CN113766040B

CN113766040B - Communication method, device and computer readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN113766040B
Application number: CN202010508119.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 姚琦
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-06-05
Filing date: 2020-06-05
Publication date: 2023-06-06
Anticipated expiration: 2040-06-05
Also published as: CN113766040A; WO2021244622A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a communication method, a communication device and a computer readable storage medium, comprising the following steps: receiving first request information from first terminal equipment, wherein the first request information comprises an identification of an application; when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in a data network list, domain Name System (DNS) request information is sent to a session management function network element, the data network list comprises the identifier of the data network supporting the first terminal equipment with the service at the current position, and the DNS request information comprises the identifier of the application. In the embodiment of the invention, when the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in the data network list, the user plane function network element sends the Domain Name System (DNS) request information to the session management function network element, so that the quantity of the transmitted information can be reduced, and the communication resource can be saved.

Description

Communication method, device and computer readable storage medium

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communications method, an apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium.

Background

In a fifth generation (5th generation,5G) communication system, after receiving request information including an identification of an application from a terminal device, a user plane function network element sends domain name system (domain name system, DNS) request information including the identification of the application to a session management function network element. In the above process, once the user plane functional network element receives the request information including the application identifier from the terminal device, DNS request information needs to be sent to the session management functional network element, and the amount of information to be transmitted is large, so that waste of communication resources is caused.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention discloses a communication method, a communication device and a computer readable storage medium, which are used for saving communication resources.

The first aspect discloses a communication method, which may be applied to a user plane function network element, and may also be applied to a module (e.g., a chip) in the user plane function network element, and is described below by taking the application to the user plane function network element as an example. The method may include: and receiving first request information comprising the identification of the application from the first terminal equipment, and when an application server corresponding to the identification of the application deployed on the data network exists in a data network list, sending DNS request information to a session management function network element, wherein the data network list comprises the identification of the data network supporting the first terminal equipment at the current position, and the DNS request information comprises the identification of the application.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the user plane function network element receives the request information comprising the application identifier from the terminal equipment, when the application server corresponding to the application identifier is deployed in the data network list, DNS request information comprising the application identifier is sent to the session management function network element, and when the application server corresponding to the application identifier is not deployed in the data network list, DNS request information comprising the application identifier is not sent to the session management function network element, so that the quantity of information transmitted between the user plane function network element and the session management function network element can be reduced, and communication resources can be saved.

As a possible implementation manner, the method may further include: receiving indication information from a session management function network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating the user plane function network element to send the DNS request information to the session management function network element when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the user plane function network element receives the request information comprising the application identifier from the terminal device, the DNS request information comprising the application identifier is sent to the session management function network element only when the application server corresponding to the application identifier is deployed in the data network list according to the indication sent by the session management function network element, and when the application server corresponding to the application identifier is not deployed in the data network list, the DNS request information comprising the application identifier is not sent to the session management function network element, so that the quantity of information transmitted between the user plane function network element and the session management function network element can be reduced, and the communication resource can be saved.

As a possible implementation manner, the method may further include: receiving a data network list from a session management function network element; or determine a list of data networks.

In the embodiment of the invention, the data network list can be sent to the user plane function network element by the session management function network element or can be determined by the user plane function network element, so that the user plane function network element can determine whether an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list according to the data network list, thereby determining that DNS request information comprising the identifier of the application is not to be sent to the session management function network element.

As a possible implementation manner, before receiving the list of data networks from the session management function network element, the method may further include: and sending second request information to the session management function network element, wherein the second request information comprises the identification of the first terminal equipment, and the second request information enables the determination of a data network list.

In the embodiment of the invention, the data network list can be sent to the user plane functional network element by the session management functional network element based on the request of the user plane functional network element, and the user plane functional network element can request the data network list to the session management functional network element when the user plane functional network element is needed, so that the session management functional network element can be prevented from sending the data network list to the user plane functional network element when the user plane functional network element is not needed, and the transmission of unnecessary information can be reduced.

As a possible implementation manner, the method may further include: and determining that an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list according to the identifier of the application, the data network list and the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list.

As a possible implementation manner, the method may further include: receiving an identification of an application server deployed by a data network in a data network list from a session management function network element; or determining an identification of an application server for data network deployment in the data network list.

In the embodiment of the invention, the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list may be sent to the user plane function network element by the session management function network element or may be determined by the user plane function network element, so that the user plane function network element can determine whether the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list according to the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list, thereby determining that DNS request information including the identifier of the application is not to be sent to the session management function network element.

As a possible implementation manner, before receiving the identification of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list of the session management function network element, the method may further include: and sending third request information to the session management function network element, wherein the third request information enables identification of an application server deployed by the data network in the data network list to be determined.

In the embodiment of the invention, the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list can be sent to the user plane function network element by the session management function network element based on the request of the user plane function network element, and it can be seen that the user plane function network element can request the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list to the session management function network element when the user plane function network element is needed, so that the session management function network element can avoid sending the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list to the user plane function network element when the user plane function network element is not needed, and can reduce transmission of unnecessary information.

As a possible implementation manner, the DNS request information may enable determining, for the first terminal device, address information of a first application server, where the first application server is an application server corresponding to an identifier of the application deployed in the first data network, and the data network list includes the identifier of the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, the DNS request information can be enabled or used for enabling the address information of the application server to be determined for the terminal equipment, so that the terminal equipment can access the application server according to the address information.

As a possible implementation manner, the enabling of the DNS request information to determine the address information of the first application server for the first terminal device may include: the DNS request information may enable selecting an identifier of the first data network from the data network list according to the identifier of the application, and determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the identifier of the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the address information of the application server is determined for the terminal equipment, the identification of the data network which can be used by the terminal equipment at present can be determined first, then the address information of the application server can be determined for the terminal equipment according to the identification of the data network, the number of the data networks can be reduced, the determination range can be reduced, the number of the sent DNS requests can be reduced, and the determination efficiency of the address information of the application server can be improved.

As a possible implementation manner, the enabling of the DNS request information to determine address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the identification of the first data network may include: the DNS request information may enable the session management functional network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, and receive address information of a first application server from the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the DNS server corresponding to the determined identifier of the data network analyzes the DNS request information, the analysis result can be returned to the session management function network element.

As a possible implementation manner, the enabling of the DNS request information to determine address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the identification of the first data network may include: the DNS request information may enable the session management functional network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, where the DNS request information enables the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network to send address information of the first application server to the first terminal device through the user plane functional network element corresponding to the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the DNS server corresponding to the determined identifier of the data network analyzes the DNS request information, the analysis result can be directly sent to the terminal equipment through the user plane function network element corresponding to the determined identifier of the data network without returning to the session management function network element.

As a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the session management function network element, the DNS request information to the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network may include: the session management function network element may send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network through a user plane function network element corresponding to the identifier of the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, under the condition that a direct interface is not arranged between the session management function network element and the DNS server, the session management function network element can send the information to the DNS server through the local user plane function network element, so that the analysis of the DNS request information can be realized.

As a possible implementation manner, the enabling of the DNS request information to determine the address information of the first application server for the first terminal device may include: the DNS request information may enable the session management functional network element to obtain address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application from the DNS server, and select address information of the first application server from the obtained address information for the first terminal device.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the address information of the application server is determined for the terminal equipment, the DNS server can firstly analyze the DNS request information, and then the address information of the application server is determined for the terminal equipment based on the address information of the application server corresponding to the application identifier returned by the DNS server, so that the determined application server can be ensured to be usable by the terminal equipment.

As a possible implementation manner, the session management function network element obtaining, from the DNS server, address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application may include: the session management function network element may send the DNS request information and address information of the first terminal device to a DNS server, and receive address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application from the DNS server.

In the embodiment of the invention, the DNS request information can be analyzed by the centralized DNS server.

As a possible implementation manner, the session management function network element obtaining, from the DNS server, address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application may include: the session management function network element may send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device, and receive address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application from the DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device.

In the embodiment of the invention, the DNS request information may be resolved by a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the terminal device (i.e., a local DNS server). As a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the session management function network element, address information of the first application server for the first terminal device from the obtained address information may include: under the condition that the number of the acquired address information is greater than 1, the session management functional network element can select the address information of the first application server from the acquired address information according to one or more of the priority, time delay and load conditions of the application server or the data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, the address information of the application server determined for the terminal equipment can be ensured to be the address information of the application server which can be used by the terminal equipment at present and is optimal.

As a possible implementation, the DNS request information may enable establishment of a data path between the splitting node and a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, in the case that the terminal equipment has a service requirement, for example, some applications deploy corresponding application servers in a local data network, the session management function network element can establish a data path between the shunting node and the user plane function network element corresponding to the data network, instead of using the data path determined in the session initial establishment process. Or after the terminal equipment moves, when the user plane path of the application server corresponding to a certain application is not optimal, the session management function network element establishes a data path between the shunting node and the user plane function network element corresponding to the data network. Thus, the communication path between the terminal device and the data network can be optimized.

As a possible implementation manner, the method may further include: and selecting the identification of the first data network from the data network list according to the identification of the application, and sending the identification of the first data network to the session management function network element. The DNS request information enabling determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device may include: the DNS request information and the identification of the first data network may enable determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device.

