-RG (an example of the home gateway) determines that AGF (an example of the access gateway) supports the first PLMN.

The first PLMN is a PLMN to which the 5G-RG belongs, or may be a PLMN deployed by a first operator to which the 5G-RG belongs.

AGF supports at least one PLMN.

As an example, AGF supports one PLMN. In this case, the first PLMN is a PLMN supported by AGF.

As another example, the AGF supports at least two different PLMNs. In this case, the first PLMN belongs to one of the at least one PLMNs supported by the AGF.

The embodiment of the present application does not limit how the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN.

In one implementation, prior to S210, the method 200 further includes S230a and S240 a.

S230a, 5G-RG sends the first message.

Specifically, the 5G-RG transmits the first message in a broadcast manner.

The identification information of the 5G-RG can be included in the first message. The identification information may be a SUCI or an access network add line identification information.

The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific form of the first message.

As an example, the first message may be a DHCP discover (Discovery) message in an IPoE flow.

As another example, the first message may be a PPPoE Active Discovery Initiation (PADI) message in a PPPoE flow.

S240a, the AGF sends a first response message to the 5G-RG in response to the first message.

The first response message includes identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF.

The identification information of the PLMN may include: MCC and MNC. The MCC is used to uniquely identify the country to which the PLMNs supported by the AGF belong, and the MNC is used to identify the mobile network to which the PLMNs supported by the AGF belong.

It is to be understood that the AGF that receives the first message sent by the 5G-RG may be one or more, and each AGF that receives the first message may send a first response message in response to the first message to the 5G-RG.

As described above, the first message transmitted by the 5G-RG can be of different forms. Therefore, the first response message sent by the AGF to the 5G-RG according to the first message may also be of different forms.

As an example, if the first message is a DHCP discover message, the first response message may be a DHCP service (Offer) message in an IPoE flow.

Compared with the DHCP Offer message in the prior art, the DHCP Offer message in the embodiment of the present application includes identification information of at least one PLMN that can be supported by AGF, so the DHCP Offer message needs to be extended. The DHCP Offer message may be extended in two ways:

the first method is as follows: the extended DHCP Option (Option)43 field.

Fig. 3 shows the DHCP Option43 field. As shown in fig. 3, wherein the code represents a vendor specific information (vendor specific information) option, which has a value of 43; length (Len) is the number of bytes of content filled in the vendor specific information (excluding the number of bytes of encoding and length); the vendor specific information is user-defined content that is exchanged between the DHCP client and the server.

In the embodiment of the present application, the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF included in the DHCP Offer message may be filled in the provider-specific information.

The second method comprises the following steps: the DCHP Option 60 field is extended.

Fig. 4 shows the DHCP Option 60 field. As shown in fig. 4, wherein the code represents a vendor class identifier (vendor class identifier) option, which has a value of 60; length (Len) is the number of bytes of content filled in the provider class identifier (excluding the number of bytes of encoding and length); the vendor class identifier is used to identify the type and configuration of the DHCP client.

In the embodiment of the present application, the identification information that the AGF included in the DHCP Offer message supports at least one PLMN may be filled in the vendor category identifier.

The DHCP Offer message also includes an IP address allocated by the AGF for the 5G-RG according to the identification information of the 5G-RG.

As another example, if the first message is a PADI message, the first response message may be a PPPoE Active Discovery Offer (PADO) message in a PPPoE flow.

Compared with the PADO message in the prior art, the PADO message in the embodiment of the present application includes the identification information of at least one PLMN that the AGF can support, so that the PADO message needs to be extended. The manner of expanding the PADO message may be:

a TAG (TAG) field is defined based on PPPoE load (payload) information.

In the method provided in this embodiment, the PADO message includes at least one TAG field, and the TAG field is defined as shown in fig. 5. The TAG field includes a TAG type, a TAG length, and TAG data.

In this embodiment, the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by AGF included in the PADO message may be filled in the TAG data.

The PADO message also comprises a MAC address which is allocated to the 5G-RG by the AGF according to the identification information of the 5G-RG.

After receiving the first response message from the AGF, the 5G-RG may determine that the AGF supports the first PLMN according to the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF included in the first response message. For example, the AGF may determine whether the identification information of the first PLMN exists in the identification information of the at least one PLMN. And if the identification information of the first PLMN exists, the 5G-RG determines the AGF first PLMN.

In another implementation, prior to S210, the method 200 may further include S230b and S240 b.

S230b, 5G-RG sends the second message.

The second message includes identification information of the first PLMN, and the identification information of the first PLMN is used for identifying the first PLMN.

The second message also includes identification information of the 5G-RG. The identification information may be a SUCI or an access network add line identification information.

The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific form of the second message.

As an example, the second message may be a DHCP discover message in an IPoE flow.

Compared with the DHCP Discovery message in the prior art, the DHCP Discovery message in the embodiment of the present application includes the identification information of the first PLMN, and therefore the DHCP Discovery message needs to be extended. The DHCP Discovery message may be extended in the following two ways:

the first method is as follows: the extended DHCP Option43 field.

Fig. 3 shows the DHCP Option43 field. As shown in fig. 3, wherein the code represents a vendor specific information option, having a value of 43; the length is the number of bytes (excluding the number of bytes of encoding and length) of the content filled in the provider-specific information; the vendor specific information is user-defined content that is exchanged between the DHCP client and the server.

In this embodiment, the first PLMN identification information included in the DHCP Discovery message may be filled in the provider specific information.

The second method comprises the following steps: the DCHP Option 61 field is extended.

Fig. 6 shows the DHCP Option 61 field. As shown in fig. 6, wherein the code represents a client identifier (client identifier) option, which has a value of 61; length (Len) is the number of bytes of content filled in the client identifier (excluding the number of bytes of encoding and length); the client identifier is used to identify the type and configuration of the DHCP client.

In this embodiment, the identification information of the first PLMN included in the DHCP Discovery message may be filled in the client identifier.

As another example, the second message may be a DHCP Request message in an IPoE flow.

In this case, the DHCP Request is also used to Request the AGF for an IP address that the AGF previously allocated for 5G-RG.

Compared with the DHCP Request message in the prior art, the DHCP Request message in the embodiment of the present application includes the identification information of the first PLMN, so that the DHCP Request message needs to be extended. The DHCP Request message may be extended in two ways:

the first method is as follows: the extended DHCP Option43 field.

In the embodiment of the present application, the identification information of the first PLMN included in the DHCP Request message may be filled in the provider-specific information.

The second method comprises the following steps: extended DCHP Option 60 field.

Fig. 4 shows the DHCP Option 60 field. As shown in fig. 4, wherein the code represents a vendor category identifier option with a value of 60; the length is the number of bytes (excluding the number of bytes of encoding and length) of the content filled in the provider class identifier; the vendor class identifier is used to identify the type and configuration of the DHCP client.

In this embodiment, the identification information of the first PLMN included in the DHCP Request message may be filled in the vendor category identifier.

