CN114287142A

CN114287142A - Communication method and device, network equipment and terminal equipment

Info

Publication number: CN114287142A
Application number: CN201980099688.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 许阳
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2019-09-06
Filing date: 2019-09-06
Publication date: 2022-04-05
Anticipated expiration: 2039-09-06
Also published as: WO2021042398A1; CN114287142B

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and device, network equipment and terminal equipment, wherein the method comprises the following steps: a first core network element sends first information to a terminal device, wherein the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.

Description

Communication method and device, network equipment and terminal equipment

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of mobile communication, in particular to a communication method and device, network equipment and terminal equipment.

Background

The primary function of Edge Computing (EC) is to offload data traffic to a local server. In order to realize the interaction between the terminal device and the local server, the terminal device needs to obtain the address of the local server first. At present, the terminal device acquires the address of the local server, and needs to perform complex interaction with the network side, which causes additional signaling overhead.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and device, network equipment and terminal equipment.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the application comprises the following steps:

a first core network element sends first information to a terminal device, wherein the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives first information sent by a first core network element, wherein the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.

The communication device provided by the embodiment of the application comprises:

a sending unit, configured to send first information to a terminal device, where the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.

a receiving unit, configured to receive first information sent by a first core network element, where the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.

The network equipment provided by the embodiment of the application comprises a processor and a memory. The memory is used for storing computer programs, and the processor is used for calling and running the computer programs stored in the memory and executing the communication method.

The terminal device provided by the embodiment of the application comprises a processor and a memory. The memory is used for storing computer programs, and the processor is used for calling and running the computer programs stored in the memory and executing the communication method.

The chip provided by the embodiment of the application is used for realizing the communication method.

Specifically, the chip includes: and the processor is used for calling and running the computer program from the memory so that the equipment provided with the chip executes the communication method.

A computer-readable storage medium provided in an embodiment of the present application stores a computer program, and the computer program causes a computer to execute the communication method described above.

The computer program product provided by the embodiment of the present application includes computer program instructions, which make a computer execute the above communication method.

The computer program provided by the embodiment of the present application, when running on a computer, causes the computer to execute the above-described communication method.

By the technical scheme, the work of obtaining the address of the first server is realized through the first core network element, so that the situation that the terminal equipment is communicated with other servers to obtain the address of the first server is avoided, and signaling interaction is saved. On the other hand, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application fully uses the existing flow and mechanism, has small influence on the existing network and is easy to realize.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the application and together with the description serve to explain the application and not to limit the application. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2-1 is a schematic diagram of a coverage area corresponding to a local server provided in an embodiment of the present application;

2-2 are a first network architecture diagram provided by embodiments of the present application;

2-3 are diagrams of network architectures provided by embodiments of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a first flowchart for obtaining an address of an access server according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a second flowchart for obtaining an address of an access server according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a first schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

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

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip of an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), a system, a 5G communication system, a future communication system, or the like.

Illustratively, a communication system 100 applied in the embodiment of the present application is shown in fig. 1. The communication system 100 may include a network device 110, and the network device 110 may be a device that communicates with a terminal 120 (or referred to as a communication terminal, a terminal). Network device 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and may communicate with terminals located within the coverage area. Optionally, the Network device 110 may be an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN), or the Network device may be a mobile switching center, a relay station, an Access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a hub, a switch, a bridge, a router, a Network-side device in a 5G Network, or a Network device in a future communication system, and the like.

The communication system 100 further comprises at least one terminal 120 located within the coverage area of the network device 110. As used herein, "terminal" includes, but is not limited to, connection via a wireline, such as via a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), a Digital cable, a direct cable connection; and/or another data connection/network; and/or via a Wireless interface, e.g., to a cellular Network, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a digital television Network such as a DVB-H Network, a satellite Network, an AM-FM broadcast transmitter; and/or means of another terminal arranged to receive/transmit communication signals; and/or Internet of Things (IoT) devices. A terminal that is arranged to communicate over a wireless interface may be referred to as a "wireless communication terminal", "wireless terminal", or "mobile terminal". Examples of mobile terminals include, but are not limited to, satellite or cellular telephones; personal Communications Systems (PCS) terminals that may combine cellular radiotelephones with data processing, facsimile, and data Communications capabilities; PDAs that may include radiotelephones, pagers, internet/intranet access, Web browsers, notepads, calendars, and/or Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers; and conventional laptop and/or palmtop receivers or other electronic devices that include a radiotelephone transceiver. A terminal can refer to an access terminal, User Equipment (UE), subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, User terminal, wireless communication device, User agent, or User Equipment. An access terminal may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having Wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a Wireless modem, a vehicle mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal in a 5G network, or a terminal in a future evolved PLMN, etc.

Optionally, a Device to Device (D2D) communication may be performed between the terminals 120.

Alternatively, the 5G communication system or the 5G network may also be referred to as a New Radio (NR) system or an NR network.

Fig. 1 exemplarily shows one network device and two terminals, and optionally, the communication system 100 may include a plurality of network devices and may include other numbers of terminals within the coverage of each network device, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the communication system 100 may further include other network entities such as a network controller, a mobility management entity, and the like, which is not limited in this embodiment.

It should be understood that a device having a communication function in a network/system in the embodiments of the present application may be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1 as an example, the communication device may include a network device 110 and a terminal 120 having a communication function, and the network device 110 and the terminal 120 may be the specific devices described above and are not described again here; the communication device may also include other devices in the communication system 100, such as other network entities, for example, a network controller, a mobility management entity, and the like, which is not limited in this embodiment.

It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B, may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions related to the embodiments of the present application are described below.

Edge calculation

A typical Edge calculation is Mobile Edge calculation (EMC), and it should be noted that the Edge calculation mentioned in the embodiments of the present application is also applicable to Mobile Edge calculation.

The edge calculation has the main function of shunting data traffic to the local server, and the local server has the characteristics of low data transmission delay, obvious bandwidth saving on a wired network and the like due to the fact that the local server is close to a user. As shown in fig. 2-1, different areas may be covered by different local servers, e.g., local server-1 covering area 1, local server-2 covering area 2, local server-3 covering area 3. When the terminal device moves to different areas, the local server corresponding to the area can be accessed aiming at partial service or all services. When the terminal device is not in a specific area (referring to an area covered by the local server), the terminal device can still access the remote server (i.e., the non-local server).

For the coverage areas of the different local servers in fig. 2-1, it can be considered that there is one network slice for transmitting data in each coverage area, i.e. PDU sessions transmitting data in each area are distinguishable by at least S-NSSAI and/or DNN. Optionally, the S-NSSAI is composed of a Slice/Service Type (SST) and a Slice Differential (SD), and since they are edge computing services, the SSTs corresponding to the area 1, the area 2, and the area 3 have the same value, but the SD has a different value, and the DNN may also be used to select the location (i.e., UPF) of the egress gateway.

It should be noted that, the remote server is relative to the local server, the local server is used for processing a part of services or all services in a specific area, and after the terminal device moves out of the area covered by the local server, the processing of the part of services or all services needs to interact with the remote server. The remote server has no absolute relationship to distance, but in contrast the local server is typically closer to the user in a particular area.