In the embodiment of the invention, the user plane function network element can determine the currently available data network of one terminal device and then send the identification of the data network to the session management function network element, and the session management function network element can determine the address information of the application server for the terminal device according to the DNS request information and the identification of the data network, thereby reducing the number of the data networks and the determination range, and further improving the determination efficiency of the address information of the application server.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network, the address information of the first application server for the first terminal device may include: the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network may enable the session management functional network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, and receive address information of a first application server from the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the DNS server corresponding to the data network analyzes the DNS request information, the analysis result can be returned to the session management function network element.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network, the address information of the first application server for the first terminal device may include: the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network may enable the session management functional network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, and the DNS request information may enable the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network to send address information of the first application server to the first terminal device through the user plane functional network element corresponding to the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the DNS server corresponding to the data network analyzes the DNS request information, the analysis result can be directly sent to the terminal equipment through the user plane function network element corresponding to the determined data network without returning to the session management function network element.

As a possible implementation, the identification of the first data network may enable establishment of a data path between the splitting node and a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, in the case that the terminal equipment has a service requirement, for example, some applications deploy corresponding application servers in a local data network, the session management function network element can establish a data path between the shunting node and the user plane function network element corresponding to the data network, instead of using the data path determined in the session initial establishment process. Or after the terminal equipment moves, when the user plane path of the application server corresponding to a certain application is not optimal, the user plane function network element can inform the session management function network element to establish a data path between the shunting node and the user plane function network element corresponding to the data network. Thus, the communication path between the terminal device and the data network can be optimized.

As a possible implementation manner, the DNS request information may enable the session management network element to send address information of the first application server to the first terminal device.

In the embodiment of the invention, the address information of the application server can be sent to the terminal equipment, so that the terminal equipment can access the application server according to the address information.

A second aspect discloses a communication method, which may be applied to a session management function network element, and may also be applied to a module (e.g., a chip) in the session management function network element, and is described below by taking the session management function network element as an example. The method may include: receiving DNS request information, determining address information of a first application server for a first terminal device according to the DNS request information, wherein the DNS request information is sent by a user plane function network element when an application server corresponding to an identifier of an application deployed in a data network exists in a data network list, the data network list comprises the identifier of a data network supporting the first terminal device at a current position, the DNS request information can comprise the identifier of the application, the identifier of the application is the identifier of the application included in the request information from the first terminal device, the first application server is an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed in the first data network, and the data network list can comprise the identifier of the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed in the data network exists in the data network list, the session management function network element can only receive the DNS request information sent by the user plane function network element, and when the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed in the data network does not exist in the data network list, the session management function network element does not receive the DNS request information sent by the user plane function network element, so that the quantity of information transmitted between the user plane function network element and the session management function network element can be reduced, and the communication resource can be saved. Furthermore, address information of the application server may be determined for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information, so that the terminal device may access the application server according to the address information.

As a possible implementation manner, the method may further include: and sending indication information to the user plane function network element, wherein the indication information can be used for indicating the user plane function network element to send the DNS request information to the session management function network element when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list.

In the embodiment of the invention, the session management function network element can send the indication information to the user plane function network element, so that after the user plane function network element receives the request information comprising the application identifier from the terminal device, the session management function network element can send the DNS request information comprising the application identifier to the session management function network element according to the indication sent by the session management function network element when the application server corresponding to the application identifier is deployed in the data network list, and can not send the DNS request information comprising the application identifier to the session management function network element when the application server corresponding to the application identifier is not deployed in the data network list, thereby reducing the quantity of information transmitted between the user plane function network element and the session management function network element and saving communication resources.

As a possible implementation manner, the method may further include: and sending a data network list to the user plane function network element, wherein the data network list enables to determine that an application server corresponding to the identification of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list.

In the embodiment of the invention, the session management function network element can send the data network list to the user plane function network element, so that after the user plane function network element receives the request information comprising the application identifier from the terminal equipment, whether the application server corresponding to the application identifier is deployed with the data network in the data network list can be determined according to the data network list, and DNS request information comprising the application identifier can be determined not to be sent to the session management function network element.

As a possible implementation manner, before sending the data network list to the user plane function network element, the method may further include: and receiving second request information comprising the identification of the first terminal equipment from the user plane function network element, and determining a data network list according to the identification of the first terminal equipment and the identification of the data network corresponding to the position of the terminal equipment.

In the embodiment of the invention, the session management function network element can send the data network list to the user plane function network element after receiving the request information from the user plane function network element. Therefore, the session management function network element can send the data network list to the user plane function network element according to the requirement of the user plane function network element, so that the data network list can be prevented from being sent to the user plane function network element under the condition that the user plane function network element is not required, and the transmission of unnecessary information can be reduced.

As a possible implementation manner, the method may further include: the identification of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list is sent to the user plane function network element, and the identification of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list can enable to determine that the application server corresponding to the identification of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list.

In the embodiment of the invention, the session management function network element can send the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list to the user plane function network element, so that after the user plane function network element receives the request information comprising the identifier of the application from the terminal equipment, whether the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list or not can be determined according to the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list, and DNS request information comprising the identifier of the application can be determined not to be sent to the session management function network element.

As a possible implementation manner, before sending the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list to the user plane function network element, the method may further include: and receiving third request information from the user plane function network element, and determining the identification of the application server of the data network deployment in the data network list according to the third request information.

In the embodiment of the invention, the session management network element can send the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list to the user plane function network element after receiving the request information from the user plane function network element. The session management function network element can send the identification of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list to the user plane function network element according to the requirement of the user plane function network element, so that the identification of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list can be prevented from being sent to the user plane function network element under the condition that the user plane function network element is not required, and the transmission of unnecessary information can be reduced.

As a possible implementation manner, determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information may include: and selecting the identification of the first data network from the data network list according to the identification of the application, and determining the address information of the first application server for the first terminal equipment according to the identification of the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the address information of the application server is determined for the terminal equipment, the session management function network element can firstly determine the identification of the data network which can be used by the terminal equipment currently, then can determine the address information of the application server for the terminal equipment according to the identification of the data network, can reduce the number of the data networks, reduce the determination range and reduce the number of the sent DNS requests, thereby improving the determination efficiency of the address information of the application server.

As a possible implementation manner, determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the identification of the first data network may include: and sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network, and receiving the address information of the first application server from the DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the identification of the first data network may include: the DNS request information is sent to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, and the DNS request information can enable the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network to send address information of the first application server to the first terminal equipment through a user plane function network element corresponding to the identifier of the first data network.

As one possible implementation manner, sending the DNS request information to the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network includes: and sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network through the user plane function network element corresponding to the identification of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information includes: and acquiring address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server according to the DNS request information, and determining the address information of the first application server for the first terminal equipment from the acquired address information.

As a possible implementation manner, obtaining address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server according to the DNS request information may include: and sending the DNS request information and the address information of the first terminal equipment to a DNS server, and receiving the address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server.

As a possible implementation manner, obtaining address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server according to the DNS request information may include: and sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal equipment, and receiving the address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal equipment.

In the embodiment of the invention, the DNS request information may be resolved by a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the terminal device (i.e., a local DNS server).

As a possible implementation manner, determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device from the obtained address information may include: and under the condition that the number of the acquired address information is larger than 1, selecting the address information of the first application server from the acquired address information according to one or more of the priority, time delay and load conditions of the application server or the data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, the application server determined for the terminal equipment can be ensured to be the optimal application server which can be used by the terminal equipment at present.

As a possible implementation manner, determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information may include: and receiving the identification of the first data network from the user plane function network element, and determining the address information of the first application server for the first terminal equipment according to the DNS request information and the identification of the first data network.

In the embodiment of the invention, the session management function network element can receive the identification of one data network determined and sent by the user plane function network element, then can determine the address information of the application server for the terminal equipment according to the DNS request information and the identification of the data network, can reduce the number of the data networks, and reduces the determination range, thereby improving the determination efficiency of the address information of the application server.

As a possible implementation manner, determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information and the identification of the first data network may include: and sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network, and receiving the address information of the first application server from the DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information and the identification of the first data network may include: and sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, wherein the DNS request information can enable the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network to send the address information of the first application server to the first terminal equipment through a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the method may further include: and establishing a data path between the shunting node and a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the method may further include: and sending the address information of the first application server to the first terminal equipment.

In the embodiment of the invention, the session management function network element can send the address information of the application server to the terminal equipment so that the terminal equipment can access the application server according to the address information.

A third aspect discloses a communication device, which may be a user plane functional network element or a module (e.g. a chip) in a user plane functional network element. The apparatus may include: a receiving unit, configured to receive first request information from a first terminal device, where the first request information includes an identifier of an application; and the sending unit is used for sending Domain Name System (DNS) request information to the session management function network element when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in a data network list, wherein the data network list comprises the identifier of the data network supporting the first terminal equipment with the service at the current position, and the DNS request information comprises the identifier of the application.

As a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to receive indication information from the session management function network element, where the indication information is used to instruct a user plane function network element to send the DNS request information to the session management function network element when an application server corresponding to an identifier of the application where a data network is deployed exists in the data network list.