As yet another example, the second message may be a PADI message in a PPPoE procedure.

Compared with the PADI message in the prior art, the PADI message in the embodiment of the present application includes the identification information of the first PLMN, so that the PADI message needs to be extended. The way to extend the PADI message may be:

a TAG (TAG) field is defined based on PPPoE load (payload) information.

In the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the PADI message includes at least one TAG field, and the definition of the TAG field is as shown in fig. 5. The TAG field includes a TAG type, a TAG length, and TAG data.

In this embodiment, the identification information of the first PLMN included in the PADI message may be filled in the TAG data.

As yet another example, the second message may be a PADR message in a PPPoE procedure.

In this case, the PADR is also used to request the AGF for the MAC address that the AGF previously allocated for 5G-RG.

Compared with the PADR message in the prior art, the PADR message in the embodiment of the present application includes the identification information of the first PLMN, so that the PADR message needs to be extended. The manner of extending the PADR message may be:

a TAG (TAG) field is defined based on PPPoE load (payload) information.

In the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the PADR message includes at least one TAG field, and the definition of the TAG field is as shown in fig. 5. The TAG field includes a TAG type, a TAG length, and TAG data.

In this embodiment, the identification information of the first PLMN included in the PADR message may be filled in the TAG data.

As yet another example, the second message may be a Link Control Protocol (LCP) message in a PPPoE procedure.

Compared with the LCP message in the prior art, the LCP message in the embodiment of the present application includes the identification information of the first PLMN, so the LCP message needs to be extended. The way to extend the LCP message may be:

a configuration request (Configure-request) message in the extended LCP message. The configuration request message may carry a vendor-specific configuration option (VSO) message.

The format of the VSO message is as shown in fig. 7, and the VSO message includes a type (type), a length (length), an Organization Unique Identifier (OUI), a category (kind), and data (value).

In this embodiment, the identification information of the first PLMN included in the LCP message may be filled in the OUI and/or the category, or may be filled in the data.

S240b, the AGF sends a second response message to the 5G-RG in response to the second message.

It is to be understood that the AGF receiving the second message sent by the 5G-RG may be one or more, and each AGF receiving the first message may send a third response message in response to the second message to the 5G-RG after determining that it supports the first PLMN.

After receiving the second message from the 5G-RG, the AGF first identifies the identifier information of the first PLMN included in the second message, and then determines whether the identifier information of the first PLMN is the same as or equivalent to the identifier information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF. And if the identification information of the first PLMN is the same as or equal to the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF, the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported.

Further, in case the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported, the AGF sends a second response message to the 5G-RG in response to the second message. In case the AGF determines that the first PLMN is not supported, the AGF may not send a second response message to the 5G-RG in response to the second message.

The second response message may be used to indicate that the AGF supports the first PLMN.

The second response message may implicitly indicate that the AGF supports the first PLMN, or explicitly indicate that the AGF supports the first PLMN. The implicit indication may be understood as that the AGF may support the first PLMN by default after the 5G-RG receives the second response message from the AGF. The explicit indication may be understood that the second response message may further include first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the AGF supports the first PLMN.

As described above, the second message transmitted by the 5G-RG can be of different forms. Therefore, the second response message sent by the AGF to the 5G-RG according to the second message may also be of a different form.

As an example, if the second message is a DHCP discover message in the IPoE flow, the second response message may be a DHCP Offer message in the IPoE flow.

The DHCP Offer message may carry an IP address allocated by the AGF for the 5G-RG according to the identification information of the 5G-RG.

Optionally, the DHCP Offer message may further include first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the AGF supports the first PLMN.

In this case, compared with the DHCP Offer message in the prior art, the DHCP Offer message in the embodiment of the present application includes the first indication information, and therefore the DHCP Offer message needs to be extended. The extension mode of the DHCP Offer message is as follows:

the extended DHCP Option (Option)43 field.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first indication information included in the DHCP Offer message may be filled in the vendor specific information.

As another example, if the second message is a DHCP Request message in the IPoE flow, the second response message may be a DHCP ACK message in the IPoE flow.

As another example, if the second message is a PADI message in a PPPoE procedure, the second response message may be a PADO message in a PPPoE procedure.

The PADO message can carry the MAC address allocated to the 5G-RG by the AGF according to the identification information of the 5G-RG. Optionally, the PADO message may further include first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the AGF supports the first PLMN.

In this case, compared with the PADO message in the prior art, the PADO message in the embodiment of the present application includes the first indication information, and therefore, the PADO message needs to be extended. The manner of expanding the PADO message may be:

based on the PPPoE load information, a TAG field is defined.

In the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the PADO message includes at least one TAG field, and the definition of the TAG field is shown in fig. 5. The TAG field includes a TAG type, a TAG length, and TAG data.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first indication information included in the PADO message may be filled in the TAG data.

As yet another example, if the second message is a PADR message in a PPPoE procedure, the second response message may be a PADS message in a PPPoE procedure.

The PADS message may carry a session identifier allocated by the AGF for the 5G-RG.

Optionally, if the AGF determines that the first PLMN is not supported, the second response message may also be a PPPoE Active Discovery Termination (PADT) message.

As yet another example, if the second message is an LCP message in a PPPoE procedure, the second response message may be an ACK message.

Optionally, if the AGF determines that the first PLMN is not supported, the third response message may also be a PADT message.

Further, the 5G-RG may determine that the first PLMN is supported according to receiving the second response message from the AGF. For example, if the second response message is one of the following: DHCP Offer message, DHCP ACK message, PADO message, PADS message, ACK message, the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN when receiving the second response message.

Optionally, if the second response message includes the first indication information, the 5G-RG may determine that the AGF supports the first PLMN according to the first indication information.

It should be appreciated that if the 5G-RG receives the second response messages from the plurality of AGFs and none of the plurality of second response messages includes the first indication information, the 5G-RG defaults to that the plurality of AGFs all support the first PLMN. The 5G-RG can optionally be an AGF to perform the subsequent steps.

And if the second response message sent by any one of the plurality of AGFs comprises the first indication information, the 5G-RG selects the AGF sending the first indication information to execute the subsequent steps.

S220, 5G-RG sends a registration request message to the AGF.

The registration request message is for registering to the first PLMN, i.e. for requesting registration to the operator deployed core network to which the 5G-RG is home.

The method for registering the 5G-RG to the core network can refer to the prior art, and the embodiments of the present application are not described in detail.

During the process of registering the 5G-RG to the core network, the core network allocates a GUTI for the 5G-RG.

After the 5G-RG registers with the core network, the NAS connection is established with the AMF. In the process, the AGF generates an N2 interface ID connected to the AMF, where the N2 interface ID may be the NGAP ID. The NGAP ID may be AGF RG NGAP ID assigned by the AGF for 5G-RG, which functions the same as the RAN UE NGAP ID defined in the current standard. The NGAP ID is used to interact with the selected AMF for information of 5G-RG granularity.

And S250, the AGF executes information binding.