Fig. 2-2 shows a network architecture through which the connection relationship between the local server and the remote server and other network elements in the network can be determined, as shown in fig. 2-2, the network architecture relates to a device including: a terminal device, a base station, a User Plane Function (UPF), an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a Session Management Function (SMF), and a Domain Name System (DNS). It can be seen that the local server and the remote server are respectively connected to two different UPFs. The terminal device can establish a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session with a remote server and a PDU session with a local server at the same time.

It should be noted that the local server referred to in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as an access server, or an EC server or an MEC server.

UE policy

Fig. 2-3 illustrate a 5G network architecture, and as shown in fig. 2-3, the devices involved in the 5G network architecture include: UE, Radio Access Network (RAN), UPF, Data Network (DN), AMF, SMF, Policy Control Function Network element (PCF), Application Function Network element (AF), Authentication Server Function Network element (AUSF), and Unified Data Management Network element (UDM). The network elements related to the policy are mainly PCF, AMF, SMF, RAN and UE. The SMF is mainly responsible for executing policies related to the session, the AMF is mainly responsible for executing policies related to the access and UE policies, and the policy issuing and updating on the two network elements (AMF and SMF) are all managed and controlled by the PCF.

Specifically, the UE policy, the PCF and the UE monitor information related to the UE policy through a Container (Container), including content of the UE policy, UE policy identity, and the like. The container is sent to the AMF by the UE through the NAS message in the uplink direction, and is continuously transmitted (without sensing or modifying) to the PCF by the AMF, the downlink direction is opposite to the uplink direction, the PCF sends the container to the AMF, and the AMF further transmits to the UE through the NAS message.

In order to be able to bind specific service data (or application data) to a specific PDU session for transmission (especially, in an edge computing scenario, to bind specific service data to a PDU session corresponding to a local server for transmission), it needs to be implemented using a UE policy. The UE Policy may be a UE routing Policy (URSP) for determining a binding relationship between service data and a PDU session, and also determining what PDU session needs to be established by the UE to satisfy the binding relationship. The URSP policy may be sent to the AMF by the core network element PCF in fig. 2-2 through a Container (Container) and then passed through to the UE by the AMF, or may be a policy configured locally by the UE.

The URSP policy contains a plurality of policy rules (called URSP rules), each of which is composed of a Traffic Descriptor (Traffic Descriptor) and a set of Route Selection Descriptors (RSDs). The service descriptor in the URSP is used for describing a specific service, for example, a microblog service can be described by a range of IP @ 1-9, and for example, an IMS service can be described by an IMS DNN. One or more RSDs may then be under one service descriptor. The value of the Single-Network Slice Selection assistance Information (S-NSSAI) and the value of the Data Network Name (DNN) in one RSD may be one or more, and the values of the other parameters may include only one. Thus, each RSD may correspond to one or more sets of parameter combinations, each set of parameter combination being used to define characteristics of a PDU session, and service data corresponding to a service descriptor may be transmitted in the PDU session corresponding to a certain set of parameter combinations of the RSD. When service data described by the service descriptor appears, the UE can select a set of parameter combination according to the corresponding RSD, and initiate a PDU session establishment request. Each time the UE initiates a PDU session setup request, a set of parameter combinations is added to the request message. The relevant contents of the URSP are shown in tables 1 and 2 below, where table 1 is the contents of the URSP Rule and table 2 is the contents of the RSD:

TABLE 1

TABLE 2

The UE associates application data (or service data) to a corresponding PDU session for transmission based on the URSP policy, and the mechanism is as follows:

when data appear in an application layer, the UE checks whether the characteristics of the application data are matched with the Traffic Descriptor of one of the URSP rules by using the URSP rules in the URSP policy, the checking sequence is determined according to the priority (Precedence) in the Traffic Descriptor in the URSP rules, namely the UE checks the matching condition in sequence based on the priority sequence, and when the application data are matched with one URSP rule, the PDU session is bound by using the RSD list under the URSP rule.

The above process of finding a suitable PDU session for application data is called "evaluation", i.e. finding or establishing a suitable PDU session binding. The RSD in the URSP rule used by the UE is considered as a valid RSD to perform the above-mentioned evaluation procedure only if the following conditions are satisfied:

-if there is an S-NSSAI in the RSD, and the S-NSSAI must belong to one of Allowed NSSAI (corresponding to the non-roaming case) or Mapping of Allowed NSSAI (corresponding to the roaming case);

-if there is a DNN in the RSD and it is a LADN DNN, then the UE must be within the active area corresponding to this LADN;

-if there is an Access Type preference (Access Type preference) in the RSD and Multi-Access is set, the UE must support the ATSSS function;

-if there is a Timer Window (Timer Window) and/or a Location criterion (Location criterion) in the RSD, the UE must fulfill the required time and/or Location condition.

Otherwise, the UE will not use the RSD for binding of data flow or establishment of PDU session. Specifically, the UE considers only valid RSDs or ignores invalid RSDs, based on which the valid conditions of a specific PDU session and the traffic data that can be transmitted can be defined according to the URSP mechanism.

Based on fig. 2-2, in order to find the address of the local server, the terminal device generally needs to establish a connection with the remote server to interact with the remote server, obtain the address of the local server, and then interact with the local server. Thus, the terminal device needs to establish at least two PDU sessions, one for remote server interaction and one for local server interaction. This causes extra signaling overhead, especially for interacting with the remote server to obtain the address of the local server, and the PDU session corresponding to the terminal device establishing a remote server is very redundant. Therefore, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application provides a scheme for establishing only one PDU session and obtaining the address of the local server in the process of establishing or modifying the PDU session.

As shown in fig. 2-2, for a specific service data (or application data), the terminal device may directly communicate with the local server, which helps to improve communication efficiency. In order to enable the terminal device to obtain the address of the local server in the process of establishing the PDU session communicated with the local server, the following technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are provided.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 3, the communication method includes the following steps:

step 301: the method comprises the steps that a first core network element sends first information to a terminal device, and the terminal device receives the first information sent by the first core network element, wherein the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the first core network element includes an SMF and/or a UPF.

In the embodiment of the present application, the implementation of the first information may be, but is not limited to, the following manner:

the first method is as follows: specifically, the first information is carried in a downlink NAS message (that is, an UCU message) sent by the first core network element, based on a UE Configuration Update (UCU) flow implementation.

Further, optionally, the first information is carried in a first container, where the first container is sent by the PCF to the AMF, and the AMF sends the first container to the terminal device through a downlink NAS message.

The second method comprises the following steps: specifically, the first information is carried in a first response message, where the first response message is a response message after the first core network element receives a first request message sent by the terminal device, and the first request message is used to request to establish or modify a first session.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the first request message is a session establishment request message or a session modification request message.

In this embodiment of the present application, the first session is a session that needs to be established or modified. Optionally, the first session is a PDU session.

The content carried in the first request message is described below.