As a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to receive the data network list from the session management function network element; or the communication device may further include: and the first determining unit is used for determining the data network list.

As a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to send second request information to the session management function network element before the receiving unit receives the data network list from the session management function network element, where the second request information includes an identifier of the first terminal device, and the second request information enables determining the data network list.

As a possible implementation manner, the device further comprises: and the second determining unit is used for determining that an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list according to the identifier of the application, the data network list and the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list.

As a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to receive an identification of an application server deployed by the data network in the data network list of the session management function network element.

As a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to send third request information to the session management function network element, where the third request information enables determining an identifier of an application server deployed by a data network in the data network list, before the receiving unit receives the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list of the session management function network element.

As a possible implementation manner, the DNS request information enables determining, for the first terminal device, address information of a first application server, where the first application server is an application server corresponding to an identifier of the application deployed in a first data network, and the data network list includes the identifier of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the enabling of the DNS request information to determine address information of the first application server for the first terminal device includes: the DNS request information enables the identification of the first data network to be selected from the data network list according to the identification of the application, and the address information of the first application server is determined for the first terminal device according to the identification of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the enabling of the DNS request information to determine address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the identifier of the first data network includes: the DNS request information enables the session management function network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, and receive address information of a first application server from the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the enabling of the DNS request information to determine address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the identifier of the first data network includes: the DNS request information enables the session management function network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, and the DNS request information enables the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network to send the address information of a first application server to the first terminal equipment through the user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the session management function network element, the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network includes: and the session management function network element sends the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network through the user plane function network element corresponding to the identification of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the enabling of the DNS request information to determine address information of the first application server for the first terminal device includes: the DNS request information enables the session management function network element to acquire address information of an application server corresponding to the application identifier from the DNS server, and determines address information of a first application server for the first terminal device from the acquired address information.

As a possible implementation manner, the session management function network element obtaining, from a DNS server, address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application includes: the session management function network element sends the DNS request information and the address information of the first terminal device to a DNS server, and receives the address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server.

As a possible implementation manner, the session management function network element obtaining, from a DNS server, address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application includes: the session management function network element sends the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device, and receives the address information of an application server corresponding to the application identifier from the DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the session management function network element, address information of the first application server for the first terminal device from the obtained address information includes: and under the condition that the number of the acquired address information is larger than 1, the session management function network element selects the address information of the first application server from the acquired address information according to one or more of the priority, time delay and load conditions of the application server or the data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the DNS request information enables establishment of a data path between a splitting node and a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the device further comprises: a selecting unit, configured to select an identifier of the first data network from the data network list according to the identifier of the application; the sending unit is further configured to send an identifier of the first data network to the session management function network element; the DNS request information enabling determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device includes: the DNS request information and the identification of the first data network enable determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network, address information of the first application server for the first terminal device includes: the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network enable the session management function network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, and receive address information of a first application server from the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network, address information of the first application server for the first terminal device includes: the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network enable the session management function network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, and the DNS request information enables the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network to send the address information of a first application server to the first terminal equipment through the user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the identification of the first data network enables the establishment of a data path between the splitting node and the user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the DNS request information enables the session management network element to send address information of the first application server to the first terminal device.

A fourth aspect discloses a communication device, which may be a session management function network element or a module (e.g. a chip) in a session management function network element. The apparatus may include: a receiving unit, configured to receive DNS request information, where the DNS request information is sent by a user plane function network element when an application server corresponding to an identifier of an application deployed on a data network exists in a data network list, where the data network list includes an identifier of a data network supporting a first terminal device that services are located at a current location, and the DNS request information includes the identifier of the application, where the identifier of the application is an identifier of an application included in request information from the first terminal device; the determining unit is configured to determine address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information, where the first application server is an application server corresponding to an identifier of the application deployed in a first data network, and the data network list includes the identifier of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the device further comprises: and the sending unit is used for sending indication information to the user plane function network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating the user plane function network element to send the DNS request information to the session management function network element when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list.

As a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to send the data network list to the user plane function network element, where the data network list enables determining that an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application where the data network is deployed exists in the data network list.

As a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to receive second request information from the user plane function network element before the sending unit sends the data network list to the user plane function network element, where the second request information includes an identifier of the first terminal device; the determining unit is further configured to determine the data network list according to the identifier of the first terminal device and the identifier of the data network corresponding to the location of the terminal device.

As a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to send, to the user plane function network element, an identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list, where the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list enables determining that an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list.

As a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to receive third request information from the user plane function network element before the sending unit sends the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list to the user plane function network element, and the determining unit is further configured to determine the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list according to the third request information.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining unit determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information includes: selecting the identification of the first data network from the data network list according to the identification of the application; and determining the address information of the first application server for the first terminal equipment according to the identification of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining unit determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the identifier of the first data network includes: sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network; address information of a first application server from a DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network is received.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining unit determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the identifier of the first data network includes: and sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, wherein the DNS request information enables the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network to send the address information of a first application server to the first terminal equipment through a user plane function network element corresponding to the identifier of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining unit sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network includes: and sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network through a user plane function network element corresponding to the identification of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining unit determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information includes: acquiring address information of an application server corresponding to the application identifier from a DNS server according to the DNS request information; and determining the address information of the first application server for the first terminal equipment from the acquired address information.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining unit obtaining, from a DNS server according to the DNS request information, address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application includes: sending the DNS request information and the address information of the first terminal equipment to a DNS server; address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server is received.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining unit obtaining, from a DNS server according to the DNS request information, address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application includes: sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal equipment; and receiving address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal equipment.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining unit determining, from the obtained address information, the address information of the first application server for the first terminal device includes: and under the condition that the number of the acquired address information is larger than 1, selecting the address information of the first application server from the acquired address information according to one or more of the priority, time delay and load conditions of the application server or the data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining unit determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information includes: receiving an identification of the first data network from the user plane function network element; and determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal equipment according to the DNS request information and the identification of the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining unit determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network includes: sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network; address information of a first application server from a DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network is received.

As a possible implementation manner, the determining unit determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network includes: and sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, wherein the DNS request information enables the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network to send the address information of a first application server to the first terminal equipment through a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the device further comprises: and the establishing unit is used for establishing a data path between the shunting node and the user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

As a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to send address information of the first application server to the first terminal device.

A fifth aspect discloses a communication device, which may be a user plane function network element or a module (e.g. a chip) within a user plane function network element. The communication device may comprise a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from a communication device other than the communication device, and an output interface for outputting information to a communication device other than the communication device, which when executing a computer program stored in the memory causes the processor to execute the communication method disclosed in the first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect.

A sixth aspect discloses a communication device, which may be a session management function network element or a module (e.g. a chip) within a session management function network element. The communication device may comprise a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from a communication device other than the communication device, and an output interface for outputting information to a communication device other than the communication device, which when executing a computer program stored in the memory causes the processor to execute the communication method disclosed in the second aspect or any one of the embodiments of the second aspect.

A seventh aspect discloses a communication system comprising the communication apparatus of the fifth aspect and the communication apparatus of the sixth aspect.

An eighth aspect discloses a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program or computer instructions which, when run, implement the communication method as disclosed in the above aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a UPF sending DNS request information to an SMF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of another communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

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

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

fig. 9 is a schematic structural view of still another communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of still another communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following will describe in detail.

In order to better understand a communication method, a communication device and a computer readable storage medium disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention, a network architecture used in the embodiments of the present invention is described below. Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the 5G network architecture may include a User Equipment (UE), a (radio) access network (radio access network, (R) AN) device, a user plane function network element (user plane function, UPF), a Data Network (DN), AN access and mobility management function network element (access and mobility management function, AMF), a session management function network element (session management function, SMF), a policy control function network element (policy control function, PCF), AN application function network element (application function, AF), a unified data management network element (unified data management, UDM), AN authentication server function network element (authentication server function, AUSF), and a network slice selection network element (network slice selection function, NSSF). The interface names shown in fig. 1 are only exemplary, and embodiments of the present invention are not limited in this regard.

A UE, which may also be referred to as a terminal device, a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), etc., is a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user. The terminal device may be a handheld terminal, a notebook computer, a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a cellular phone (cellular phone), a smart phone (smart phone), a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA) computer, a tablet computer, a wireless modem (modem), a handheld device (handheld), a laptop computer (laptop computer), a cordless phone (cord phone) or a wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, a machine type communication (machine type communication, MTC) terminal or other device that can access a network. The terminal device is shown as UE in fig. 1 by way of example only and is not limiting. The UE may access the DN by establishing a session between the UE- (R) AN device-UPF-DN, i.e., a protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session.

The (R) AN device is a device for providing wireless access to the UE, and is mainly responsible for radio resource management, quality of service (quality of service, qoS) flow management, data compression, encryption, and other functions on the air interface side. The (R) AN device may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also referred to as small stations), relay stations, access points, and the like. The (R) AN device may also include a wireless internet (wireless fidelity, wiFi) access node (AP). The (R) AN device may also include a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMax) Base Station (BS).