That is, the AGF establishes the correspondence between the following information:

the identification information of the 5G-RG, the identification allocated by the AGF for the 5G-RG, the identification of the N2 interface for connecting the AGF and the AMF, and the identification information of the first PLMN.

Wherein the identification information of the first PLMN includes: MCC and MNC. The MCC is used to uniquely identify the country to which the first PLMN belongs, and the MNC is used to identify the mobile network to which the first PLMN belongs.

The identification information of the 5G-RG can be suici, or access network insertion line identification information, or can also be GUTI allocated by the core network for the 5G-RG.

If the 5G-RG is accessed to the available AGF through the IPoE process, the identifier allocated by the AGF for the 5G-RG is an IP address; if the 5G-RG accesses the available AGF through the PPPoE process, the identifier allocated by the AGF for the 5G-RG is the MAC address or the session identifier.

The N2 interface identification may be an NGAP ID. The NGAP ID may be AGF RG NGAP ID assigned by the AGF for 5G-RG. The NGAP ID is used to interact with the selected AMF for information of 5G-RG granularity.

The AGF performs information binding, which is understood to mean that the AGF stores an information index table containing the above information. When the AGF knows one of the above information, it can find out the corresponding other information according to the index table. For example, in the case that the 5G-RG is online, the AGF can look up the N2 interface identifier in the information index table stored by the AGF according to the IP address of the 5G-RG, so that the AMF serving the 5G-RG can be quickly found; for another example, in the case of a 5G-RG disconnection, the AGF may find the N2 interface identifier in the information index table stored in the AGF according to the identification information of the 5G-RG, so as to quickly find the AMF serving the 5G-RG.

In this embodiment of the present application, the 5G-RG may determine that the AGF supports the first PLMN according to that a first response message, which is sent by the AGF to the 5G-RG and is in response to the first message, includes identification information of the first PLMN; alternatively, after sending the second message including the identification information of the first PLMN, the 5G-RG may determine that the AGF supports the first PLMN according to receiving a second response message sent by the AGF in response to the second message. Further, the 5G-RG can access the first PLMN through the AGF, i.e. access the core network deployed by the operator to which the 5G-RG belongs. Therefore, in a case where the access network and the core network are deployed by different operators, or in a case where the access network is deployed by a third-party operator, the home gateway may access the core network deployed by its home operator according to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application.

Besides, after the AGF performs information binding according to the identification information of the first PLMN, the identification information of the 5G-RG, the identification allocated to the 5G-RG by the AGF and the identification of the N2 interface, the AGF can quickly find the AMF serving the 5G-RG according to the identification information of the 5G-RG under the condition that the 5G-RG is disconnected, so that the 5G-RG can quickly recover the connection.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a method for processing a PDU session according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 300 shown in fig. 8 may be performed by the 5G-RG, AGF, AMF, SMF, PCF, and UPF in the system shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 8, the method includes S301 to S311, each of which is described in detail below.

S301, 5G-RG (an example of the home gateway) sends a first NAS message to AGF (an example of the access gateway).

The first NAS message is used to request a PDU session, i.e. to request establishment or modification of a PDU session, or to request establishment of a user plane connection.

Further, after the AGF receives the first NAS message from the 5G-RG, if the AGF does not support the recognition that the first NAS message is for requesting the PDU session, the AGF performs S302a and S303 a.

S302a, the AGF generates a second NAS message.

The second NAS message is generated by the AGF according to the first NAS message, and is also used to request a PDU session. The second NAS message further includes location information of the AGF and identification information of a first operator, where the first operator is an operator to which the AGF belongs.

Wherein the location information of the AGF may be one or more of the following information: the IP address of the AGF, the geographic location of the AGF. Wherein the geographic location of the AGF may be the longitude and latitude of the AGF site or may be the area code of the AGF site. It can be understood that, a general operator deploys only one AGF in one location or one area, and thus, the AGF can be uniquely identified according to the location information of the AGF.

The identification information of the first operator is used to identify the first operator.

It can be understood that, since the AGF cannot recognize that the first NAS message is for requesting the PDU session, after the AGF receives the first NAS message from the 5G-RG, the AGF generates the second NAS message according to the first NAS message regardless of whether the first NAS message is for requesting the PDU session. The second NAS message includes location information of the AGF and identification information of the first operator.

S303a, the AGF sends the second NAS message to the SMF via the AMF.

It is to be appreciated that the AMF supports the identification of whether the NAS message is for requesting a PDU session. Therefore, after receiving the second NAS message from the AGF, the AMF first identifies whether the second NAS message is used for requesting the PDU. If the second NAS message is determined to be used for requesting the PDU session, the AMF directly forwards the second NAS message to the SMF; and if the second NAS message is determined not to be used for requesting the PDU session, the AMF deletes the position information of the AGF and the identification information of the first operator in the second NAS message, and then sends the second NAS message to the SMF.

If the AGF support identifies that the first NAS message is for requesting a PDU session, the AGF performs S302b and S303 b.

S302b, the AGF generates an AS message.

In case the AGF recognizes that the first NAS message is for requesting a PDU session, the AGF generates an AS message.

The AS message includes location information of the AGF and identification information of the first operator.

If the AGF supports the recognition that the first NAS message is for requesting the PDU session, the AGF may recognize that the first NAS message is for requesting the PDU session according to the access stratum identifier between the AGF and the 5G-RG. The access stratum identity between the AGF and the 5G-RG can be one of the following identities: PPPoE tunnel identification, IP addresses distributed by AGF for 5G-RG, session identification distributed by AGF for 5G-RG, and MAC addresses distributed by AGF for 5G-RG.

S303b, the AGF sends the first NAS message and the AS message to the SMF through the AMF.

The SMF selects a UPF that serves the 5G-RG S304.

Specifically, the SMF selects the UPF based on the location information of the AGF.

As described above, the SMF can uniquely identify an AGF according to the location information of the AGF. The SMF may then select a UPF that has a physical connection with the AGF and supports roaming services with the first operator.

S305, the SMF generates a first charging identifier.

The first charging identifier comprises the following information:

identification information of the first operator, identification information of the UPF.

Optionally, the first charging identifier may further include identification information of the 5G-RG.

Optionally, the first charging identifier may further include a PDU session identifier.

The identification information of the first operator is used for identifying the first operator. The identification information of the 5G-RG is used to identify the 5G-RG, and the identification information of the 5G-RG may be a subscriber permanent identifier (SUPI). The PDU session identifier is used to identify the type of PDU session. The identification information of the UPF is used for identifying the UPF selected by the SMF, and the identification information of the UPF can be the IP address of the UPF.

S306, the SMF sends second indication information to the UPF.

The second indication information is used for indicating a rule of a UPF reporting usage value, and the usage value is used for charging by the AGF. The usage value may be a flow value used or a length of time that the flow is used.

After receiving the second NAS message or the AS message from the AMF, the SMF may determine that the PDU session requested by the 5G-RG is established through an access network provided by a third party operator according to the identification information of the first operator in the second NAS message or the AS message.