Optionally, the first request message carries a first session attribute parameter, and the first request message carries a second session attribute parameter, where the second session attribute parameter is different from the first session attribute parameterThe session attribute parameter is for at least one of:

the first core network element determines the service type;

the first core network element determines whether to acquire the address information of the at least one first server from a second server;

and the first core network element determines a first route of a second server and acquires the address information of the at least one first server from the second server according to the first route.

In an alternative embodiment, the first session attribute parameter comprises at least one of: S-NSSAI, DNN.

Optionally, the first request message carries first indication information; the first indication information is used for indicating whether the address information of the first server is requested to be acquired or not.

In an optional embodiment, the first indication information is carried in a first container, and the first container is carried in the first request message; the first core network element sends (or transparently transmits) the first container to the second server without any modification (or imperceptibility).

Optionally, the first request message carries a first routing identifier; the first routing identifier is used for the first core network element to address a second server, and address information of the at least one first server is obtained from the second server.

Optionally, the first request message carries at least one first serviceIdentifying; the at least one first service identifier is used for the first core network element to determine at least one service, and address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one service is acquired from a second server.

In an optional embodiment, the at least one first service identifier is carried in a first container; the first container is carried in the first request message; after the first core network element acquires the first container from the first request message, the first core network element sends the first container to the second server; the first core network element receives a second container sent by the second server, and the second container bears address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one first service identifier; and the first core network element carries the second container in the first response message and sends the first response message to the terminal equipment.

In another optional implementation, after obtaining the at least one first service identifier from the first request message, the first core network element sends the at least one first service identifier to the second server, or generates at least one second service identifier based on the at least one first service identifier, and sends the at least one second service identifier to the second server; the first core network element receives address information of at least one first server which is sent by the second server and corresponds to the at least one first service identifier; and the first core network element carries the address information of the at least one first server in the first response message and sends the address information to the terminal equipment.

It should be noted that the content carried in the first request message may be any combination of the above contents. The content carried in the first request message is illustrated below with reference to several alternative examples.

Example 1: the first request message carries a first session attribute parameter.

Example 2: the first request message carries a first session attribute parameter and at least one of: the first indication information and the first route identification.

Example 3: the first request message carries at least one first service identifier.

Example 4: the first request message carries at least one first service identifier and at least one of: the first indication information and the first route identification.

The above examples are only examples, and the content carried in the first request message is not limited to the above examples, and may also be a combination of other contents.

In this embodiment of the application, the first core network element addresses the second server according to at least one of the following: the first routing identifier, the indication information from the second core network element, the local configuration information and at least one first service identifier; and further obtaining address information of the at least one first server from the second server.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the second server is a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server and/or a Domain Name System (DNS) server, and the second server may also be referred to as an external server.

In a specific implementation, the network side may, but is not limited to, find the address information of the first server (i.e., the local server, or the access server, or the EC server, or the MEC server) for the terminal device in the following manner.

The work of triggering the address lookup of the first server may be performed by the first core network element (SMF or UPF) (which may occur in a case where the container is not used in the second manner), may also be performed by the second server (which may occur in a case where the container is used in the second manner), or may also be performed by the terminal through a user plane PDU session (which may occur in a case of the first manner), the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application does not limit the manner of lookup the address of the first server, and one possible lookup manner is:

taking the example that the first core network element triggers to search for the address of the first server, the first core network element queries, according to the parameter in the first request message, a DHCP server (which may be a DHCP server in the second server) to obtain a domain name and/or an address of the first server, and if the domain name of the first server is obtained, may further query, to the DNS server, the address (such as an IP address) of the first server. Here, the DHCP server and/or the DNS service may both belong to the second server, that is to say the second server may contain two actually used servers.

Taking the example of the second server triggering a lookup of the address of the first server, the second server triggered lookup is substantially similar to the first core network element triggered lookup, except that the DHCP server and/or the DNS server may be a server other than the second server.

Taking the example that the terminal device triggers to search the address of the first server, the terminal device queries the second server according to the FQDN information in the first information, so as to obtain the address of the first server.

In this embodiment of the application, the first response message is a response message for the first request message, and the first response message carries address information of at least one first server. For example: the first response message carries address information of one first server or address information of a plurality of first servers.

Further, optionally, the first server includes at least an edge computing server. Here, the edge computing server may also become a local server or an access server.

A) In an optional embodiment of the present application, for a case of at least one service, a data flow of the at least one service is bound to be transmitted on the first session; accordingly, the address information of the at least one first server is used for the terminal device to transmit and/or receive the data stream of the at least one service bound to the first session to and/or from the at least one first server. B) In another optional implementation manner of this application, the first response message carries address information of a first server, where the address information of the first server is used for the terminal device to transmit part or all of the data stream bound to the first session to the first server, and/or receive part or all of the data stream bound to the first session from the first server.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, before a terminal device initiates session establishment or modification, a first rule is sent to the terminal device by a first core network element, and the terminal device receives the first rule sent by the first core network element, where the first rule is used for the terminal device to determine content carried in the first request message; wherein the first rule comprises at least one of:

the first indication information is used for indicating whether to request to acquire the address information of the first server or not;

and at least one service identifier corresponds to a first session attribute parameter, and the first session attribute parameter is used for describing the first session.

For example: the first rule is a URSP rule; the service identification is represented by a service descriptor in the URSP rule; the first indication information is carried in RSD under the URSP rule; the first session attribute parameter is carried in the RSD under the URSP rule. Further, optionally, the first rule further includes an effective condition, and the effective condition includes at least one of: effective time, effective duration and effective area.

In the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, when a terminal device needs to send a service data packet, if no corresponding PDU session can be bound, a corresponding PDU session needs to be newly established (whether a corresponding PDU session exists can be determined by a URSP rule or a local rule), and an address of the terminal device (that is, a session address or an address of the terminal device) can be obtained in a session establishment process. For this reason, the terminal device also requests the address of the access server corresponding to the service when establishing or modifying the session, so that the subsequent terminal device can directly communicate with the access server. After the session is successfully established, if the PDU session corresponding to the subsequent other service data packet is also the session, the address of the access server may also be used to communicate with the access server.

The following describes a technical solution of the embodiment of the present application with reference to the interaction flow diagrams shown in fig. 4 and fig. 5. In fig. 4 and 5, the SMF/UPF corresponds to a first core network element of the embodiment of the present application, the external server corresponds to a second server (e.g., a DNS server) of the embodiment of the present application, and the access server corresponds to a first server (e.g., an EC server, or an application server, or a local server) of the embodiment of the present application. Wherein, the external server is used for interacting with the core network element (i.e. SMF/UPF) to obtain the address of the access server.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a first flowchart of acquiring an address of an access server according to an embodiment of the present application, where the process includes the following steps:

step 401: the terminal equipment sends a PDU session establishment or modification request message to the SMF/UPF, wherein the PDU session establishment or modification request message carries a PDU session attribute parameter and optionally carries first indication information and/or a first routing identifier.

Here, the PDU session attribute parameter is used to determine the first PDU session.

In an optional implementation manner, the PDU session establishment or modification request message only carries a PDU session attribute parameter, and the SMF/UPF may determine whether the step 402 needs to be triggered according to the PDU session attribute parameter.