UPF is mainly responsible for handling user messages, such as forwarding, charging, etc. User messages can be received from the DN and transmitted to the UE through the RAN equipment; user messages may also be received from the UE through the RAN equipment and forwarded to the DN. The transmission resources and scheduling functions that the UPF serves for the UE are managed and controlled by the SMF.

The DN may be an internet, a network protocol (internet protocol, IP) Multimedia Services (IMS) network, a regional network, i.e., a local network, such as a multiple access edge computing (multi access edge computing, MEC) network, etc. DN is the destination of PDU session access for the UE. An application server is included or deployed in the DN, and the application server can perform data transmission with the UE to provide business services for the UE.

The AMF may complete the registration procedure of the UE and forwarding of SM signaling and mobility management through non-access stratum (non access stratum, NAS) signaling (including session management (session management, SM) signaling) of the N1 interface access to the UE and signaling of the N2 interface access to the RAN.

The SMF is mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, such as the processes of session establishment, modification, release, update, etc. Specific functions are for example assigning IP addresses to users, selecting UPFs providing message forwarding functions, etc.

The PCF may be responsible for terminal device policy management including both mobility related policies and PDU session related policies, such as QoS policies, charging policies, etc.

AF mainly supports interactions with the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) core network to provide services to affect traffic routing, access network capability opening, policy control, etc.

The UDM is responsible for user key management, user identification processing, access authorization of subscription data, network function entity management of UE, session and service continuity management, short message push, lawful interception, subscription management, short message management, management for managing user data, such as subscription information.

The AUSF may be responsible for authentication and authorization of access for the UE.

The above network elements in the core network may also be referred to as functional entities, which may be network elements implemented on dedicated hardware, software instances running on dedicated hardware, or instances of virtualized functions on a suitable platform, for example, the above virtualized platform may be a cloud platform.

It should be noted that, the system architecture shown in fig. 1 is not limited to only include the network elements shown in the fig. 1, but may also include other devices not shown in the fig. and the specific embodiments of the present invention are not listed here.

It should be noted that, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the distribution form of each network element in the core network, and the distribution form shown in fig. 1 is only exemplary, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

It should be understood that the names of all network elements in the present invention are merely examples, and may be referred to as other names in future communications, such as 6G, or the network elements related to the present invention may be replaced by other entities or devices having the same functions in future communications, such as 6G, and the present invention is not limited in this respect. The description is unified, and the following description is omitted.

It should be noted that the 5G network architecture shown in fig. 1 does not constitute a limitation of the 5G network. Optionally, the method according to the embodiment of the present invention is also applicable to various future communication systems, such as 6G or other communication networks.

The 5G network architecture shown in fig. 1 has only one UPF, and on the basis of the above basic network architecture, the 5G may further support inserting multiple session anchor UPFs on a user plane path (i.e., a data path) of one PDU session, so as to support a connection to a local (local) DN, so that a UE may access an application server in the local DN nearby. Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, a plurality of UPFs, which may be uplink classification (uplink classifier, ULCL)/Branching Point (BP), UPFPDU session anchor point (PDU session anchor, PSA) 1, and UPF PSA2, respectively, are introduced in a network architecture of a communication system. The ULCL/BP may distribute uplink data packets from the UE to PSA1 or PSA2 according to the distribution rule, or may send downlink data packets from PSA1 or PSA2 to the UE. There is an N6 interface between PSA1 and DN, which may be a DN located in a central Data Center (DC), for example. There is an N6 interface between PSA2 and a local DN, which may be located in a local DC or MEC node, for example. Among other things, a local DN may also be understood as a DN that deploys an application server into an edge-hosted environment (edge hosting environment, EHE) that is closer to the UE, also referred to as an edge network (edge data network, EDN). In the case where a UE has a traffic demand, the SMF may insert a UPF (i.e., local (L) -PSA) corresponding to the local DN so that the UE can access the application server in the local DN nearby. For example, PAS2 in FIG. 2 is an L-PSA. It should be noted that the number of UPFs in fig. 2 is merely an example, and more or fewer UPFs may be included, which is not limited by the present invention.

It should be noted that only one L-PSA is shown in FIG. 2, and it should be understood that a plurality of L-PSAs may be included, as the invention is not limited in this respect. Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the network architecture may exist with multiple L-PSAs, such as L-PSA1 and L-PSA2 in FIG. 3. In this network architecture, ULCL/BP may connect multiple L-PSAs. In this example, ULCL/BP may be co-located with L-PSA1, connecting MEC1; L-PSA2 may be attached to MEC2 and PSA may be attached to central DC. It should be understood that ULCL/BP and L-PSA1 may also be two separate network elements or devices.

In order to better understand the embodiments of the present invention, the following describes application scenarios of the embodiments of the present invention. Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a UPF sending DNS request information to an SMF according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4, the UE may send request information to the UPF, which may carry or include an identification of the application. After the UPF receives the request information from the UE, DNS request information may be sent to the SMF, the DNS request information including an identification of the application. After the SMF receives the DNS request information from the UPF, the DNS request information may be sent to a centralized DNS server or a local DNS server. After receiving the DNS request information from the SMF, the DNS server or the local DNS server may determine address information of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application, and send the address information of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application to the SMF. After the SMF receives the address information of the application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server or the local DNS server, the address information of the application server may be sent to the UE.

In the above process, after the UPF receives the request information including the identifier of the application from the terminal device, it is necessary to send DNS request information including the identifier of the application to the SMF, regardless of whether the address information of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application cannot be acquired. However, in the case where the address information of the application server corresponding to the identification of the application cannot be acquired, it is not necessary to send DNS request information to the SMF, so that waste of resources is caused. And because of the large amount of DNS request information, the interface between the UPF and the SMF network element may be impacted. Further, since there may be no direct interface between the SMF and the DNS server, the SMF cannot transmit DNS request information to the DNS server.

In addition, in the 5G communication system, the terminal device may be connected to the DN through the UPF. Which UPF and which DN the terminal device uses to communicate is determined during the session establishment procedure. After the session establishment is completed, since the location of the terminal device is not fixed, in the case that the location of the terminal device is changed, if the terminal device further uses the UPF and the DN in the session establishment procedure, a communication path between the terminal device and the DN may be longer.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The functions performed by the terminal device in the present invention may be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device, the functions performed by the UPF in the present invention may be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the UPF, the functions performed by the SMF in the present invention may be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the SMF, and the functions performed by the DNS server in the present invention may be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the DNS server. As shown in fig. 5, the communication method may include the following steps.

501. The first terminal device sends first request information including an identification of the application to the UPF.

Accordingly, the UPF may receive first request information from the first terminal device including or carrying an identification of the application.

In case the first terminal device has a service requirement, the first terminal device may send a first request information comprising an identification of the application to the UPF. The application identification may be a fully qualified domain name (fully qualified domain name, FQDN), an application identification number (identity document, ID), or other information that may uniquely identify the application. The first request information may be DNS request information or a DNS query (query) message, or may be other request information, which is not limited herein.

502. When an application server corresponding to the identification of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list, the UPF sends DNS request information comprising the identification of the application to the SMF.

Accordingly, the SMF receives DNS request information from the UPF including an identification of the application. In the case that the first request information is DNS request information, the DNS request information sent by the UPF to the SMF may be the first request information, that is, the DNS request information sent by the UPF to the SMF and the first request information are the same DNS request information, and the DNS request information sent by the UPF to the SMF may also be DNS request information generated by the UPF according to the first request information. The application server corresponding to the application identifier, namely the application server of the application identified by the identifier.

After the UPF receives the first request information from the first terminal device, when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in the data network list, DNS request information including the identifier of the application may be sent to the SMF. The list of data networks includes an identification of the data networks supporting the first terminal device serving the current location. Specifically, the UPF may first determine whether an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in the data network list, and when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in the data network list, indicate that an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application accessible by the first terminal device exists, and may send DNS request information including the identifier of the application to the SMF. When there is no application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network in the data network list, it indicates that there is no application server corresponding to the identifier of the application that the first terminal device can access, the UPF does not send DNS request information including the identifier of the application to the SMF, and the first request information can be discarded.

It should be noted that, the data network list in the present invention may include the identifiers of all the data networks supporting the first terminal device at the current location, and may also include the identifiers of the partial data networks supporting the first terminal device at the current location. The number of identifiers of the data networks included in the data network list is greater than or equal to 1, namely, the identifiers of 1 data network can be used, and the identifiers of two or more data networks can be used.

In one implementation, all data networks are deployed with the same application server, and when determining whether an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application is deployed in the data network list or not, only one data network in the data network list needs to be determined whether the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application is deployed or not. In another implementation, application servers deployed by different data networks may be different, and when determining whether there is an application server in the data network list corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network, it is necessary to determine that the data networks in the data network list are one by one, and stop until it is determined that there is an application server in the data network list corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network, or stop until it is determined that all the data networks in the data network list are stopped.