And when determining that the PDU session requested by the 5G-RG is established through an access network provided by a third party operator, the SMF may further determine to perform charging by using a PCC rule for the access network provided by the third party.

The PCC rule may include a charging model predetermined by the second operator and the first operator, that is, a charging model for establishing a PDU session by the access network provided by the third party. The charging model may be based on the used traffic for charging; alternatively, charging may be based on the time of using the traffic; or, it can also be based on the used flow and the time of using the flow to charge together; alternatively, charging may be based on events using the traffic.

Then, the SMF sends second indication information to the UPF according to the PCC rule.

The second indication information may include reference indication information and granularity indication information. The reference indication information is used for indicating the reference of the UPF sending usage value to the SMF, and the granularity indication information is used for indicating the granularity of the UPF sending usage value to the SMF.

Wherein, the dosage value can be based on any one of the following: flow used, time of using flow, flow used and time of using flow, events of using flow.

The particle size may be any of the following: PLMN granularity, 5G-RG granularity, PDU session granularity.

Wherein, PLMN granularity can be understood as: all 5G-RGs belonging to the same PLMN and all being returned to the home PLMN via the access network deployed by the third party operator are used up to the total value. The traffic used is based on the total traffic used by all 5G-RGs that belong to the same PLMN and that are all connected back to the home PLMN through the access network deployed by the third party operator. The time of using traffic is taken as a reference, i.e. the total time of using traffic by all 5G-RGs belonging to the same PLMN and all being connected back to the home PLMN through the access network deployed by the third party operator. It should be understood that, in the case that the granularity indication information is used to indicate that the granularity of the UPF sending traffic information is PLMN granularity, the granularity indication information may also carry identification information of a PLMN to which the access network belongs.

The 5G-RG particle size can be understood as: one of the access networks deployed by the third party operator receives the 5G-RG usage value of the home PLMN. The used flow is taken as a reference, namely the flow used by the 5G-RG of a certain PLMN which is accessed back to the home through the access network deployed by the third party operator. And taking the time of using the traffic as a reference, namely the time of using the traffic by the 5G-RG of one certain PLMN which is accessed back to the home through the access network deployed by the third-party operator. It should be understood that, in the case that the granularity indication information is used to indicate that the granularity of the UPF sending traffic information is 5G-RG granularity, the granularity indication information may also carry identification information of 5G-RG.

The PDU session granularity may be understood as: and the 5G-RG of one PLMN which is returned to the home through the access network deployed by the third-party operator uses the volume value for one PDU session. And taking the used flow as a reference, namely the flow used by a certain PDU session through the 5G-RG of the PLMN to which the access network deployed by the third-party operator is connected back. And taking the time of using the flow as a reference, namely the time of using the flow for a certain PDU session by the 5G-RG of a certain PLMN which is accessed back to the home through the access network deployed by the third-party operator. It should be understood that, in the case that the granularity indication information is used to indicate that the granularity at which the UPF sends the traffic information is the PDU session granularity, the granularity indication information may also carry an identifier of the PDU session.

In this embodiment, when the 5G-RG is an AGF access network deployed by a third-party operator, the SMF may select an appropriate UPF to provide services for the 5G-RG according to the received location information of the AGF. And the SMF can also send an indication message to the UPF according to the received identification information of the first operator, wherein the indication message is used for indicating a rule of reporting the usage value by the UPF.

If the SMF stores or acquires the corresponding PCC rule in advance, the SMF may directly send traffic reporting indication information to the UPF according to the charging model included in the PCC rule.

If the SMF does not pre-store or acquire the corresponding PCC rule, the SMF may acquire the PCC rule from the PCF. In this case, prior to S306, the method 300 may further include S3601 and S3602.

S3061, the SMF sends the identification information of the first operator to the PCF.

Optionally, the SMF may generate a third party access network identifier according to the identifier information of the first operator, where the third party access network identifier is used to indicate that the PDU session requested by the 5G-RG is established through an access network provided by the third party operator.

S3062, the PCF sends the PCC rule to the AMF.

The PCF may identify the operator deploying the access network based on the identification information of the first operator. Then, PCF generates PCC rule according to the charging model predetermined by the second operator and the first operator. The PCF then sends the generated PCC rule to the SMF.

And S307, the UPF sends the usage value to the SMF according to the second indication information.

The UPF sends the usage value to the SMF according to the reference and the granularity indicated by the second indication information.

For example, the reference and the granularity indicated by the second indication information are respectively the traffic and the 5G-RG granularity, and the UPF first uniquely identifies one 5G-RG according to the identification information of the 5G-RG in the granularity indication information. The UPF then sends the SMF the total traffic that the 5G-RG used over a period of time (e.g., one month).

For another example, the reference and the granularity indicated by the second indication information are the traffic and the PDU session granularity used, respectively, and the PDU session can identify the type of the PDU session according to the PDU session identifier in the granularity indication information. Taking the example that a PDU session is watching video, the UPF sends the SMF the total traffic that a certain 5G-RG watches video for a certain period of time (e.g., a month).

S308, the SMF sends the charging information to the CHF.

After receiving the usage value from the UPF, the SMF generates first charging information according to the usage value and the first charging identifier, and sends the first charging information to the CHF.

Specifically, the SMF may replace the identification information of the UPF in the first charging identification with a usage value to generate the charging information.

It should be understood that in the case where the granularity of the usage values sent by the UPF to the SMF is different, the charging information sent by the SMF to the CHF is also different.

If the granularity of the usage value sent by the UPF to the SMF is the PLMN granularity, the charging information sent by the SMF to the CHF comprises: identification information, usage value of the first operator.

If the granularity of the usage value sent by the UPF to the SMF is 5G-5G granularity, the charging information sent by the SMF to the CHF comprises the following steps: identification information of the first operator, identification information of the 5G-RG, a usage value.

If the granularity of the usage value sent by the UPF to the SMF is the PDU session granularity, the charging information sent by the SMF to the CHF includes: identification information of the first operator, identification information of the 5G-RG, a PDU session identifier, a usage value.

And S309, the CHF carries out charging according to the charging information reported by the SMF.

In an embodiment of the present application, in the case where the first operator trusts the second operator, the CHF may perform charging calculations based on charging information from the SMF. Thereby solving the problem of how to charge in case that a third party operator provides an access network.

If the first operator does not trust the second operator, the method 300 may further include S310 and S311.

S310, the SMF sends a fixed network resource establishment request message to the AGF through the AMF.

The fixed network resource establishment request is used for requesting fixed network resources for the PDU session. The fixed network resource establishment request message carries an identifier of the PDU session.

The SMF sends the fixed network resource establishment request message to the AMF, and then the AMF sends the fixed network resource establishment request message to the AGF.

S311, the AGF generates a second charging identifier.

And after receiving the fixed network resource establishment request message from the AMF, the AGF allocates the fixed network resources for the PDU session.

And the AGF searches the identification information of the 5G-RG corresponding to the interface identification of the N2 and the identification information of the first PLMN according to the identification information of the N2 interface between the AGF and the AMF.