Here, the PDU session attribute parameter includes, but is not limited to, at least one of: S-NSSAI, DNN. It should be noted that the S-NSSAI and DNN themselves are used to select the core network gateway, since a particular gateway will correspond to the access server, and therefore it can be determined whether step 402 needs to be triggered according to the PDU session attribute parameters.

In another optional implementation manner, the PDU session setup or modification request message not only carries the PDU session attribute parameter, but also carries the first indication information and/or the first routing identifier.

The first indication information is used for indicating whether to request to acquire address information of an access server. For example, the first indication information is used to indicate that address information of the access server needs to be requested.

The first routing identifier is used for the SMF/UPF to address the external server, and specifically, the first routing identifier is used for notifying the SMF/UPF of the routing information of the external server, so that the SMF/UPF can find the corresponding external server according to the first routing identifier and ask the external server for the address information of the access server required by the terminal device. Alternatively, the first routing identifier may be a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), a server address, or the like. In addition, PDU session attribute parameters (e.g., DNN and/or S-NSSAI) may be identified as the first route.

It should be noted that, neither the first indication information nor the first routing identifier may be carried in the PDU session establishment or modification request message, and the SMF/UPF may determine whether the step 402 needs to be triggered according to the PDU session attribute parameter.

Optionally, in a case that the PDU session setup or modification request message carries the first indication information, the terminal device may encapsulate the first indication information in a container, carry the container in the PDU session setup or modification request message, and send the PDU session setup or modification request message to the SMF/UPF, where the SMF/UPF sends the container directly to the external server, that is, the SMF/UPF directly passes through the external server without sensing or performing any processing on the container.

Step 402: and the SMF/UPF interacts with an external server according to the content carried in the PDU session establishment or modification request message to obtain the address information of the access server.

Specifically, the SMF/UPF addresses the access server according to at least one of: and the PDU session attribute parameter, the first routing identification, the indication information of other network elements and the local configuration information interact with an external server, and relevant information is sent to the external server to obtain the address information of the access server.

Here, the interaction form between the SMF/UPF and the external server is not specifically limited, and the purpose is to obtain address information of the access server required by the terminal device from the external server, so that the terminal device can directly communicate with the access server through the user plane (for example, establish an HTTP connection with the access server to communicate).

Here, the address information of the access server includes, but is not limited to, an IP address, a MAC address, and the like.

It should be noted that the SMF may contact the external server, or the SMF notifies the UPF to contact the external server, thereby obtaining the address information of the access server.

Step 403: and the SMF/UPF sends a PDU session establishment or modification response message to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDU session establishment or modification response message carries the address information of the access server.

Here, the PDU session establishment or modification response message may carry address information of one access server, or may carry address information of a plurality of access servers. If the address information of an access server is carried, it indicates that all the service data bound to the first PDU session need to access the access server.

Alternatively, the address information of the access server may be carried by a container, and the container is passed through to the terminal device by the SMF/UPF, that is, the SMF/UPF does not perceive or modify the container. Further, if the external server receives the container (for example, the terminal device sends the container in step 401), the external server also replies to the container, and the SMF/UPF passes the container through the NAS message (specifically, the downlink NAS message) to the terminal device.

Step 404: and the terminal equipment transmits the data bound on the first PDU session between the user plane and the access server according to the address information of the access server.

Here, the terminal device establishes an HTTP connection with the access server according to the address information of the access server, and transmits data bound to the first PDU session through the HTTP connection.

Specifically, during the PDU session establishment or modification process, the terminal device may obtain the PDU session address (i.e. the address of the terminal device), and may also obtain the address of the access server. Thus, the terminal equipment binds the service data to the first PDU session according to the UE local policy or the URSP policy, and for the service data bound to the first PDU session, the terminal equipment uses the source address of the data packet sent by the terminal equipment as the PDU session address, and the destination address as the access server address; accordingly, the data packet received by the terminal device should normally be the source address, i.e. the access server address, and the destination address, i.e. the PDU session address. In consideration of security and the like, the terminal device may discard the received packet if the source address of the packet is not the address of the access server.

For the condition that the first PDU session corresponds to the address of an access server, after the PDU session establishment or modification process is completed through the steps, the terminal equipment sets the target addresses of all service data bound on the first PDU session as the address of the access server.

In an optional embodiment, in order for the terminal device to select an appropriate PDU session attribute parameter, the terminal device receives a correspondence (i.e. a first rule) between a service identifier from the network side and the PDU session attribute parameter, as shown in table 3 below:

TABLE 3

The first rule may be implemented by a URSP rule, and in actual deployment, for services that need to access the local server, the services may be described by a Traffic Descriptor in the URSP rule, and specific S-NSSAI and DNN are configured in the corresponding RSD, where the S-NSSAI and DNN are used for the first PDU session of the local breakout. Therefore, after a first PDU session of local distribution is established for a service, if other service data occurs, the service data can be bound to the first PDU session according to the matched URSP rule, and then the local server is accessed. The URSP rule and the RSD corresponding to the URSP rule are shown in tables 4 and 5, where a Traffic Descriptor in the URSP rule may be used as a service identifier to describe related information of a service, and optionally, the RSD may carry first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to request to acquire address information of an access server.

TABLE 4

TABLE 5

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a second flowchart of acquiring an address of an access server according to an embodiment of the present application, where the process includes the following steps:

step 501: the terminal equipment sends a PDU session establishment or modification request message to the SMF/UPF, wherein the PDU session establishment or modification request message carries a service identifier and optionally carries first indication information and/or a first routing identifier.

In a default case, the PDU session setup or modification request message further carries a PDU session attribute parameter, where the PDU session attribute parameter is used to determine the first PDU session.

In an optional embodiment, the PDU session setup or modification request message only carries a service identifier.

In another optional implementation manner, the PDU session establishment or modification request message not only carries the service identifier, but also carries the first indication information and/or the first routing identifier.

The service identifier is used for identifying a service, and the SMF/UPF can know address information of an access server corresponding to which services need to be requested to be obtained according to the service identifier. The service identification may be in the form of a URL, a domain name, an IP address, an Application identification (Application Id) defined internally in 3GPP, etc. In addition, PDU session attribute parameters (e.g., DNN and/or S-NSSAI) may be used as the service identity.

The first routing identifier is used for the SMF/UPF to address the external server, and specifically, the first routing identifier is used for notifying the SMF/UPF of the routing information of the external server, so that the SMF/UPF can find the corresponding external server according to the first routing identifier and ask the external server for the address information of the access server required by the terminal device. Alternatively, the first routing identity may be a URL, or a server address, etc. In addition, PDU session attribute parameters (e.g., DNN and/or S-NSSAI) may be identified as the first route.

It should be noted that, neither the first indication information nor the first routing identifier may be carried in the PDU session establishment or modification request message, and the SMF/UPF may determine whether the step 502 needs to be triggered according to the PDU session attribute parameter.