In one implementation, the SMF may send indication information to the UPF, where the indication information is used to indicate that the UPF sends DNS request information to the SMF when there is an application server in the data network list corresponding to the identity of the data network deployed with the application. After the UPF receives the first request information from the first terminal device, it may be determined according to the indication information whether an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in the data network list, and when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in the data network list, DNS request information including the identifier of the application may be sent to the SMF. In another implementation, a rule is configured in the UPF, which may be: and when an application server corresponding to the identification of the application deployed on the data network exists in the data network list, DNS request information is sent to the SMF. After the UPF receives the first request information from the first terminal device, it may be determined according to the rule whether an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in the data network list, and when application server data corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in the data network list, DNS request information including the identifier of the application may be sent to the SMF.

The SMF may send the list of data networks to the UPF, and accordingly, the UPF may receive the list of data networks from the SMF. It can be seen that the data network list may be that the SMF sends to the UPF. The UPF may send second request information including the identification of the first terminal device to the SMF, and accordingly, the SMF receives the second request information from the UPF, and determines a data network list according to the identification of the first terminal device included in the second request information and the identification of the data network corresponding to the location of the terminal device. It can be seen that the data network list may be sent by the SMF to the UPF based on the UPF request. The list of data networks may also be UPF-determined. The identity of the data network may be an identity of the data network itself. For example, the identification of the data network may be a data network name (data network name, DNN), or an identification number (identity document, ID) of other data networks. The identity of the data network may also be an access identity of the data network. For example, a data network access identifier (DN access identifier, DNAI) may be used to identify a user plane path between a UPF to a data network, and may also be considered an identification of a data network. The identification of the data network may also be an identification of the MEC node or DC, and may be used to indicate where the MEC node or DC is located. The identification of the data network may also be subnet information of the data network, and the corresponding data network may be determined according to the subnet information. The identification of the data network may also be address information of an application server comprised by the data network, from which the corresponding data network may be determined. The identifier of the data network corresponding to the location may be represented as a correspondence between the location information and the identifier of the data network supporting the location corresponding to the location information, and may be stored in a data table, a key value pair, a context, or other forms, and the storage form is not limited. For example, the identification of the data network to which the location corresponds may be as shown in table 1 or table 2.

Identification of data networks	Position information
		DN
1	Position 2, …, position X
		DN
2	Position 1, position 3, …, position Y
		…	…
DN K	Position 3, …, position Z

TABLE 1

Position information	Identification of data networks
		Position
1	DN 1、…、DN X
		Position
2	DN 2、…、DN Y
		…	…
Position K	DN			1、…、DN Z

TABLE 2

In one implementation, the SMF may configure or acquire a service scope of the data network. The service scope of the data network may be a specific set of locations. For example, tracking Area (TA) 1, TA2, …, ran_1, ran_2, or a set of one or more of cells (Cell) _1, cell_2, etc. The service area of the data network may also be a set of geographical location information, such as latitude and longitude or administrative areas. The service scope of the data network may also be a set of service scopes of one or more UPFs corresponding to the data network. Wherein the one or more UPFs may serve the data network. The service scope of a UPF may be a specific set of locations or a set of geographic location information. The service scope of the data network may also be identified by the service scope of an application server (application server, AS) and/or an Enabling Server (ES) deployed in the data network, where the representation of the service scope of the AS or ES is the same AS described above and will not be repeated. In the PDU session establishment process of the first terminal device, or when the position of the first terminal device changes, or when a related service or event is detected, for example, the SMF receives second request information including the application identifier from the UPF, the SMF may acquire the current position of the first terminal device, for example, TA1 or cell_1. The SMF may acquire the current location of the first terminal device from the AMF, or subscribe the AMF to location information of the first terminal device or an event related to a location change, or subscribe the AMF to an event such as moving the first terminal device into or out of a service range of the data network, where after the AMF detects that the first terminal device moves, the SMF may notify the SMF of the current location of the first terminal device in real time. After the SMF acquires the current location of the first terminal device, the SMF may first determine whether the current location of the first terminal device is within a service range of the data network, and if the current location of the first terminal device is within the service range of the data network, determine that the data network supports the first terminal device whose service is in the current location. Assuming that the SMF configures or acquires a service range of the M data networks, it may determine that the N data network support services in the M data networks are at the first terminal device of the current location after the SMF acquires the current location of the first terminal device. The data network list may be determined by other network elements or functional entities and then sent to the SMF, and the process of determining the data network is similar to that of the SMF, and will not be described again. The SMF may then send the data network list to the UPF. Wherein M is an integer greater than 1, and N is an integer less than or equal to M.

In another implementation, the SMF may determine a data network adjacent to the current location of the first terminal device as a data network supporting the first terminal device in the current location. For example, the distance between the current location of the first terminal device and the location of the data network does not exceed X kilometres. The SMF may calculate a distance between the current location of the first terminal device and the location of the data network, and then notify the SMF. The SMF may then send the data network list to the UPF.

In yet another implementation, the SMF may configure the supported data networks and the SMF may determine all or part of the supported data networks as the data networks supporting the first terminal device serving the current location. The SMF may also obtain data networks supporting the first terminal device in the current location from other network elements or devices, and the SMF may determine all data networks supporting the first terminal device in the current location as data networks in the data network list, or determine a subset of all data networks supporting the first terminal device in the current location as data networks in the data network list according to a configuration or policy. The SMF may then send the data network list to the UPF.

In yet another implementation, in case the first terminal device has inserted the ULCL/BP during the session establishment procedure, the data networks in the data network list may be data networks supporting L-PSA correspondence with the ULCL/BP, such as the L-PSA1 and L-PSA2 correspondence shown in fig. 3. The SMF may determine the data networks corresponding to the M L-PSAs as data networks in the data network list, or may determine the N data networks corresponding to the M L-PSAs as data networks in the data network list according to a configuration or policy, assuming that the ULCL/BP may communicate with the M L-PSAs. The SMF may then send the data network list to the UPF.

The manner in which the UPF determines the list of data networks is similar to that described above and will not be described in detail herein.

The UPF may receive the list of data networks from the SMF before, after, or simultaneously with the UPF receiving the first request information from the first terminal device.

The UPF can determine that an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list according to the identifier of the application, the data network list and the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list. The identity of the application server deployed by the data network may be stored in a data table, key-value pair, context or other form, without limitation to the form of storage. For example, the identification of the application servers of the data network deployment may be as shown in table 3 or table 4.

Identification of data networks	Identification of application servers
		DN
1	Application server 2, … and application server X
		DN
2	Application server 1, application servers 3, …, and application server Y
		…	…
DN K	Application server 3, … and application server Z

TABLE 3 Table 3

Identification of application servers	Identification of data networks
		Application server
1	DN 1、…、DN X
		Application server
2	DN 2、…、DN Y
		…	…
Application server K	DN			1、…、DN Z

TABLE 4 Table 4

In one implementation, the SMF may send the UPF an identification of an application server for the data network deployment in the data network list. The UPF may receive an identification of an application server for data network deployment in the data network list from the SMF before, after, or simultaneously with receiving the first request information from the first terminal device. It can be seen that the identification of the application server for the data network deployment in the data network list can be sent by the SMF to the UPF. The SMF may be configured with an identification of the application server of the data network deployment, or may obtain the identification of the application server of the data network deployment from other devices or network elements. In the case where the data network list is an SMF sent to a UPF, the SMF may determine, after determining or acquiring the data network list, an identification of an application server for data network deployment in the data network list. The SMF may send the data network list and the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list to the UPF simultaneously or sequentially. In the case where the SMF sends the data network list and the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list to the UPF simultaneously, the data network list may be sent by the same message, instruction, signaling, or the like, or may be sent by two different messages, instructions, signaling, or the like, which is not limited herein. The UPF may send third request information to the SMF, and after the SMF receives the third request information from the UPF, the SMF may determine, according to the third request information, an identification of an application server deployed by the data network in the data network list. It can be seen that the identification of the application server for the data network deployment in the data network list can be sent by the SMF to the UPF based on the UPF request. The third request information may include an identifier of the first terminal device, and at this time, the SMF may determine an identifier of an application server deployed by the data network in the data network list according to the identifier of the first terminal device, an identifier of the data network corresponding to the location of the terminal device, and an identifier of the application server deployed by the data network. In the case that the data network list is determined by the UPF, the third request information may include or carry an identifier of the data network in the data network list, and at this time, the SMF may determine an identifier of an application server deployed by the data network in the data network list according to the identifier of the data network in the data network list and the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network.

In another implementation, the UPF may be configured with an identification of an application server of the data network deployment, or may obtain an identification of an application server of the data network deployment from another device or network element. After the UPF receives the data network list from the SMF, or after determining the data network list, the identification of the application server for the data network deployment in the data network list may be determined according to the data network list and the identification of the application server for the data network deployment.

503. The SMF determines the address information of the first application server for the first terminal equipment according to the DNS request information.

The first application server is an application server corresponding to the identification of the application deployed in the first data network, and the data network list includes the identification of the first data network.