Then, the AGF generates a second charging identifier, where the second charging identifier includes the following information:

identification information of the first PLMN, identification information of the 5G-RG, an identifier of the PDU session and fixed network resources established for the PDU session by the AGF.

The identification information of the first PLMN is used to identify the PLMN to which the 5G-RG belongs, that is, to identify the operator that deploys the 5G-RG. The identification information of the 5G-RG is used to identify the 5G-RG, and the identification information of the 5G-RG may be suii or access network insertion line identification information. The PDU session identifier is used to identify the type of PDU session.

In this embodiment of the application, in a case that the first operator and the second operator are not trusted with each other, the reconciliation may be performed based on the charging information generated in S308 and the second charging identifier generated in S311.

In this case, the first operator and the second operator may set a threshold for a difference between the usage value reported by the UPF and the fixed network usage value counted by the AGF; if the difference between the usage value reported by the UPF and the fixed network usage value counted by the AGF is within the threshold range, it indicates that the pre-negotiated charging rule between the two operators has no problem. If the difference between the usage value reported by the UPF and the fixed network usage value counted by the AGF exceeds the threshold, the two operators can renegotiate the roaming agreement or reformulate the charging rule.

It should be understood that the method 300 may not perform S307 to S309 in case the second operator trusts the first operator.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a 5G-RG access network and a method for processing a PDU session in an IPoE procedure according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 9, the method 400 includes S401 to S414, where S402 to S403 are the same as S220 and S250 in the method 200. S404 to S414 are the same as S301 to S311 in the method 300, and for brevity, the embodiments of the present application are not described again.

S401, 5G-RG (an example of the home gateway) determines that AGF (an example of the access gateway) supports the first PLMN.

In the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, in the IPoE flow, a message sent by the 5G-RG to the AGF or a message sent by the AGF to the 5G-RG carries different information, and then the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN in different manners.

The first condition is as follows:

s4011, 5G-RG sends DHCP Discovery message to AGF.

The DHCP Discovery message may include identification information of the 5G-RG. The identification information may be sui or access network insertion line identification information.

S4012, the AGF sends a DHCP Offer message to the 5G-RG.

The DHCP Offer message includes identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF. The DHCP Offer message may further include an IP address allocated by the AGF to the 5G-RG according to the identification information of the 5G-RG.

the first method is as follows: the extended DHCP Option43 field.

In the embodiment of the present application, the identity information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF included in the DHCP Offer message may be filled in the vendor category identifier.

S4013, 5G-RG sends DHCP Request message to AGF.

After receiving the DHCP Offer message sent by the AGF, the 5G-RG may determine whether the identification information of the first PLMN to which the 5G-RG belongs is included in the identification information of the at least one PLMN supported by the AGF included in the DHCP Offer message. And if the identification information of the first PLMN exists, the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN.

Further, the 5G-RG receives the IP address allocated to the 5G-RG by the AGF, and sends a DHCP Request message to the AGF to Request the AGF to allocate the IP address to the 5G-RG.

And if the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF does not contain the identification information of the first PLMN, the 5G-RG does not execute the next IPoE flow.

S4014, AGF sends DHCP ACK message to 5G-RG.

The second case,

S4011, 5G-RG sends DHCP Discovery message to AGF.

The DHCP Discovery message may include identification information of the first PLMN and may also include identification information of the 5G-RG. The identification information may be sui or access network insertion line identification information.

the first method is as follows: the extended DHCP Option43 field.

S4012, the AGF sends a DHCP Offer message to the 5G-RG.

After receiving the DHCP Discovery message from the 5G-RG, the AGF first identifies the identification information of the first PLMN included in the DHCP Discovery message, and then determines whether the identification information of the first PLMN is the same as or equivalent to the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF. And if the identification information of the first PLMN is the same as or equal to the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF, the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported.

Further, in case the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported, the AGF sends a DHCP Offer message to the 5G-RG. The AGF may not send the DHCP Offer message to the 5G-RG if the AGF determines that the first PLMN is not supported.

The DHCP Offer message sent by the AGF to the 5G-RG may further include an IP address allocated by the AGF to the 5G-RG according to the identification information of the 5G-RG.

If the DHCP Offer message includes the first indication information, the DHCP Offer message may be extended.

The extension mode of the DHCP Offer message is as follows:

extended DHCP Option (Option)43 field.

S4013, 5G-RG sends DHCP Request message to AGF.

After receiving the DHCP Offer message sent by the AGF, if the DHCP Offer message does not include the first indication information, the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN when receiving the DHCP Offer message. And if the DHCP Offer message comprises the first indication information, the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN according to the first indication information.

It can be understood that the case where the DHCP Offer message includes the first indication information is suitable for a scenario with layer 2 aggregation, and the case where the DHCP Offer message does not include the first indication information is suitable for a scenario without layer 2 aggregation.

S4014, AGF sends DHCP ACK message to 5G-RG.

The third condition,

S4011, 5G-RG sends DHCP Discovery message to AGF.

S4012, the AGF sends a DHCP Offer message to the 5G-RG.

And after receiving the DHCP Discovery message from the 5G-RG, the AGF allocates an IP address for the 5G-RG according to the identification information of the 5G-RG.

And the AGF sends a DHCP Offer message to the 5G-RG, wherein the DHCP Offer message comprises an IP address which is allocated to the 5G-RG by the AGF.

S4013, 5G-RG sends DHCP Request message to AGF.

The DHCP Request message may include identification information of the first PLMN.

the first method is as follows: the extended DHCP Option43 field.

In this embodiment, the first PLMN identification information included in the DHCP Request message may be filled in the provider specific information.

S4014, AGF sends DHCP ACK message to 5G-RG.

After receiving the DHCP Request message from the 5G-RG, the AGF first identifies the identifier information of the first PLMN included in the DHCP Request message, and then determines whether the identifier information of the first PLMN is the same as or equivalent to the identifier information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF. And if the identification information of the first PLMN is the same as or equal to the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF, the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported.

Further, in case the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported, the AGF sends a DHCP ACK message to the 5G-RG. In case the AGF determines that the first PLMN is not supported, the AGF may not send a DHCP ACK message to the 5G-RG.

And after receiving the DHCP ACK message sent by the AGF, the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN according to the DHCP ACK message.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic flowchart of a 5G-RG access network and a method for processing a PDU session in a PPPoE process according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 10, the method 500 includes S501 to S514, where S502 to S503 are the same as S220 and S250 in the method 200. S504 to S514 are the same as S301 to S311 in the method 300, and for brevity, the embodiments of the present application are not described again.

S501, 5G-RG (an example of the home gateway) determines that AGF (an example of the access gateway) supports the first PLMN.

In the method provided by the embodiment of the application, in the PPPoE process, the message sent by the 5G-RG to the AGF or the message sent by the AGF to the 5G-RG carries different information, and thus, the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN in different ways.

The first condition is as follows:

s5011, 5G-RG sends PADI message to AGF.