Optionally, in a case that the PDU session setup or modification request message carries the service identifier and/or the first indication information, the terminal device may encapsulate the service identifier and/or the first indication information in a container, carry the container in the PDU session setup or modification request message, and send the PDU session setup or modification request message to the SMF/UPF, where the SMF/UPF sends the container directly to the external server, that is, the SMF/UPF directly passes through the external server without sensing or performing any processing on the container.

Step 502: and the SMF/UPF interacts with an external server according to the content carried in the PDU session establishment or modification request message to obtain the address information of the access server.

Specifically, the SMF/UPF addresses the access server according to at least one of: and the PDU session attribute parameter, the first routing identification, the indication information of other network elements and the local configuration information interact with an external server, and relevant information is sent to the external server to obtain the address information of the access server. Without being limited thereto, the SMF/UPF may also address the access server according to the service identifier (it should be noted that the first routing identifier is an address indicating the external server more directly, and the service identifier may also be used to know the address of the external server).

Here, the interaction form between the SMF/UPF and the external server is not specifically limited, and the purpose is to obtain address information of the access server required by the terminal device (i.e. address information of the access server corresponding to the service identifier indicated by the terminal device) from the external server, so that the terminal device can directly communicate with the access server through the user plane (e.g. establish an HTTP connection with the access server for communication).

It should be noted that the SMF may contact the external server, or the SMF notifies the UPF to contact the external server, so as to obtain the address information of the access server.

In an optional implementation manner, the SMF/UPF may directly use the service identifier sent by the terminal device, and send the service identifier to an external server to request to obtain address information of the access server; or, the SMF/UPF generates a new service identifier according to the service identifier sent by the terminal device itself (for example, generates a URL according to an Application ID sent by the terminal device), and sends the new service identifier to the external server to request to access the address information of the server.

Step 503: and the SMF/UPF sends a PDU session establishment or modification response message to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDU session establishment or modification response message carries the address information of the access server.

Here, the PDU session establishment or modification response message may carry address information of one access server, or may carry address information of a plurality of access servers.

If the PDU session establishment or modification request message carries a plurality of service identifiers in step 501, the PDU session establishment or modification response message may carry a corresponding relationship between the plurality of service identifiers and the address information of the plurality of access servers; or, the PDU session setup or modification response message carries address information of an access server, which indicates that all the service data bound to the first PDU session need to access the access server.

Step 504: and the terminal equipment transmits the data bound on the first PDU session between the user plane and the access server according to the address information of the access server.

In an optional embodiment, in order for the terminal device to select an appropriate service identifier and/or first indication information (where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to request to acquire address information of an access server), the terminal device receives a correspondence (i.e., a first rule) between the service identifier from the network side and the first indication information, as shown in table 6 below:

TABLE 6

It should be noted that the PDU Session attribute parameters related in the embodiment of the present application are not limited to S-NSSAI and/or DNN, and may also include SSC Mode (SSC Mode), PDU Session Type (PDU Session Type), Non-Seamless Offload indication (Non-Seamless Offload indication), Access Preference (Access Preference), and the like.

The first rule may be implemented by a URSP rule, and in actual deployment, for services that need to access the access server, the services may be described by a Traffic Descriptor in the URSP rule, and specific S-NSSAI and DNN are configured in the corresponding RSD, where the S-NSSAI and DNN are used for the first PDU session of the local breakout. Therefore, after a service establishes a first locally distributed PDU session, if other service data occurs, the service data can be bound to the first PDU session according to the matched URSP rule, and then the access server is accessed. The URSP rule and its corresponding RSD are shown in table 7 and table 8, where a Traffic Descriptor in the URSP rule may be used as a service identifier to describe related information of a service, and the RSD carries first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to request to acquire address information of an access server.

TABLE 7

TABLE 8

In an optional implementation manner of the present application, the terminal device may obtain the address of the access server in the following manner: the network side sends a first message to the terminal device, where the first message includes a first rule, and the first rule includes a service identifier and a corresponding address of the access server or FQDN (or URL) information of the access server, as shown in table 9 below. If the terminal equipment obtains the address of the access server, the data packet corresponding to the service identifier is all sent to the server of the address; if the terminal device obtains a complete Domain Name (FQDN) of the access server, the terminal device uses the FQDN to interact with the second server to obtain an address of the access server, and then uses the address as a data packet corresponding to the service identifier to perform communication.

Service identification	Address/FQDN of access server	(optional) location/time
Service identification-1	IP Address-1	Region-1
Service identification-2	IP Address-1	Region-1
Service identification-3	FQDN-1	Region-1

TABLE 9

And after the terminal equipment establishes the PDU session, the address of the access server is obtained through the PDU session according to the FQDN information, and if the address of the access server exists, the terminal equipment directly communicates with the access server according to the address of the access server. That is, the PDU session establishment or modification procedure need not be enhanced, but rather the terminal device itself communicates directly with the external server and/or access server via the established PDU session.

In one embodiment, the address or FQDN information of the access server is added to the RSD of the URSP rule, as shown in table 10 below, and the terminal device obtains the address or FQDN information of the access server by obtaining the URSP rule. The "service identifier" may correspond to a parameter in the Traffic Descriptor in the URSP rule.

Watch 10

In an alternative, the address/FQDN information of the access server may be sent to the terminal device through a NAS message triggered by the core network side, for example, the UCU message triggered by the PCF sends a URSP rule containing the address/FQDN information of the access server to the terminal device. Here, the URSP rules are encapsulated in a container, which is sent by the PCF to the AMF, which then sends the container to the terminal device via a downlink NAS message.

Further, optionally, in addition to the first rule indicating the address or FQDN of the access server, the first rule may also indicate the address or FQDN of the second server, and the terminal communicates with the second server according to the information to determine the address of the access server.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application may be applied not only to a scenario of acquiring an address of a local server (e.g., an EC server), but also to other scenarios, that is, the terminal device may use the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application to discover an address of an application server corresponding to any specific service that the terminal device desires to discover.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be combined with a PDU session control related mechanism to control the terminal equipment to access the local server to a specific service in a specific area. For example, a PDU session is controlled by a mechanism (e.g., a LADN mechanism) to be active in a specific area (the area covered by the local server) before the service can access the local server. When the terminal device moves out of the specific area, the original PDU session is deactivated or deleted, and a new PDU session is established to access a non-local server (i.e., a remote server).

In the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, in the PDU session establishment or modification response sent by the network side to the terminal device, the PDU session establishment or modification response may carry information such as a port number and a protocol type of the access server in addition to address information of the access server.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be used for communication with the access server under a 5G network and can also be used for communication with the access server under a 4G network.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural composition diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 6, the communication device includes:

a sending unit 601, configured to send first information to a terminal device, where the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.

In an optional embodiment, the first information is carried in a downlink NAS message sent by the first core network element.

In an optional embodiment, the first information is carried in a first container, where the first container is sent by the PCF to the AMF, and the AMF sends the first container to the terminal device through a downlink NAS message.