In one implementation, the SMF may first select the identity of the first data network from the list of data networks based on the identity of the application. Specifically, the identifier of the data network of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed may be selected from the data network list. In one case, the identity of the first data network may be selected from the identities of the selected data networks based on one or more of a priority, latency, and loading condition of the application server or data network. In another case, in the case that the number of the identifiers of the selected data networks is greater than 1, any one data network may be selected from the identifiers of the selected data networks as the identifier of the first data network. The SMF may then determine address information of the first application server for the first terminal device based on the identification of the first data network. In one case, the SMF may send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identity of the first data network; after the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network receives the DNS request information from the SMF, address information of the first application server may be determined according to the identifier of the application, that is, address information of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application is determined, and the address information of the first application server is sent to the SMF; the SMF receives address information of a first application server from a DNS server to which an identity of the first data network corresponds. In another case, the SMF may send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identity of the first data network; after the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network receives the DNS request information from the SMF, address information of the first application server may be determined according to the identifier of the application, that is, address information of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application is determined, and the address information of the first application server is sent to the UPF corresponding to the identifier of the first data network; after the UPF corresponding to the identifier of the first data network receives the address information of the first application server from the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, the address information of the first application server may be sent to the first terminal device. Because there may be no direct interface between the SMF and the DNS server, the SMF may send the DNS request information to the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network through the UPF corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, that is, the SMF first sends the DNS request information to the UPF corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, the UPF corresponding to the identifier of the first data network receives the DNS request information from the SMF, and sends the DNS request information to the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network.

In another implementation manner, the SMF may acquire address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application from the DNS server according to the DNS request information, and determine address information of the first application server for the first terminal device from the acquired address information. In one case, the SMF may send the DNS request information and the address information of the first terminal device to the DNS server. After receiving the DNS request information and the address information of the first terminal device from the SMF, the DNS server may determine address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application according to the DNS request information and the address information of the first terminal device, and then may send the address information of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application to the SMF. The SMF may receive address information of an application server corresponding to an identification of the application from the DNS server. In the case that the number of address information of the first terminal device is greater than 1, the SMF may send the address information of the first terminal device to the DNS server at a time with the address information of the first terminal device carried in the DNS request information, or the SMF may send a plurality of pieces of DNS request information to the DSN, each piece of DNS request information may carry one address information of the first terminal device. Wherein the DNS server herein is a centralized DNS server, also referred to as a central DSN server. The address information of the first terminal device may be address information corresponding to a data network in the data network list, for example, a DNAI may correspond to a subnet information. The address information of the first terminal device may also be an identifier of a data network supporting the service range to serve the current location of the first terminal device, may also be an IP address supporting the service range to serve the data network of the current location of the first terminal device, and may also be subnet information supporting the service range to serve the data network of the current location of the first terminal device. The IP address of the data network or subnet information of the data network may be converted from the identity of the data network. One address information in the address information of the DNS server for the first terminal device may or may not return address information of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application.

In another case, the SMF may send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device, that is, send the DNS request information to a local DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device. The local DSN server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device may also be understood as a local DNS server corresponding to a data network supporting the current location of the first terminal device. If there are multiple address information of the first terminal device, for example, there are multiple data networks supporting the current location of the first terminal device, where the multiple data networks correspond to different subnet information, the DNS request information may be sent to a local DNS server corresponding to the data networks, respectively. After receiving the DNS request from the SMF, the DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device may determine address information of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application, and may then send the address information of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application to the SMF. The SMF receives address information of an application server corresponding to an identification of the application from a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device. The address information of the first terminal device may be subnet information corresponding to the data network, and the DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device may understand the DNS server corresponding to the data network, for example, a local DNS server performing DNS resolution for the local data network. For a DSN server corresponding to one address information in the address information of the first terminal device, the address information of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application may be returned, or the address information of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application may not be returned. The non-return may be due to the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application not being deployed, or may be due to the load of the application server corresponding to the identifier of the application being deployed being heavy, or may be due to other reasons, which are not limited herein.

After the SMF acquires address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server, in the case where the number of acquired address information is 1, this address information may be determined as address information of the first application server. In the case that the number of the obtained address information is greater than 1, the address information of the first application server may be selected from the obtained address information according to one or more of priority, delay and load conditions of the application server or DN, so that an appropriate application server may be selected.

In yet another implementation, the UPF may select an identity of the first data network from the list of data networks according to the identity of the application, and then send the identity of the first data network to the SMF. The SMF receives the identification of the first data network from the UPF, and may determine address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information and the identification of the first data network. In one case, the SMF may send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identity of the first data network. After the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network receives the DNS request information from the SMF, address information of the first application server may be determined according to the identifier of the application, and the address information of the first application server may be sent to the SMF. The SMF receives address information of a first application server from a DNS server to which an identity of the first data network corresponds. In another case, the SMF may send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identity of the first data network; after the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network receives the DNS request information from the SMF, address information of the first application server may be determined according to the identifier of the application, and the address information of the first application server may be sent to the UPF corresponding to the identifier of the first data network; after the UPF corresponding to the identifier of the first data network receives the address information of the first application server from the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, the address information of the first application server may be sent to the first terminal device.

The address information of the first terminal device may be determined by the SMF, or may be sent to the SMF by the UPF. The fourth request information may be sent actively by the UPF or may be sent after the UPF receives the fourth request information from the SMF. Before the UPF sends the address information of the first terminal device to the SMF, the address information of the first terminal device may also be determined according to the identifier of the data network corresponding to the location of the terminal device. It can be seen that the address information of the first terminal device may be actively sent to the SMF by the UPF, or may be sent by the UPF based on the SMF request.

In addition, the SMF may establish a data path between the offload node and a corresponding UPF of the first data network. After the SMF receives the identifier of the first data network from the UPF, or after the SMF determines the identifier of the first data network, a data path between the splitting node and the UPF corresponding to the first data network may be established, as shown in fig. 3, between the ULCL/BP and the L-PSA1, or a data path of the session of the first terminal device may be reconfigured, including: and adding or inserting UPF and a shunting node corresponding to the first data network. The data path may be established by the SMF according to the identifier of the first data network sent by the UPF network element, or may be established by the SMF according to the DNS request information sent by the UPF network element. The shunting node can be ULCL, BP, other network elements or devices with the same function. The data path may also be referred to as a user plane path. In the case that the data path of the session of the first terminal is not inserted into the splitting node, that is, the splitting node does not exist, the splitting node may be inserted first, and then the data path between the splitting node and the UPF corresponding to the first data network is established. In case a drop node already exists, i.e. has been inserted, a path between the drop node and the UPF corresponding to the identity of the first data network may be established. The UPF corresponding to the first data network of the splitting node may be co-located or independent.

After the SMF establishes a data path between the splitting node and the UPF corresponding to the first data network, it may be determined whether the data network between the splitting node and the UPF corresponding to the first data network is successfully established, and in case that the data path between the splitting node and the UPF corresponding to the first data network is successfully established, address information of the first application server may be sent to the first terminal device. After the first terminal device receives the address information of the first application server, the first terminal device can communicate with the first application server according to the address information of the first application server, and can access the first application server according to the address information of the first application server. In one case, the SMF may send address information of the first application server to the first terminal device through the NAS message. In another case, the SMF may send address information of the first application server to the first terminal device through the user plane path. The user plane path may be smf→the drop node→the first terminal device. The address information of the first application server may be sent to the first terminal device carried in a DNS response message.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 6, the communication method may include the following steps.

601. The first terminal device establishes a session.

602. The first terminal device sends first request information including an identification of the application to the UPF.

Correspondingly, the UPF receives first request information from the first terminal device comprising an identification of the application.

603. When an application server corresponding to the identification of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list, the UPF sends DNS request information comprising the identification of the application to the SMF.

In one case, the SMF may configure the identity of the application server to which the data network corresponds. In another case, the UPF may configure the identity of the application server to which the data network corresponds. In addition, the SMF or the UPF may be further configured with subnet information corresponding to the identification of the data network.

In addition, the SMF may determine the segment information of the MEC or the segment information of the data network according to the identification of the segment corresponding to the data network. The SMF may be configured with an identification of the network segment to which the data network corresponds. The identification of the network segment to which the data network corresponds may also be configured in the UPF.

In one case, the SMF may configure the identity of the data network to which the location of the terminal device corresponds. In another case, the UPF may configure an identification of the data network to which the location of the terminal device corresponds.

In another case, the SMF or the UPF may configure a service range corresponding to the data network, and the SMF or the UPF may determine, according to the correspondence, a data network to which the current location of the terminal device may be accessed.

Step 603 may be performed by the UPF based on the SMF indication information, or may be performed by the UPF based on a configured rule.

604. The SMF determines the address information of the first application server for the first terminal equipment according to the DNS request information.

There are three ways for the SMF to determine the address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information, and the detailed description may refer to the above related description.

605. The SMF reconfigures the data path of the first terminal device session.

606. The SMF sends address information of the first application server to the first terminal device.

607. The first terminal device accesses the first application server according to the address information.

The detailed descriptions of steps 601-607 may refer to the related descriptions above, and are not repeated herein.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 7, the communication apparatus may include:

a receiving unit 701, configured to receive first request information from a first terminal device, where the first request information includes an identifier of an application;

A sending unit 702, configured to send DNS request information to the session management functional network element when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in the data network list, where the data network list includes the identifier of the data network supporting the first terminal device in the current location, and the DNS request information includes the identifier of the application.

In one embodiment, the receiving unit 701 is further configured to receive indication information from the session management function network element, where the indication information is used to instruct the user plane function network element to send the DNS request information to the session management function network element when there is an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network in the data network list.