The identification information of the 5G-RG can be included in the PADI message. The identification information may be a SUCI or an access network insertion line identification information.

S5012, the AGF sends the PADO message to the 5G-RG.

The PADO message includes identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF. The PADO message can also comprise a MAC address which is allocated to the 5G-RG by the AGF according to the identification information of the 5G-RG.

a TAG (TAG) field is defined based on PPPoE load (payload) information.

S5013, 5G-RG sends PADR message to AGF.

After receiving the PADO message sent by the AGF, the 5G-RG may determine whether there is identification information of a first PLMN to which the 5G-RG belongs in identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF included in the PADO message. And if the identification information of the first PLMN exists, the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN.

Further, the 5G-RG receives the MAC address allocated by the AGF for the 5G-RG, and sends a PADR message to the AGF to request the AGF to allocate the MAC address for the 5G-RG.

If the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF does not include the identification information of the first PLMN, the 5G-RG does not perform the next PPPoE procedure, or the 5G-RG may send a PADT message to the AGF to terminate the PPPoE procedure.

S5014, the AGF sends the PADS message to the 5G-RG.

The PADS message includes the session identification allocated by the AGF for the 5G-RG.

S5015, 5G-RG sends LCP message to AGF.

The second condition,

S5011, 5G-RG sends PADI message to AGF.

The PADI message may include identification information of the first PLMN and may also include identification information of the 5G-RG. The identification information may be sui or access network insertion line identification information.

a TAG (TAG) field is defined based on PPPoE load (payload) information.

In the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, at least one TAG field is included in the PADI message, and the TAG field is defined as shown in fig. 5. The TAG field includes a TAG type, a TAG length, and TAG data.

S5012, the AGF sends the PADO message to the 5G-RG.

After receiving the PADI message from the 5G-RG, the AGF first identifies the identification information of the first PLMN included in the PADI message, and then determines whether the identification information of the first PLMN is the same as or equal to the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF. And if the identification information of the first PLMN is the same as or equal to the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF, the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported.

Further, in case the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported, the AGF sends a PADO message to the 5G-RG. In case the AGF determines that the first PLMN is not supported, the AGF may not send a PADO message to the 5G-RG, or the AGF may send a PADT message to the 5G-RG to terminate the PPPOE flow.

The PADO message sent by the AGF to the 5G-RG can also comprise a MAC address distributed by the AGF to the 5G-RG according to the identification information of the 5G-RG.

Optionally, the PADO message may further include first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the AGF supports the first PLMN.

If the PADO message includes the first indication information, the PADO message may be extended.

The manner of expanding the PADO message is:

based on the PPPoE load information, a TAG field is defined.

S5013, 5G-RG sends PADR message to AGF.

After the 5G-RG receives the PADO message sent by the AGF, if the PADO message does not include the first indication information, the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN under the condition of receiving the PADO message. And if the PADO message comprises the first indication information, the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN according to the first indication information.

It can be understood that the case where the PADO message includes the first indication information is suitable for the scenario with layer 2 aggregation, and the case where the PADO message does not include the first indication information is suitable for the scenario without layer 2 aggregation.

S5014, the AGF sends the PADR message to the 5G-RG.

S5015, 5G-RG sends LCP message to AGF.

Case three,

S5011, 5G-RG sends PADR message to AGF.

The PADR message may have identification information of 5G-RG. The identification information may be sui or access network insertion line identification information.

S5012, the AGF sends the PADO message to the 5G-RG.

And after receiving the PADR message from the 5G-RG, the AGF allocates a MAC address for the 5G-RG according to the identification information of the 5G-RG.

The AGF sends a PADO message to the 5G-RG, wherein the PADO message comprises a MAC address distributed to the 5G-RG by the AGF.

S5013, 5G-RG sends PADR message to AGF.

The PADR message may include identification information of the first PLMN.

a TAG (TAG) field is defined based on PPPoE load (payload) information.

S5014, the AGF sends the PADS message to the 5G-RG.

After receiving the PADR message from the 5G-RG, the AGF first identifies the identification information of the first PLMN included in the PADR message, and then determines whether the identification information of the first PLMN is the same as or equal to the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF. And if the identification information of the first PLMN is the same as or equal to the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF, the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported.

Further, in case the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported, the AGF sends a PADS message to the 5G-RG. In case the AGF determines that the first PLMN is not supported, the AGF may not send a PADS message to the 5G-RG, or the AGF sends a PADT message to the 5G-RG to terminate the PPPoE procedure.

And after receiving the PADS message sent by the AGF, the 5G-RG determines that the AGF supports the first PLMN according to the PADS message.

The PADS message may also include the session identifier allocated by the AGF for the 5G-RG.

S5015, 5G-RG sends LCP message to AGF.

The fourth case,

S5011, 5G-RG sends PADR message to AGF.

The PADR message may have identification information of 5G-RG. The identification information may be a SUCI or an access network insertion line identification information.

S5012, the AGF sends the PADO message to the 5G-RG.

And after receiving the PADR message from the 5G-RG, the AGF allocates the MAC address for the 5G-RG according to the identification information of the 5G-RG.

S5013, 5G-RG sends PADR message to AGF.

The PADR message is used to request the AGF to allocate a MAC address for the 5G-RG.

S5014, the AGF sends the PADS message to the 5G-RG.

The PADS message may include the session identifier allocated by the AGF for the 5G-RG.

S5015, 5G-RG sends LCP message to AGF.

The LCP message includes identification information of the first PLMN.

After receiving the LCP message from the 5G-RG, the AGF first identifies the identification information of the first PLMN included in the LCP message, and then judges whether the identification information of the first PLMN is the same as or equal to the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF. And if the identification information of the first PLMN is the same as or equal to the identification information of at least one PLMN supported by the AGF, the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported.

Further, in case the AGF determines that the first PLMN is supported, the AGF proceeds to perform the subsequent steps. In case the AGF determines that the first PLMN is not supported, the AGF may send a PADT message to the 5G-RG terminating the PPPoE procedure.

It should be understood that, in the embodiments described herein, the sequence numbers of the processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of the processes should be determined by the functions and the inherent logic of the processes, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

The various embodiments described herein may be implemented as stand-alone solutions or combined in accordance with inherent logic and are intended to fall within the scope of the present application.

It is to be understood that, in the foregoing method embodiments, the method and the operation implemented by the home gateway may also be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) available to the home gateway, and the method and the operation implemented by the access gateway may also be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) available to the access gateway.

The method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 2 to 10. Hereinafter, the communication device according to the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to fig. 11 to 12. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, details are not repeated here, since the details that are not described in detail may be referred to the above method embodiments.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced mainly from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It is understood that each network element, for example, the transmitting end device or the receiving end device, includes a corresponding hardware structure and/or software module for performing each function in order to implement the above functions. Those of skill in the art would appreciate that the various illustrative components and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the functional modules may be divided according to the above method example for the transmitting end device or the receiving end device, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation. The following description will take the example of dividing each function module into corresponding functions

Fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus 800 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown, the communication device 800 may include: a transceiving unit 810 and a processing unit 820.