In an optional implementation manner, the first information is carried in a first response message, where the first response message is a response message after the first core network element receives a first request message sent by the terminal device, and the first request message is used to request to establish or modify a first session.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request message carries a first session attribute parameter, and the first session attribute parameter is used for at least one of:

the first core network element determines the service type;

In an optional implementation manner, the first request message carries first indication information;

the first indication information is used for indicating whether the address information of the first server is requested to be acquired or not.

In an optional embodiment, the first indication information is carried in a first container, and the first container is carried in the first request message;

the sending unit 601 is further configured to send the first container to the second server without any modification.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request message carries a first routing identifier;

the first routing identifier is used for the first core network element to address a second server, and address information of the at least one first server is obtained from the second server.

In an optional embodiment, the first request message carries at least one first service identifier;

the at least one first service identifier is used for the first core network element to determine at least one service, and address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one service is acquired from a second server.

In an optional embodiment, the at least one first service identifier is carried in a first container; the first container is carried in the first request message;

the sending unit 601 is further configured to send the first container to the second server;

the device further comprises: a receiving unit 602, configured to receive a second container sent by the second server, where the second container carries address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one first service identifier;

the sending unit 601 is further configured to send the second container carried in the first response message to the terminal device.

In an optional implementation manner, the sending unit 601 is further configured to send the at least one first service identifier to the second server, or generate at least one second service identifier based on the at least one first service identifier and send the at least one second service identifier to the second server;

the device further comprises: a receiving unit 602, configured to receive address information of at least one first server sent by the second server and corresponding to the at least one first service identifier;

the sending unit 601 is further configured to send the address information of the at least one first server to the terminal device by carrying the address information in the first response message.

In an optional embodiment, the data stream of the at least one service is transmitted in a bundle on the first session;

the address information of the at least one first server is used for transmitting data corresponding to the first session between the terminal device and the at least one first server, and the method includes:

the address information of the at least one first server is used for the terminal device to transmit the data stream of the at least one service bound to the first session to the at least one first server and/or receive the data stream of the at least one service bound to the first session from the at least one first server.

In an optional implementation manner, the first response message carries address information of a first server, where the address information of the first server is used for the terminal device to transmit part or all of the data stream bound to the first session to the first server, and/or receive part or all of the data stream bound to the first session from the first server.

In an alternative embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

an addressing unit (not shown in the figure) for addressing the second server according to at least one of: the first routing identifier, the indication information from the second core network element, the local configuration information and the at least one first service identifier.

In an optional implementation manner, the sending unit 601 is further configured to send a first rule to the terminal device, where the first rule is used for the terminal device to determine the content carried in the first request message; wherein the first rule comprises at least one of:

In an alternative embodiment, the first rule is a URSP rule;

the service identification is represented by a service descriptor in the URSP rule;

the first indication information is carried in RSD under the URSP rule;

the first session attribute parameter is carried in the RSD under the URSP rule.

In an optional embodiment, the first rule further comprises an validation condition, the validation condition comprising at least one of: effective time, effective duration and effective area.

In an alternative embodiment, the first server includes at least an edge computing server.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above-mentioned related description of the communication apparatus of the embodiments of the present application can be understood by referring to the related description of the communication method of the embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural composition diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 7, the communication device includes:

a receiving unit 701, configured to receive first information sent by a first core network element, where the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.

The first information is carried in a downlink NAS message sent by the first core network element.

the first core network element determines the service type;

In an optional embodiment, the first indication information is carried in a first container, and the first container is carried in the first request message.

the first response message carries a second container, and the second container carries address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one first service identifier.

In an optional implementation manner, the receiving unit 701 is further configured to receive a first rule sent by the first core network element, where the first rule is used for the terminal device to determine the content carried in the first request message; wherein the first rule comprises at least one of:

In an alternative embodiment, the first rule is a URSP rule;

the first indication information is carried in RSD under the URSP rule;

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 800 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be a terminal device or a network device, and the communication device 800 shown in fig. 8 includes a processor 810, and the processor 810 may call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 8, the communication device 800 may also include a memory 820. From the memory 820, the processor 810 can call and run a computer program to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

The memory 820 may be a separate device from the processor 810 or may be integrated into the processor 810.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 8, the communication device 800 may further include a transceiver 830, and the processor 810 may control the transceiver 830 to communicate with other devices, and specifically, may transmit information or data to the other devices or receive information or data transmitted by the other devices.

The transceiver 830 may include a transmitter and a receiver, among others. The transceiver 830 may further include one or more antennas.

Optionally, the communication device 800 may specifically be a network device in the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 800 may implement a corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity.

Optionally, the communication device 800 may specifically be a mobile terminal/terminal device according to this embodiment, and the communication device 800 may implement a corresponding process implemented by the mobile terminal/terminal device in each method according to this embodiment, which is not described herein again for brevity.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip of an embodiment of the present application. The chip 900 shown in fig. 9 includes a processor 910, and the processor 910 can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 9, the chip 900 may further include a memory 920. From the memory 920, the processor 910 can call and run a computer program to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

The memory 920 may be a separate device from the processor 910, or may be integrated in the processor 910.

Optionally, the chip 900 may further comprise an input interface 930. The processor 910 may control the input interface 930 to communicate with other devices or chips, and in particular, may obtain information or data transmitted by other devices or chips.

Optionally, the chip 900 may further include an output interface 940. The processor 910 may control the output interface 940 to communicate with other devices or chips, and in particular, may output information or data to the other devices or chips.

Optionally, the chip may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip may implement the corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, and for brevity, details are not described here again.

Optionally, the chip may be applied to the mobile terminal/terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip may implement the corresponding process implemented by the mobile terminal/terminal device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, and for brevity, no further description is given here.

It should be understood that the chips mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a system-on-chip, a system-on-chip or a system-on-chip, etc.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 10, the communication system 1000 includes a terminal device 1010 and a network device 1020.

The terminal device 1010 may be configured to implement the corresponding function implemented by the terminal device in the foregoing method, and the network device 1020 may be configured to implement the corresponding function implemented by the network device in the foregoing method, for brevity, no further description is provided here.

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

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

It should be understood that the above memories are exemplary but not limiting illustrations, for example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), Direct Rambus RAM (DR RAM), and the like. That is, the memory in the embodiments of the present application is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer readable storage medium for storing the computer program.

Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity.

Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the mobile terminal/terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding process implemented by the mobile terminal/terminal device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising computer program instructions.

Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute corresponding processes implemented by the network device in the methods in the embodiment of the present application, which are not described herein again for brevity.

Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the mobile terminal/terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the mobile terminal/terminal device in the methods in the embodiment of the present application, which are not described herein again for brevity.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer program.

Optionally, the computer program may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, and for brevity, details are not described here again.