In one embodiment, the receiving unit 701 is further configured to receive a list of data networks from a session management function network element; or alternatively

The communication device may further include:

a determining unit 703, configured to determine the data network list.

In an embodiment, the sending unit 702 is further configured to send, to the session management function network element, second request information before the receiving unit 701 receives the data network list from the session management function network element, where the second request information includes an identifier of the first terminal device, and the second request information enables to determine the data network list.

In one embodiment, the determining unit 703 is further configured to determine, according to the identifier of the application, the data network list, and the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list, that an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list.

In an embodiment, the receiving unit 701 is further configured to receive an identification of an application server deployed by the data network from the data network list of the session management function network element.

In one embodiment, the sending unit 702 is further configured to send, before the receiving unit 701 receives the identification of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list of the session management function network element, third request information to the session management function network element, where the third request information enables to determine the identification of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list.

In one embodiment, the DNS request information enables determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device, where the first application server is an application server corresponding to an identifier of the application deployed in the first data network, and the data network list includes the identifier of the first data network.

In one embodiment, the DNS request information enabling determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device includes:

the DNS request information enables to select an identification of the first data network from the data network list according to the identification of the application, and to determine address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the identification of the first data network.

In one embodiment, the DNS request information enabling determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device based on the identification of the first data network includes:

the DNS request information enables the session management function network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, and receive address information of a first application server from the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network.

the DNS request information enables the session management function network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the first data network identifier, and the DNS request information enables the DNS server corresponding to the equipment of the first data network to send the address information of the first application server to the first terminal equipment through the user plane function network element corresponding to the equipment of the first data network.

In one embodiment, the sending, by the session management function network element, the DNS request information to the DNS server corresponding to the identity of the first data network includes:

and the session management function network element sends the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network through the user plane function network element corresponding to the identification of the first data network.

the DNS request information enables the session management function network element to acquire address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server, and determines the address information of the first application server for the first terminal equipment from the acquired address information.

In one embodiment, the session management function network element obtaining address information of an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application from the DNS server includes:

the session management function network element sends the DNS request information and the address information of the first terminal device to the DNS server, and receives the address information of the application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server.

The session management function network element sends the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device, and receives the address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from the DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device.

In one embodiment, the determining, by the session management function network element, address information of the first application server for the first terminal device from the obtained address information includes:

and under the condition that the number of the acquired address information is larger than 1, the session management function network element selects the address information of the first application server from the acquired address information according to one or more of the priority, time delay and load conditions of the application server or the data network.

In one embodiment, the DNS request information enables establishment of a data path between the splitting node and a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

In one embodiment, the communication device may further include:

a selecting unit 704, configured to select an identifier of the first data network from the data network list according to the identifier of the application;

a sending unit 702, configured to send an identifier of the first data network to a session management function network element;

The DNS request information enabling determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device includes:

the DNS request information and the identification of the first data network enable determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device.

In one embodiment, the DNS request information and the identification enabling of the first data network determining address information of the first application server for the first terminal device comprises:

the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network enable the session management function network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network and receive address information of a first application server from the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network.

the DNS request information and the identifier of the first data network enable the session management function network element to send the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, and the DNS request information enables the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network to send the address information of the first application server to the first terminal equipment through the user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

In one embodiment, the identification of the first data network enables establishment of a data path between the offload node and a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

In one embodiment, the DNS request information enables the session management network element to send address information of the first application server to the first terminal device.

The more detailed descriptions of the receiving unit 701, the transmitting unit 702, the determining unit 703 and the selecting unit 704 may be directly obtained by referring to the related descriptions of the UPF in the method embodiments shown in fig. 5 and fig. 6, which are not described herein.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 8, the communication apparatus may include:

a receiving unit 801, configured to receive DNS request information, where the DNS request information is sent by a user plane function network element when an application server corresponding to an identifier of an application deployed on a data network exists in a data network list, the data network list includes an identifier of a data network supporting a first terminal device that is in a current location, the DNS request information includes an identifier of the application, and the identifier of the application is an identifier of an application included in request information from the first terminal device;

A determining unit 802, configured to determine address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information, where the first application server is an application server corresponding to an identifier of the application deployed in the first data network, and the data network list includes the identifier of the first data network.

In one embodiment, the communication device may further include:

a sending unit 803, configured to send indication information to a user plane function network element, where the indication information is configured to instruct the user plane function network element to send the DNS request information to a session management function network element when an application server corresponding to an identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list.

In one embodiment, the sending unit 803 is further configured to send a data network list to the user plane function network element, where the data network list enables determining that an application server corresponding to the identifier of the data network on which the application is deployed exists in the data network list.

In one embodiment, the receiving unit 801 is further configured to receive second request information from the user plane function network element before the sending unit 803 sends the data network list to the user plane function network element, where the second request information includes an identifier of the first terminal device;

The determining unit 802 is further configured to determine a data network list according to the identifier of the first terminal device and the identifier of the data network corresponding to the location of the terminal device.

In one embodiment, the sending unit 803 is further configured to send, to the user plane function network element, an identifier of an application server deployed by a data network in the data network list, where the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list enables determining that an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list.

In one embodiment, the receiving unit 801 is further configured to receive third request information from the user plane function network element before the sending unit 803 sends the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list to the user plane function network element;

the determining unit 802 is further configured to determine an identification of an application server deployed by the data network in the data network list according to the third request information.

In one embodiment, the determining unit 802 determines address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information includes:

selecting an identifier of a first data network from the data network list according to the identifier of the application;

And determining the address information of the first application server for the first terminal equipment according to the identification of the first data network.

In one embodiment, the determining unit 802 determines address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the identification of the first data network includes:

the DNS request information is sent to a DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network;

address information of a first application server from a DNS server corresponding to an identification of a first data network is received.

and sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, wherein the DNS request information enables the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network to send the address information of the first application server to the first terminal equipment through a user plane function network element corresponding to the identifier of the first data network.

In one embodiment, the determining unit 802 sends the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identity of the first data network includes:

and sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identification of the first data network through the user plane function network element corresponding to the identification of the first data network.

acquiring address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application from a DNS server according to the DNS request information;

and determining the address information of the first application server for the first terminal equipment from the acquired address information.

In one embodiment, the determining unit 802 obtains, from the DNS server, address information of an application server corresponding to the identification of the application according to the DNS request information, including:

sending the DNS request information and the address information of the first terminal equipment to a DNS server;

address information of an application server corresponding to an identification of the application from the DNS server is received.

sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal equipment;

address information of an application server corresponding to an identification of the application from a DNS server corresponding to the address information of the first terminal device is received.

In one embodiment, the determining unit 802 determines, from the acquired address information, address information of the first application server for the first terminal device, including:

And under the condition that the number of the acquired address information is larger than 1, selecting the address information of the first application server from the acquired address information according to one or more of the priority, time delay and load conditions of the application server or the data network.

receiving an identification of a first data network from a user plane function network element;

and determining the address information of the first application server for the first terminal equipment according to the DNS request information and the identification of the first data network.

In one embodiment, determining unit 802 determines address information of the first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information and the identification of the first data network includes:

And sending the DNS request information to a DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network, wherein the DNS request information enables the DNS server corresponding to the identifier of the first data network to send the address information of the first application server to the first terminal equipment through a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

In one embodiment, the communication device may further include:

a setting unit 804, configured to set up a data path between the splitting node and a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

In an embodiment, the sending unit 803 is further configured to send the address information of the first application server to the first terminal device.

The more detailed descriptions of the receiving unit 801, the determining unit 802, the transmitting unit 803 and the establishing unit 804 may be directly obtained by referring to the related descriptions of the SMF in the method embodiments shown in fig. 5 and 6, which are not described herein.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 9, the communication device may include a processor 901, a memory 902, an input interface 903, an output interface 904, and a bus 905. The memory 902 may be self-contained and may be coupled to the processor 901 via a bus 905. The memory 902 may also be integrated with the processor 901. Wherein a bus 905 is used to enable the connection between these components.

In an embodiment, the communication device may be a UPF or a module (e.g. a chip) within the UPF, and the processor 901 is configured to control the receiving unit 701 and the transmitting unit 702 to perform the operations performed in the above embodiments when the computer program instructions stored in the memory 902 are executed, and the processor 901 is further configured to perform the operations performed in the above embodiments by the determining unit 703 and the selecting unit 704, where the input interface 903 is configured to perform the operations performed by the receiving unit 701 in the above embodiments, and the output interface 904 is configured to perform the operations performed by the transmitting unit 702 in the above embodiments. The above UPF or the modules in the UPF may also be used to execute the various methods executed by the UPF in the embodiments of the methods of fig. 5 and 6, which are not described herein.