In a possible design, the communication device 800 may be the home gateway in the above method embodiment, and may also be a chip for implementing the functions of the home gateway in the above method embodiment.

It should be understood that the communication device 800 may correspond to the home gateway in the method 200, the method 300, the method 400, and the method 500 according to the embodiments of the present application, and that the communication device 800 may include means for performing the method performed by the home gateway in the method 200 in fig. 2, the method 300 in fig. 8, the method 400 in fig. 9, and the method 500 in fig. 10. Also, the units and other operations and/or functions described above in the communication apparatus 800 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows of the method 200 in fig. 2, the method 300 in fig. 8, the method 400 in fig. 9, and the method 500 in fig. 10. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

In another possible design, the communication apparatus 800 may be a session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, or may be a chip for implementing the function of the session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment.

It should be understood that the communication device 800 may correspond to the session management network element in the methods 300, 400, and 500 according to the embodiments of the present application, and that the communication device 800 may include means for performing the methods performed by the session management network element in the methods 300, 400, and 500 in fig. 8, 9, and 10. Also, the units in the communication apparatus 800 and the other operations and/or functions described above are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows of the method 300 in fig. 8, the method 400 in fig. 9, and the method 500 in fig. 10. It should be understood that, the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and are not described herein again for brevity.

In another possible design, the communication apparatus 800 may be an access gateway in the above method embodiment, or may be a chip for implementing the function of the access gateway in the above method embodiment.

It should be understood that the communication device 800 may correspond to an access gateway in the methods 200, 300, 400, 500 according to embodiments of the present application, and that the communication device 800 may include means for performing the methods performed by the access gateway in the methods 200, 300, 400, 500 in fig. 2, 8, 9, 10. Also, the units and other operations and/or functions described above in the communication apparatus 800 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows of the method 200 in fig. 2, the method 300 in fig. 8, the method 400 in fig. 9, and the method 500 in fig. 10. It should be understood that, the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and are not described herein again for brevity.

It is also to be understood that the transceiving unit in the communication apparatus 800 may correspond to the transceiver 920 in the communication device 900 shown in fig. 12, and the processing unit 820 in the communication apparatus 800 may correspond to the processor 910 in the communication device 900 shown in fig. 12.

It should also be understood that when the communication device 800 is a chip, the chip includes a transceiving unit and a processing unit. The transceiving unit can be an input/output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit may be a processor or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit integrated on the chip.

The transceiving unit 810 is used for implementing transceiving operation of signals of the communication device 800, and the processing unit 820 is used for implementing processing operation of signals of the communication device 800.

Optionally, the communication device 800 further comprises a storage unit 830, the storage unit 830 being configured to store instructions.

Fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown, the communication device 900 includes: at least one processor 910 and a transceiver 920. The processor 910 is coupled to the memory for executing instructions stored in the memory to control the transceiver 920 to transmit signals and/or receive signals. Optionally, the communication device 900 also includes a memory 930 for storing instructions.

It will be appreciated that the processor 910 and the memory 930 may be combined into a single processing device, and that the processor 910 may be configured to execute program code stored in the memory 930 to implement the functions described above. In particular implementations, the memory 930 may be integrated with the processor 910 or may be separate from the processor 910.

It is also understood that the transceiver 920 may include a receiver (or, alternatively referred to as a receiver) and a transmitter (or, alternatively referred to as a transmitter). The transceiver may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more. The transceiver 920 may be a communication interface or interface circuit.

In a possible design, the communication device 900 may be the home gateway in the above method embodiment, and may also be a chip for implementing the functions of the home gateway in the above method embodiment.

In particular, the communication device 900 may correspond to the home gateway in the methods 200, 300, 400, 500 according to embodiments of the application, and the communication device 900 may include means for performing the methods performed by the home gateway in the methods 200, 300, 400, 500 in fig. 2, 8, 9, 10, and 10. Also, the units and other operations and/or functions described above in the communication device 900 are for implementing the corresponding flows of the method 200 in fig. 2, the method 300 in fig. 8, the method 400 in fig. 9, and the method 500 in fig. 10, respectively. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

In a possible design, the communication device 900 may be an access gateway in the above method embodiment, and may also be a chip for implementing the function of the access gateway in the above method embodiment.

In particular, the communication device 900 may correspond to an access gateway in the method 200, the method 300, the method 400, the method 500 according to embodiments of the present application, and the communication device 900 may include means for performing the method performed by the access gateway in the method 200 in fig. 2, the method 300 in fig. 8, the method 400 in fig. 9, the method 500 in fig. 10. Also, the units and other operations and/or functions described above in the communication device 900 are for implementing the corresponding flows of the method 200 in fig. 2, the method 300 in fig. 8, the method 400 in fig. 9, and the method 500 in fig. 10, respectively. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

In a possible design, the communication device 900 may be the session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, or may be a chip for implementing the function of the session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment.

In particular, the communication device 900 may correspond to the session management network element in the methods 300, 400, and 500 according to the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device 900 may include means for performing the methods performed by the session management network element in the methods 300 in fig. 8, 400 in fig. 9, and 500 in fig. 10. Also, the units and other operations and/or functions described above in the communication device 900 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows of the method 300 in fig. 8, the method 400 in fig. 9, and the method 500 in fig. 10. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 900 is a chip, the chip includes a transceiving unit and a processing unit. The transceiving unit can be an input/output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit may be a processor or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit integrated on the chip. The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device which comprises a processor and an interface. The processor may be adapted to perform the method of the above-described method embodiments.

It should be understood that the processing means may be a chip. For example, the processing device may be a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DSP), a Microcontroller (MCU), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or other integrated chips.

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

It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor described above may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application 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 application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

It will be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the embodiments shown in figures 2, 8, 9, 10.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, a computer-readable medium is further provided, and the computer-readable medium stores program codes, and when the program codes are executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method of any one of the embodiments shown in fig. 2, fig. 8, fig. 9 and fig. 10.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a system, which includes the aforementioned home gateway and access gateway.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a system, which includes the aforementioned home gateway, access gateway, and session management network element.

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

The network side device in the foregoing device embodiments corresponds to the terminal device and the network side device or the terminal device in the method embodiments, and the corresponding module or unit executes corresponding steps, for example, the communication unit (transceiver) executes the steps of receiving or transmitting in the method embodiments, and other steps except for transmitting and receiving may be executed by the processing unit (processor). The functions of the specific elements may be referred to in the respective method embodiments. The number of the processors may be one or more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Claims

1. A method for accessing a network by a home gateway, comprising:

the home gateway determines that an access gateway supports a first Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), the access gateway supporting at least one PLMN;

and the home gateway sends a registration request message to the access gateway, wherein the registration request message is used for requesting registration to the first PLMN.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first PLMN belongs to one of at least one PLMN supported by the access gateway.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the home gateway sends a first message, wherein the first message contains identification information of the home gateway;

the home gateway receives a first response message from the access gateway, wherein the first response message comprises the identification information of the at least one PLMN;

the home gateway determining that the access gateway supports a first Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), comprising:

and the home gateway determines that the access gateway supports the first PLMN according to the identification information of the at least one PLMN.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the home gateway sends a second message, wherein the second message contains the identification information of the first PLMN;

and the home gateway determines that the access gateway supports the first PLMN according to the received second response message from the access gateway.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second response message includes first indication information indicating that the access gateway supports the first PLMN.