Optionally, the computer program may be applied to the mobile terminal/terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the corresponding process implemented by the mobile terminal/terminal device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Claims

A method of communication, the method comprising:

a first core network element sends first information to a terminal device, wherein the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.
The method of claim 1, wherein the first information is carried in a downlink NAS message sent by the first core network element.
The method of claim 2, wherein the first information is carried in a first container, the first container being sent by the PCF to the AMF, the AMF sending the first container to the terminal device via a downlink NAS message.
The method of claim 1, wherein the first information is carried in a first response message, and the first response message is a response message after the first core network element receives a first request message sent by the terminal device, where the first request message is used to request establishment or modification of a first session.
The method of claim 4, wherein the first request message carries a first session attribute parameter for at least one of:

the first core network element determines the service type;

the first core network element determines whether to acquire the address information of the at least one first server from a second server;

and the first core network element determines a first route of a second server and acquires the address information of the at least one first server from the second server according to the first route.
The method of claim 5, wherein the first session attribute parameter comprises at least one of: single network slice selection assistance information S-NSSAI, data network name DNN.
The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the first request message carries first indication information;

the first indication information is used for indicating whether the address information of the first server is requested to be acquired or not.
The method of claim 7, wherein the first indication information is carried in a first container, the first container being carried in the first request message; the method further comprises the following steps:

and the first core network element sends the first container to the second server without any modification.
The method according to any of claims 4 to 8, wherein the first request message carries a first routing identity;

the first routing identifier is used for the first core network element to address a second server, and address information of the at least one first server is obtained from the second server.
The method according to any one of claims 4 to 9, wherein the first request message carries at least one first service identity;

the at least one first service identifier is used for the first core network element to determine at least one service, and address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one service is acquired from a second server.
The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one first service identification is carried in a first container; the first container is carried in the first request message; the method further comprises the following steps:

after the first core network element acquires the first container from the first request message, the first core network element sends the first container to the second server;

the first core network element receives a second container sent by the second server, and the second container bears address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one first service identifier;

and the first core network element carries the second container in the first response message and sends the first response message to the terminal equipment.
The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

after obtaining the at least one first service identifier from the first request message, the first core network element sends the at least one first service identifier to the second server, or generates at least one second service identifier based on the at least one first service identifier and sends the at least one second service identifier to the second server;

the first core network element receives address information of at least one first server which is sent by the second server and corresponds to the at least one first service identifier;

and the first core network element carries the address information of the at least one first server in the first response message and sends the address information to the terminal equipment.
The method according to any of claims 10 to 12, wherein a data flow binding of the at least one service is transmitted on the first session;

the address information of the at least one first server is used for transmitting data corresponding to the first session between the terminal device and the at least one first server, and the method includes:

the address information of the at least one first server is used for the terminal device to transmit the data stream of the at least one service bound to the first session to the at least one first server and/or receive the data stream of the at least one service bound to the first session from the at least one first server.
The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the first response message carries address information of one first server, and the address information of the one first server is used for the terminal device to transmit and/or receive part or all of the data stream bound to the first session to and/or from the one first server.
The method of any of claims 5 to 14, wherein the method further comprises:

the first core network element addresses the second server according to at least one of: the first routing identifier, the indication information from the second core network element, the local configuration information and the at least one first service identifier.
The method of any of claims 4 to 15, wherein the method further comprises:

the first core network element sends a first rule to the terminal device, where the first rule is used for the terminal device to determine the content carried in the first request message; wherein the first rule comprises at least one of:

the first indication information is used for indicating whether to request to acquire the address information of the first server or not;

and at least one service identifier corresponds to a first session attribute parameter, and the first session attribute parameter is used for describing the first session.
The method of claim 16, wherein the first rule is a URSP rule;

the service identification is represented by a service descriptor in the URSP rule;

the first indication information is carried in RSD under the URSP rule;

the first session attribute parameter is carried in the RSD under the URSP rule.
The method of claim 16 or 17, wherein the first rule further comprises an validating condition comprising at least one of: effective time, effective duration and effective area.
The method of any of claims 1 to 18, wherein the first server comprises at least an edge computing server.
A method of communication, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives first information sent by a first core network element, wherein the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.
The method of claim 20, wherein the first information is carried in a downlink NAS message sent by the first core network element.
The method of claim 21, wherein the first information is carried in a first container, the first container being sent by the PCF to the AMF, the AMF sending the first container to the terminal device via a downlink NAS message.
The method of claim 20, wherein the first information is carried in a first response message, and the first response message is a response message after the first core network element receives a first request message sent by the terminal device, where the first request message is used to request establishment or modification of a first session.
The method of claim 23, wherein the first request message carries a first session attribute parameter for at least one of:

the first core network element determines the service type;

the first core network element determines whether to acquire the address information of the at least one first server from a second server;

and the first core network element determines a first route of a second server and acquires the address information of the at least one first server from the second server according to the first route.
The method of claim 24, wherein the first session attribute parameter comprises at least one of: S-NSSAI, DNN.
The method according to any one of claims 23 to 25, wherein the first request message carries first indication information;

the first indication information is used for indicating whether the address information of the first server is requested to be acquired or not.
The method of claim 26, wherein the first indication information is carried in a first container, the first container being carried in the first request message.
The method according to any of claims 23 to 27, wherein the first request message carries a first routing identity;

the first routing identifier is used for the first core network element to address a second server, and address information of the at least one first server is obtained from the second server.
The method according to any of claims 23 to 28, wherein the first request message carries at least one first service identity;

the at least one first service identifier is used for the first core network element to determine at least one service, and address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one service is acquired from a second server.
The method of claim 29, wherein the at least one first service identification is carried in a first container; the first container is carried in the first request message;

the first response message carries a second container, and the second container carries address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one first service identifier.
The method of claim 29 or 30, wherein a data flow binding of the at least one service is transmitted over the first session;

the address information of the at least one first server is used for transmitting data corresponding to the first session between the terminal device and the at least one first server, and the method includes:

the address information of the at least one first server is used for the terminal device to transmit the data stream of the at least one service bound to the first session to the at least one first server and/or receive the data stream of the at least one service bound to the first session from the at least one first server.
The method according to claim 29 or 30, wherein the first response message carries address information of a first server, and the address information of the first server is used for the terminal device to transmit and/or receive part or all of the data stream bound to the first session to and/or from the first server.
The method of any of claims 23 to 32, wherein the method further comprises:

the terminal device receives a first rule sent by the first core network element, where the first rule is used for the terminal device to determine the content carried in the first request message; wherein the first rule comprises at least one of:

the first indication information is used for indicating whether to request to acquire the address information of the first server or not;

and at least one service identifier corresponds to a first session attribute parameter, and the first session attribute parameter is used for describing the first session.
The method of claim 33, wherein the first rule is a URSP rule;

the service identification is represented by a service descriptor in the URSP rule;

the first indication information is carried in RSD under the URSP rule;

the first session attribute parameter is carried in the RSD under the URSP rule.
The method of claim 33 or 34, wherein the first rule further comprises an validating condition comprising at least one of: effective time, effective duration and effective area.
The method of any of claims 20 to 35, wherein the first server comprises at least an edge computing server.
A communications apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send first information to a terminal device, where the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.
The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the first information is carried in a downlink NAS message sent by the first core network element.
The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the first information is carried in a first container, the first container being sent by the PCF to the AMF, the AMF sending the first container to the terminal device via a downlink NAS message.
The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the first information is carried in a first response message, the first response message is a response message after the first core network element receives a first request message sent by the terminal device, and the first request message is used to request establishment or modification of a first session.
The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the first request message carries first session attribute parameters for at least one of:

the first core network element determines the service type;

the first core network element determines whether to acquire the address information of the at least one first server from a second server;

and the first core network element determines a first route of a second server and acquires the address information of the at least one first server from the second server according to the first route.
The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the first session attribute parameters comprise at least one of: S-NSSAI, DNN.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 40 to 42, wherein the first request message carries first indication information;

the first indication information is used for indicating whether the address information of the first server is requested to be acquired or not.
The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the first indication information is carried in a first container, the first container being carried in the first request message;

the sending unit is further configured to send the first container to the second server without any modification.
The apparatus according to any of claims 40 to 44, wherein the first request message carries a first routing identity;

the first routing identifier is used for the first core network element to address a second server, and address information of the at least one first server is obtained from the second server.
The apparatus according to any of claims 40 to 45, wherein the first request message carries at least one first service identity;

the at least one first service identifier is used for the first core network element to determine at least one service, and address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one service is acquired from a second server.
The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the at least one first service identification is carried in a first container; the first container is carried in the first request message;

the sending unit is further configured to send the first container to the second server;

the device further comprises: a receiving unit, configured to receive a second container sent by the second server, where the second container bears address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one first service identifier;

the sending unit is further configured to send the second container carried in the first response message to the terminal device.
The apparatus of claim 46,

the sending unit is further configured to send the at least one first service identifier to the second server, or generate at least one second service identifier based on the at least one first service identifier, and send the at least one second service identifier to the second server;

the device further comprises: a receiving unit, configured to receive address information of at least one first server sent by the second server and corresponding to the at least one first service identifier;

the sending unit is further configured to send the address information of the at least one first server to the terminal device by carrying the address information in the first response message.
The apparatus according to any of claims 46 to 48, wherein a data flow binding of the at least one service is transmitted over the first session;

the address information of the at least one first server is used for transmitting data corresponding to the first session between the terminal device and the at least one first server, and the method includes:

the address information of the at least one first server is used for the terminal device to transmit the data stream of the at least one service bound to the first session to the at least one first server and/or receive the data stream of the at least one service bound to the first session from the at least one first server.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 46 to 48, wherein the first response message carries address information of one first server, and the address information of the one first server is used for the terminal device to transmit and/or receive part or all of the data stream bound to the first session to and/or from the one first server.
The apparatus of any one of claims 41 to 50, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

an addressing unit for addressing the second server according to at least one of: the first routing identifier, the indication information from the second core network element, the local configuration information and the at least one first service identifier.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 40 to 51, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send a first rule to the terminal device, where the first rule is used for the terminal device to determine content carried in the first request message; wherein the first rule comprises at least one of:

the first indication information is used for indicating whether to request to acquire the address information of the first server or not;

and at least one service identifier corresponds to a first session attribute parameter, and the first session attribute parameter is used for describing the first session.
The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the first rule is a URSP rule;

the service identification is represented by a service descriptor in the URSP rule;

the first indication information is carried in RSD under the URSP rule;

the first session attribute parameter is carried in the RSD under the URSP rule.
The apparatus of claim 52 or 53, wherein the first rule further comprises an validating condition comprising at least one of: effective time, effective duration and effective area.
The apparatus of any of claims 37-54, wherein the first server comprises at least an edge computing server.
A communications apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive first information sent by a first core network element, where the first information carries address information of at least one first server, and the address information of the at least one first server is used for data transmission between the terminal device and the at least one first server through a first session.
The apparatus of claim 56, wherein the first information is carried in a downlink NAS message sent by the first core network element.
The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the first information is carried in a first container, the first container being sent by the PCF to the AMF, the AMF sending the first container to the terminal device via a downlink NAS message.
The apparatus of claim 56, wherein the first information is carried in a first response message, and the first response message is a response message after the first core network element receives a first request message sent by the terminal device, where the first request message is used to request establishment or modification of a first session.
The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the first request message carries first session attribute parameters for at least one of:

the first core network element determines the service type;

the first core network element determines whether to acquire the address information of the at least one first server from a second server;

and the first core network element determines a first route of a second server and acquires the address information of the at least one first server from the second server according to the first route.
The apparatus of claim 60, wherein the first session attribute parameter comprises at least one of: S-NSSAI, DNN.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 59 to 61, wherein the first request message carries first indication information;

the first indication information is used for indicating whether the address information of the first server is requested to be acquired or not.
The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the first indication information is carried in a first container, the first container being carried in the first request message.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 59 to 63, wherein the first request message carries a first routing identity;

the first routing identifier is used for the first core network element to address a second server, and address information of the at least one first server is obtained from the second server.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 59 to 64, wherein the first request message carries at least one first service identity;

the at least one first service identifier is used for the first core network element to determine at least one service, and address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one service is acquired from a second server.
The apparatus of claim 65, wherein the at least one first service identification is carried in a first container; the first container is carried in the first request message;

the first response message carries a second container, and the second container carries address information of at least one first server corresponding to the at least one first service identifier.
The apparatus of claim 65 or 66, wherein a data flow bundle of the at least one service is transported over the first session;

the address information of the at least one first server is used for transmitting data corresponding to the first session between the terminal device and the at least one first server, and the method includes:

the address information of the at least one first server is used for the terminal device to transmit the data stream of the at least one service bound to the first session to the at least one first server and/or receive the data stream of the at least one service bound to the first session from the at least one first server.
The apparatus of claim 65 or 66, wherein the first response message carries address information of a first server, and the address information of the first server is used for the terminal device to transmit and/or receive part or all of the data stream bound to the first session to and/or from the first server.
The apparatus of any one of claims 59 to 68,

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a first rule sent by the first core network element, where the first rule is used for the terminal device to determine the content carried in the first request message; wherein the first rule comprises at least one of:

the first indication information is used for indicating whether to request to acquire the address information of the first server or not;

and at least one service identifier corresponds to a first session attribute parameter, and the first session attribute parameter is used for describing the first session.
The apparatus of claim 69, wherein the first rule is a URSP rule;

the service identification is represented by a service descriptor in the URSP rule;

the first indication information is carried in RSD under the URSP rule;

the first session attribute parameter is carried in the RSD under the URSP rule.
The apparatus of claim 69 or 70, wherein the first rule further comprises an assertion condition comprising at least one of: effective time, effective duration and effective area.
The apparatus of any one of claims 56-71, wherein the first server comprises at least an edge computing server.
A network device, comprising: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program, the processor being configured to invoke and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 19.
A terminal device, comprising: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program, the processor being configured to invoke and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 20 to 36.
A chip, comprising: a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory so that a device on which the chip is installed performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 19.
A chip, comprising: a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory so that a device on which the chip is installed performs the method of any one of claims 20 to 36.
A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 19.
A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 20 to 36.
A computer program product comprising computer program instructions to cause a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 19.
A computer program product comprising computer program instructions to cause a computer to perform the method of any of claims 20 to 36.
A computer program for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 19.
A computer program for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 20 to 36.