In an embodiment, the communication device may be an SMF or a module (e.g. a chip) within the SMF, and the processor 901 is configured to control the receiving unit 801 and the transmitting unit 803 to perform the operations performed in the above embodiment when the computer program instructions stored in the memory 902 are executed, and the processor 901 is further configured to perform the operations performed in the above embodiment by the determining unit 802 and the establishing unit 804, and the input interface 903 is configured to perform the operations performed by the receiving unit 801 in the above embodiment, and the output interface 904 is configured to perform the operations performed by the transmitting unit 803 in the above embodiment. The SMF or the modules in the SMF may also be used to perform the various methods performed by the SMF in the embodiments of the methods of fig. 5 and 6, which are not described herein.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 10, the communication apparatus may include an input interface 1001, a logic circuit 1002, and an output interface 1003. The input interface 1001 and the output interface 1003 are connected by a logic circuit 1002. Wherein the input interface 1001 is for receiving information from other communication devices, and the output interface 1003 is for outputting, scheduling or transmitting information to other communication devices. The logic circuit 1002 is configured to perform operations other than the operations of the input interface 1001 and the output interface 1003, for example, to realize the functions realized by the processor 901 in the above-described embodiment. The communication device may be a UPF or a module of the UPF, or may be an SMF or a module in the SMF. The more detailed descriptions of the input interface 1001, the logic circuit 1002, and the output interface 1003 may be directly obtained by directly referring to the related descriptions of the SMF or the UPF in the above method embodiments, which are not described herein.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses a computer readable storage medium, wherein the instructions are stored, and the instructions are executed to execute the method in the embodiment of the method.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed, perform the method of the above method embodiment.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses a communication system which comprises UPF and SMF, and the specific description can refer to the communication methods shown in fig. 5 and 6.

The foregoing embodiments have been provided for the purpose of illustrating the technical solution and advantageous effects of the present application in further detail, and it should be understood that the foregoing embodiments are merely illustrative of the present application and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements, etc. made on the basis of the technical solution of the present application should be included in the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the user plane function network element receives first request information from first terminal equipment, wherein the first request information comprises an identification of an application;

and when an application server corresponding to the application identifier is arranged in the data network list in the data network deployment, the user plane function network element sends Domain Name System (DNS) request information to the session management function network element, wherein the data network list comprises the identifier of the data network supporting the first terminal equipment with the service at the current position, and the DNS request information comprises the application identifier.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving indication information from the session management function network element, where the indication information is used to instruct a user plane function network element to send the DNS request information to the session management function network element when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving the data network list from the session management function network element; or alternatively

And determining the data network list.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the method further comprises:

and determining that an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list according to the identifier of the application, the data network list and the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

and receiving an identification of an application server deployed by the data network in the data network list from the session management function network element.

6. The method according to any of claims 1-3, 5, wherein the DNS request information enables determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device, the first application server being an application server corresponding to an identification of the application deployed in a first data network, the data network list comprising the identification of the first data network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the DNS request information enables establishment of a data path between a offload node and a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises:

selecting the identification of the first data network from the data network list according to the identification of the application;

and sending the identification of the first data network to the session management function network element, wherein the identification of the first data network enables the address information of the first application server to be determined.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the identification of the first data network enables establishment of a data path between a drop node and a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the DNS request information enables sending address information of the first application server to the first terminal device.

11. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a session management function network element receives Domain Name System (DNS) request information, wherein the DNS request information is sent by a user plane function network element when an application server corresponding to an application identifier of a data network deployment exists in a data network list, the data network list comprises an identifier of a data network supporting a first terminal device serving a current position, the DNS request information comprises the application identifier, and the application identifier is an application identifier included in request information from the first terminal device;

the session management function network element determines address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information, the first application server is an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed in a first data network, and the data network list comprises the identifier of the first data network.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

And sending indication information to the user plane function network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating the user plane function network element to send the DNS request information to a session management function network element when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by a data network exists in the data network list.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

and sending the data network list to the user plane function network element, wherein the data network list enables the data network to be determined to be provided with an application server corresponding to the identification of the application deployed by the data network in the data network list.

14. The method of claim 11, the method further comprising:

and sending the identification of the application server of the data network deployment in the data network list to the user plane function network element, wherein the identification of the application server of the data network deployment in the data network list enables the determination that the application server corresponding to the identification of the application deployment of the data network exists in the data network list.

15. The method according to any of claims 11-14, wherein said determining address information of a first application server for said first terminal device based on said DNS request information comprises:

16. The method according to any of claims 11-14, wherein said determining address information of a first application server for said first terminal device based on said DNS request information comprises:

acquiring address information of an application server corresponding to the application identifier from a DNS server according to the DNS request information;

17. The method according to any of claims 11-14, wherein said determining address information of a first application server for said first terminal device based on said DNS request information comprises:

receiving an identification of the first data network from the user plane function network element;

and determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal equipment according to the DNS request information and the identification of the first data network.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11-14, further comprising:

And establishing a data path between the shunting node and the user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

19. The method according to any one of claims 11-14, further comprising:

and sending the address information of the first application server to the first terminal equipment.

20. A communication device, wherein the communication device is a user plane functional network element or a module in a user plane functional network element, the communication device comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive first request information from a first terminal device, where the first request information includes an identifier of an application;

and the sending unit is used for sending Domain Name System (DNS) request information to the session management function network element when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed on the data network exists in a data network list, wherein the data network list comprises the identifier of the data network supporting the first terminal equipment with the service at the current position, and the DNS request information comprises the identifier of the application.

21. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to receive indication information from the session management function network element, where the indication information is used to instruct a user plane function network element to send the DNS request information to the session management function network element when there is an application server corresponding to an identifier of the application where the data network is deployed in the data network list.

22. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said receiving unit is further configured to receive said list of data networks from said session management function network element; or alternatively

The apparatus further comprises:

and the first determining unit is used for determining the data network list.

23. The apparatus according to any one of claims 20-22, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

and the second determining unit is used for determining that an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list according to the identifier of the application, the data network list and the identifier of the application server deployed by the data network in the data network list.

24. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to receive an identification of an application server of the data network deployment in the data network list from the session management function network element.

25. The apparatus according to any of claims 20-22, 24, wherein the DNS request information enables determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device, the first application server being an application server corresponding to an identification of the application deployed in a first data network, the data network list comprising the identification of the first data network.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the DNS request information enables establishment of a data path between a offload node and a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

a selecting unit, configured to select an identifier of the first data network from the data network list according to the identifier of the application;

the sending unit is further configured to send an identifier of the first data network to the session management function network element, where the identifier of the first data network enables determining address information of the first application server.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the identification of the first data network enables establishment of a data path between a drop node and a user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

29. The arrangement according to any of the claims 26-28, characterized in that said DNS request information enables said session management function network element to send address information of said first application server to said first terminal device.

30. A communication device, wherein the communication device is a session management function network element or a module in a session management function network element, the communication device comprising:

A receiving unit, configured to receive DNS request information, where the DNS request information is sent by a user plane function network element when an application server corresponding to an identifier of an application deployed on a data network exists in a data network list, where the data network list includes an identifier of a data network supporting a first terminal device that services the first terminal device is located at a current location, and the DNS request information includes the identifier of the application, and the identifier of the application is an identifier of the application included in the request information from the first terminal device;

the determining unit is configured to determine address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information, where the first application server is an application server corresponding to an identifier of the application deployed in a first data network, and the data network list includes the identifier of the first data network.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

and the sending unit is used for sending indication information to the user plane function network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating the user plane function network element to send the DNS request information to the session management function network element when an application server corresponding to the identifier of the application deployed by the data network exists in the data network list.

32. The apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send the data network list to the user plane function network element, where the data network list enables determining that there is an application server corresponding to an identifier of the data network in the data network list where the application is deployed.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, the sending unit further configured to send, to the user plane function network element, an identification of an application server of the data network deployment in the data network list, where the identification of the application server of the data network deployment in the data network list enables determining that there is an application server corresponding to the identification of the data network deployment with the application in the data network list.

34. The apparatus according to any one of claims 30-33, wherein the determining unit determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information comprises:

35. The apparatus according to any one of claims 30-33, wherein the determining unit determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information comprises:

36. The apparatus according to any one of claims 30-33, wherein the determining unit determining address information of a first application server for the first terminal device according to the DNS request information comprises:

37. The apparatus according to any one of claims 30-33, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

and the establishing unit is used for establishing a data path between the shunting node and the user plane function network element corresponding to the first data network.

38. The apparatus according to any of the claims 31-33, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send address information of the first application server to the first terminal device.

39. A communication device comprising a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from other communication devices than the communication device, and an output interface for outputting information to other communication devices than the communication device, the processor invoking a computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 1-10.

40. A communication device comprising a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from other communication devices than the communication device, and an output interface for outputting information to other communication devices than the communication device, the processor invoking a computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 11-19.

41. A communication system comprising an apparatus as claimed in claim 39 and an apparatus as claimed in claim 40.

42. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium has stored therein a computer program or computer instructions, which, when executed, implement the method of any of claims 1-19.

43. A method of communication, comprising:

when an application server corresponding to the application identifier is deployed on a data network in a data network list, the user plane function network element sends Domain Name System (DNS) request information to a session management function network element, the data network list comprises the identifier of a data network supporting the first terminal equipment with service at the current position, the DNS request information comprises the application identifier, and the application identifier is the application identifier included in the request information from the first terminal equipment;

the session management function network element receives the Domain Name System (DNS) request information;