6. A method for accessing a network by a home gateway, comprising:

an access gateway receives a second message from a home gateway, wherein the second message comprises identification information of a first Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), the first PLMN is a PLMN to which the home gateway belongs, and the access gateway supports at least one PLMN;

and the access gateway sends a second response message to the home gateway under the condition that the access gateway determines to support the first PLMN.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second response message includes first indication information indicating that the access gateway supports the first PLMN.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the access gateway receives a registration request message from the home gateway, wherein the registration request message is used for requesting registration to a first PLMN, and the first PLMN is a PLMN to which the home gateway belongs;

the access gateway selects an access and mobility management (AMF) network element according to the first PLMN;

and the access gateway sends the registration request message to the AMF network element.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

the access gateway establishes a corresponding relation of the following information:

the identification information of the home gateway, the identification allocated to the home gateway by the access gateway, the identification of an N2 interface connected between the access gateway and the AMF network element, and the identification information of the first PLMN.

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

the access gateway receives a first non-access stratum (NAS) message from the home gateway, wherein the first NAS message is used for requesting a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session;

the access gateway generates a second NAS message according to the first NAS message, wherein the second NAS message is used for requesting a PDU session, the second NAS message comprises the position information of the access gateway and the identification information of a first operator, and the first operator is an operator to which the access gateway belongs;

and the access gateway sends the second NAS message to a Session Management (SMF) network element through an AMF network element.

11. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the access gateway receives a first NAS message from the home gateway, wherein the first NAS message is used for requesting a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session;

when the access gateway identifies that the first NAS message is used for requesting a PDU session, the access gateway generates an Access Stratum (AS) message, wherein the AS message comprises the position information of the access gateway and the identification information of a first operator, and the first operator is an operator to which the access gateway belongs;

and the access gateway sends the first NAS message and the AS message to an SMF network element through an AMF network element.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

and the access gateway identifies that the first NAS message is used for requesting a PDU session according to an access layer identifier between the access gateway and the home gateway.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the location information of the access gateway is one or more of the following: an internet protocol, IP, address of the access gateway, a geographic location of the access gateway.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

the access gateway generates a second charging identifier, where the second charging identifier includes the following information: and the identification information of the first PLMN and the fixed network resources established by the access gateway for the PDU session.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the second charging identifier further comprises identification information of the home gateway.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second charging identification further comprises an identifier of the PDU session.

17. A home gateway, comprising a processing unit and a transceiver unit:

the processing unit is configured to determine that an access gateway supports a first public land mobile network, PLMN, the access gateway supporting at least one PLMN;

the transceiver unit is configured to send a registration request message to the access gateway, where the registration request message is used to request registration to the first PLMN.

18. The home gateway of claim 17, wherein the first PLMN belongs to one of at least one PLMN supported by the access gateway.

19. The home gateway according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to send a first message, the first message including identification information of the home gateway;

the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a first response message from the access gateway, where the first response message includes identification information of the at least one PLMN;

the processing unit is specifically configured to determine, according to the identifier information of the at least one PLMN, that the access gateway supports the first PLMN.

20. The home gateway according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the transceiver unit is configured to send a second message, and the second message includes identification information of the first PLMN;

the processing unit is specifically configured to determine that the access gateway supports the first PLMN according to receiving a second response message from the access gateway.

21. The home gateway of claim 20, wherein the second response message includes first indication information, and wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the access gateway supports the first PLMN.

22. A communication apparatus, comprising a transceiver unit and a processing unit:

the transceiver unit is configured to receive a second message from a home gateway, where the second message includes identification information of a first public land mobile network PLMN, the first PLMN is a PLMN to which the home gateway belongs, and the communication device supports at least one PLMN;

the transceiver component is further configured to send a second response message to the home gateway if the communication device determines that the first PLMN is supported.

23. The communications apparatus of claim 22, wherein the second response message includes first indication information, and wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the communications apparatus supports the first PLMN.

24. The communications device according to claim 22 or 23, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a registration request message from the home gateway, where the registration request message is used to request registration to a first PLMN, and the first PLMN is a PLMN to which the home gateway belongs;

the processing unit is used for selecting an access and mobility management (AMF) network element according to the first PLMN;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send the registration request message to the AMF network element.

25. The communications device of claim 24, wherein the processing unit is further configured to establish a correspondence between:

the identification information of the home gateway, the identification allocated to the home gateway by the communication device, the identification of an N2 interface connected between the communication device and the AMF network element, and the identification information of the first PLMN.

26. The communications apparatus according to claim 22 or 23, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a first non-access stratum NAS message from the home gateway, the first NAS message being configured to request a protocol data unit, PDU, session;

the processing unit is further configured to generate a second NAS message according to the first NAS message, where the second NAS message is used to request a PDU session, and the second NAS message includes location information of the communication apparatus and identification information of a first operator, where the first operator is an operator to which the communication apparatus belongs;

the transceiver unit is configured to send the second NAS message to a session management SMF network element through an AMF network element.

27. The communications apparatus according to claim 22 or 23, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a first NAS message from the home gateway, the first NAS message being configured to request a protocol data unit, PDU, session;

the processing unit is configured to generate an Access Stratum (AS) message in a case that the communication device identifies that the first NAS message is for requesting a PDU session, where the AS message includes location information of the communication device and identification information of a first operator, and the first operator is an operator to which the communication device belongs;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send the first NAS message and the AS message to an SMF network element through an AMF network element.

28. The communications apparatus of claim 27, wherein the processing unit is further configured to identify the first NAS message as requesting a PDU session based on an access stratum identity with the home gateway.

29. The communication device of claim 26, the location information of the communication device being one or more of: an internet protocol, IP, address of the communication device, a geographic location of the communication device.

30. The communications apparatus as claimed in claim 26, wherein the processing unit is further configured to generate a second charging identifier, and the second charging identifier includes the following information: the identification information of the first PLMN, and the fixed network resources established by the communication device for the PDU session.

31. The communications apparatus of claim 30, wherein the second charging identifier further comprises identification information of the home gateway.

32. The communications apparatus of claim 31, wherein the second charging identification further comprises an identifier of the PDU session.

33. A communication device, comprising:

a processor to execute computer instructions stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform: the method of any one of claims 1 to 16.

34. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored which, when being executed by a processor, causes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16 to be performed.

35. A communication system, comprising: an access gateway for performing the method of any one of claims 6 to 16 and a home gateway for communicating with the access gateway.